White Ensign Models 1/350 Vosper 70ft Motor Torpedo Boat

By Stephen Sutton

Background

The background on the Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat

can be found in the kit reviews section of Cybermodeler. This Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat MTB 57 was built in Portchester, United Kingdom, October 23, 1941. Its Commanding Officer was T/S. Lt. N.L. Ilett, RNVR (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve) and its First Lieutenant was T/S.Lt. D.G. West, RNVR, from October to December 1943.

Construction

Building this kit was pretty straightforward and I would recommend you read and follow the instructions carefully. This was my first attempt at building a ship this size. Two and a half inches long was a strain on my eyes and nerves. First I filled a tiny hole on the bottom of the hull with Tamiya polyester putty, this hole was the only flaw that I found on the 4 resin pieces that came with the kit. Next the first step in the instructions was to build the Twin .5" machine gun, care must be taken when cutting the photo etch pieces off the PE fret, as pieces may fly into your eyes or into the carpet monster. I use a number 11 modeling knife blade and the flat steel ruler to remove the parts. The machine gun mount has a gunner seat which needs the backrest bent up into the proper position, then both machine be attached as per the instructions, I found it easier to glue the mount on the gun tub rim first then I mounted the individual guns.

Assembling the main mast was next and this is comprised of a left and right half and two radar antennas. Care must be taken when cutting these two pieces of the masts, you do not want to bend the masts out of shape. After I carefully cut out the mast halves I used a cloths pin to position the two pieces together then I carefully flowed in the Cyanoacrylate adhesive (Super glue), after the two halves dried I attached the two radar antennas as per the instructions.

The next step was to build the Torpedo tube mounting, removing the rectangular molded resin mounting blocks from the underside of the torpedo tube was easily accomplished using a saw blade. The two photo etch torpedo tube mountings where carefully folded using a metal ruler and straight edge razor blade.

Next I secured the torpedo tubes to the mount attachment brackets and I installed the assemblies on the boat. After looking at a photo reference of MTB 57 that I found on the internet, I discovered I had attached the tubes wrong in the mounts, the photo clearly shows the tubes needed to be attached to the top attachment brackets, so super glue debonder was used to disassemble my mistake, I didn't read the instructions very carefully. I carefully removed the torpedo tubes from the boat cleaned up all the debonder agent, I then reassembled the tubes and mounts as per the instructions.

I glued all the hatches, safety rail, mast, jack staff and flagstaff to the deck as per the instructions. I attached the lifebelts and steering wheel. The propeller assemblies were attached and the propellers blades where twisted to the required angle and the two rudders were attached. The Curley rubber raft was glued to the forward deck. After attaching everything to the boat, the photo etched fret had a .303 machine gun still on it, the kit instructions did not give any details on attaching this to the MTB and my photo reference did not show this machine gun.

Painting

I first air brushed the bottom hull with Model Master acryl flat black, then I masked off the waterline with Tamiya tape then I sprayed a base coat of medium gray Tamiya acrylic neutral gray XF-53 as per my color reference charts and kit instructions. Next the top deck was brush painted using Tamiya acrylic dark sea gray XF-53 with a touch of flat black added to the paint. The Curley raft was painted with Gunze Sangyo semi-gloss gray H69. The lifebelts where painted using Tamiya acrylic red with flat black added and the steering wheel was painted with a combination of Tamiya acrylic red, black and yellow, to represent wood color. The depth charges were painted flat black and the machine guns were painted gunmetal. Lastly the propeller blades were painted brass.

Rigging

Rigging the torpedo boat was a challenge but easily laid out in the two-view profile illustrated in the instructions and the reference photo I found on the Internet. I rigged the mast, jack staff and ensign staff with my daughter's hair, and then I painted the hair flat black.

Conclusion

Overall this kit was a simple straight up build, and the instructions gave a logical sequence to follow. A lighted magnifying lens and pointed tweezers will help you with this build. I would highly recommend this 1/350 scale Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat to your MTB or PT boat collection.

My sincere thanks to White Ensign Models for this review sample.

References:

• Royal Navy Coastal Forces, jnhouterman.greatnow.com/RN_MTBs.html
• Royal Naval Warship Photos, www.navyphotos.co.uk/mtbs.htm