1/300 Patrol Boat Project: Part 1

The commander-in-chief of Northern Chalupistan, known as the General, ordered that his troops sail down the various rivers of his nation to invade Southern Chalupastan. This strategy was not what I was expecting, but that is what makes a play-by-email campaign interesting. So, I have started to build a small flotilla. My goal is to make some ships that are nothing fancy, but passable for gaming purposes.

I found some plans for a 30 m inshore patrol boat. I scaled down to 1/300 size, and then made a bunch of photocopies:


My original thought was to build up the boat's hull using a number of layers of either cardboard or styrene plastic sheets. I decided that would take way too long. Instead, I glued a copy of the top view plan of the boat down onto a piece of foam core and then cut it out. The bridge and superstructure were too complicated to build out of a single piece of anything. Again, using the plans as a template, I cut out the lower part of the bridge from apiece of corrugated cardboard. With a sharp hobby knife, I shaped the front of the bridge as best as I could. Here is the result:


The stern has a ramp for a zodiac boat. So, using my trusty hobby knife, I shaved off the stern at an angle.


So far, the boat is pretty crude, but I plan to somehow cover up the foam and the corrugated cardboard. My next step is to complete the bridge. Stay tuned...