im not sure what kind of bout you are building,but so far it is a very cool build.

Thanks, I guess I didn't show what I'm building ...it's a 11m (33 feet) aluminum riverine boat powered by twin diesel powered waterjets built by USMI used to provide SEAL team infil/extraction in shallow waters. 5 SWCC operatorsman he weapon stations and operate the boat and the boat will accommodate up to 8 passengers. It's armed to.the teeth wit the usual load of 2 miniguns, 2-4 M240's and a .50 cal on the stern. Looks like this:

I'm curious, what details are you making from PE? I thought about trying it for mine (I have the micromark DIY kit, but not the steady time to ride the learning curve...)

I'm looking into getting mine cast. If there's one thing I regret about it, it was not getting it cast the first time. You might want to consider it, too.

Take care,
Austin

Basically everything green will be PE, and some more detail stuff I have to think up of.





I am considering it but will have to talk to someone about making the kit in a fashion that eases the casting process. Something I should've thought of sooner perhaps

Yes how far you go in the master build process, has a lot to
do with being able to make molds and then casts. There can't be any undercuts or you won't be able to de- mold the master.
This has to be in your thoughts when building the original.
Good luck on your endeavor.

Well here's a bit of a sneak preview. It's a late update but it was worth it. A friend (an exquisite modeler himself) helped me out with the PE. There's a boat load of detail (pun intended) and I can't wait to get my hands on it this week... More to come soon!

WOW!! That looks great. Very nicely done. Any chance you may cast this up as a kit? I would get one for sure. I bet many others would as well.

When I get the hull in one piece, I'll talk to a friend about the casting. I'm worried that the edge where the weapon mounts are and the strengthening ribs would be a problem to remove from molds, but he would know better if it's doable.

Me too!

Mario;
The PE came out awesome, Hope the casting does as well.!!!
Todd

So very beautiful.

Take care,
Austin

So awesome, Mario!

If I may ask this personal question...is your SOC-R building according to your "budget" ?

You know with these "Custom defense program builds" that they sometimes exceed budget due to changes, additions, new weapons and such. Of course some modelers say, "Money is no object," but I just want to get a sense of if you're building it for more or less than what you predicted. In 1/35 scale, it's a very large piece.

Sure I don't mind. So far it cost me some styrene. As Evergreen is not available locally (most of the time) I scrounged some I didn't have from friends. Maki helped out a lot, as I confiscated some of his round 2,3mm profiles and some 0,5mm styrene due to enormous mount of hits and misses on the build.

The PE is worth its gold in meat and beer - a common bartering good with friends over here, but other than that it's nothing more than gas to pick it up from my friends place of living.

The only real expense will probably be the weapons and the appropriate mounts. I hope I'll be able to fit some of Live Resin's upcoming releases and I already have some that I can use (like the M240). I figure it will cost me somewhat more than an average 1/35 kit with all the aftermarket goodies we (modelers) are prepared to pay. Sorry if I don't have a specific figure to say but I really don't know otherwise.

Thanks, Mario!

It would be awesome if this is cast as a kit as no one makes a 1/35 modern SOC-R US Navy SEALs SBS boat on market today. This kit will dominate!

Mario, love your work, here are some pics (in my photos) of my SOC-R started before Christmas. I started out with the same plans found on the net..I used a Tamiya PIBBER hull and built up from there with the card. Not as nice as yours but I am happy with my first scratch build (except for the hull of course..!!!)

I finally picked up my boat and this is the extent of the PE. Some details still have to be redesigned as I don't have accurate measurements for the engine cover handles and the side armor cut-outs. If anyone has an idea about these, I'd be more than happy to hear you out.

My friend really has great skills with PE, and I can't thank him enough and if you have a project that needs PE stuff like this, I'd highly recommend him just let me know. Anyway enough bragging about him, here's what I have so far:

That looks awesome. I really want one now. It would look great along side a Vietnam to '80s era PBR; old and new. I really hope you are able to cast this. Let me know.

Marion, how's the project coming along

Hi, Mario how's the build going.

Mario - Was this ever finished? It was looking awesome.

Any chance of making a kit from it?

Hey Gino, sorry for not answering sooner. No, unfortunately some other life priorities got in the way of modelling so I haven't had much time for pretty much anything. I'll get to it eventually (hopefully by the end of the year). I did manage to make the center console (coxswain post) and will figure out the rest once I get back to the build. Thanks for the interest. I just might make the time as this poked my interest again.