Hi,
I wanted to start a thread on how to supper detail the Pibber boat or any military boat. Such as a spilt soda can or empty shell casings. I was thinking of making a small diorama of the pibber in action.
-Thanks

Well why don't you start with a scene? Will the Pibber be docked? Will they be slowly on patrol? Will they be at high speed? Will it even be in a dio.

Oh, i forgot, sorry, they will just be patrolling around, i might add a little beach with tall grass to one side

The PBR… still one of my favourite kits; goes really well together and makes into a very nice and interesting craft. There’s room for improvement and some extra detailing but also build ootb it’s a nice kit. The only aftermarket set available (as far as I know) is the one by Eduard see this review:
http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/eduardpibber_fdesisto.html

Good luck with your Pibber
Mark

i think you can find some useful Nam photos to detail your PBR in this link
bets regards

Good luck with your Build i have one in the stash just i have not got round to it yet, but i have found a couple of good sites First is a good one lots of info and pics, second has a list of units that operated hope this helps you out


Pibber 1
Pibber 2

redleg

Hi There

Here are some photos of the completed Tamiya Model




To see more please view http://community.webshots.com/album/62567564PkqGTw

Regards
Mike

Thanks for all of the links that should be enough to get my model started soon. Here is a list of everything i am going to put:
Copper wire Casing Shells
Soda Can
Rope+Anchor in front
Oil Cans
MRE's
M16 resting on table
Radio
Fire Extingiusher
Maps
Binoculars

From your above list of extras, MREs are incorrect. The correct rations for Vietnam are C Rations. MREs were not introduced till the early 1980's and replaced C Rats.

By the way, it is just a PBR. The only ones to call it a Pibber is Tamiya. Another one of the funny renames they give vehicles. Guess it is the Japanese translation thing or something like that.

And don't forget to check Ed Sarao's MOD here:
Modelshipwrights PBR MOD feature

I guess you could drop a line there too

Skipper

Thanks for correcting me on the MRE's sorry, i wanst really sure, Does anyone know where to get the C rations? Thanks

Glad to help. Verlinden, Hudson & Allen, and a few others do paper C-Ration sets. Check them out.

You may want to consider a dog or a monkey on board- I met a couple of chiefs that were river rats in the Navy and they told me just about all the boats had a "g**k dog" I didn't use the word they used cause it could offend any vietnamese people - good luck with the kit I built one in 95 and gave it to a retired BMCM and he almost started to cry - his wife had given me some of his pics from Nam and I was able to incoroprate them in the model!

good idea on the monkey or dog on board!! i will check out the c rations.
thanks

found this-
http://www.printmini.com/printables/mil/krations1.shtml

And this -

You might also want to wire up all the lights (not actually illuminate them, just add fine copper wire leading to them) on the mast below the radar, add an L shaped handle to the spotlight that sticks up through the canvas roof, add the rope and strapping to the life ring, and add the power cable to the light for the 50cal spotlight too.

A quick watching of Apacolypse Now yields dozens of good coxswains area details like the M16's on the interior wall.

I build mine 10+years ago and it did well on the local model show circuit back in the day.

Mike

Hi,
Glad you brought up all the questions about the PBR, I just bought one and wanted to build a dio around it. Would it be wise to cut the hull in half to give a look of moving down river to lessen the overall size of the diorama?

Thanks

You'd do better to keep it whole - cutting would weaken the structure, and it doesn't save much space... If drifting or floating with engines idle, the bow is slightly lower in the water than you'd think, but at full speed, only a bit of the aft hull and the jacuzzi nozzles are in the water. It was one of the strengths of the PBRs; Their shallow draft.
In terms of after-market, I had the Eduard set, which was great... In terms of extra details, Apocalypse Now has the most references, including several shots inside the cabin, which would be simple to do with plasticard and a razor saw...
Other little details on my PBR pair (wip): Bucket hanging from the canopy rear, grenade launcher mounted on top of the rear .50 cal, weed and mud wound around the anchor, mugs on the flat in front of the coxwain's position, charts in the slots above the radar, helmet (without cover - navy issues were plain tin-pot) with straps resting over the muzzle of the M60, ropes slung aroound the rear guardrails, playboy centrefold on the coxwain's bulkhead...
They're great kits, I only wish there was a re-issue of more of the riverine force - Monitors, tango boats, or even a Swift boat...
Hope this is food for thought...

Richard

Thanks for all the info, this is actually going to be my first dio and I really appreciate all the tips....I have a feeling I'm going to need them. Wile I'm at it does anyone know of a company that makes N. Vietnamese guerillas or "Black Pajamas"?

Thanks,
Robert

Hi,

Take a look at Real Model boxes for Vietnam era models:

http://www.realmodel.cz/shop/detail_zbozi.php?kategorie=178&zbozi=3603

http://www.realmodel.cz/shop/detail_zbozi.php?kategorie=178&zbozi=3593

http://www.realmodel.cz/shop/detail_zbozi.php?kategorie=178&zbozi=3594

Bye,

Marcelo

If you really want to get real I saw a couple of week ago I guy on e-bay (not me) had cast real fiberglass hulls for this model. Not that the plastic one it comes with is bad, but this one is the real material.

There are also a few DVD's on the Brown Water Navy available (can also be found on e-bay, Amazon, etc.). The actual titles escape me, but there they are great. I have been buying lots of these lately and I can tell you that they are some of the best reference materials I have found. One is a half hour propaganda/recruiting film made by the Navy. It is early war, mostly PBR MK I, but as far as reference to what kind of stuff is on the boat, uniforms, etc., it is great. Best thing, since it was made by the Navy in Vietnam you do not need to worry about the "poetic license' often taken by Hollywood. The History Channel also has an episode of Great Ships all about the PBR, again, great reference images.

I just order one to start when I'm done with my MAZ-537G/ChMZAP-527G tank transport. I even got a PE set for it hopefully it'll look as good as some as yours have come out.I might get a that VLS statue with a huey flying over it fighting some VC running.

Happy Modeling
Tom

The link takes you to WW2 K-rations which are not the same as C-rations by a long shot.

Have a look at these...

Boat crew sharing C-rations

C-rations in the case they came in, open

C-rations in the case, closed

A single C-ration meal

How about this for a dio idea?

Trading C's with the locals...

HTH

acav out