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Old 05-10-2019, 07:55 AM
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rockpaperscissor rockpaperscissor is offline
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D-Day LCM (3)

Here is the third model in my D-Day collection for the paper model exhibit at US Army Heritage Days in Carlisle, PA next weekend. The LCM (3) in 1/72 scale by Paper Tiger Armaments. As usual, I did some recoloring, but I left it very clean. I've seen models of this craft that are heavily weathered, but I can't imagine any skipper letting the condition of his vessel degrade to the point where it looks like a derelict barge, even in war time.

At 8 inches in length, it's a pretty big model for one or two layers of unsupported card stock. There was room to laminate the sides of the outer hull with heavier cardboard as well as the rear portion of the deck, but that's about it. That being said, I'm very happy with the way it came out. As long as the humidity doesn't get too high, it should stay pretty straight, LOL. The model isn't super detailed, but it's intended for wargaming after all, and the builder can always add missing details and greebles himself.

As I've come to expect from PTA, the fit of the parts was excellent, and following the assembly instructions to the letter definitely helped me to avoid some pitfalls. Cutting out the ship's wheel was tedious, but detailing the ramp was the most challenging part of the build. The lattice work is made up of doubled card stock, and the individual strips are only about as wide as they are thick. The curves, twists, and warps that naturally occur when cutting such a thin strip of doubled paper have to be coaxed back into a straight line, and then the strip is glued carefully to another wider bit of lattice work. Each strip has to be spaced evenly and parallel to the previous strips. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, and the finished product is really worth the effort.

Next up, the M3 half track by PTA.
Attached Thumbnails
D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3a.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3b.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3c.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3d.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3e.jpg  

D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3f.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3g.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lcm_3h.jpg  
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I don't always build models, but when I do... I prefer paper. Keep your scissors sharp, my friends.
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:20 AM
rmks2000 rmks2000 is offline
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Don, great job on the ramp.
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:22 AM
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Don Boose Don Boose is offline
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Looks great, Don.

In 1966-67 I spent some time riding in these things on the Bassac (Hau Giang) and Cochin branches of the Mekong River and participated in a regimental-sized amphibious operation in one. As I recall, the Mike Boats we rode in were identical to your model except that a steel bulkhead had been installed around the fantail where the coxswain's deck house and the 20mm are. The night before the landing (which was a shore-to-shore operation), our formation of LCMs chugged up the coast in the South China Sea, and I slept curled around the base of one of the guns (there was a circular steel platform for the gunner to stand on around the base of the guns at that time). By coincidence, Jim Nunn of this Forum was in the Navy at the time and we subsequently learned that he was in a Navy watercraft guarding our flank as we went in.

Not much to do with your model, but seeing it got me to reminiscing (another symptom of my senectitude).

Don too
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:55 AM
Tom Lapinski Tom Lapinski is offline
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Don, great looking model and a nice story by the other Don.
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Old 05-10-2019, 11:24 AM
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nice build sir
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Old 05-11-2019, 05:53 AM
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rockpaperscissor rockpaperscissor is offline
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Interesting story, Don. Thanks for the positive comments on the model, everyone. I'm building an M3 half track now. I should finish that one with no problem. I hope to have one other model completed before (or during) the show. Could be a Stuart tank, a LCVP landing craft, or an LVT-1 (a smaller landing craft favored by the marines). I waded into an online discussion of the LVT-1's involvement (or lack thereof) in the D-Day landings. Per official army documents, there were no LVT-1's used in the invasion on day 1 (or later, for that matter), but someone else posted a day 1 panoramic photo of Utah beach and circled in the bottom right, is what looks like at LVT-1. A closeup leaves no doubt. It's a mystery.
Attached Thumbnails
D-Day LCM (3)-lvtnorm.jpg   D-Day LCM (3)-lvtlge.jpg  
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Old 05-11-2019, 06:17 AM
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Don Boose Don Boose is offline
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Don -

The resources I used when I wrote my book on U.S. Army amphibious operations are packed away and not easily accessible, but this is what Wiki says (unfortunately, this passage has no footnotes and I can't tell what sources were used). I highlighted the passage on Normandy:

QUOTE In Europe, LVTs were mainly used for landings and river crossing operations as well as assaults in swampy zones. By the end of 1943, 200 LVT-1 had been delivered to the British Army for training, in preparation for future operations in Europe. The U.S., British and Canadian armies used the Buffalo in the Battle of the Scheldt (1944), during the Operation Plunder crossing of the Rhine, along the Po River in Italy, across the river Elbe, and in a number of other river crossing operations.

LVTs were used in the Normandy landings, but their use by the United States was limited as the US Army doctrine in Europe viewed the Sherman DD as the answer to assault on heavily defended beaches. LVT-2s were used to help unload supplies after the landings on Utah Beach, from the cargo ships off the coast to the beach and through the nearby swamps.

For the Rhine crossing, the British 21st Army Group had some 600 Buffalos available, most of them used to transport the assault infantry. As mud was expected to hamper the Sherman DD tanks, some LVTs were armed with a 20 mm cannon and two machine guns to give fire support until bridges could be constructed across the river. The "Specials" were assigned to the 79th Armoured Division (which operated all specialist assault vehicles), that also provided Buffalos fitted with "Bobbin" carpets to create temporary roadways over the mud.

The US Army used LVT-2s and LVT-4s in Europe in small numbers in 1944-45 for river crossing operations. LVT-2s and LVT-4s were used by US troops on the Roer River crossing in 1945. US Army LVT-4's were also used by 752nd Tank Battalion to ferry 88th Infantry Division troops across the Po River in Italy in April 1945.

Five LVT-4 were supplied through Lend-Lease to the Soviet Red Army, which used them when assaulting the well-defended west banks of the Oder and Danube rivers. UNQUOTE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landin...Tracked#Europe

Don
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Old 05-11-2019, 06:39 AM
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rockpaperscissor rockpaperscissor is offline
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I think I read the same article. The discussion on the forum that I peeked in on, was referring to LVT-1's exclusively. As wiki correctly states, the British did make heavy use of LVT-1's in Europe, but the Utah beach landing force was exclusively American (with off-shore support from British and other allied navies). LVT-2's were used by the Americans on D-Day, but the vehicle in the photo is clearly an LVT-1. Could it be British?
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I don't always build models, but when I do... I prefer paper. Keep your scissors sharp, my friends.

Last edited by rockpaperscissor; 05-11-2019 at 07:04 AM.
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