geminirose71@yahoo.com wrote:
Dear fellow sailor,
I have been looking for a plastic model of a Seaplane Tender of the WWII vintage.
None of the model companies (5) I have contacted so far, have any, or are unavailable.
My reason is somewhat veering off.
I served aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Halfmoon about 35 yrs. ago . She was a converted Seaplane Tender. She was the ship I made rank on, and therefore holds a very special place in my old heart.
I wanted to get a plastic model of a seaplane tender, and reconfigure it to the CGC style.
Any clues on whom might have a plastic model available?
Paul Cox
Model ship forum.
Paul,
Welcome Aboard!
There are no "plastic" models of the Barnegat / Casco class AVPs / USCGCs. There is only one decent model of this class and that is the Commander Series Models / Iron Shipwrights 1/350 scale Resin model of the USS Mackinac AVP-13.
This is the kit that I have used to portray the USS Duxbury Bay AVP-38, USCGC Bering Strait 382, and the USS Oyster Bay AGP-6 (PT Boat Tender).
I have had to modify each of these kits to more accurately depict the ship of my choice. I was a bit of a beginner at the time and hadn't worked on a resin model, nor had I ever attempted any scratch building. They have, and are, turned out pretty good, so far.
Go to
http://ironshipwrights.com/ and look in the 1/350 scale ship models. It is the USS Mackinac that you are looking for. It is $110, but its the only one out there and I'm grateful to Tom and Jon for even thinking about creating this model. My father served on the Duxbury Bay.
I have photos of the conversion of the kit into the USCGC Bering Strait, here in this thread as well as on my Photobucket.com page. (see the link in my signature).