This is the Revell Elco 80 foot PT Boat revised and updated to represent PT 560 - an MTB Squadron 29 Boat serving in the Mediterranean during 1944. There are a number of good photos of the Ron 29 boats showing them at the Coastal Forces base at Bastia, on the island of Corsica during this period.

As well as removing the deck planking (sand, sand, sand…) I replaced most of the moulded-in deck and superstructure detail and added missing details such as the charthouse navigation side lights and scuttles. PT 560, in common with many 1943-built boats, carries a mixture of early and late pattern deck fixtures and fittings.

The big changes from the standard kit are those necessary to model a mid-war boat. These include repositioning the forward MK 17 0.50 cal mount further aft, rebuilding the cockpit area and adding the enlarged engine room hatch/ventilator typical of later 80 footers.

Armament is radically different from the early war boats. A 'HR products' bofors gun sits on the after deck, and roll-off racks with MK 13 aerial torpedoes replace the earlier (and heavier) tubes. A 20mm Oerlikon on a MK14 mount is placed on the foredeck offset to port. 'Aeroclub' white metal 0.5 cal machine-guns form the basis of new twin machine gun mounts to replace the blobby kit versions.

In contrast to the elaborate camouflage worn by Pacific Theatre boats, the Ron 29 Elcos carried simple schemes with very light tones while in the Med. There seems to be a lot of debate over the actual colours used by these boats. I settled on WEM Thayer Blue overall, with a yellow aircraft recognition panel carried across the bow.