The LCVP (landing craft vehicle/personnel) or Higgins boat is often described as the boat that won World War II. Its ability to operate in shallow water and to extract itself from a beach allowed the Allies to bypass fortified ports to make landings on less-protected beaches. The LCVP could carry up to 36 troops along with their equipment, three tons of vehicles, or up to four tons of cargo.
The French company Fonderie Miniatures has released the first 1/35 scale LCVP. Molded in medium-gray plastic, the kit has soft detail and lots of flash. The gun tubs are molded in resin and one of the outer ring moldings had two large chips out of it. The .30-caliber machine guns are cast in white metal.
The instruction booklet is confusing and appears to have a printer's error resulting in mixed-up pages. Following the steps in alphabetical order will help some. The English translations are poor and the diagrams are vague. The Higgins Boat Project at
www.Higginsboat.org includes photos of a restoration in progress and info that'll make up for the instructions deficiencies.
The kit includes markings for two boats, but aside from the box art, there is no color and markings information.
I started construction by adding the ribs to the hull. Fine raised lines are provided on the inside of the hull to show you where the ribs go. Almost every part required some sanding to get it ready for use, but the plastic is easy to work and bonds with Weld-On #3. Some of the ribs were a bit too long and had to be shortened. Make sure that the tops of the ribs line up with the top of the hull. Not all ribs reach the bottom.
The forward deck is molded flat but needs to be arched in the middle, and the front third should slope downward. Use the side rails to get the right shape. The deck rails were too short, so I extended mine with pieces of sheet styrene. With the front deck glued to the rails, the rear deck was too wide for the hull and went under the last two ribs on each side. It's better to leave these ribs off until the rear deck is installed. I made a cardboard template for the deck and trimmed the piece to fit. The bulkhead (A) was too wide for the hull, so I fixed that, too.
I did not install the rope as shown in step A, preferring to wait until the model was painted. The port side rails and the starboard beam were too short; I replaced them with sheet styrene. The pilot's station is molded as one piece that you fold into a box. This didn't work well, and I eventually cut it into four pieces and reinforcing the corners with styrene strips. Before attaching the upper deck, I painted the hull's interior with Tamiya medium gray, as it would be difficult to paint many areas once the deck was in place.
When attaching the upper deck, I discovered that the hull was a little too narrow, especially in the middle. I used some sprue as temporary wedges to widen the hull slightly and get a better fit to the deck. The locating tabs on the underside of the deck interfered with the ribs, so they had to be removed to get the deck to fit flush with the hull.
Once the deck was glued in place and the seam was sanded and filled, it was a simple matter to add the details. The side flanks (D) fit well, but the rear flank (C) needed a bit of trimming to get a good fit. The flank supports (G) vary in size, but they are laid out on the sprue in no particular pattern; just be careful to select the best one for each station. One of the deck cleats was improperly formed, but a couple of extras are provided. These required a lot of cleanup just to get them to resemble deck cleats.
The area behind the engine compartment contains the fuel tanks, but nothing in the way of deck or detail is provided. The ramp can be positioned up or down, but no hinge mechanism is provided. I glued mine in the up position. You can also position the armored window for the ramp open or closed, but again, no hinge is provided.
With all of the major assembly complete, I painted the exterior Tamiya medium gray. When the paint was dry, I applied the decals over a brushed coat of Future floor polish. The decals reacted well to Micro Set and Sol.
The string provided for the ramp winch was too thick and fuzzy, so I replaced it with a piece of model sailing ship rigging. This was also too thick, but it looked better. The pulleys are simplified compared to the real thing, and make the finished kit look toylike.
The Fonderie Miniature kit is clearly aimed at the advanced modeler. It is a challenge to build and will require some fine detailing to produce a top-notch model. I spent more than 26 hours just building it out of the box.
The kit measures to scale, but the engine compartment is too low; it should come up almost to the top of the rear flank. Also, the pilot station is too short; it should come up to almost half the height of the side flank, and the steering wheel should be above the flank.
No doubt the real value of this kit will be as part of a 1/35 scale diorama.
John Plzak