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| Introduction: | ||||
| I have the exciting privilege to be the first builder of
Corsair Armada’s new 1/700 scale World War II US Navy Motor Torpedo Boat
Tender (AGP) kit. I talked to Mike Czibovic (owner of Corsair Armada)
and we agreed this first build could be an online review as well as a test
to see what tips needed to be included with the kit instructions.
Yes, reading between the lines, I built the kit before instructions were
available. I only had photos of Mike’s test build of the kit to go
from (see Figures 1 and 2 for the test build) and what questions I asked
of him.
The kit represents the World War II AGP conversion from the original Barnegat Class AVP (small seaplane tender). AGP-6 through AGP-9 can be modelled from this kit. As you may suspect, Corsair Armada is also expecting to release an AVP kit in the future. |
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| Background on the AGP: | ||||
| The Motor Torpedo Boat Tender (AGP) was envisioned by the US Navy during World War II to provide a remote mobile forward base for PT Boats and gunboats (PGM). The tender could provide fuel, provisions, small ammunitions and torpedoes for the PT Boats assigned to it. In addition, repair and overhaul of PT Boats could also be accomplished. These ships operated in New Guinea, Morotai, Borneo area, and the Philippines from 1943 to 1945. After the war, several were made into Coast Guard cutters and later a few operated by foreign navies. | ||||
| The Kit: | ||||
| The kit consists of a hull, one wafer of elevated platforms,
four sprues of parts, and a fret of photoetch. I suspect a sprue
of 20mm guns may also be included and some rod for masts, but my kit was
an incomplete early test build (by expectation). Corsair Armada kits
are known for being thorough, accurate, and well researched, and this kit
appears to carry the tradition well. See figures 3, 4, and 5 for pictures
of the parts.
The overall level of detail on the kit appears to be consistent with the recent Corsair Armada offerings but a few finer details are also present at the bridge and other areas. The dry-fit of elevated levels to the hull on my kit was perfect and very easily figured out without measuring. The overall dimensions of an AGP are 310’-9” length by 41’-1” beam. Unfortunately, I do not own precision measuring devices to check the accuracy, but it “looks” correct. The kit obviously contains all the parts you will need. Mine did not have 20mm guns or rod for the masts, but the production kits will contain this material. The kit also contains some nice extras and parts that are not required: six torpedoes, one torpedo cart, extra rafts, four extra Mk 51 directors (Corsair Armada’s version are well detailed), and several extra utility boats. A full list of the kits boats, as best I can identify, are as follows (see figure 4, lowest sprue, boats listed from left to right):
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| One thing Mike Czibovic wanted me to point out (because I would never have found it myself) is that the hull superstructure is not completely symmetrical. Sometime after getting the kit together, Mike noticed there is a very small error of about 1/64 of an inch in misalignment of the superstructure. I have tried to capture this in Figure 6, but it is just about impossible to see and requires the naked eye at a close range to notice. All that said, it caused no issue in building the kit and is not noticeable in the finished product. Because of Mike’s commitment to quality, he asked that I reveal this imperfection in my review. |  |
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| Mike later sent a photo from Lars Scharff at www.modellmarine.de (Figure 7) that shows the issue a little better, but as small as it is, it can easily be camouflaged by drawing the eye to equal photoetch rails on each side at the 01 level. Mike had to coach Lars to look for the issue too. |  |
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| A further review off the parts (especially the photoetch) will conclude that a good amount of the unused parts are for the AVP kit, which I am sure a bunch of us eagerly await ! |  |
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| My Build of the AGP: | ||||
| I really wanted to model the USS Oyster Bay, simply because I love the name, but I was disappointed to find she never carried a dazzle camouflage pattern. Those of you who know me also know that if I can paint it in dazzle, I will do so. Hence, I chose to model the USS Wachapreague AGP-8. This ship has to be a contestant for the longest name award. This ship wore dazzle camouflage and served in the Pacific during World War II, then the US Coast Guard in the Atlantic, then the Vietnamese navy, and finally the Philippine navy. |  |
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I chose not to model the kit with the accommodation ladder,
but that was a personal preference and the ladder is included in the kit,
though Mike Czibovic believes the ladder is a bit too long. In addition,
I made one omission that Mike pointed out to me – I forgot to install some
vent caps under the tower (not going to take it apart !). Lastly,
I did not install the side main deck rails quite right – they should follow
the main deck edge and not the deck edge above, which bows out.
I will say that, even without instructions, the kit went together really nicely and I was very pleased with the outcome. The kit will be great in a small diorama with the extra utility boats, torpedoes and cart, and a nice set of WEM or Loose Cannon PT Boats. |
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 Free
Time Hobbies carries the Corsair Armada line. |
| This is an in-box review showing the kit contents. We welcome your input and comments in the review section of the forum especially if you can share details about fit, ease of assembly and accuracy. Click the logo on the right to join in the discussion. |  |
