"1/100 scale PBR MK.II from AIM LLC" Topic

Patrol Boat River (PBR)
Item: Vietnam era MK.II PBR Item # LC15-0107
Scale: 1/100 Size: 15mm
Medium: Resin, multi-part kit
Manufacturer: Armaments in Miniature, LLC (AIM) armamentsinminiature.com
link
Vendor: AIM
Price: $20 USD

General Impressions: The model kit consists of 45 resin pieces. It comes with six pages of instructions which include a parts diagram and five pages that cover the various construction steps. The 45 parts are split into seven individual bags. The parts are bagged to pretty much follow the steps in the construction process. There were very few seam lines and just a little flash. Both were easily removed with a hobby knife and sand paper. There are four crew figures included in the kit. One figure, a bust actually, mans the twin .50s in the forward turret, there's a pilot to man the cockpit (sporting beret & sunglasses), and two crewmen to man the aft weapons. In addition to the forward turret, weapons include a 40mm grenade launcher, an M-60 mg, and a .50 cal mg mounted on a pedestal. The instructions recommend painting as you go, I opted to construct the model as much as possible before painting. Other than not painting the model as I built it, I pretty much followed the directions. I did replace the mast for the RADAR with a bit of wire.

Recommendations: I recommend the model for those experienced in building multi-part resin kits.

Notes: I used I-94 Enterprise decals on the flag. I thought it might help others if I took some pictures during assembly. Those pictures follow the pictures of the completed model. During assembly, I found it helpful to have pictures of PBRs for reference. Feel free to send me a PM or e-mail if you think I can help answer questions about assembly of the kit.

Reviewed by: Kevin Hammond, Miscellaneous Miniatures, LLC. miscmini.com
orders@miscmini.com

Construction: Forward PBR, turret assembly. The turret consist of the turret, the spot light, the guns/gunner, and the gun shield. Bumper-tires are included in this step's bag but they are best left for later. The assembled and primed turret is to the left in the picture below. The remaining parts are those for the second step, the cockpit.

Cockpit assembly: The parts in the bag associated with the cockpit construction are shown above. I've lettered them to match the narrative and pictures provided with the kit. I assembled the cockpit as described in the instructions but left the pilot for later. The assembled cockpit is pictured below:

Rear PBR assembly: Parts for this step are pictured below and include the .50 cal pedestal, railing, tie-downs, drums, gunner, .50 cal., and more bumper-tires. The pedestal is already in the back of the PBR in the picture below.

The following picture shows most of the rear PBR assembled along with canopy assembly and radar, antennas, bumper-tires, and light installation.

The rest of the pictures show the model in the final stages of assembly and when partially painted.

The final steps in my assembly process were to install the painted weapons, crew, and finally the canopy.

Too fiddly for me, but you sir, did a smash up job.

Thanks for the review.
It's a lovely looking model and by far the most detailed 15mm PBR.
I really like the cockpit detail,and am very tempted.
How sturdy is it when built? How well will it stand being played with?

Thanks for the compliments. It's fairly sturdy. If you're going to be doing a lot of gaming with it, I would reinforce the gun mounts with wire and replace the antenna, flag staff, and radome mast with wire.

Cheers Kevin
I think I may have to order a couple.

Beautiful work!

Now, does anyone make a 1/100 scale full-hull model without crew? I'm getting really tempted to make my C&C helo with a couple surfboards, and another helo with a PBR as a sling load.