1/160 LCI(L)-30 (Lindberg)

One of the under-celebrated but ubiquitous ships of World War 2 was the LCI or 'Landing Craft, Infantry.' Their actual designation was LCI(L), where the 'L' stood for large, which was probably an administrative acknowledgment that at 158 feet, 5 1/2 inches and bristling with 20mm cannons, they were stretching the definition of 'craft.'

In 2014, I had the pleasure of attending a reunion of the USS LCI Association. On the final night of the reunion, I observed Lindberg LCI kits among the items they were selling.  As my dad waited to be discharged after the end of WW2, he served briefly aboard the LCI-30, which was a 'square conn' ship.  So, the box art suggesting a square conn ship intrigued me.  I decided on the spot to purchase one of the kits and build it as the LCI-30.

When I got the kit home and began my research, I found the kit was actually representative of the later LCI(L)-351 Class. The -351 Class was significantly different from the LCI-30, which was an LCI(L)-1 Class ship.  Most noticeably,  the –351 Class superstructure was dramatically enlarged and the foc'sle was raised, which allowed the ship's guns to be positioned higher above the gunwales on the ship. Also, a round conn took the place of the square conn that had been on the earlier ships. It became readily apparent that much work was ahead of me if I chose to go ahead with building a model of the LCI-30.

History of the ship:
 
LCI(L)-30 was built by New York Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey, and commissioned on 31 December 1942. She participated in the following Asiatic-Pacific campaigns: the Hollandia operation from 21 to 25 April 1943; the Eastern New Guinea operation, including the occupation of Lae from 4 to 6 September 1943 and the occupation of Finschhafen on 22 September 1943; the Bismarck Archipelago operation at Cape Gloucester, New Britain on 26 and 27 December 1943. Her last campaign was in support of operation in Western New Guinea, including the Toem-Wakde-Sarmi operation on 17 May 1944, the Biak Island operation from 27 May to 1 June 1944, and the Morotai landings on 15 September 1944. She was decommissioned on 18 June 1946. She was donated to the Port of Newport, Oregon on 24 June 1948 and later presumably scrapped.

Building the model:

A photo of the LCI-30 taken in 1945 when my dad was aboard showed that the ship had been modified to haul cargo.  This is the configuration I chose to replicate.

The Lindberg kit is several decades old and the quality of the kit reflects the expectations of modelers of a different era.  It is very evident from first examination that the model severely lacks detail and in many cases, the minimal detail that is provided is very crude.

The kit suffers as well from some significant inaccuracies that drive sticklers like me crazy. One problem is the bow: it barely resembles an LCI bow; it reminds me more of a cargo ship.  The fantail is also inaccurate.  In order to have the end result accurately represent an LCI, I began construction of the model by cutting off the bow and fabricating a new one, as well as reworking the fantail to achieve the trapezoidal shape of the fantail bulkhead.

The -1 Class superstructure was much smaller than the kit's -351 Class superstructure, so the kit’s superstructure was removed. A new main deck was fabricated and installed. I also removed most of the gunwales abaft the foc’sle and fabricated doors for the hold.  The new superstructure and conn were constructed of styrene sheet, with details fashioned from styrene, brass, and piano wire. PE handwheels were mounted on the scratchbuilt WT doors.   The port and starboard awnings were constructed of .015 inch styrene sheet, covered in tissue to replicate the texture of the fabric, and then painted Olive Drab. Topside details were predominantly made from styrene sheet, rods, and styrene and brass tubing. The kit's windlass was tossed out and a new one scratchbuilt. The kit lacked the anchor stand and anchor, so these were scratchbuilt, too.   New gun tub shields were constructed from styrene sheet.  The 20mm Oerlikons and splinter shields were scratchbuilt from styrene, piano wire, and brass.  Ready Service lockers were a combination of homemade resin castings and styrene sheet. 0.015 inch piano wire was used for lifeline stanchions and the lifelines were made of 70 denier fly-tying thread.  Below the waterline, overboard discharges for the diesels were constructed using styrene channel. New skegs were fashioned and the kit's incorrect 4-bladed screws were converted into 3-bladed screws. The Measure 21 scheme topside was replicated with Tamiya XF-63 German Grey for the hull and superstructure, and ModelMaster Graugrun RLM 74 for the decks.  Everything was then weathered with ModelMaster Gunship Gray. The lower hull was initially painted Tamiya Hull Red, then given a thin coat of ModelMaster Insignia Red, followed by weathering with ModelMaster Italian Red and water-based black paint. Hull numbers were Woodland Scenic Gothic White dry transfer numbers.

Gallery updated 12/23/2015

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