by Mario Grima
1/72 USS Ling SS-297 (Revell)
I made the model to portray the USS Ling in her early active career. The Ling still retains the hard points for the 5" gun mounts in the rear and the front of the tower which was boarded up. The museum staff added the 4" in the rear. What sets the Ling aside from war Balaos, is the unique front 5" side deck gun platforms that run to the end of the tower making the deck wider in that area for the extra M2 50 Cal. pintle mounts. This must have been inherited from a refit or when it went to AGSS (Auxillary). The platforms are normal in the early years as my model depicts. Another unique feature of the Ling is the rear prop guards. They are not normal fleetboat guards. They are a lot smaller then the normal guards offered by the Revell kit. The Ling's guards appear to be welded on and are in a butterfly shape. They also have more poles and cross membranes bracing the supports. The one on port side is banged up and damaged from an apparent pier impact from its active days. Sadly, the Ling (a war memorial) and the museum are being evicted for its spot in the Hackensack, NJ river for the land.
The Model: The model was made by converting the Revell Cobia kit, Eduards Rivet PE, and a majority of Iron Bottom Sound Long Balao Ling conning tower, deck gun and new IBS upgrade sets, which should be available by the time of this gallery submission. The Model is RC capable with linkages/shafts and will work Big Dave's Designs Cylinder which still in the building phase. I had to convert Eduards EB yard rivet PE to PM limber holes and eventually drilled them out. Also, since the model is RC I had to make it break apart to access the inner water tight cylinder. I worked around this using the Revell kit's own regular break down. The deck structure is secured to the hull by 4 brass bolts. I fabricated the Ling's exotic prop guard from solid brass rods and the hole apparatus was soldiered together for strength.
