Hellenic Models PGM-9 Class Gunboat

Reviewed August 2024
by Felix Bustelo

HISTORY

A number of European countries underwent post-WW2 economic, humanitarian and military reconstruction. Greece was one of those nations and the rebuilding of the Hellenic Navy was greatly helped by American military aide and the transfer of surplus ships. Among the ships that were transferred or sold to Greece were six PGM motor gunboats in 1947. The PGM were PC-461 class patrol craft converted from a primarily ASW ship to a gun boat with the addition of more 20mm Oerlikons.

US Navy

Hellenic Navy

Service Dates

PGM-16

Antipliarchos Laskos P-33

1947 - 1970

PGM-21

Antipliarchos Pezopoulos P-70

1947 - 1977

PGM-22

Plotarkhis Meletopoulos P-57

1947 - 1971

PGM-25

Plotarkhis Arslanoglou P-14

1947 - 1979

PGM-28

Plotarkhis Blessas P-61

1947 - 1963

PGM-29

Antipliarchos Hatzikonstantis P-96

1947 - 1979

Based on photos found on Navsource.org, some of the ships remained essentially unchanged from their USN appearance through the 1960s. Later, on some of the ships, the forward 3-inch gun was replaced with a hedgehog launcher and aft twin 40mm Bofors with what it appears to be a single 40mm Bofors among some other minor modifications.

Hellenic Ship Model PGM-9 Class Gunboat

Hellenic Ship Model offers kits of Hellenic (Greek) Navy subjects in various scales. All of the model kits are 3D printed and include both some older WW2 vintage ex-USN ships that were sold or transferred to the Hellenic Navy as well as modern vessels currently in service. I was intrigued by the selection of ships and reached out to Kostas Kokkinos, the owner, about obtaining some kits and he agreed to provide with a few samples to review on Modelwarships.com.

The PGM-9 Class Gunboat is comprised of a 3D printed hull and smaller parts, a base with pedestals, photoetch railings, one decal sheet and a paper flag sheet. The contents come in a sturdy flip-top box, with the hull cushioned inside bubble wrap and the 3D printed parts, PE and decals inside a zip-lock bags. Assembly instructions are provided in the box as well as three small pieces of sandpaper.

HULL

The 3D printed hull is very nicely done and sits on a printing raft with numerous thin attachment points at the end of the supports holding it to the raft. The hull has just about everything included on it, such as the bridge/forward superstructure, small housing aft, bases, tubs and splinter shields for the guns, hatches, lockers, chocks and mooring bitts, propeller guards along with some other deck details. PGMs measured 173 feet 8 inches long and in 1/350 scale, that would be approximately 5.9 inches. The kit hull measures just under 6 inches so it is spot on for scale. The print lines are barely there and should easily disappear under a coat of paint. Here and there, some thin “threads” appear along the deck and details that are a product of 3D printing and are to be removed.

SMALL 3D PRINTED PARTS

A total of 10 print rafts with smaller parts are provided with the kit. All of the rafts have thin attachment points that should make removing the parts fairly easy but care must be taken with the more delicate items. Some parts broke off during shipping and I think that the smaller part rafts should be packed in plastic clamshell packets or something sturdier.

The weapons come on four of the rafts. The first raft has the two 3-inch guns and a single 40mm Bofors with separate barrels and mounts. The second raft has eight single 20mm Oerlikons with tripod mounts. A third raft has the hedgehog launcher along with a pair of watertight doors (one broke off), Zodiac raft, radar and what appears to be a pelorus. The fourth raft has a pair of roll off depth charge racks with separate sets of depth charges, a pair of depth charge throwers with depth charges, a pair of davits and the mast with radar dome.

A pair of identical rafts contain Carley floats in two sizes, alternate life raft cannisters for later fits, life rings, firehoses, mooring bumpers and either oxygen or acetylene tanks. Again, some of the parts broke off the rafts during shipping.

Another pair of identical rafts contain boats, cable reels, anchors with attached chain, separate anchor chains, more handling davits, additional tanks, and what appear to be signal lamps.

The last two rafts contain the running gear. One raft has pair of one-piece propeller shaft, propeller and rudders combinations. The other raft has a pair of rudders and propellers. I frankly do not know why the second raft.

As mentioned above, a nice base with two pedestals that are also 3D printed are provided to display the full hull model if you so wish.

PHOTO-ETCH

A single small photoetch fret with the main deck railings is provided. The railings have individual stanchion ends and not a bottom gutter. As you may or may not know from my prior reviews, I am not a fan of railings with individual stanchion ends as I find them a pain to cleanly glue to the deck, but that is my personal taste and will be ok with other modelers.

EXTRAS

Three small strips of sandpaper are included in the box. The grit of the sandpaper is not written on the back of the strips but by touch, the darker strip is a tad rougher than the other two which feel finer. These are an interesting addition to a kit and while I don’t believe the print lines are so pronounced of any of the parts that some sanding is needed, it is still a thoughtful gesture.

DECALS

One decal sheet and a sheet of paper flags are provided. The decal sheet provides hull numbers for the ships in Hellenic Navy service as well as their ensigns and flags. The Hellenic Navy shield is also provided. Yellow Greek alphabet ship names with hull numbers are also on the sheet and I assume that they are meant to be used as a nameplate on the base included with the kit. The paper sheet also has Hellenic Naval flags as well as set of signal flags.

INSTRUCTIONS

The four-page assembly instructions could honestly be better and are rather sparse in my opinion. The first two pages contain a brief history in Greek along with small photos taken from Navsource of the ships in Hellenic naval service. The last two pages have several CAD renderings with a profile view and some focused views which show the placement of some of the parts but not all. Also, an attempt to show the placement of alternate parts, such where the life raft cannisters replace the Carley floats, are provided. There is no actual painting guide except for the profile view with no color references. The profile view does show the placement of the hull number decals well as the flags. A more complete set of illustrations would be been beneficial to make assembly clearer. I also think that an inventory of the kit parts should be included with the instructions and would be a great help to identify the parts.

If you go to the Hellenic Ship Models website and view the page for this model kit, there is several views of a nicely done built-up model depicting a PGM in its original fit that was probably just after transfer in 1947. I did notice that the build has a twin 40mm Bofors fitted aft but one is not provided with the kit. Nonetheless, the photos do provide some help in building one fit of the model.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, this is a good kit and while I did point out some issues with the kit, these are not insurmountable and should not deter someone from purchasing this model. The hull is really well done as are most of the smaller parts. You could even build a WW2 USN PGM using this kit by adding an aftermarket twin 40mm Bofors. I would recommend this kit to someone who has experience working with 3D printed kits with some delicate parts.

This kit is only available directly from Hellenic Ship Models, and this subject is also available in 1:144, 1:200 and 1:700 scales.

My thanks to Kostas Kokkinos for providing the review sample.