What colors to use on the Revell(?) PT-109?


I purchased the Bluejacket 1/48 scale wood model of PT109. It blows the Revell Model away but still your kit is pretty accurate. My plans have excellent information about paint. If you are painting the boat from when it was manufactured to before JFK took command you would paint it as follows:
  1. Deck and all upper surfaces: Dark Gray 5D. This can be duplicated with Floquil 818646 "Navy Dark Gray".
  2. Hull: Navy Gray (a). This can be duplicated with Floquil 818650 "Navy Light Gray".
  3. Below Water Line: Coperoid. This can be duplicated using Floquil Boxcar Red 110074.
If you are painting the boat after JFK took command you would paint it "MTB Green". This can be duplicated by mixing 4 parts Ocean Green (5-OG) Floquil 818606 to 1 part Navy Green (5-NG) Floquil 818608. The Bottom was "Coperoyd" and can be duplicated using Floquil Boxcar Red 110074 (Railroad Color).
{David Waples}
You are absolutely right so here is a repeat of the e-mail I sent to Scott.

The color was a Military Green, from the color photo's I've seen it could anything from a Forest Green to an Olive drab. Take into account the effect of Sun, salt water, paint variations and the quality of the photos I don't think anyone could say "that's wrong".

P.T. 109 was nicknamed "JFK" which was usually painted on the for'rd deckhouse below the spray screen. 109 did not carry the large pennant number on the bows, but small numbers appeared on the front of the wheelhouse, the .50 cal mounts and around the base of the 20mm mount.

Recommended reading is U.S. P.T. Boats of WWII by Frank D. Johnson, which has 2 excellent photo's of 109 lashed to the deck of a Transport. and seems to show she was green before shipment to the Pacific.
{J. L. Pickstock}

Some time back I provided some information about accurately painting PT-109 at the time Kennedy was the boat's skipper. I've continued to do research on this subject with a variety of answers. Based on exchanging letters with Dick Keresey who was the skipper of PT-105, I'm convinced that the 109 boat was never MTB green. According to Dick, his boat was dark gray, and all the boats in his squadron (of which the 109 was a part) were gray. PT Boats Inc also states that the 109 boat was gray. There is a good picture of the 105 and 107 boats in route to Rendova with the dark gray paint scheme. So, with that in mind if you are going to paint the 109 boat after Kennedy took charge, you would paint this to match Navy spec 5D. A good match for this color is Model Masters Gunship Gray. Consider lightening up the paint with a little white to account for weathering. Take note that the Floquil naval colors are not longer being produced.

I also saw a note (above) stating that the 109 boat was called "JFK". According to Mr. Keresey his squadron didn't name their boats, or at least paint anything on them indicating their names. Photos don't show any evidence of a name painted on the 109.

Some modeling tips for the 109 under Kennedy...

  1. The mast should be in the folded down position. It's possible there wasn't even a mast. All photos of the 109 boat after Kennedy took charge show no mast. Mr. Keresey said that a lot of the time the masts were left folded down, but he isn't sure about the 109.
  2. Add depth charges forward of the torpedoes on each side. The 109 accidentally launched the forward port torpedo, driving the port depth charge through the deck. It was not replaced so one depth charge on the starboard side is accurate too. Consider adding a 37mm anti tank gun if you can find it. The book PT-109 describes how the gun was lashed to the deck.
  3. Don't add stanchions and ropes on the foredeck. These had all been removed on all boats while in combat.
  4. Don't add bow "PT-109" decals. The rest are accurate.
  5. The spot light should be omitted. There is not even evidence of a mast for the spot light. The 80' Elco boats had a mounting on the port side of the cockpit. But looking at photos of the 109 cockpit with Kennedy sitting in it I noticed that the mounting point for this auxiliary mount show empty screw holes.
  6. Sand off any evidence of a cockpit wind screen. The cockpit was fitted with armor plate on the front and sides. The port side of the cockpit should be the same height across and behind the wheel. Not curved as modeled. See photos for a better description.
There's much more you can do to improve the accuracy of the Revell 109 model. But these are the hi-lights. As 80' Elco's go, this was one ugly, battle weary boat and should be modeled that way.
Well, just when I was convinced that I had settled the paint scheme issue for PT-109, along comes some better information which has now been confirmed by veterans from Kennedy's squadron. Forget what I said about the 109 boat really being gray while skippered by Kennedy. The boat was MTB Green for sure. It was only gray when it came out of the factory. According to Robert Lanthier who has produced early PT Boat kits for some 15 years, a skipper of PT-105 (now deceased) built one of his kits, and confirmed that the boat was MTB Green and so were all the other boats in his squadron. According to Robert the paint was produced by mixing black and yellow. There is no military specification for this color and Robert tells me that colors actually varied from boat to boat. The only problem is that the paint recommendations I mentioned years ago for MTB Green no longer are available on the market today. Unfortunately Floquil stopped producing their ship colors. However there is some good news. Snyder and Short Enterprises is producing an MTB Green paint, and (click on the link). They have a full line of naval military paints, paint chips, and are very helpful with questions.

The only other thing I would change from my previous posts is that none of the decals for the 109 boat in the Revell kit are accurate. They are too large and the hull markings are definitely wrong. I would source some after market decals or dry transfers from an art store. Refer to photos for the right size for your model.

Sorry for any confusion and I sure hope I didn't cause anyone to paint their 109 model gray. Research can be like this sometimes.
{David Waples}

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