US Navy PT boats and the M2 assault boat make up 1:48 ship model kits today. Sharing a scale with aircraft gives these craft real presence: the celebrated Elco 80 runs to half a metre with its full deck fittings and torpedo tubes in place. These are striking projects on the border between ship and aircraft modelling, and they suit builders who already have a few hulls behind them. Long, slender deck halves need to dry flat and weighted, or they will twist.
Boats at 1:48 sit well beside aircraft of the same size, and a shared case tells a Pacific story on its own. To carry on below the surface, look at 1:48 submarine model kits. Railings, gun shields and the other fittings that finish a torpedo boat come from ship model accessories, and every hull and scale is indexed under ship model kits.
