Destroyer escorts in WW2 were designed as high speed convoy escort ships that were capable of detecting and killing U-Boats. In the latter years of the war, the U-Boat threat was greatly diminished, so the need for these ships rapidly decreased. At the same time, the Marines were looking for a high speed transport that could rapidly deliver troops and equipment to enemy shores. Designers found that these destroyer escorts could be quickly converted into high speed transports that were capable of carrying up to 200 troops and 40 tons of cargo. They were equipped with 4 LCVP landing craft that were used to get the troops to shore, as well as having the armament that was capable of supporting the troops on the beach.

I have always liked the way these ships looked and have long wanted to build one. For this conversion, I plan to use a Trumpeter 1/350 Destroyer Escort, the USS England. The USS England was a Buckley Class Destroyer Escort, which was converted into the Amesbury Class of APD (high speed transport).

I don't build many ships, and I have never done a conversion of a ship model, so this should be an interesting project. I am still gathering information for the conversion, especially the for the Welin davits that were used to raise and lower the landing craft. I am also gathering information about the camouflage schemes used on these ships. I found 3D print files online for some davits that I think will work, but I need scale them to fit the ship. I am also searching for print files I can use to create the LCVPs. Files for the LCVP are easy to find, but most of them have flat bottoms for use with war games. I need to find files for a full hull, since the bottom of the landing craft will be visible when stowed on the ship.

I hope to get started on this project in the next few days. Should be fun.

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten). I don't build many ships, so this will be an interesting conversion.

Thanks, John (@johnb). This should be fun, even though it isn't my usual model. I almost ended up in the Navy instead of the Air Force, and I still think ships are cool, even if I don't build many of them.

A great start, George @gblair
Good to have this plan now where you can focus on. The LCVP's do look great. Good luck tomorrow on those extreem tiny parts.

I'm just seeing this today George (@gblair). This will be a cool conversion for sure. Good luck with this build. I look forward to seeing your approach to this. Those blooards are included in my Flyhawk detail set a small turned rods (including the small caps). How they do this, I do not know. When I first saw these, I was thinking, "Are you kidding me?". 🙂

Perhaps for the LCVPs, if you haven't found any with complete bottom, you could scratch build the bottom on one print and then cast copies. Alternatively of you're inclined to do so , you could modify the print file. I have to admit that this 3D printer is definitely giving you option.

Just caught up with your postings on this ambitious project.
I’m impressed by the conversion work, George!

I spent the day with my granddaughter, so a really fun day, but not much modeling. I decided to build this conversion as a waterline model, so I started by attaching the thin, red bottom plate. The plate was a little bit longer than the hull, so I had to do a little work to get it to fit flush with the bottom of the hull. I started doing some preliminary measurements to see what I could use to build the new structure aft of the bridge. I also continued my experiments to see what I could get printed on my 3D printer for use on the conversion. I finally found an LCVP that looked good and printed well, as well as a 20mm single that prints well. Hopefully these will all work well on the conversion.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great printing work done, George @gblair
I do hope that especially the 20mm can be detached easily.