These are some photos of my build of the Commanders/Iron Shipwright 1/350 scale kit of the USCGC Cedar WAGL-207. While I am happy with the model I could have done a better job with the camera. I hope you find the photos usable.

A little history - source is the ship's history located on the Official USCG Historian's Office site: The United States Tender Cedar, a sea-going tender, was designed for use in Alaskan waters. Commissioned 30 June 1917, she was the largest tender ever built for the Lighthouse Service measuring 200' 8" in length and 36' 6" in beam. She was the first designed to be equipped with a radio. During World War I, she was acquired by the Navy and operated as a patrol boat. After the war she was returned to the Lighthouse Service. Cedar served out of Ketchikan, Alaska, servicing aids to navigation. During World War II, she was given the designation and hull number of WAGL-207 and was assigned to the Navy operating out of Ketchikan. In 1942 and 1943 she operated in the Aleutian Islands in support of naval operations. After the War she again returned to peacetime duties. In 1947 she was transferred to Kodiak and remained in service until 29 June 1950 when she was decommissioned. She was sold in 1955 to Zidall Explorations, Inc. I received several photos of the Cedar from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office free of charge in response to a request I made which was incredibly generous of them.

The Model:
The ISW kit represents the Cedar in her WW2 fit, with a raised gun platform for the foc'sle deck. I decided to model her in a peacetime fit which is much more colorful than overall gray. The kit really did not require any modification other than omitting the guns and the platform, however I did remove the hull bottom using my Dremel. I received a pre-production sample so it did not include photo-etch, so I used parts from other sets. The ratlines came from the Tom's Modelworks 1/400 scale Titanic set which looked correct in size, although the model is 1/350 scale. They were shortened a bit to fit. The large buoy in the well-deck was scratch-built using photos and drawings I found on the USCG Historian's Office site (http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/collect.html). The latticework is made up of k-gun rack etch trimmed down and glued together to form a square. The crew members and the hull number decals are from L'Arsenal. The lettering on the transom is from a Microscale set. I used Testors British Gulf Armor Light Stone for the buff, as I think it is a close substitute for USCG buff, and, Engine Gray for the decks and standard Black and White for the hull. White Ensign Models Colourcoats Norfolk 65A Anti-Fouling Red was also used. I will admit that I should have read the ship's history more carefully because my nameplate states 1952 and she was decommissioned in 1950!

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