R/C Scale Model Boats

[Guest]

Another couple of nice scale models. First up is a completely scratch built model by an amazing modeller who is an ex RFA Deck Officer, now retired. All his models are completely scratch built from plans, this one being built from a plan of the SS Leona, simple found in a book. He converted the ship to the SS General Havelock, a general purpose inshore trader found around the North East Coast early in the 1900s.

The model is amazing and could be in a museum and to me captures the beauty of ships of around that time. He is now slowing down his building dramatically due to weakening eyesight and wanted to make some space so he offered the General to me. It currently has no internals so it needs a new motor and R/C gear fitting and carefull reballastig to get her to sail on her marks. I am really looking forward to getting it back on the water though.

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Next is one of the very popular old Aerokits models that were verywhere in the 50s and 60s. This one has been beautifully refurbished by an extreemly competent modeller from my boat club and has changed hands a couple of times since then. It is not true scale as she only has a single prop but above the water is is very accurate to the RAF fire tenders used during and just after the war. It is fitted with a brushless motor and two Tamiya type battery packs so she really flies for around half an hour. It also has a cooling pump circulating cooling water around the motor and the speed controller. A lot of modellers also make the fire hydrants shoot water out but this one doesn't. I have always wanted to get around to adding more detail to the model.

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[Guest]

Scratch build....is amazing!!!

There are some magnificent modelers out there

[Guest]

This model is a Model Slipways kit of the Envoy class tug HMS Enigma. It is a fibreglass hull with vac formed superstructure enhanced with white metal fittings.

I bought it built with no internals so fitted it out with R/C gear and started to add deck detail and some figures. I intend weathering it one day and adding a lot more deck detail. It is a very manoeuvrable model and came second in a steering competition the first time i put it in the water.

Inside there is a smoke generator of the water vapour type. It is powered by a 12v motor and uses a large bike battery of the 12 v 7 ah type so will go all morning and still have plenty left. I quite often leave it on the water all morning and switch the radio over to it when I want to move it.

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[Guest]

This was the model that started me off in model boating a few years ago. It is a Dean's marine kit of HMS Cossack and consists of a fibreglass hull with plasticard superstructure and vac formed parts such as boats and funnels. The detail is then a combination of resin and white metal fittings.

It has a very old smoke generator in it of the heated oil type and a destroyer klaxon sound. I learned a lot from this model as regards the fitting out internally and progressing the external look. I never actually finished it as the boats never really seemed up to scratch. One day I might just finish it off.

I bought the model partly built, as I do with a lot of models, as I simply don't have the time to build them all myself.

This allows me time to progress my own build whilst getting some boats on the water for a bit of a sail on a Sunday morning. My own model has now taken nearly ten years and still isn't finished so I think it was probably a sound philosophy!!

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[flyjoe180]

Superb boats chaps.

[Guest]

Impressive and superb collection Richard.

[Guest]

Loverly collection

[Guest]

Next up is one of my favourite models. I bought it from a self confessed first time modeller who had made a reasonable job of putting it together but had made some very basic stability mistakes. She started off looking like this:

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My own mistake was not to try it out in the bath and, to cut a long story short she ended up sinking!! As luck would have it I managed to find it with a grappling hook and retrieved the model with one or two parts missing. The mising parts were replaced with a combination of scratch building, upgraded aftermarket resin bits and some original bits. I decided as this particular tug spent some time in the service of the navy that I would build her as she would ahve looked at the time. The first step was to complete repairs, re-rig the model and repaint her in grey. I deliberately brush painted to give suitable texture and to allow some of the undercolours to show thorough:

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The next job was to add some weathering which basically entailed a mixture of dark brown and black washes and rust streaks strategically placed at suitable areas on the hull. A smoke stain was also applied:

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Next I added a lot of detail to the aft deck such as coiled up wire ropes, coiled up hemp ropes, oil drums and packing cases etc. This was all added to the engine casing so it all lifted off as one piece. I aslo fitted and rigged the port side lifeboat. The starboard one wasn't in stock so I had to wait for a while for it

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Just a comparrison one day with another example of the original colour scheme:

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Finally the starboard boat arrived and was duly weathered, fitted and rigged and a couple of period scale navy officers were added to the flying bridge to give it a bit of life.

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[Guest]

Great stroke of luck recovering that sunken Tug Richard! The rework on it looks awesome!

[Guest]

Wow! This boat has his "history"...

I like the new look Richard, looks a great work.

Cheers

Polux

[Guest]

Thanks gents.

The reason for her sinking in the first place was

A) Too much ballast making her too low in the water

B) No freeing ports on the main deck trapping any water there.

C) Far too low coatings around the deck openings meaning that any water on deck would spill inside the model.

D) A much too powerful motor which pushed the bow down under load.

Finally I was chatting to a young lad and wasn't paying attention. One minute the bow looked unusually low, the next the stern was sticking up in the air!!

I was't going to bother trying to recover it but the club persuaded me to get the club dinghy out and go fishing. I was amazed that I did recover it with only a few bits missing such as one boat with davit's, the stern grating and a few other small pieces. Amazingly when I pulled it out of the water the motor was still turning! That motor is still in it now and still working perfectly! I lost a brand new speed controller and a new battery but it could have been a lot worse.

As for the refurbishment I have seen plenty of examples of this model around as it is very popular but I have never seen another in navy guise. I am regularly asked what it is and when I tell them it is a Caldercraft Joffre they are usually surprised. Physically there is no change, it is simply a paint job. The new lifeboats are by Quaycraft and are beautiful resin after market items which you can buy for a lot of model ship applications and are invariably better than the supplied ones.

The only bits left to do are some fore and aft fenders, maybe another couple of civilian figures on deck and maybe a bit more gentle weathering but, as always with these things it is best to leave it to see how you feel about it as it is so easy to do too much.

[Guest]

You have some really nice boats there Richard.

[Guest]

Another 1/48th scale naval vessel is this old Sirmar kit of a Minesweeper. This one is going to get a good dose of weathering one day as well as some deck detail and clutter and a few naval figures around the decks, but in the meantime it looks good with the naval tugs I have in the same scale. It was built by a chap called Paul Simpson who was running Sirmar at the time but has since sold the business on.

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[Guest]

Yet another naval tug, this time a WW1 example. The kit is again in 1/48th scale and is of the tug Resolve. This was actually a big deep sea steam tug. The model was originally built to have a steam plant in it but the builder decided to make it an electric model. I bought the model and the steam plant but I'm not going to fit it as it would be far too difficult to fit the steam plant after the model has been finished. I have since stripped the insides and will one day get to refitting it internally as well as the usual weathering and detailing outside.

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[Guest]

I like the look of the twin stacks on that Tug,intresting subject Richard. At 1/48 scale it must be fairly good sized?