Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i Model Boats

Crow’s nest Card model publisher JSC started 2022 in some style with the release of its latest kit and it’s a naval subject too! JSC’s new ‘hatchling’ is a 1:400 scale waterline model of the Royal Navy Sloop HMS Starling. Starling (pennant number U66) was a modified Black Swan class sloop. She was launched on October 14, 1942 and was commissioned on April 1, 1943. Starling was employed in an anti-submarine role and saw extensive action during the Battle of the Atlantic; indeed, Starling was credited with, or had a hand in, the destruction of 14 U-boats during World War II making her the Royal Navy’s most successful anti-submarine vessel. It’s an open book As noted above Starling had a dramatic service history, with her daring exploits making her a…

Water ballasting I can’t quite believe I’m writing an article advocating the ‘sinking’ of boats, but bear with me, as all will be explained… The inspiration for the project I’m about to share details of came about while watching the antics of my fellow club member, Bill. Bill’s passion is modelling and operating submarines and each week he appears pondside pushing a child’s ‘buggy’, onto which is strapped one of his incredible creations. This will be lowered into the water and, with careful operation of the transmitter, will gently be sunk to periscope level. Amazing! It’s a fairly regular occurrence, however, for one of Bill’s subs to disappear below the surface and for nobody, including him, to have the slightest idea of where it is. Bill’s admirable response to such…

Memory Lane There can be few vintage power boaters (or, indeed, flyers), who are not interested in engines. All of the first model 2-strokes were spark ignition units running on petrol/oil, and these units are much collected today. Famous American makes include the Brown ‘Junior’, Bunch, Super Cyclone and the almost legendary Dooling and McCoy racing engine marques, some of these still being in vintage class usage. Any of these engines will cost you serious money today and are not for those of us collecting on any sort of a budget. “The Frog ‘500’ was a straightforward 5cc engine for its time; ‘’easy to operate’’ probably sums it up nicely, as it really was, unlike the 5cc ETA ‘29’, never a racing engine” Twin sisters: the Frog 500 glow and…

Signals If you have a news story for these pages, please contact the Editor, Lindsey Amrani, via e-mail at modelboats@mortons.co.uk MODEL BOATS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP MyTimeMedia Ltd has announced the sale of four of its brands to Mortons Media Group Ltd with immediate effect. All four magazines, Model Boats, RCM&E, Model Engineer and Model Engineers’ Workshop, will continue to be led by their existing editors. Owen Davies, MyTimeMedia’s Chief Executive explains: “We have owned these magazines for over 15 years but, with our business focus changing within the group, we have concluded that the titles’ future plans are best served by new ownership where there is portfolio scale to benefit and add value to these titles. “I’m very confident that Mortons Media with its long-term approach to publishing is a…

As a lad I was inspired by the dash and bravery of the crews of the Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) and Motor Launches so vividly displayed by paintings, photographs and narrative in Peter Scott’s book of The Battle of the Narrow Seas. In particular, the Vosper 70ft MTBs were a magnificent sight under full power, lifting their bows as they approached the plane, with the foaming wash swirling astern in their wake (see Photo 1). Over the years I had given my grandsons off the shelf R/C models of a Severn class lifeboat, a destroyer and an aircraft carrier. However, they chugged along like broads’ cruisers, failed to inspire or just plain sank. I therefore undertook the challenge to build them a boat that did none of these. John Lambert…

Free Plan I’ve been modelling the World War II landing craft used in the Normandy landings in 1944 for over 20 years now. Initially, sources of information were very limited, but gradually this situation improved. Nowadays there are even plastic kits of the smaller types, which can be converted to accommodate radio control; indeed, I have several different working examples in my own fleet. Throughout all this, I’d always assumed I was unlikely to ever come across a real example of the larger Landing Craft Tank type. These LCTs, which headed the initial assault, were between 100 and 200 feet long and are my particular favourites. So, in August 2020 I was delighted to see the TV coverage of LCT 7074, freshly painted in blue and white camouflage, moving slowly…

A barque with bite! “The build had been started several decades ago… in about 1935.” In 2020 I was approached by Simon Adams of Southampton, who was in possession of a part-built scale model of the barque Penang. The build had been started several decades ago by his father, in about 1935. Like myself, Simon is an ex- seafarer, who served as an engineer aboard the Royal Mail line during the 1960s, around the same time as I served as a cadet for the Ellerman line. So, when he asked me if I would be interested in taking on the task of finishing the model for him, I agreed. Prototype history Built in 1905 by the shipbuilder Rickmers in Bremerhaven (Germany) to its own specifications, Penang was originally known as…

Steam basics Pt.128 I was having a chat recently with a fellow steam modeller and the subject eventually came around to combustion. He believed that it was mainly related to internal combustion engines and had nothing to do with a gas fired model boiler. I can see where he is coming from, as most of us have grown up with playing around with carburettors on motorcycles and petrol-engined lawn mowers, etc, and the lovely clean gas that we use in our model boilers can only be lit and enjoyed, so what has combustion got to do with us? Well, actually, quite a lot. Without looking up the precise dictionary definition of combustion, which invariably might only confuse the issue, my own understanding of combustion is the burning of a fuel…

Your next modelling project? Virgin Voyages’ new cruise ship Valiant Lady made a spectacular debut on the River Thames as she was welcomed by a tug firing water into the air in a ‘V’ shaped salute, imitating the Virgin logo, before berthing at London International Cruise Terminal at Tilbury on the Thames on March 10. Her visit to the Thames was part of a promotional tour to introduce the new cruise ship to the travel industry and press. The ship then left London on Saturday, March 12 bound for Liverpool. Valiant Lady is the second addition to Virgin Voyages’ fleet, joining Scarlet Lady. Like her sister ship, Valiant Lady is certainly pushing the envelope of maritime architecture with her unusual appearance and contemporary ‘adult-by-design’ interiors. The designer’s choice of superstructure…

HMCS Omicron In 2020 I started on a scratch design and build ‘steam punk’ catfish ‘hybrid’ submarine. As all of the construction took place during the global pandemic, I decided to name her HMCS (Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship) Omicron. She is roughly scaled to 1:32 and measures approximately 860 mm in length, 280 mm across her beam and 530 mm in height. I based my design on a picture of a real catfish and photos of ‘steam punk’ sculptures available on the internet. I determined her overall size and shape keeping in mind that I wanted a boat that would weight no more the 25 pounds when fully ballasted. I didn’t want to use the conventional plank on frame construction method due to the complex contouring of the hull, so…

All hands on deck! FANTASTIC FIVE I am sending you photographs of some of my recently completed builds. My MiniFolkboats represent the full-size version, at 1:8 scale being approximately 1 meter long and weighing 5kg each. They are well balanced and have friendly sailing characteristics, while also having plenty of pace. HMS Burdock, a Flower Class Corvette, built from a Revell 1:72 kit, was one of my ‘lockdown’ projects. Her striking ‘Dazzle’ scheme was used in the South Atlantic, where amongst the icebergs and the low light she was well hidden. Another ‘lockdown’ project was the MFV Ocean Crest, built from an obsolete kit found on eBay. The MFV Ocean Class of 65ft purpose-built vessels were used as fleet tenders during World War II and later sold off into the…

Letters can either be forwarded via email to modelboats@mortons.co.uk or via post to Readers’ Letters, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR FORTHCOMING MODELS INSIGHT As a staunch follower of Chris Watton-designed kits, there is going to be a problem for me, and I suspect others, later this year… Which will be on sale first Amati’s Victory or Vanguard’s Indefatigable? Have you any inside information that you could share with your readers? RON HOSKINS EMAIL I’ve spoken with Chris and while he cannot comment on the time frame for the release of the Victory model he designed for Amati, he can reveal he is currently working on his own 1:12 scale Vanguards’ kit for HMS Indefatigable and hopes to have this ready for launch at some…