Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2022 i Model Boats

I’m pretty sure this article will raise a few eyebrows, but I’m not about to make any excuses for what follows. Designed for easy mass production by me and my fellow Bushy Park boaters, this a build aimed at providing fun, fun, and yet more fun – not just for modellers but for the enthusiastic onlookers who gather round the jetties/ponds/lakes/etc on a Sunday morning (pandemics permitting, of course). You all know what a Bumper Car, or ‘Dodgem’, is; no doubt most of you will have been on one at some time or other. The original fairground concept was that these cars were supposed to refrain from contact while being driven around a track, hence the term ‘Dodgem’, but where’s the fun in that, eh? Not surprisingly, then, they soon…

Memory Lane This month’s smaller than usual feature (a feature-ette maybe!) concerns the once very popular products of a firm known as C&L Developments (trading as Climax Ltd) of Weybridge, the leading light of which was an engineer called Peter Cabrol. When I first began building models back in 1963, I was experimenting with my own radio gear, using designs found in books and magazines (like the then brand-new RCM&E). Fortunately, as I was then apprenticed within the UK radio industry, I had lots of support and encouragement from the design engineers I was placed under. I think these enlightened men reasoned that if a youngster was actually interested in what he was studying at college, progress would be quicker – and they were quite right! In those days there…

Letters can either be forwarded via email to editor@modelboats.co.uk or via post to Readers’ Letters, Mortons Media Group, Media Centre, Morton Way, Horncastle, Lincs LN9 6JR All buns glazing! Hello from Rawdon MBC, Leeds! Having read the interesting feature by Richard Dyer in the August issue of MB, I noticed his reference to a lack of a card kit of the Bismarck. Well, if your readers have a taste for this impressive vessel, they may do well to visit Rawdon MBC, where the nearby village bakery will, each Saturday, have a treat in store for them: namely, a Bismarck Bun – see photo, not to scale! This magnificent delight has some substantial features, including armour icing with almond flake shielding to the top deck; fore and aft mounted attack cherries;…

New from Vanguard Models Vanguard Models’ 1:64 scale kit for the Barking Fish Carrier, Ranger, is due for release in late September/early October. This will be the last addition to Vanguards’ Fishing Vessels from the British Isles series for the foreseeable future, as the company now plans to shift its focus to larger period ships. When the real Ranger was built, back in 1864, measuring in at 74ft 3ins, she represents a typical example of her kind. Barking Fish Carriers could sail to windward faster than any vessel then afloat – and with a cargo as perishable as fish, minutes counted. Those that survived into the steam age enjoyed new careers as fast yachts. Priced at £179, the kit (Ref. VM/11) will feature: * Laser cut materials* A double planked…

Of all the books I recall from childhood, including Rupert Bear, Biggles and The Famous Five stories, my favourite was Swallows and Amazons. Published in July 1930, Swallows and Amazons was written by Arthur Ransome. The story is set in the Lake District during the summer of 1929 and centres around two families of children, the Walker family – the ‘Swallows’ and the Blackett family – the ‘Amazons’, and the adventures they have in their small sailing dinghies. It’s a great childhood romp and the inspiration for my latest sailing boat model, which I’ve named Orphan – the reason for which will become apparent as you read on…. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin… My story starts on a grey overcast morning as I set out for the Mayhem…

Whether you’re on a modeller working within the confines of a very restricted budget, looking to develop or hone your skills, or perhaps simply on the hunt for your next challenge, there are now lots of old, often long forgotten, model boats/ships that can be picked up on the second-hand market. You will often see these restoration projects offered for sale at very reasonable prices on club event stalls or listed on various online auction sites, etc. As explained in Part 1, I decided that rather just embark on a restoration, I would have a go at transforming one of these old timers into something completely new and different. I am so glad I did as, in the process, I have learned so much. I set myself a modest competition…

After a few months of following a build project, I thought it might be appropriate to get back to a topic close to all our hearts, namely the subject of model boilers. Specifically, this month’s topic was prompted by a recent conversation I had with a member of a club that I’ve not been to but that I know operate steam models, so I wanted to make contact with their steam tester, mainly to arrange getting my own models tested, which I am obviously unable to do. As previously mentioned in Boiler Room, while you have to be a member of an affiliated club, it is possible to get a boiler tested at another club. The response I received from this particular club was that they didn’t have a resident…

In 2004, Robbe, the well-respected German model manufacturer, brought out its Type XXI U-boat kit, which featured the same dynamic dive system used for the previous submarine in its range, the U47. For those you unfamiliar with the basics of working submarine models, diving systems can be either dynamic or static. The former is built to be positively buoyant and will float even if its ballast tank, if it has one, becomes completely flooded. It therefore relies on forward motion and correctly positioned planes to drive it beneath the surface (rather like an aeroplane needs to gather speed along a runway before it can take to the sky). Once submerged, should that forward motion cease the model will, usually, surface again. Static diving, which, as the name suggests, permits the…

Flotsam & Jetsam “Such was the fame and popularity of his boats that Chris-Craft, the name he adopted for his company in 1924, subsequently appeared in some dictionaries as a synonym for pleasure craft” Christopher Columbus Smith started out in business by carving duck decoys (sometimes used in waterfowl hunting). Before the 19th century had drawn to a close, however, he’d established the Smith Boat House on the St. Clair River at Algonac, 65 kilometres from Detroit, Michigan, and set it on a course to becoming the world’s largest producer of wooden boats. Such was the fame and popularity of his boats that Chris-Craft, the name he adopted for his company in 1924, subsequently appeared in some dictionaries as a synonym for pleasure craft. Construction Chris-Craft’s “all mahogany boats” were…

Nonsuch Some time ago I built a Zulu (as featured in Model Boats). Researching the history of these vessels proved interesting. It’s rumoured that the design for the Zulu came about when a fisherman from Lossiemouth married a lass from Moray Firth and an agreement couldn’t reached about whether the new family fishing boat planned should be based on a Fifie or a Scaffie. The eventual comprise was that the bow would be based on a Fifie but the stern on a Scaffie – a very strange concept and yet the new vessel (which they christened, rather appropriately, the Nonsuch) proved a great success and more like her were built. I know a motorised version, the Mighty Zulu, was featured as a free plan (from Jim Pottinger) in the February…