Innehållsförteckning för April 2022 från Model Boats

Easy-build R/C fishing boat This inexpensive but comprehensive kit for the 1:25 German fishing boat Möwe 2 (which translates into English as Seagull) is ideally suited to anyone considering having a go at building their first radio-control model – or, as in my case, wanting to build an R/C model from a kit that didn’t cost much or take years to build, unlike the World War II warship I’d previously tackled! This particular kit (see Photo 1) is one of a series produced by Aero-Naut, who also offer four larger, and more detailed Fischkutter kits. CenturyUK also offers a more detailed, Fischkutter kit, which regular readers will remember having been featured as a prize in January 2022 issue of Model Boats. “Built straight from the box, it makes for a…

Battleship first This is my first ever model boat! After looking at all the kits on the shelf during a trip to Hobby City at Christmas, I got this battleship. It’s taken a lot of time to build, and I’ve also painted a special base to display it on, so I’d be very happy if you could include it in the ‘Your Models’ section. LOGAN FLANAGAN, AGE 10 NEW ZEALAND Wow – what an amazing job you’ve done, Logan! Not only does your battleship look beautifully built and detailed but I absolutely love the way you’ve created that wonderful water effect on the display base. I may be wrong, as I’ve only been editor of the title for a couple of years, but I think you may just…

Signals If you have a news story for these pages, please contact the Editor, Lindsey Amrani, via e-mail at editor@modelboats.co.uk Alternatively, pick up the phone and call 01689 869840 BUY THE BOOK Warships in the Baltic Campaign, 1918-20 Due for release on April 28, 2022, this new book, penned by Angus Konstam and illustrated by Adam Tooby, and published in paperback format, takes a fascinating look at the British naval intervention in the Baltic in 1918-20, and at the British, Soviet and Baltic nationalist fleets that fought. On November 26, 1918, just over two weeks after the end of World War I, five British light cruisers left Scotland, bound for the Baltic. They would form the core of a hastily assembled Allied naval force, the mission of which was to…

Orpheus in the Modelling World There is something of a trend for trying Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) units as a means of propulsion at our pond just lately. They have been used to power everything from speedboat hulls to foil born craft, and from hovercraft to skimmers. There is, however, an iconic vehicle for which an EDF seems ideally suited: Donald Campbell`s K7 Bluebird. Bluebird K7 was a jet-engined hydroplane, which Donald Campbell used to set seven world water speed records between 1955 and 1967, during which time the record was raised from 178 miles per hour to 276 miles per hour. Sadly, though, in January 1967, he was killed in an accident on Coniston Water in a modified K7 while making a bid for his eighth record. Over the…

Integrated modelling After finishing the scratch-built USS Missouri, BB63, I moved onto my next scratch-built project, the IJN [Imperial Japanese Navy] Yamato in 1945 configuration, a version of this formidable battleship I find particularly interesting due to the high number of armaments carried. To put a 21st Century twist on this build, I decided to have a go at 3D printing as many parts as I could. I first created various parts using CAD software. The CAD files were then converted into an STL file, which once placed into the 3D Printer software was converted into the 3D machine software codes necessary to operate the 3D printing machine. These parts formed the lion’s share of the superstructure and all the gun turrets. I did, however, make use of my lathe…

Steam basics Pt.127 If you refer back to Boiler Room Pt. 118 in the July 2021 edition of Model Boats magazine you’ll see an Automatic Boiler Controller produced by Denes Designs being tested. New on the scene, this company, run by a software design engineer, has been producing some very innovative products at a commendable rate, so I was delighted when recently approached to test one of the latest products it has developed and brought to market. The item in question is an electronic control device, which has been designed to combine the two functions of a valve operated engine, namely speed control and reversing. Currently, it’s the norm to use different servos for these two functions, with each being operated by a separate channel on the transmitter. Usually, a…

Gather round… I could forgive anyone for taking one quick look at the photos in this feature and immediately forming the words “What on earth is that?”. Well, for those of you unfamiliar with her, the Vitse-Admiral Popov was a monitor built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1870s. She was one of the most unusual warships ever constructed, and still survives in popular naval myth as one of the worst ever built! Her hull was circular to reduce draught, while also allowing her to carry much more armour and a heavier armament than other ships of the same size. Having playing a minor role in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, she was later, in 1892, reclassified as a coast-defense ironclad. Finally being decommissioned in 1903, she was, in…

Having been built to 1:12 scale, Ashmead is a sizeable and very weighty model, so getting her to the water meant that I’d need a safe and spacious vehicle in which to transport her. My car simply didn’t fit the bill and I realised I needed a van of some sort, and ideally something that offered decent suspension for a comfortable ride even before the 170kg of model and gear were loaded in. So, a VW camper van was procured secondhand, which we now use for its intended purpose (as a camper) in the summer but come winter serves as model mover. Ashmead’s trolley also needed some thinking about. The answer, however, proved to a load deck lifted at one end above the chassis, using gas struts to come level…

That sinking feeling... One modeller’s humorous account of the highs and lows of his first attempt at water ballasting Perfecting Penang The challenging build behind this beautiful Barque A FREE LCT 7074 PLAN PLUS Part 1 of a detailed guide to building your own very own model of this D-Day survivor PLUS A thematically varied selection of feature-length articles, all your favourite regular pages – including Your Letters, news, reviews, and lots more... (Please note: content may be subject to change) You will find more about the exciting content coming next, features of particular interest you may have missed in past editions and details of the very latest subscription offers on our website at www.modelboats.co.uk You can, of course, order you copy of the May 2022 issue, which goes on…