Innehållsförteckning för February 2023 från Model Boats

Firstly, I must invite you to join me in a fond farewell salute Richard Dyer, Model Boats’ long-serving and highly talented designer, who leaves the mag this month with our warmest wishes for a very happy and well-deserved early retirement, along with much gratitude for all his wonderful work over the years. As many of you will be aware, Richard is an avid modeller himself, so who knows, perhaps after a bit of time off for good behaviour we may see some of his work featured in future editions of Model Boats. I do hope so, as he’s always been a joy to work with and I will forever be in his debt for helping me find my sea legs when I was first asked to take over as editor…

This month, courtesy of the kind folks at Hornby Hobbies, we’re able to offer you a chance to try out some of the new and improved products in the Humbrol range free of charge, as we’ve got two fantastic goody bags to give away. Please note, the images showh here feature a representative selection only, rather than the exact contents of each goody bag, but both will include: ■ Sanding pads■ Spray primer■ A selection of acrylic paints■ Masking tape■ A set of paint brushes■ A tub of texturizing ‘Smart Mud’ Washes, and weathering (mud, sand and dust) and aging (rust, primer and soot) powders■ A bottle of chipping and scratching agentSo, don’t miss this opportunity to start working on achieving the best possible finish! HOW TO ENTER To be…

Ben My Chree I recently purchased this 1966 copy of ‘Model Boats’ on eBay as I was drawn to the article on HMS Engadine. My interest is in a sister ship to the Engadine, HMS Ben My Chree, an Isle Man steamer taken up by the Royal Navy in World War I. She was also converted into a seaplane carrier, my great grandfather served aboard her up to her sinking in 1917. The article in this issue inspired me to ’have a go’ at scratch building the BMC, loosely based on the Engadine plans in the article. I am sending you a photo of the end result, but I intend building another (1/700) drawing on the lessons learnt during this first attempt. However, the last paragraph of the 1966 article…

Memory Lane Following on from my last instalment of Memory Lane, which focused on a brace of small and very successful model diesel engines (see the December 2022 issue of Model Boats), this month we shall be taking a look at the work of a company that was once the most famous of all the early radio control makers, Orbit electronics, originally based in Garden Grove, and, later, Santa Ana, both locations being in Southern California. History and background Orbit’s founding fathers were the Dunham brothers – Robert (Bob) Dunham being a successful early experimenter with vibrating reed, multi-channel control systems, as well as a world champion R/C aerobatics pilot. The vibrating reed method of control, based on some engineering elements from old style telephone exchanges, had been essentially invented…

The Pierce Carlson Collection Special Auction Services February 28, 2023, Toys for the Collector sale will include Part 1 of a large collection of waterline model ships amassed by the late Pierce Carlson. Showcased here are just a few of the classic 1-inch to 100ft Bassett-Lowke waterline ships due to go under hammer alongside models from various other British and German makers, but we thoroughly recommend browsing the entire catalogue, which can be viewed online at www.specialauction-services.com two-three weeks ahead of the sale date. Explaining the significance of the collection amassed by the late Pierce Carlson, Hugo Marsh, Director at Special Auction Services, tells us: “For several decades, Pierce was a very well-known and well-liked feature of the vintage toy and train collecting world. He had numerous friends in the…

Sometimes, you simply find yourself making about-turns, and this is the story of one of mine… It was while undertaking the long process of building a plank on frame model motor boat that it dawned on me that what I really wanted to achieve was the completion sailing boat that I could get out on the water by the summer, and that if I continued on my then current course that just wasn’t going to be possible. With these thoughts in my head, I began browsing You Tube for inspiration and came across some video footage featuring a cute little bear in a sailing schooner, with a mug in one hand and the other on the ship’s wheel, all accompanied by a catchy little tune in the background. I was…

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat… The American Turtle was the world’s first submersible vessel with a documented record of use in combat. It was built in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching an explosive charge mine with a clockwork detonator to docked ships, intended for use against Royal Navy vessels occupying American harbours during the American War of Independence. In 1776, several attempt to affix explosives to the undersides of British warships in New York Harbour were made by a Sgt Lee were made using Turtle.. All failed (*including the attempted attack on HMS Eagle – see box out), and her transport ship was sunk later that year by the British with the submersible aboard. Bushnell eventually claimed to have recovered the machine, but…

In Model Boats Magazine, January 2023 edition, we had a brief look in Test Bench at a new steam plant from Miniature Steam Models, its Econo Plant, more specifically the Avon-engined plant. One of the main drivers behind this project was that when we get to the much smaller models that we might want to put a steam plant into, the search for a much more compact unit tends to steer us towards, say, a Mamod, Wilesco or a Tony Green Steam Unit plant. All of these do the job perfectly well, but they don’t have the arguable advantage of being gas-powered. Up until the development of the Miniature Steam Models’ Econo Plant, gas-powered plants at this size have just not been readily available. After a brief overview of the…