Innehållsförteckning för July 2023 från Model Boats

It had to be done. Having made some Dalek tops for the bumper boats (Earth date January 2023 Model Boats), it seemed only right that some opposition was forthcoming, and WHO better than the Doctor in his TARDIS? OK, the doctor is not visible, but the iconic blue box is all we really need. Unfortunately, the TARDIS cannot be to scale viz the Daleks as it would have to be rather large, but it’s not so far off Barbie size. Plans stolen from Gallifrey That`s the Doctor’s home planet for those not keeping up, but fortunately we don’t have to burgle a planet far, far away as Earth’s internet is a mine of useful information and there are numerous images available to use as points of reference. I was lucky…

The aim of this article is to assist with the identification of an old motor that you may either come across or see for sale on eBay, and to help explain where it fits in the Taycol range. Please bear in mind that these motors underwent many detail changes over their years in production, including (but by no means limited to) whether the field laminations were painted or not and their colour, the materials used for the mounting brackets, assembly hardware (steel or brass) and bearing caps (brass or plastic), and so on. As a result, any motor you have may differ in these details, but the basic type should be readily identifiable. Star The Star low power 4.5-9-volt permanent magnet motor capitalised on Taycol’s 1948 patent for an integral…

Mike’s marvelous builds Having long enjoyed other’s submissions in the Your Models section of the magazine, I am sending you photos of some of the models I have built over the years, which include a 1:24 scale Fairmile B built on a Christian Capurro hull, HMS Vega built to 1:48 scale on a Sirmar V&W hull, a Deans Marine MGB, the Manchester Ship Canal tug Badger built on a modified Canning from Mountfleet Models’ hull and last, but not least, my interpretation of Revell’s infamous HMS Snowberry. I’ve portrayed Snowberry in ‘fresh from painters’ condition, as before the ravages of war really set in ships would have been kept spotlessly clean as a matter of routine. I remember reading there had initially been some scepticism about how bright that scheme…

New from Model Art Miniatures Industrial model making company Model Art Studios (www.modelartstudios.co.uk) has announced the launch of new range of 1:76 scale waterline ships/boats, complementary buildings and harbour installation components. Developed and produced entirely in the UK, all the items in this Model Art Miniatures branded range will be made available in both kit and ready assembled/pre-painted form. As moulds are renewed, the certificates of authenticity issued with each product (in kit or finished form) will reflect the limited number and nature of each mould’s production run. Model maker Duncan Howarth, whose career has spanned 35 years and encompassed countless commercial/industrial models and the publication of numerous subject-related books and magazine articles, explains: “Being an illustrator and industrial artist/designer I have always been captivated by scale models/dioramas, so being…

Double take at the lake Searching around for a winter scratch-building project I stumbled onto the Amphicar. This was an amphibious car built in Germany in small numbers in the early 1960s (see Photo 1); most were exported to the US. Contemporary reviews said it was neither a very good car nor was it a very good boat, but it was a boon for anyone living on a small island! I wanted a project that was ‘a bit different’ and one that would throw up design and constructional problems in need of solving; in this regard the build certainly did not disappoint. I fished around on the internet for plans and information and there was sufficient available to make a scale model, and yet more poking around on the social…

Free Plan I must confess to having a fondness for models of warships, especially destroyers. These were the first types of model boats I built, their appeal stemming from the fact that they always seem to be doing something purposeful, even when sailing a random course on the water. Over the ensuing years I’ve built numerous models based on British and American destroyers and, occasionally, ones from other navies, too. A model taking inspiration from a Russian class, therefore,was a tempting proposition when looking to add something a little different to my fleet. The result was this model, based upon the Russian Type 7U destroyers in service during World War II. She is built to a scale of approximately 1:140, which produces a model length of 32 inches (81cm) and…

Last month we had a look at drilling and this month we’re going to have a brief look at another common manual workshop process: filing. Both drilling and filing have been covered before Boiler Room, but not since 2014, so I genuinely feel they merit revisiting, as so often ‘bread and butter’ tasks such as these aren’t given the attention they deserve. I’m a great fan of addressing the basics, particularly in the workshop, as we seem to have become so wrapped up in technology and so willing to spend significant amounts of money on all sorts of machine tools that I fear we’re at risk of forgetting just how useful the traditional manual processes can be. I was very lucky to have gone through an apprenticeship (in the latter…

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 Dunkirk spirit On Friday, May 5, 2023, to mark the occasion of the Coronation of King Charles III, the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships held a gathering of boats (of all shapes and sizes) which took part in the evacuation of British Expeditionary Forces’ troops from the beach of Dunkirk in May 1940. Some 31 vessels made the trip from up and down the river Thames (there are many more craft owned by members of this Association, many of them currently being restored to their former glory – a feat not for the feint-hearted). I was delighted to finally meet the owner and skipper…

Adventures in modelling After 70 odd years of model boat building, consisting of both power and scale, scratch built and kits, and with most equipped for radio control, I’ve probably built enough vessels to start my own private navy! Because I am one of those modellers who enjoys the building more than the operating (although I raced my own designed I.C. power boats for many years) I get bored very quickly when I don’t have a project on the go, so a constant problem (not least to keep me out of my long-suffering wife’s hair) is what to build next. I was, therefore, intrigued by the interview with Billing Boats run in this magazine last year, explaining how the company has updated its kit manufacturing process to incorporate the very…

Loose lips… This is the tale of a ship – well, a model of a ship, and one many of you will be familiar with. I am referring to the 1:72 scale Flower Class Corvette HMCS Snowberry, originally released as a kit by Matchbox and later by Revell. This kit builds to a nicely sized model and when converted to a working vessel looks rather fine on the water, too – but what can be done with an example that has well and truly passed its sell by date? It could, of course, be stripped down for parts, but once beyond economic salvage it’s most likely to simply end up in the bin. This was the prospect that seemed to be facing my desperately tired old Matchbox version, which had…

I guess that there’s a fine line between collecting and hoarding. Maybe a ‘collector’ has nice items shown off in posh display cabinets, while a ‘hoarder’ has boxes filled with ‘may come in useful’ bits and bobs? But if your aim is to end up with a nice collection of the former type without spending truckloads of cash then you’re going to need to restore less than perfect R/C systems (or engines) as a first step, and to accomplish this you’re going to need a reserve of spare parts. In other words, you’ll need to build up a stock. As regular readers will know by now, my own enthusiasm radio wise is for American equipment from the 1970s (the opposite of my engine interest, which is for British diesels). American…