Innehållsförteckning för August 2024 från Model Boats

Super‘Phatic! needs explaining, as it’s a glue which has many benefits, and lots of applications, when model boat building. Whether you’re a traditional scratch builder, kit builder, just like to assemble straight out of the box and sail, or perhaps have repairs you need to undertake, I hope you will be encouraged by this explanation of what Super’Phatic! can do for you. Just like with superglue (CA), you can pre-assemble structures and then apply Super‘Phatic! The difference is that, unlike CA, the bond isn’t instant, so you can continue to manoeuvre and position a joint after application if necessary. You will, however, find porous materials such as wood bond more quickly than they do when using a conventional wood glue. Testing penetration When gluing porous materials, especially balsa, and items…

Following on from the Progress and Carli Prize Draws in the May and July 2024 issues, this month we’re offering you the opportunity to win a preproduction sample of another of the 1970s’ 1:60 scale kits that Billing Boats has been improving and updating ahead of releasing to the trade – this time around, for the tugboat Ymer. Created for the test build stage of the production process, this particular kit may feature slight differences to the ones brought to market, so you will, therefore, be winning something money literally can’t buy! This easy-build kit, which comes with Billing Boats’ newly put together photo manual, will be perfect for those just getting started in the hobby. It will also, however, offer plenty of enjoyment for the more experienced amongst you,…

Warrior was rigged as a conventional three-masted ship – that is, square-rigged on all three. At the time there existed huge prejudice against steam power amongst senior officers in the Royal Navy. Sail had reigned supreme for hundreds of years, and steam was regarded with great suspicion. Apart from anything else, huge quantities of coal were required to be carried and handled, with the consequent coal dust and soot soiling the pristine paintwork and scrubbed teak decks. Coaling a ship was a perennial task, resulting in both the vessel and her crew being saturated in coal dust. New skills were needed among the crew and officers. Engineers and stokers were a novel addition to a ship’s complement. Early steamships suffered reliability problems, so a substantial sailing rig was retained in…

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 Motor minesweepers Further to Mr Jeff Ware’s letter in the May edition about motor minesweepers, my brother and I made a scratch ¼-inch scale model of a motor minesweeper many years ago. After this, Mr Paul Beckly of Sirmar model boat kits bought out a nice model construction kit for one. We both became friends with Paul, and my brother, being a draftsman, actually began to create he modellers’ drawings for several more kits in the range until Paul sadly passed away at an early age. My brother and I also worked on a surviving motor minesweeper that was moored at Cliff on the…

Signals Appledore & Instow Model Yacht Racing Forming part of the annual Appledore & Instow Regatta, the long-established pond yacht races (no R/C entries are permitted) across the Taw and Torridge estuary in North Devon will this year take place on Saturday, August 3. Starting at 11am, to coincide with low tide, these races will be open to all those wishing to compete, and cups and prizes will be awarded to the winners in each of the categories. Entry is free of charge (although all donations will be gratefully received) and there are usually plenty of loan yachts available for those without model boats of their own who want in on the action! Likewise, spectators are very welcome to watch the races from the lifeboat slipway at no cost. Honorary…

HMS Adamant After completing our 1:48 scale HMS X-1 submarine (see the February 2021 edition) my dad and I wanted to build a support vessel to sail with the submarine. In 1:48 scale the choice was rather restrictive unless we wanted a gigantic model of either HMS Medway or HMS Forth, both of which were out of the question as they wouldn’t fit in the van! A smaller vessel needed to be sought. During a visit to the CADMA show in Doncaster we were lucky to chance upon and buy a photo file of Royal Navy support vessels of the 1920s and 1930s, and this included the submarine tender HMS Adamant. Although finished in the grey hues of a warship, interestingly, she had the look of an Edwardian steam yacht!…

Flotsam & Jetsam In a well-known 1848 trial, carefully supervised by the British Admiralty, the paddle steamer Alteco engaged in a tug-of-war with the propeller driven vessel Rattler. Both vessels were of similar size and had the same type of steam engine. The Rattler soon began to show its superiority, and despite the best efforts of the Alteco, it found itself being towed backwards at some 2.8 knots. The results proved once and for all the superiority of the water screw, or propeller, over the paddle wheel as a means of marine propulsion. Except for a few applications where it still clung on to some advantage, such as for shallow-draft river boats, the paddle wheel was, therefore, consigned to the history books. As model boat builders, we need not be…

Steam basics Pt. 155 Our models often share designs, concerns, behaviours and even the basic governing physics of their real-life counterparts. So, despite being miniature replicas we frequently have to consider just what goes in in real sea-going vessels to help us understand how to deal with various aspects – typical examples being ballasting, stablility and propeller performance, to name but but a few. One that isn’t always quite so obvious but is nevertheless a very important factor in all propulsion and drive systems is that of thrust. Consequently, this month I thought I would share some of my own observations from my life at sea as regards how thrust is accommodated in full-sized ships, how this relates to our models, and how we should accommodate it there. Ignoring the…

Cheap ready-to-run radio control boats have been around for years. At some point, most of us will have been tempted, and found ourselves the owner of a pretty toy offering hopeless controls and the running of three-legged donkey. Some kid themselves that they will one day replace the mechanical parts, but generally these are shunted to the back of the workshop in disgrace. All this changes with Heng Long’s little tugboat. Complete with everything required to get on the water, apart from a couple of AA batteries, for under ￡40 this model is far better than it deserves to be for the money. Opening the box, the model obviously requires a little assembly. There are some details to be released from a sprue and clipped in place. The wheelhouse is…

Recently, for the second time in about five years, I found myself purchasing some gears for a model boat project. As I come from an engineering background, finding my way around gear terminology is not a problem for me; indeed, for a long time I taught apprentices how to machine various types of gear, and how to measure/inspect the end results (see Photo 1 – Image courtesy of Brett Lowery, one of my many former apprentices). I am hoping, therefore, that imparting some of this knowledge to others who may find themselves looking to make use of gears for a model boat project may prove helpful – nothing too heavy, just the very basics. What are gears used for? As far as model boat builders are concerned, gears have four…

Way back in the mists of time (or to be more precise, the June 2004 issue of Model Boats) a Glynn Guest free plan was published for an all-balsa tunnel hull hydroplane called Mosquito. With my help, one of my grandsons and his friend built one each. They found the performance ‘a bit disappointing’ (their words!). After much experimenting with their boats, we found that they would benefit from using SC batteries, rather than the AA batteries used up to that point. Space, however, was rather limited for installing SC cells, so I scanned the plans into my computer and scaled them up to 110%. From these I built myself a sized-up example from balsa and the performance improved no end (see Photo 1).AsIamnot really a fan of balsa from…

● FREE PULL-OUT PLAN & build guide for this charming little Maltese fishing boat model ● ALONG CAME A SPIDER… The first leg of a two-part Karakurt Missile Corvette modelling mission ● AN CAILIN ALAINN – PART 1 The story of a gorgeous scaled-down Galway hooker, told in picture-led, step-by-step format PLUS A thematically varied selection of feature-length articles, all your favourite regular pages – including Your Models, 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 September 2024 issue,…