Innehållsförteckning för August 2025 från Model Boats

This is the world’s smallest aircraft carrier. It’s a model of a vessel with a flat top carrying an aircraft, so it’s an aircraft carrier, I don’t care what anyone says! The plane can land on its deck, and make a rolling take-off from it (OK, admittedly with a crane, then three planks and a tractor). When first tested on the pond, the model drove forward and backwards, left and right, on demand, so it passed its ‘sea trials’; and then it immediately broke down – so, it is exactly like a real aircraft carrier! This was a project that combined two experiments: the first being to see if I could cannibalize cheap toys to power my own small models with radio control, and the second to see if could…

It’s no secret that I lean towards the obscure and the quirky. Indeed, my model boating buddies at Bushy Park Pond and I have collective experience in the construction and operation of ‘odd’ things. So much so that, in comparison to some of my previous projects, this one – inspired by the cover picture of the July 1936 edition of Popular Mechanics magazine – is almost sensible! To some it may appear to be simply an overgrown Tupolev A3 (referred to as a ‘Tup’), but despite the similarities (perhaps not surprising, seeing as it’s also a surface-skimming passenger craft powered by an aero engine and propellor) this design pre-dates the Tups by around15 years or so. I should perhaps start with the simple fact that the cover star I based…

Having covered the construction of the hull in Part 1, we now move on to building the superstructure, finishing the model off, and what you can expect in terms of handling and performance out on the water. Superstructure freedom Apart from making this part a good fit over the deck coaming, ensuring adequate internal ventilation and a funnel position matching the boiler’s exhaust, you can do very much your own thing here. Well, apart from obvious ‘no-no’s, like making the funnel too heavy. You may think this is not worth commenting on, but I’ve actually seen models where it looked almost as if scaffolding pole had been used to create a tall funnel, and, surprise, surprise, witnessed their owners expressing frustration with the instability of their creations! For ease of…

OUT AND ABOUT Dover Transport Museum Model Weekend The Dover Transport Museum in Willingdon Road, Whitfield, Dover CT16 2JX will be holding a Model Weekend over the weekend of August 2/3 (10am to 4pm each day). This will feature all manner of working transport models, including model ships and boats (which will be demonstrated in a pool especially erected specially for the event outside of the museum). Admission to the museum costs £12 for adults, with concessions, but tickets permit re-entry at no additional cost for 12 months after purchase. The wheelchair friendly venue offers free onsite parking and a café serving hot and cold drinks and light snacks. For further information, visit the website at www.dovertransportmuseum.org.uk, email info@dovertransportmuseum.org.uk or call 01304 822409. Cwmbran MBC Open Day On Sunday, August…

In 1882 the Danes built a sail training ship to prepare fledgling sailors for their later careers. She was called Georg Stage and did sterling service for them until 1934, when a new sailing ship was launched to do the job, keeping the original name. The old ship was about to be scrapped when Alan Villiers bought her to sail around the world as a kind of ‘private’ training ship. He re-named her Joseph Conrad, and she did her circumnavigation between 1934 and 1936. This remarkable voyage is described in Villiers’ book, The Cruise of the Conrad. On their return, Villiers realised the money to pay off his debts by selling her to an American millionaire to use as his ‘yacht’. The millionaire kept her for a few years before…

Following the completion of my last project (The Bluebird of Chelsea, featured in the June issue of Model Boats), I was keen to apply my newfound 3D-printing skills to something completely different, and after trawling the ‘net (no pun intended) for a while (about 30 mins) I came across some files for a little 3D-outboard motor that looked rather interesting. These files were, therefore, promptly downloaded. However, while designed to be printed out at 1:6 scale, I decided to rescale the files so I could create an outboard motor for a somewhat smaller model. I managed to find hull files for a life size dinghy that I could scale down to 1:10, a close enough match for the Action Man (1:12 scale) captain I intended to add at the helm.…

In this series, I have, over the years, covered many of the procedures and ever-changing rules involved in the testing of our boilers. At the model boat club that I’m a member of, every year we hold a Steam Gala Day at which I perform annual steam tests on as many plant as I’m presented with, usually around 12 or 13. I also frequently carry out pressure tests on uncertificated boilers at my own home workshop. I suppose it would be easy to assume that everything comes in, gets tested and is returned to its respective owner without too many problems. That, however, is not always the case. I’ve been asked to test some quite unusual home-built items, such as the interesting design seen in Photo 1, which haven’t always…

Of the many materials available for model boats, nothing comes close to my favourite, wood. I can remember building yachts ‘bread & butter’ fashion, as I am sure many others can, and there was always something about really satisfying about this way of working, as indeed I found there to be with the plank-on-frame method I later adopted. Planking a curved and shaped hull is definitely a challenge, requiring a good eye and lots of patience, especially if double planking, but is ultimately so rewarding. I’ve since built many boats with fibreglass, plastic sheet and the later technology of vacuum formed plastic hulls, of course, but I recently decided I’d like to revert to modelling with wood again. So, having in the past built the Amati Grand Banks cruiser (this…

The majority of the members of my local model boat club, Wicksteed Park in Northamptonshire, are, how can I put it delicately, well.... old! We spend a considerable amount of time comparing aches and pains, diminishing returns on investments and the cost of a season ticket at the local hospital car park. It’s not all moaning though. We have discussed and scrutinised the design of zimmer frames, the merits of the folding walking stick, and updating and comparing our prescriptions. Occasionally, we talk about model boats. We each appear to have fairly set ideas regarding our specific interests in the hobby. Many members major on naval ships, some on merchant vessels, while the rest of us concentrate on other types of craft. Each to his own! For reasons I have…

A subject that sometimes comes up in discussions is the radio-controlled model boat’s throttle stick. Should it be on a ratchet, where it ought to stay as placed until deliberately moved, or on a spring-loaded stick where it must be moved and held away from a central position to keep the model in motion? With scale type models, both methods usually have the central position of the stick corresponding to the motor(s) being off. Moving the stick upwards or away from your body, depending on how you hold the transmitter, causes the model to move ahead, while advancing the stick further increases the power of the motor and hence the model’s speed. Pulling the stick downwards gives you the same effect but with the model moving astern (see Figure 1).…

Smoking may be bad for your health, but it can do wonders for the realism of a model steamboat. The guide that follows perhaps requires a certain amount of technical knowledge to source the necessary parts, but construction is straightforward and not critical, enabling the smoker to be readily tailored to a particular model. Principal of operation The smoker I am about to describe is of the nebuliser type. It utilises a piezo-electric transducer to ‘excite’ molecules of water so much that they are only too happy to escape up a funnel and billow out in a cool cloud under the gentle persuasion of a small fan. This is one of its advantages over a heated oil type of smoker: it uses only water, and its current consumption is rather…

A FREE PLAN & BUILD GUIDE for the lovely Lysander! Navatek A military paddle boat modelling project based on an intriguing experimental half-scale UHAC (Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector) Water Faireys Prepare to be enchanted! 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 2025 issue, which goes on sale at all good newsagents from Friday, August 15, 2025, now, but why not…