Innehållsförteckning för February 2026 från Model Boats

The Billing Boats kit for this tug is aimed, according to the manufacturer, at the ‘Experienced’ – that’s Level 3 of Billing Boats’ four-step recommended ability requirements guideline. However, while it’s clearly not intended as anyone’s first ever kit build, it doesn’t actually necessitate decades of accumulated modelling know-how but rather patience, accuracy and a willingness to refine the details. Admittedly, there are aspects of the build that even a relative novice could cope with, especially if approached calmly. The hull itself, which is plastic and divided into the ‘tub’ and the deck, for example, quite simply glues together. The real challenge, though, comes when working on the wheelhouse/superstructure and all the various other small but important features. Taken as a whole, therefore, the intricacy of detail and sheer scope…

My granddaughter has been transfixed by the Moana films released by Disney over the last couple of years or so. Initially, I’d assumed these films were just child-friendly cartoons. However, after watching them with her, I found they also appeal to adults, as, once engaged with the characters and the storyline, the animation fades into the background, making the experience thoroughly entertaining. So, with her third birthday on the horizon, a canoe of her very own seemed the perfect gift choice. Unfortunately, however, I found no suitable options online, only cheap, way out-of-scale, plastic toys. Since, as a modeller, these didn’t work for me, I decided to design my own version, semi-scaling it to available film character box sets from which figures could be used to act as crew. Frame…

Over the 20 or more years I have been associated with the Bosuns Model Boat Group here in Melbourne, Australia, I have seen many members’ creations take to the water and managed to get photographs of most of them. The creativity of this relatively small group of some ten to 20 active members has been quite amazing, especially since most of their models were scratch-built and often to a strict budget. So, I have selected some favourite ‘boatographs’ here, choosing examples that represent the different classes of model. Unfortunately, it hasn’t proven possible to have an example from every member, past or present, but a fuller gallery of models can be seen on the website: https://bmbg.au/Gallery.html. Lady Iris I am starting with this picture of the Lady Iris, as it…

NSRI lifeboats I am sending you some photos of my first go at building a Mount Fleet Models Brede-class lifeboat kit, which I decided to give a slight twist by finishing it’s served the NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute, South Africa). This particular craft, based at Hout Bay, Cape Town, is now being phased out. I’m indebted to the NSRI, who supplied me with no end of information in my attempt at authentication. My next modelling venture will be the replacement for the NSRI Bredeclass lifeboat, i.e., an ORC (Offshore Rescue Craft) currently already in use in South Africa and specifically designed to compensate for severe conditions up to 40 miles offshore. So, I am also sending you a photo of a 3D-printed static build ORC from Jacques Kruger, who…

OUT AND ABOUT The South West Model Show The first South West Model Show of the year is scheduled for the weekend of February 7/8 at The Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset BH20 6JG. Covering a broad spectrum of disciplines, on display will be model ships/boats, aircraft and various other forms of transport in miniature (including, of course, tanks), plus there will be live modelling demonstrations, specialists talks and tours, and plenty of club and trade stands to browse. Open from 9.30am to 5pm on both days, the cost of adult admission (priced at £23 on the door or £19.55 when purchased in advance online at https://tankmuseum.org/visit-us/tickets-and-prices/) will include a free annual pass to the museum. Midhurst model events The Grange Leisure Centre in Bepton Road, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9HS,…

Located in the Bischof Pioneer Park in Nerang on the Gold Coast, Australia, is the steel hull of the paddle steamer Maid of Sker. This steamer was built in 1884 by J.W. Sutton Foundry of Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, for C.H. Philpott and serviced the Nerang, Southport, Brisbane route, carrying timber from Philpotts Mill at Nerang to Brisbane, along with other supplies and passengers, in both directions. On days off, the little ship took day trippers out to South Stradbroke Island for fishing trips and a day at the beach. According to historical records, one such trip involved 250 passengers! Being a flat bottomed, shallow draft vessel, the Maid of Sker was ideal to navigate the many shallow channels of Moreton Bay down to Nerang. By 1925 she was the last…

Herzogin Cecilie was built in 1902. She was named after the Herzogin (Duchess) Cecilie von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a young woman betrothed to the Kaiser’s eldest son, therefore expected, eventually, to become the Empress of Imperial Germany. She was built as a cargo-carrying schoolship by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company and was seen as a beautiful and impressive representative of Germany, carrying cargo all over the world. She was a steel four masted barque, 330ft long, capable of carrying 4500T of cargo and she sailed right up to World War 1, which found her in Coquimbo, Chile, to which port she had carried coke. In those days sailing ships brought nitrates from the West coast of South America back to Europe as fertiliser, or to be the main ingredient of the explosives which…

Those of you with a good memory may recall my review of Denes Designs’ (then) new Automatic Boiler Control unit, or ABC, back in the July 2021 edition of Model Boats. Comparing it to the old Cheddar ABC that was made available a few years previously, I pointed out that, by way of improvement, better sensing of boiler water level and temperature compensation had been built into the level sensing head of this new unit At the beginning of this year, I received the latest new unit from Denes Designs in the form of an updated ABC, called, not surprisingly, the ABC2. My original intention had been to use the same test bench approach I’d taken with the previous unit, but, as I described last month, I just happened to…

In this month’s exclusive prize draw, we’re able offer you, courtesy of the kind folk at Osprey Publishing, the opportunity to win a copy of this extensively researched new title from highly respected naval historian Dr Paul Brown. Its release on February 12, 2026, will, thanks to the author’s interviews with Cold War era submarine commanders and engineers, Freedom of Information requests and deep dives into archival material and many secondary sources, bring to light lots of fascinating new and previously unpublished material, all fully illustrated with stunning black and white photographs, technical drawings and maps. Making the prize that little bit more special, the lucky winner will also receive a book plate signed by the author – adding to this first edition’s potential future collectable status. Presented in hardback…

Let me start with a tiny bit of self-introduction, so you, dear reader, have some idea of who I am and why I’m taking up space in your modelling magazine. I’m the wife of a modeller, which, by definition, means I know things! Every time I hear a rising tide of increasingly colourful swear words pouring out of the workshop, I make some tea and bravely step into that cave of despair. Trying to calm the storm of negative energy, I gently ask, “Everything alright in here?” Of course, it isn’t – I passed three spiders fleeing in terror on my way in. But what else am I supposed to do? I worry that the next thing I hear will be glass shattering as something is hurled out through the…

HMS Odin was an O-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1928 and served at Portsmouth from 1929-1930, at Hong Kong from 1930-1939, at Colombo from 1939-1940, and at Alexandria in 1940. Odin was deployed to Malta prior to Italy declaring war on Great Britain and was sunk off the coast of Taranto on June 14, 1940. At 23.21 on June 13, HMS Odin was sighted by the Italian destroyer, Strale. Strale attacked with torpedoes and depth charges, badly wounding the submarine. Odin surfaced nine miles away, only to be spotted by the gunboat Baleno, who finished her off. Her entire crew perished in the attack. Making the styrene model I constructed my waterline model of the HMS Odin out of styrene and brass at a scale…

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 The importance of R&R My first introduction to the hobby came when I was about 10 years old and my dad made me a model boat. It was just a hull, about 18 inches long, fitted with a Kako motor and 41/2-volt battery. We took it down the local pond on the west common in Lincoln. It turned out to be really fast, so we had to aim it at each other across the pond! I made several boats after that but was limited by a lack of pocket money. Life then moved on with O Levels, A Levels and young ladies. Fast forward…