Decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new kit for the RAF Crash Tender. After a lot of research I opted for the 46 inch kit from Lesro Models which is a 1950's revival kit made by Vintage Model Workshop. I nearly had to take out a second mortgage to fund the kit but was pleasantly surprised on first opening at the quality of the mainly plywood parts all of which are CNC cut for relatively easy assembly, strip wood is obechi, the kit also has a full set of white metal cast deck fittings. Full size scale plans, comprehensive instructions and transfers complete the kit.

Started with the construction of a suitable jig to ensure everything went together square and soon had the keel and bulkheads in position.

Updates as time and the build progresses.

Sorry folks having a bit of trouble uploading the pictures!

Decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new kit for the RAF Crash Tender. After a lot of research I opted for the 46 inch kit from Lesro Models which is a 1950's revival kit made by Vintage Model Workshop. I nearly had to take out a second mortgage to fund the kit but was pleasantly surprised on first opening at the quality of the mainly plywood parts all of which are CNC cut for relatively easy assembly, strip wood is obechi, the kit also has a full set of white metal cast deck fittings. Full size scale plans, comprehensive instructions and transfers complete the kit.

Started with the construction of a suitable jig to ensure everything went together square and soon had the keel and bulkheads in position.

Updates as time and the build progresses.

Starting to come together now, as a novice boat builder it hasn't been the easiest of journeys and I don't suppose that there are not going to be any more problems to overcome, but I have certainly learnt a lot.

As I said at the start the kit came with an Impressive array of plans and instructions but in reality the detail just wasn't there.

I need to think about motors and speed controllers, the recommendations that came with the kit for a brushless motor and corresponding speed controller are a bit out of my league and with my limited knowledge of electric power would be expensive if I did something wrong. I would like a reasonable turn of speed and duration and would appreciate any advice please

Had a long chat with a chap at Blackpool who had a 46 inch Crash Tender on display and was incredibly helpful with both build tips and electronics. Pretty sure I am going to fit a JP outrunner with a performance equivalent to .60 Ic engine, the problem is the speed controller, so many bits of conflicting advice. The motor specs call for an 85amp speed controller but the man in the shop says a 50 amp will suffice. I tend to err towards the 85 amp version but haven't yet found one to suit - anybody any experience of 85amp or above ESC preferably forward and reverse please

It's time to start fitting the hull skins - that really is a bit mind blowing for a first timer. Sand a bit try it, sand a bit more try it again and so on and so on. Pleased I thought of sourcing plenty of clamps but will have to move away from the 5 minute epoxy! I hope I'll get there eventually.

The good news is I have selected the motor, JP Energ 50-20, cheapest at Cornwall model boats, its currently on order and the speed controller to go with it, Seaking 120 amp brushless courtesy of GiantShark

Also started to do a bit of work on the cabin roofs while the glue sets - very pleased with the progress of the aft cabin roof.

Well all of a sudden it seems to be really taking shape, the hull skins are all fitted and quite a bit of the top works are well on the way. it's only when you stop to take stock of what the next part of the build is, that the realisation of the amount of work still to do suddenly hits home.

The next stage for me has to be preparing the exterior and the interior of the hull for fibre glassing to give it that little bit more strength and make it 100% watertight, but before all that there's a bit of filling and sanding to do on the exterior of the hull.

The motor and speed controller have arrived and I'm quite Impressed with the provided motor mount.

Can't get over the fact that the wife is still letting me use the dining room!!

Well, today was bite the bullet day and time to start the job of fibre glassing the hull. it was as bad as I had been led to believe and worse, as soon as I thought I had got the cloth as a reasonably smooth finish a bubble would suddenly pop up and in my attempt to smooth that out I would disturb it elsewhere. I suppose doing it outside at this time of year wouldn't help the going off time.

Nearly at the point of thinking of applying some paint - internally anyway. I have seen some reference to sanding sealer being applied before painting so "googled" it and as is the case with the internet came up with more questions than answers. I would appreciate some advice on the type of sanding sealer and a possible pLace to purchase it - thanks

In the absence of a commercially available net to fit on the roof of the aft cabin I decided to make my own. I made a simple jig with a wooden base and small panels pins at 3/8 inch centres. Then using small diameter string formed the shape of the net on the jig and when it was all in position put a dot of superglue on each of the crossover points. After the superglue had cured I cut the resulting net off and cut all the loose ends away and ended up with what I thought was a presentable scramble net. 😊

Always envisaged having working monitors. The kit came with a white metal monitor in three parts so I set too with a 3mm diameter drill on slow speed to drill through the parts to make waterways into which I would fit a brass tube and then when the monitor was made up the tubes could be connected with small diameter silicon tubing. The best laid plans....... white metal doesn't like drill bits on any speed, the bit jammed in the metal and snapped off 😭

Time to put the shiny new lathe to good use and make my own in brass following the pattern of the white metal ones - quite pleased with the first effort 😊

I never realised a small area like a model boat hull could take up so much time and cost so much money to paint, I think maybe it's the competitive spirit engendered by Alan P and pmdevlin in trying to match the quality of the paint finish on their hulls 😋 After the application of many, many coats of gold plated (in terms of cost) Halfords rattle can paint, the use of sheets and sheets of wet and dry paper and countless hours of labour I'm quite pleased with the result. 😊 😊

Now I need to come up with some way of protecting it whilst I do the upperworks 😰