This is a model that I built many years ago. Soon after the Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Challenger met it’s tragic fate in 1985, Radio Control Boat Modeller published a semi-scale 1/32 (3/8” = 1’) plan in the January/February1986 issue created by Ernst-Bernd Bahn of West Germany (German unification, seems like a long time ago) to build this classic tunnel hull vessel.

The model I built had some detail issues (like the dark gray trim stripes which should be red) that I was not truly aware of since I was not really an internet dude back in 1986 and any information I acquired while building this model came from information that was media published. I made a few brief comments about this build in 2022 in the Boats in your harbor section of Model Boats, but never really talked about my actual model build. Yes the article in Radio Control Boat Modeller was a gray scale publication with basic paint instructions. I redrew and detailed the Ernst-Bernd Bahn drawings in AutoCAD to create fabrication information that might allow for more complete detailing.

A few years after I Challenger 1, I built a Challenger 2 model from reduced scale plans I found in an article by Graham Goodchild in the Fall 1988 issue of U.S. Boat and Ship Modeler for the Virgin Atlantic Challenger II.

I created detailed CAD drawings from the article and build the model. The restored Challenger 1 should look decent on display with the Challenger II. This one has a couple minor problems (anyone know where to get an old school linear servo, not those stupid micro size ones for RC drones). I will do another build log on this project shortly.

A couple years after Challenger I’s completion, I put a clear coat on the model (stupid move) which really messed up the Testor’s paint finish that was used for the white exterior finish. As a result paint cracking. In June of 2025 the entire model was stripped down so it could be refinished. This really hurt when I had to remove and destroy all those printed decals that a student made for me at a high school I used to teach at…that’s life.

The first thing I did was photograph the running hardware in the tunnel sections before starting to take the model apart. The removal of old paint turned out to be a major task and a finish coat of thinned epoxy was applied to the exterior hull and deck (after some major patching).

Cabin details such as those Transparent Black hatch covers done with Tamiya paint were pulled off and set aside until I could come up with a better technique to get that transparent black hatch with that ribbed detail shown on the actual boat.

After stripping, patching and sealing a several light coats of primer were applied followed by three coats of gloss white enamel (Tremclad) paint (no more Testors paint on this model) were added to the hull and cabins.

All the cabin windows were masked (white craft glue with a bit of food coloring works great as a water soluble masking compound) before the cabin was repainted.

After letting the white finish coat dry for a couple of weeks this past winter. The gray trim strip was painted on the model. After screwing up this model once, I didn’t want to take a chance with the 1/16” red stripes offset from the deck and hull just below the gray, so I cheated and used some Carl Goldberg Color Stripe tape that I have used before to detail airplane wings and fuselages. After putting the model in the sun for a few hours, this stuff sticks down permanent. I also used this tape to do the red trim stripes on the Virgin Atlantic Challenger II.

My quest to redo the deck hatches without using transparent black paint by Tamiya took a productive turn this spring. While taking a browse through a surplus store I found these great cell phone cases for 50 cents each. I picked up all I could find to use on other model boat windows. These will give me a nice uniform transparent black finish that doesn’t look like a tinted window film on a car that went bad. After fabricating and painting the window frames, the new “glass” was cut and added. The transparency is dark but the cut styrene ribbed detail under the “glass” looks good and shows without being gaudy.

I made eight hatches, four that open on the cabin and four that are fixed on the Challenger’s forward deck. These turned out and look great after they were mounted to the boat. Challenger I is starting to look darn good again.

I started to look at a few details that I never really built correctly on the original model. I haven’t been able to find enough photo close-up details of these features on the Challenger I to confirm their function or appearance. Ernst-Bernd Bahn’s drawing show little detail of these features.

The blocks at the front are not fixed down yet, but they will need to be before I mount the forward deck rails. Could I assume these are meant to be engine compartment air vents? Are the ones on the side of the cabin (3 extending from a box also cooling vents? Any suggestions are welcome.

I also noticed after posting this picture to this log, (can’t believe it after all these years) that the cabin has two air vents on each side. I will have to update my CAD drawings and revise my cabin.

I noticed that someone online is selling a copy of the Bahn drawings taken directly from RC Boat Modeller magazine. I hope Ernst-Bahn is getting some royalties from the sale of his plans, since his name is printed below the drawing title!