This might be my next Build. Note that the 3inch gun is positioned right above the toilet. Do you think they yell "CLEAR" down into the toilet. Do customers "evacuate" when it goes off? Do their toe nails scratch through the linoleum?

I think I mentioned this model on another blog.And now it's become a Build Blog. So here we go. This model required a battery box, so I had to make some modifications.So a few cuts were required to find a spot for a 7.2-volt NMH battery so see some photos.

Hi I’ve just bought a secondhand model wooden boat looks like an aero kit sea scout 24.5 inches long it has a very old made in Japan electric motor it smells old inside the boat and the paint is heavily crazed .i would like to know my about it / age etc if anyone could help me before I restore it many thanks Kraig. it also has a manual brass rudder knob it the back

I mentioned in the Vic Smeed Vivacity forum I would do a few smaller builds while chugging through the Vivacity project; the first of these I have started (while waiting on certain components/materials for Vivacity), based on Glynn Guest's Knocker White tugboat plan from his book 'Small Radio Control Boats'. The Driving force behind choosing this particular design was the fact I had just filled my Backyard Model Boating Pond for the first time and sailed a couple of small free-running boats in it. I had already made Arcady and Bredette many years ago when they were first issued as free plans in Model Boats, so Knocker White was the next project from the book with the necessary compact dimensions to sail happily on my pond, the first of (hopefully) several small such boat projects. Here are the first stages of the build shown in the photos; 1) Paper template traced/assembled from the book - a little 'guestimation' was required as the plan was over two pages that didn't quite align... 2)Carcass pieces (deck, bottom, bulkheads, stem) marked out on 1/4" sheet 3)Carcass pieces cut out 4 & 5) carcass glued together, care taken to get as square as possible - note extra piece placed in stern to support rudder tube, making stern slightly deeper than original 6)Power train/RC components; Specktrum 410 RX, Ali Express 20A esc, RS 280 motor (was eventually replaced with an RS260 type when I clumsily broke off one of the contacts while trying to fit the battery), 100mm prop shaft/tube assembly with 25mm 3-blade prop. 7)Power train set up & tested on the bench to ensure everything worked 8)Prop tube skeg/support added 9)Prop tube epoxied in place, sandwiched between skeg support and lower skeg piece. 10)6mm ply motor mount glued into position after checking alignment. More pics and comments to follow soon, Best regards to all following this, Nick

Started the Runabout. Using my Lion Miter trimmer to cut the planks, and my block plane to trim to the chine. Then a sanding block for the final fit.

Back to the Dungeon (I like my Dungeon, very quiet) I started a new build, The Seguin. This will be a scratch build. I ordered plans from the Net. I picked the Seguin as it seemed straight forward and was designed for Steam. The keel has been laid. The Frames installed. The sub deck installed. The one by attached to the keel is to keep it from hogging. The build will be delayed, so I can process firewood for this winter. (Last Pic)

The VMW Marlin Cabin Cruiser by Robbob Preface. At the time of writing, I’ve had the construction of this boat on ‘the back burner’ since July 2022. By then I had spent about two months on and off constructing the boat to a stage where I could consider applying a glassfibre cloth and epoxy finish to the hull. However I couldn’t spend any more time on the Marlin project as I had a more important project to undertake, which was to paint, decorate, refurbish and prepare our house for sale so that we could downsize and move to a new area now that our kids had all fled the nest. Fast forward to today (mid-April 2025) and it’s taken a while to get the new house and gardens into shape and settle in, with the emphasis on converting my internal garage into a great new workshop, I can finally pick up from where I left off. Introduction to the kit. This new model is the latest undertaking by Vintage Model Works, now famous for their very popular models of the RAF Crash Rescue Tender and Thames River Police Boat kits which are based on old Aerokits and Veron designs. The Marlin is a re-working of an original Veron design by the late Phil Smith in 1953. His son Colin Smith, who was also responsible for the re-design of the Thames River Police Boat, has made some changes to his father’s design to take advantage of more modern materials and production methods such as CNC and laser cutting. The photograph below is of a prototype built by Colin Smith to give you an idea of how the boat looks in finished form. And there is also a review of the Marlin that appeared in Model Maker magazine, November 1953. The size remains at 36” and it employs the same construction method as the original. The spacious cabins of the boat makes it very easy to accommodate all the latest control hardware required, not that the original was lacking in that area even when the radio systems used valves and large batteries and the propulsion was usually IC or a large electric motor. Even the pre-production sample the Vintage Model Works kit supplied to me is well presented with a full size drawing including a pictorial construction sequence and separate pages of building instructions. All the required materials are supplied in quality ply, balsa, strip-wood and dowel including clear plastic sheets for the windscreens, and various white metal deck fittings. The builder is of course required to supply their own adhesives and paint of choice, as well as the propulsion, drive train and radio control gear. In the latter respect I will likely restrict control to throttle and rudder and not add any lighting or other features. That has already been done magnificently by Mike Turpin. Construction. As with the Thames river police boat, another Veron design, construction starts with the assembly of a box structure onto which formers and bulkheads are attached to make the basic hull shape. I will be tackling this in the first part of my build blog which I hope you will enjoy following and I encourage you to ask questions, leave comments and hopefully some ‘likes’ as I make progress. Robbob.

Model Expo has confirmed that production will soon begin on a new Midwest kit: the Fireboat, presented at a scale of 1/2" = 1 foot. To clarify, Model Expo has acquired the licensing rights from Midwest to produce all of their models. At the moment, they have 27 kits in production, with more on the way. I previously worked with Model Expo in customer service, answering model-building questions and handling replacement-part requests. Now, I am one of the model builders who assemble their prototypes—the models they intend to release to the public. With that being said, I invite all of you to follow along with this build. I introduced only a limited number of modifications—mostly to make the vessel more suitable for radio-control operation and to enhance its realism—while preserving the essential character of the original design. Many of you have probably built this classic kit before; however, this is my first time working with it. Please feel free to share your opinions and past experiences with this charming little model. History of the Fireboats This model represents a small fireboat equipped with twin monitors, a type of vessel historically stationed in nearly every major working harbor throughout the United States and abroad. Its configuration is based on a combination of plans and photographic references from several representative examples. Because of this, it serves as an accurate portrayal of the smaller fireboats—many of which are still in service in various ports today.

I haven’t done anything on my builds since before last Christmas for various reasons but am looking forward to starting again in the next couple of weeks. I’ve been working on a number of builds for some years and not finished one yet! Main reason is that I reach a certain point, maybe something I’m hesitant about, and so start another! Which is the reason I’ve got five on the go. I’m building all the classic Faireys; Huntsman 28, Huntsman 31 and Swordsman 33 and a rarer Huntress 23 with a stern drive and longer cabin. Also a River Cruiser 23 (the one and only full-size build was a prototype was based on a modified Huntress hull but with more freeboard which disappeared) and I have the plans drawn up to start a Fisherman 27 motor sailer and a Faun 17 river/lake cruiser. All builds are at a scale of 1:12. The River Cruiser and Huntress are further on as they have had lake trials with the others being at the painting stage which I will be taking up again soon. I use a Hitec Flash 8 Tx and Rx’s and Hitec servos with Overlander brushless motors (even in my slower models) and HobbyWing Quicrun and Seaking ESC’s along with LiPo batteries though will probably use NiMh in the Fisherman and Faun.

Awaiting graphics to finish off THUNDER& METEOR so pulled this one off the shelf to resume the build. I’ll start at the beginning posting highlights so as not to take up too much time. Photo 1&2 One of the many real boats. These are iconic around Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, & other Atlantic bordering states. Photo 3 Starting the frame & keel.

For a bit of fun i decided to knock up another airboat for rescue and camera work. made from a $19 body board with a 3542 1000kv TGY outrunner running on a 4s Lipo, with a 10x6 pusher prop. Went fairly well on it's first test using only about 30% power, but needed some up thrust and rudder trim for much more throttle. Probably needs some small bottom strakes to limit the drifting tendency and make it easier to control, (did this with the first airboat which manages 30kph) Could quite easily run on 3s for more economy, as it planes very easily. I got 20mins almost continuous running at the speed in the video, (on 30%) which is more than adequate, as it would be just idling around for videos. Quick to make and lots of fun. Motor mount screws onto 4 -30mm dowels epoxied into the body board. JB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBcKXAVqrEE

Starting the dig into the Ottawa Archives and The Great Lakes Museum in Kingston: