Swordsman 37.

When I restored my Rapier, it was in a sorry state - fuel soaked and twisted, so it was more of a "build" than a new kit would have been!

Since I had a (more or less) blank canvass, I took note of the position of the rudder on my Vic Speed Remora, as it was designed as a "steering boat", and I replicated this on the Rapier.

This may have only been a very small modification, but it worked really well and the Rapier steers beautifully.

With this in mind, when the Swordsman 37 build starts I would use this same rudder position as it will be a similar size of boat to the Rapier and it also shares a similar deep-vee hull shape.

The target is to make the Swordsman 37 drive and steer as well as my Rapier does, and I cant see any reason why it shouldn't.

Having a "good looking" boat that can drive and steer as well as my (comparatively) "ugly" Remora would be the absolute "ultimate" model power boat that I would really enjoy driving in any weather conditions that our local UK weather can throw at it!

Bob.

The Rapier can definitely be described as an ugly duckling. It just so happens to be a well handling ugly duckling.

Swordsman 37, or Solent Spear. Hmmm, I don't know if I could decide on just one if I had too 🤷‍♂️

Whichever one though, I'm sure it would handle, and perform very well.

Will

Swordsman 37.

With only so much time available, the Swordsman 37 would still be my first choice as my next model to build from scratch ....although the Solent Spear would definitely be a consideration if any reference drawings should become available in the future.

At 37" long I think that the Swordsman 37 would be a really good model that would definitely clock-up a lot of hours on the water as it could be used 12 months of the year in any weather conditions that my local lakes are likely to suffer.

I already have a good idea about just how well this boat would drive as I have clocked-up many hours of experience over the years with an Aerokits Swordsman - including racing it in an off-shore race in 1970 when it performed surprisingly well.

My slightly longer and slightly modified restored LesRo Rapier probably (and surprisingly) out-performs the Swordsman (!) and that does not please me as much as it should.

A couple of small changes were made to the rudder position and the prop-shaft when I restored the Rapier from a wreck, and I think similar detailing would work equally well on the Swordsman 37.

To see a Swordsman 37 performing as well as my Rapier would be something that I would really look forward to experiencing - and it would certainly be a much better looking model ( I never really liked the Rapier design that much!).

Bob.

Solent Spear

I did consider using my spare glass fibre Huntsman 31 hull as the base for a model of the Solent Spear.

The Solent Spear is a very attractive looking boat and I think it would make a superb model that should perform very well.

......but I also think that this would also be a really good model to build from wood as I generally prefer to have a wooden hull than a glass fibre hull.

In a model boat, I much prefer the sound of a wooden boat in the water to the sound of a plastic hull - it just sounds nicer!

Bob.

Keith - Go into your account and part way down there is a box to close your account. Before you do that it would be good if you can remove your post from this thread - Click Edit on the right of your post and then on the top left there is a waste basket which removes your post. I will then remove mine.

Just to try to keep this on track - the Swordsman 37 with the integrated platform would be an excellent next project for us to work on together Chris.

Bob.

I would like to close my membership and stop all emails but cannot figure out how to do that. Can someone give me some advice? Thank you, Keith

Yup - as we are both masters of the paint brush Chris 🙄..........a rattle can could be the way to go to get a realistic glass fibre hull finish 🤣

37” long plus the swim platform will make a nice size model that should perform very well 12 months of the year - big enough to cope with all the typical British weather throws at us.

If we can find a way to get that “integrated” look to the swim platform it will add a nice touch !

Bob.

Yes, I agree, that is the one to build and it will be different to the limited kits as well. Only two windows!

The length will be 37 feet excluding the swim platform as that is the length of the Fairey Dagger from which the hull came from. The platform tends to be included when it is more substantial and moulded as part of the hull.

Downside to building a model of a full-sized plastic/fibreglass boat is getting a good paint finish. Spraying would be the way to go.

Hi Chris,

I think the Swordsman 37 with the full open cockpit would be the variant to go for.

It looks nice and clean and should not be a complex build, but it would be nice to extend the keel and hull to include the bathing platform as shown on the profile drawings - that would finish it off nicely.

I have no idea if the bathing platform is included in the 37ft overall length or if it is an additional platform that is not included in the overall length of the boat?

Since it is drawn as an integral part of the hull and not an “add-on” I suspect that it is included within the 37ft overall length……but maybe not?


Bob.