Such a great model and an even better story Alan, although there was a tragic and sad ending to the full size boat it is great to see such a fine model. Graham

Where did you obtain them please.

This is one of the next jobs I need to do on the Perkasa, not looking forward to it, especially making sure the 0.7mm brass rod I’m using for the lines is kept kink free.

Ron, I will not go into too much detail on Jim. He is retired, in his early 70's, and has building models since before I met him about 12 years ago. He doesn't bother with computers too much but enjoys his Canon digital cameras.

The story of building the model of the "Whaleback" seems to stem from where is lived many years ago up in the great lakes area of the U.S.

Jim is a laid-back person and deeply interested in building his models. Most of them are 1/48 scale, but in recent years he took a turn and started going after some complicated kits, some out of production for many years, like Sterling kits he found on Ebay. Other recent builds include some WWII battleships, plastic models that are motorized for RC.

One unique thing about Jim is all (I believe) of his models involve gear reduction between the motor(s) and shaft(s). He hand makes small parts where many people will avoid the small details. Here is a video of one of his other models, the City Of Buffalo:

There are a lot of photos of his work on our website... http://ssmbc-fl.org

Lew

In Polish magazine "Modelarstwo Okretowe", there is a plan available for such a whaleback design (http://www.modelarstwookretowe.pl/index.php?p=19&s=numer_opis&id_n=38 ).
Maybe it could be of help...

Zdenek

Hi TD,
Admittedly there is a certain similarity in hull shape, not surprising since both classes were based on current commercial trawler / whaler designs.
But that's as far as it goes. Attached is a photo (port side) of an early (short forecastle) Flower, K63 Picotee.
Put that 'head to head' with the pic of Baffin's starboard side, and stbd view of the model in the video, and the differences are immediately apparent so I won't list them here.
Y'all can play 'Spot the differences' 😉

First clue for me was the Pennant number; T275. 'T' for Trawler.
The Flowers had pennant numbers beginning with 'K' for 'K'orvette😉 coz 'C' was already in use for Cruisers and Carriers.

So I looked for HMS or HMCS T275 and immediately hit HMS Baffin. Digging deeper I also found this on UBoat Net-
https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2718.html
Q.E.D. 😉
Easy mistake to make TD.
Cheers, Doug 😎

The model builder just sent me this info HMCS BAFFIN Western Isles Class Admiralty MS/AS Trawler Built in Collingwood, Ontario in 1941 Served out of Halifax, NS during the war Sold out of service 1945.

Absolutely wondrful! Top notch job all around. What a incredible pleasure to watch.

Brilliant. Best war film I've seen in years.
My mtb's of mtb 389. Built 40 odd years ago and left in the loft where it collected dust and soot. When I retired I brought it down, fitted a Graupner 700 motor in and ran it on 14.4v. It plains very realistic. Thanks for the video...👍

Beautiful boat, I love these fishing boats, what is she based on a Brixham or a Lowestoft boat?

Cheers, Nerys

Here are a couple taken at at show.
It's the Lowestoft boat.

Dave

Hi JB,

I'm afraid my days of building real boats are long past. I have difficulty in finding enough strength to perform even the simplest tasks, Alice has to come to my aid for almost everything these days. I was very pleased that I managed to finish the rigging of my latest barge project a few days ago with only the slightest intervention from her -and that's a model!. Actually the only time I ever built a boat from a plan was when someone gave me a part built Wharram cat. The rest of the time I built on the old adage of if it looks right, it probably is. And, blowing my own trumpet, it always seemed to work for me.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys, you're doing well to do what you are doing still under the circumstances, and you are not just sitting in a wicker chair staring out the window. Your models are great and a credit to you, and you are obviously enjoying them. I'm the same (re - if it looks right.......) as most of my models, (boats and planes) are scratch built or highly modified kits or resurrected and improved bin jobs from other modellers.

The only model boat I've built from a proper plan, was my Vic Smeed MTB, the rest have been from drawings from model magazines. I built a 15ft delta hulled racer in the late 70s using the 'looks right' method, and powered it with a 75hp outboard. Managed to get 50mph out of it, and it handled quite well. Blew the motor up before I could refine it unfortunately. As kid we built 8ft skimmers, powered with a 10hp outboard which were a lot of fun as well.

I've enjoyed restoring 5 small boats (plus a f/glass clinker sailing dinghy for my son) and completely fitting out my Hartley from a shell, but the price of materials is getting prohibitive these days, and approaching the price of a small new car to build anything around 20ft. My 15ft day sailer for example (built 1986) would probably cost around $12,000 to build today complete. Not a lot of home building these days unfortunately due to the cost,- cheaper to buy a second hand boat ready to sail or motor.

I think we are lucky to be able to build from an idea without a plan and have it work, as many people are not as fortunate. Perhaps boating experience gives you an idea of how things should work. We have a top boatbuilding company here who started building fantastic launches, starting with a 'looks right' half model,- taking measurements from it and scaling them up. Has worked well for them since the 50s

Stay Safe.
JB

Hi Ed,

The link is fixed. The space in the URL is deliberately added to avoid some web browsers trying to stretch the page width. The gallery works a bit differently to the rest of the site (different code), but I've just enabled the displaying of links.

Thanks
Stephen

Thank you Stephen and Doug for helping to get the video fixed. It makes a big difference to the post! Ed

'Naiad' is an interesting concept of a very traditional design. I like her lines and it's good to see a good old gaff rigged boat being built today.
Likewise 'Emma', lovely old Bristol Pilot cutter, sailing well. You have some good boats at Buxton.

Nerys

That's a great looking model for your first scratch build - especially as you changed the size . Good planking job on the hull as well as the superstructure & detailing. You should post a build blog for your next project - would follow that

Brilliant job for a first build, particularly as she's a scratch build. I look forward to seeing what you build next with great interest.

Cheers, Nerys