I decided as an interesting subject to purchase the MOD Police Launch kit which measures only 400mm long. The kit was inexpensive and I thought as a beginner it would be a nice motor driven model to add to the Aeronaut cabin cruiser Diva I had finished building. Like the Bob-About that I have today started a build blog on I started this kit just prior to having surgery on my right hand. When I kit was delivered I was pleased at the contents of the box. Everything was there and the parts were nicely cut ready to be removed from the ply sheets. One thing I have to say is that the instruction booklet although well laid out with stage completion tick boxes I did not think that the drawings were very clear and helpful. So unfortunately I made a mistake when constructing the hull putting the transom at the wrong angle. I realized that I had a problem when I came to fit the radio tray. The part appeared to be too small and would not fit correctly. My added problem was that I did not know what I had done wrong. I contacted WMBC by email and explained my problem. I backed that up with photographs of the hull frames that I had so far put together. The person who replied said that they did not think they could help but said that they would send me another part so I could make a larger part from the one I had and the being sent that would fit. When the part arrived I made the part and fitted it and moved on only to find that the next part was also too small and would not fit. I contact WMBC again but they were not helpful. Now all this time this was going on I did not know that I had made a mistake. I believed the kit parts to be at fault. Following the lack of help I posted my problem on the forum with the photographs I had sent to WMBC. Fortunately dave976 came to my rescue pointing out that he could see from the same pictures I had sent to WMBC that I had fitted the transom incorrectly. Having found out my mistake I was able to order another part to replace the one I had altered on advice from WMBC. I am now waiting for the part to be delivered, and like the Footy, when my hand is useable again I can continue with the build so there will be more to follow in the future. Greg

As I can't build at the moment due to the recent surgery I have had on my right hand but as I can type with two fingers. One on the left hand and one on my right hand I thought I would start a new blog on the Bob-About and show what I had achieved just prior to my surgery. As a beginner to RC boats, apart from boats with motors I wanted to try my hand (if you pardon the pun) at RC sailing. Not in competition but as a leisure pursuit. It was recommended to me that I might like to build the Footy and/or the Wee Nip so I purchased both. I decided to start with the Footy because being small I thought that it would be easy to build as a first sailboat for a person who, although had experience of building static display ships and had just finished building Aeronaut's cabin cruiser Diva, had no knowledge of sailboats and the sailing terminology. I was wrong. On receiving the kit I found the instructions which were on both sides of an A4 size piece of paper very limited for the novice and also poorly written. The plans that also came with the kit were comprehensive but not aimed at the beginner. I did point this out to SLEC and asked if they had other details and perhaps more photographs than were printed on the instruction sheet that they could email. Their reply was that the plans and written details were all they had been given when they took on the selling rights. The copyright of the plans were given in 2002 some 20 odd years ago. So I felt that an update was long overdue. When I commenced the build the first problem I encountered was building the hull which I eventually overcame with the help of forum members but as I progressed I could see that with my lack of understanding and the very poor instructions added to my frustrations and I was in danger of giving up and throwing the thing out the window! Well, with further discussions with SLEC they answered my queries and sent me some photographs that they had taken to help me which I was very grateful. I was now able to complete the building of the hull. Install the rudder tube and the tube to take the mast. Once the adhesive had cured I gave the hull three coats of sander sealer. When that was dry I installed the angled tube at the stern to take the cable and cord to control the sails and the servos were fitted in place. The boat now sits waiting for me to start fitting the rigging and sails when I can use my right hand. That in turn will be the next challenge as I have no clue what to do! Hopefully, in the first couple of weeks of April my hand will be healed enough for me to start again. Greg

Well, here goes part one of my build blog on constructing the the Cabin Cruiser Diva. As this is my first ever build blog if I'm doing something wrong please let me know. I am 74 years old and have been building period static display ships, other models and model railways for some time. A few weeks before the end of 2022 I decided that before it was too late I would like to build a RC boat and a RC powered glider. I contacted Cornwall Model Boats who I have used for some time now and they recommended the Diva as a good model to start with as a novice. When I received the kit I first found that the components in the box did not match up with instructions. The kit is made by the German company Aeronaut and is distributed in the UK by Caldercraft. Because the original instructions are in German Caldercraft provide in the box a set of instructions translated into English. I said above that the components in the box were not matching up to the instructions. What I did not know until I contacted Caldercraft that Aeronaut had changed many of the parts and had produced a new set of instructions to match and had not told Caldercraft. Caldercraft sent me the new translation as a PDF file and all was well. So if anyone purchases this kit in the future check what instructions you have in the box. Although Caldercraft sent me the file they did say that the new instructions can be found online. The instructions are a Google translation which I have found in the past is not always so good but I found the translated instructions fairly easy to understand with some having to be read a few times to understand what was meant. I did get stuck on one of the instructions which I put down to old age because I just could not get it to formulate in my brain. Having said that, I was very lucky have made contact with the forum member Martin555 who took a look at the instructions and gave me a very good explanation of what I had to do. So if anyone else wants to build this model and gets to instruction number 11 and gets stuck send me a message and I'll happily help you out (or past you on to Martin ) I have found the build so far interesting and rewarding. The frames or bulkheads were easy to assemble as there is a jig provided with the kit to hold the frames whilst glue dries and other parts are added. Once a certain stage has been reached the jig is discarded and the build continues whilst the hull is support on the stand provided which also has to be assembled. You will see from the photographs the some of the various stages I have completed. I installed the motor and the propeller and shaft the other day. The motor has be purchased separately to the kit. The motor is held in place by two screws and the shaft is positioned from beneath the hull. I did find that I had to adjust by filing the entry whole in the underside of the hull to get the correct angle so the shaft and motor were in a straight line. Once that was done the shaft is fixed in place using Epoxy Resin glue. When the glue had cured which was about 16 hours I removed the motor from it's housing and then applied two coats of sander sealer to the inside of the hull to waterproof it as per the instructions. My next job over the next few days is to reinstall the motor and fit the support parts for the remaining electrics and the rudder housing. Once they are done I will let you know how I got on. Greg