This blog details the refurbishment of a 1/12th scale Tyne class lifeboat that depicts the original boat as was named in a ceremony by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent on Friday 28th July at 2.00 pm 1989 at Scotch Head Whitby. The boat was built originally by a friend of a club member a good few years ago, and was in need of a complete restoration. On purchasing the boat it still looked the part with no particular damage so the basics were good I felt it just needed repaint and new fittings. The original build was not from a kit, but a bare hull and deck and everything else either scratch built or from commercially available stock. The mechanics worked very smoothly once I had paired a new receiver to my transmitter as did all the lighting and radar. Even though I feel it was now well used and very 90s ish technology. So that’s the intro here are the first photos I had from mid 2023, the boat was then shelved until Feb 2024 when I was ready to tackle her.

Good afternoon fellow modellers. I have finally! Completed the refurb on INGA IV, the painting, glazing, rigging, electrics, sails, crew and cocktails are finally poured. Until I find something else to add. Just the maiden voyage to plan, that’s when our flooded, frozen and gale swept pond is back to normal. Here a some photos I have just taken, a video will follow asap.

Good morning. Finally got around to building the rear cabin for my Inga, I’ve made it in 2 halves so access is possible without removing the mizzen mast. Because the cabin was missing when I purchased the” barn find hull” I had to fit windows too so I chose to use port holes.which is not true to the original but I like the effect. I made a brass collar for the mast, I shall incorporate this in a below cabin mast support. Similar to the one MT Inga has fabricated. It has been a task matching the mahogany tones to the weathered original, but I’m nearly there just a bit more work and I think it will be passable

She’s finally finished.99% scratch built, a couple of fittings bought commercially. It is easier to show the photos than explain Diesel engine powered winch in aft cabin. I made the cabin recoverable so I could access the rudder assembly rear tow rope exit plate and guides, plus rope. Side scramble nets. Crash ladder Number plate to cabin side

Having had some pleasing success remodelling figures for my Orca crew, I set about producing a crew for my Trent lifeboat.photo 1, I had for the last year tried to purchase ready made but they were always out of stock/ in production,etc,etc. The Trent is a slipways model of 1/16th scale. Equivalent to 1inch to 16 inch or 2” to 32”— 4” to 64” which equates to 5’-4” around average for a shortish person. Another 1/4” on the model figure would add 4” equalling 5’-8” so 4 and 1/2” would be equal to a 6 foot tall person. My rough calcs. here in photo 2, The reason for these calculations was to set in my mind the proportions for the figures required. With this in mind I scoured the toy shops, junk, charity outlets and finally car boot sales. Purchasing eventually the selection in the photo 3, costing around £1 each, Having already finished the coxswain, I decided to take photos of the modelling stages. the next crew was to be a kneeling person so chose the model with the brown overalls photo 4,5, As can be seen in photo 2 the figure is 5” tall equivalent to a person 6’-8” tall. I needed to loose at least 1/2” to make the scale about right. What was done is rather brutal but has to be. Starting with the neck I cut a slither out, next the waist area then finally the thigh area, photos 6,7. I then flattened the surfaces on my mini sander, to make a good mating surface. photo 8. The next stage is to pose the limbs into the position required, Starting with the legs, the figures all have articulated joints which help but, don’t always bend as much as needed. A little work with a sharp craft knife eases the joints and gives a bit more movement.( pity it won’t work on my joints). At this stage I usually drill a hole in the sawn thigh joints to insert a plastic dowel of 1/16” dia. The depth goes as far as the articulated knee joint so when the dowel is inserted it also locks the joint together. This helps keep the pose. Photo 9, To add a little realism and stability I found that the kneeling leg was better if the boot was bent forward as your foot naturally bends when you kneel down. So I cut a “V” notch out of the figures foot top and supa- glued it in position, photo10. Dowel holes are also drilled into the waist and neck and tried out for fit, usually with removing the slithers of body to shorten the height the parts will not match so a little dressing in is needed, once again with a sharp craft knife. Once happy and blended in I glue the thighs and waist in the desired pose position. The head is not fixed in place until the figure is complete, there is as much work on the head as the rest of the body so I find it best to keep separated. I now at this stage fill all the joints with modelling filler and leave to harden over night, photo 14.

home made figure using converted DR WHO figure. chopped up, glued back in new pose. added jacket collar and filled all movable joints, sanded down and painted, cut head flat and added hat. rolled kitchen paper after soaking with glue then moulded to shape for life vest, left to set around neck and chest. when painted i then added all cuffs and reflective tabs and cap badge. finally i finished off by adding the harnesses for the life vest and safety belt using small black tie wraps

Well a decision was made quite a while ago as to what the next project was to be. At the time i was only half way through the "Brave Borderer" build, but you cant beat planning ahead and having something to look forward to. With 3 tugs, Aziz, Yorkshireman and Cervia plus the Brave in the harbour, I felt like a scale change, something not as fiddly so decided on the Orca at 1/16th scale. being a lot chunkier and not as fine detailed i felt a challenge ahead. First step was to source a set of plans. these were from a guy in New Mexico, Patrick Tritle. An email to enquire the cost and an order placed, a week later they arrived. 4 large A2 sheets well drawn and highly detailed. a list of components was made up to get me started and decisions made as to prop size, shaft length and motor, batteries etc that would be needed. i find this part of the process as interesting as the actual build, with all the investigation into what's available and in stock. i have had excellent service from "Leeds Model shop" and "Cornwall models" and soon had the parts required to start the build

Now once the rear decking was fixed in place I moved on to the centre deck section. I kept the original deck as mentioned earlier, this fitted ok and had all the railing holes in position. I scraped all the paint off and recoated with fresh while it was off as this was easier to rework. New supports were made for the deck and extra plastic angle strips were added to stiffen the deck up. The deck was then fitted and new combing around the main access area glued in place. This served 2 jobs, 1 to stop water entering the hull from off the deck area and 2 to help locate the main superstructure that was to be left loose for access to the radio gear, battery and motors. The bow decking was then renewed and fitted plus the upstand joining the two decks, forward of the superstructure The next job was to use the old bow bulwarks as templates to produce new left and right hand sides.offering them up a couple of times before being happy with the fit. The bow was then fitted plus a couple of bulwark ribs to strengthen the sections while the glue set.Then extra ribs were added as the original and this strengthened the whole structure no end

Well it's been a year since I last updated my blog whilst sat on the beach in Kos Greece. Just haven't had the time, but have of late and have actually nearly finished the refit. My last job that I have been putting off was one of those fiddly little finishing off jobs of the finer detail. Cleaning 5 layers of paint from the bulkhead lights taken from around the original superstructure. Started yesterday and got all twelve cleaned, then this morning consulted the plans for shape and positioning. I used .8mm piano wire and bent to shape. Then superglued the bulkhead lights in position. I then found a piece of red fine tube from the top of a "WD40" oil can and cut into 1mm pieces forming small "O" shapes, I then cut a piece out to make them into a "C", then clipped these into position to form what looked like small conduit fixing clips. Next to make was the 2 junction boxes, this time I used slightly larger tube about 2mm dia. and cut into 2 MM lengths,I notched the bottom to fit over the wire and glued in place. A 1 MM hole was drilled in the side facing downwards and added a short piece of wire glued in this hole to represent a take off feed to the lower lights. All in all, a job I was not looking forward to doing, turned out to be quite a rewarding little 5 hours spent. Hope you agree and maybe gives you some inspiration to finish those little "put off" jobs. Because having read a lot of the blogs on this brilliant site, has certainly given me the confidence and inspiration to do what I do now. Thanks everyone, here's to contented modelling and keep safe. Roger

I purchased this from an ex seaman who had actually crewed the Yorkshireman out of Hull. He was now finding it difficult to lift the model and transport it, so decided to sell. The model had seen a few owners and may have been 20 years + old. It had had at least 4 coats of paint the latest being done by what looked like a plasterer. On closer inspection some of the fixtures and fittings were damaged and re glued, parts looked as if the top superstructure had been dropped and the bow section bulwarks had been smashed and refitted badly