H.M.C.S. Snowberry

Nice article, and great pictures.. Now have renewed interest to build the one I have..I have seen them on the waters and they always look good..

1 Question, on the electronics set up picture there is the battery box between the reciever and the main battery, the wires do not appear to go anywhere, why is that there ?. 

Ok just looked closer, the wires do infact seem to go to the battery slot on the Rx but as the viper shown has a Bec which also appears to be plugged in with all 3 wires intact is that right ?

Edited By The Long Build on 14/03/2012 14:01:16

Edited By The Long Build on 14/03/2012 14:03:30

No Idea I'm afraid and Dave Abbott doesn't often visit this forum.

Colin

Hi

I have had one of these for a few years and it is such a nice boat to model. I have attached a little utube video I have created on beginning a 'rewire'. What I want you to see in this though are some lovely shots of the boat on the 'high seas.'

http://youtu.be/WS-Qx35Mlfg

also

http://youtu.be/yEQdXlhVnpQ

Had fun with this last one. All the shots are from a camera on bow of another boat.

Cheers

John

While the battery box is plugged in, fortunately there seem to be no batteries in it. Perhaps a different ESC was intended and the battery box never got unplugged?

Re-reading the article - "over 30 years ago".  Well over, the original kit appeared shortly after the film "The Cruel Sea" came out, so I would guess that its been around over half a century.  Not bad for something originally intended as a bit of background scenery for model railways (thats what Matchbox was into back then).

Edited By Malcolm Frary on 17/12/2014 09:37:03

Ian

To Malcolm 25 years is "shortly".

Wasn't the original kit a Matchbox item which was subsequently re-issued as a Revell kit? I never bought one so I'm uncertain (far too young, you know).

DM

Yes it was a Matchbox model, originally released IIRC in 1979. It was quite expensive . I was working in Ashbourne at the time and remember I had to save for a few weeks before I could buy the kit.

The original Matchbox kit came out in the late '50s or early '60s as HMS Bluebell. As against the wages at the time, it was expensive. £20 doesn't sound much now, but it was about twice a weekly wage back then. It came and went a few times, wages went up, but so did the price at each re-issue to just keep it out of reach. I first saw a Revell USS Saucy about 1990 in the model shop on Deansgate in Manchester, it was still a lot more than I could justify spending at the time. That re-issue and rename was probably to pander to the US market. I finally got mine (a Snowberry) when Scoonie turned up at a Blackpool show about 2000 with a wall full of them at £40 a go.

I'm not convinced. If there had been a version available anytime up to 1970 my father would have been onto it like a shot, converting it to HMS Pennywort. Even the Matchbox kit site has 1973 as launch date. I think the John Piper kit came out just before, but this was still way above my pocket.