Gemplemorums all,

First of all, may I express my very best wishes to one and all for the New Year, and also my sincere hope that you are all doing as well as is but possible under current etceteras!

I am also happy to say that my own bill of health is a nice and clean one, and that my unduly long absence (hiss! boo! for shame!) from active participation on this forum has only been due to my continual being a very naughty boy: I fear that back in the summer I managed to once more ignore the compass and head off course from the model boat build that I'd started in spring, lured towards the rocky shore by the siren song of general woodworking.

More specifically, I've kept very busy down in my workshop since, but with building a bench for full size woodworking, rather than things to scale that go through water. This is still very much work in progress, as with almost only hand tools to hand, it is rather taking it's time to turn this pile of 8/4 hard maple into a bench.

So far I have ripped most of the planks to make the blanks to produce a sufficient number of laminates (aiming for each one to be +/- 2250 x 105 x 45 mm) from which to glue up the top …

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… and I'm currently about half way through the process of planing and jointing them to those final dimensions, and to S4S.

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Other than me gallivanting off after the lure of wood shavings, it has, alas, also been a case of very little actual sailing being possible anyway. As the pond to which my model boat club has access is part of a larger recreational and sports facility, access has been limited for much of 2020 by lockdowns and other pandemic-related measures. Not that model boating out in the open air is all that risky in and of itself, but just that the whole complex has been shut down or have had very strict rules of access for much of the time.

So. I do hope that I now know better than to make too many promises as to what and when in the way of model boat building on my part, and in all honesty it is more than likely that I will continue to heed the woodworking siren's song for some time yet (I ruddy well do want that workbench!) but I shall at least try to follow the forum discussions more actively, and chip in as and when I have something with which to contribute!

For starters, and to end this posting (duh!), I should for example very much like to compliment previous posters in this thread on their builds, whether they be boats or trains: a number of fascinating subjects and excellent builds!

Cheers and, once again, my warmest wishes to you all and all of yours for a Happy New Year!

Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:42:27

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:43:00

Edited By Banjoman on 06/01/2021 12:44:48

Richard,

Your S class is quite different from ours so maybe the class changed over the years. Elizabeth acquired hers from Alan in 2012 and it was No 5, Shiva. Alas the photo is one of those that for some reason, no matter how I format it, won't appear the right way up.

Gareth

Gareth, I'm probably mistaken mine may have not been an S Class. I'm afraid I'm not very well up on yachts, I just know a beautifully built hull when I see one! I do know it was too long for the class it was built for though so Alan built two more. I'm sure he could build hulls like that in his sleep.

Your 'A' boat looks super Gareth, if only I had the space. Seem to remember these were kept in the club houses many years ago.

My builds during lockdown have been a selection of plastic kits. I was struggling to get to the lake before 'lockdown' and have enjoyed building these kits. Glasses, strong magnifiers, tweezers and the dreaded carpet monster are part of the course with these kits.

Firstly, I completed the 1992 Revell kit 'Nina' one of Christopher Columbus' ships. She must have looked superb with the lateen rig, this wasn't always used.

Second is my old Revell 'Benledi'. A Scottish cargo liner from the 1960s. A couple of pieces were missing and have been scratch built from sprue. Kit is still in progress.

Lastly, I am unsure whether to build the Revell 1956 kit HMS Bounty which is still on sale, or the 1992 kit of the Pinta.

Nina –

Benledi –

HMS Bounty –

Pinta –

Edited By Tony Hadley on 07/01/2021 14:26:37

Like the Benledi, Tony, Ben boats always had quite a futuristic look about them with beautiful shear lines and fantastic flared bows. Very much like Port Line and Blue Star ships and very typical of their time.

When we used to build ships!

Hi all

Just a quick update , a few bits to touch up with painting , some soldering for the lights and a couple of crew members / ropes on the deck and that will be it.

Tim

Two RC boats of my own design and one kit scooner. My latest pleasure boat is the FIRST in the world to incorporate flashing direction indicators, stop lights and reversing light on the transom. There should be more like this as in very busy harbours it is essnetial. I will inglude pictures when I have taken them.

Edited By Colin Bishop on 04/04/2021 10:03:06

I guess it was around the beginning of Covid that I started growing weary of the intensity of scratch building a MBD semi kit. I had finished all the hand made brass stanchions etc and decided on a change for a bit of relief.

I always fancied the Billing Boats Boulogne Etaples so this filled up the next 6 weeks.

THEN lol The Amati Riva Aquarama caught my eye but I've still not finished this as some parts I awaited arrived from Hong Kong which rekindled an earlier starter.

So since last August up to date I've been scratch building a 34kg icebreaking supply tug. I hope to complete this when the warmer weather arrives. The Azimuth drives are what I awaited and these are 100mm Korts with 84mm Props.

I've just made the autonomous fire monitors today 

Edited By Andrew Waters on 09/03/2021 21:51:41

Edited By Andrew Waters on 09/03/2021 21:52:55

Edited By Andrew Waters on 09/03/2021 21:53:38

Edited By Andrew Waters on 09/03/2021 22:14:44

Edited By Andrew Waters on 09/03/2021 22:16:58

Nice work Neil as always. I almost prefer the sail equipped one as it stands out due to not having any orange on it!

My sort of workshop background pictures as well.

Having this much time on your hands does certainly ramp up the building rate. I have made 6 boats since last March, and having just finished the last, am looking to the next one!

Ashley

Edited By Colin Bishop on 04/04/2021 10:04:20

Hi Chris,

It is nearly ! but you run 3 projects in parallel, as Ashley appears to work sequentially !

I have 4 new boats which havn't been to the lake yet !!

To be honest all this model making and not sailing them is getting me down, I keep charging my batteries waiting for the great day which I thinks going to be mid April for my club

Are you joining the IOM Nimbus build ??

Regards Ray

Edited By Colin Bishop on 04/04/2021 10:05:12

Hi Richard,

You don't need to worry it's not Neil's thread

Regards Ray

Edited By Colin Bishop on 04/04/2021 10:06:12