the importance of crew members on a boat.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Members,   Nothing adds to a model boat like crew. It brings a boat to life, and gives a sense of scale to a ship. Imagine, a few scale passengers on a TITANIC model. Instantly you can see the scale of the funnels, the lack of lifeboats etc etc. On a fishing boat , a couple of crew members holding a few fishies just absolutely brings to life a really boring small boat (sorry)…but when dealing with a classic model, such as the MFA Fantome, a model which has been in production for….ooooh… a REALLY long time, you have to go the whole hog, and source figures from around the globe (E-Bay is quite good actually) or your local cheap-shop. Figures so expensive as they are now VINTAGE they almost add up to the original cost of the hull itself, pah!

 

We have….Pete….the driver, this is Pippa`s boyfriend (nudge nudge). He is very difficult to obtain. There, at the time, must have been loads of Pippa dolls sold, but as per Barbie dolls today the amount of Ken`s and Pete`s is relatively small. SO we have a Pete sans feet..this handy actually, as although the picture on the MFA box shows a crew of Pippa figures, the bench seating is a bit…out of scale for them. The loss of feet is not actually noticeable oddly enough, it makes him affordable.

 

Then we have Pippa herself…almost… I have used a clone Pippa…a 6 inch doll, obviously made at the time to be sold cheaper than a pukka Pippa. She is a Polythene girl, and not the slightly harder plastic of a pukka Pippa, but sits nicely as a sexy Blonde on a bench seat obviously a bit overscale to Petes right so he can look back and enjoy the view. She was fairly cheap and I balked at mutilating a REAL Pippa doll.  The girl BEHIND Pete is Britney. I picked her up in Cobham (I should be so lucky), but she is oddly enough the same size and so fair game for PETE. They appear to be wearing black seat belts, and a zip-tie I suppose fits this description….Behold….a full crew !!!   Weep and be jealous.

 

Get a load of Pete`s top ! 

 

I rather like the last shot….cruising off to enjoy a few Martini`s in Monaco. Or Molesey.

 

Ashley

 

NB Next stop a dolls house shop for a bottle of bubbly and a wine glass !!

 

 

 

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Ashley…….Mmmmmm!

 

Your crew members look a tad on the small size, on this bright Bank Holiday Monday morning?

 

What scale is the boat and how tall are the dolls?

 

Just passing through……Bob

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Bob, I take your point, but these are the dolls…sorry….figures, that are on the box photo, from whenever they originally made the first packaging.

 

As such, and you can see I am a stickler for accuracy, so it just had to be the correct vintage figures.

 

I suspect that the cabin furnishing layout MAY NOT be to the same scale as the rest of the  boat, as Pete hardly has leg room as a 6 inch hunk, and a 7 or even 8 inch figure would definately struggle.

 

Still, it does mean they have more room to PARTY !!!

 

    Bob, but are you jealous that i now have a full crew??   on second thoughts…dont answer that one.

 

 Ashley

 

 

 

 

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Here`s my figure scence……in fact….all my boats have crew……so what are you on about?

All aboard!…….Capt Bob

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

And another……

That`ll do for starters

 

Adm Bob

[Paul GodfreyParticipant @paulgodfrey14946]

Hi guys,

 

These two photos, taken from a Model Boats review of the Sir Lancelot I’m currently building, say it all when it comes to having a crew.

 

Regards, Paul.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

A quick visit to the club pond tonight and spotted this!

 

It`s full of life!…….Dogs, cats, seagulls, topless ladies, coloured lights, smoker, hooters, searchlights, nav lights, rotating radar,  sunbathers, fishermen……..etc

All the figures are hand made too

 

Bob

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Guys, i am touched. All those figures on boats, truly excellent. Truly the science of bringing boats to life has not been forgotten  (fat controller are you following this??)

 

The trouble with most of my boats is that they are a bit free on the scale  front. A Captain Smith would look truly very good on my Titanic, and  look to be about the right size on the bridge, or underneath a funnel..but then near a lifeboat the proportion diminishes from true scale a bit. It all hangs together on the pond as there is no reference to judge the proportions with.

 

A while ago, on our pond, there was a paddle steamer, not a great tour do force, but quite acceptable,, however it was crammed to the gun`ls with passengers. must have been over one hundred. Also not a tour-de-force of modelling, simply oblongs of clay, cut ,bent and painted . But what a difference it made to the boat. It looked fantastic, a proper “stand off scale” jobbie, very nice.

 

Bob,   topless ladies…hmmm…I am not sure we could allow that on our water, I would have to vet them first.(but I was tempted on the Fantome…..)

 

Ashley

[David MeierParticipant @davidmeier28154]

Ashley.

How can you visualise yourself at the helm of the Fantome if some other plonker (not nearly as hansom as yourself) is busy driving the girls around?

 

David. 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

David. You have it bang to rights.

 

I just have to grit my teeth, and take the boat out when its cold.. This cools him down a bit !

 

Ashley

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