There’s another Fairey at the bottom of my garden….

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I was talking to my friend Scott Pett of the Fairey Owners Club and he remarked that there's not a plan or a kit of the Huntress available. I took that as a challenge…..

More photos in the Album. Model is 1/12 scale but only 23" long. Turnigy brushless motor with Hawk 30A ESC and Hitec 2G4 radio. Only waiting for the anchor chain and Red Ensign to arrive and she's ready for the water.

Dave M

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hello Dave

Very nicely built with superb attention to detail.

Its up to your usual high standards and I wouldn't have expected anything else.

Respect

Paul

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Lovely job Dave – will you build me a full size one now…..?

Colin

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Lovely job Dave – will you build me a full size one now…..?

You're next in the queue – after Liz's H31. Fingers crossed for the inaugural soaking of H23 – hopefully Sunday.

Paul

Many thanks for your kind words. We does us best-est (but that wheel was a real swine!).

Dave M

[mike farrellParticipant @mikefarrell21522]

Hi Dave .Elaine and I were impressed with your Sea Mist which we saw at Haydock ,so much she asked me to build one for her .Your current model surpasses that by a fair bit Nice model well executed Michael

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Thanks, Mike. Sea Spray was built mainly to prove Paul's drawings. If I'd kept the model then I would have put some detail on it, but it served its purpose. I think Paul includes the photos of my build along with the plans.

My little1/16 scale Huntsman 31 is promised to be the subject of a Model Boats feature plan and article in the near future, but I haven't even sent the piccies of H23 to Himself The Editor yet. We don't too many Faireys in the garden all at once, do we?

Dave M

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Dave,

A truly lovely model in every way! Beautiful lines, marvelous build quality and just generally a sight for sore eyes!

/Mattias

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

A superb model Dave, will be nice to see the on-the-water photographs at a future date.

Noted the use of Hitec 2G4 radio, out of interest Hitec's new Flash 8 mid-range radio is reviewed in RCME, October edition.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

DM. As usual very nice as we expect.

Not sure what the life ring is doing there though????

Ashley

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Ashley

Don't ask me, m'duck – I just made a model of the real thing (well, almost…………….I changed a few minor bits and pieces) **LINK**

Tony

I shall keep an eye out for that review. I do like Hitec radio (I don't have any other type these days).

Dave M

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Dave

Going back to your original comments ………is this going to be a kit?

Paul

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Not unless someone crosses my palm with plenty of silver, Doc. 'Himself' has said that he will accommodate a plan and article in MB at some time, so that's good enough for me. Meanwhile I have to sail it; de-bug anything wrong with the design; build another "proving" model and then prepare the plans etc. All pretty familiar territory.

Kits are a genuine PITA – trust me!

Dave M

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Dave

Would a Swordsman plan work as a basic hull with a modified stern?

Looks similar 30 degree hull design?

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Harry

Superficially the two are similar but there are a number of significant differences once you get down to detail. The Swordsman has quite a rounded deck at the bow while Huntress has a pointed one. Swordsman also tapers in beam from midships towards the stern, while Huntress remains the same width. In fact Huntress is little more than a shortened Huntsman 28 (not the 31) so you could base a Huntress on that plan. **LINK**

Dave

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Dave

I appreciate your comments about needing huge chunks of cash to launch a kit but for the less intellectual amongst us could you explain the PITA acronym.

Paul

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

He means pain in the posterior region Paul….

And he's right!

Colin

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Paul

Pain In The Backside (as you well know).

It's not so much the cash aspect of kitting that I'm wary of. In fact to have say a hundred ply kits cut by CNC milling or laser is relatively cheap. That said, I would never set out to produce and manufacture a kit on my own. The problem is that when you present a set of parts to a customer – as opposed to a set of plans – then he somehow assumes that you have an ongoing responsibility to ensure that those parts end up looking like the picture on the box top and flying/floating/whatever just as well as anything he's ever likely to see elsewhere. I don't know why this is but it does happen – and surprisingly often. The other point is that a customer's lack of skills is frequently misrepresented as a fault with the kit, and you can get an awful lot of bad press from just one clumsy loudmouth who can't be bothered to RTFM.

Present someone with a set of plans, however, and you have a customer who has probably already weighed up his skills and expectations against the likelihood of him finishing up with a satisfactory end product. Naturally there's always the bloke who wants to build a 1/4 scale Spitfire or fully-rigged 17th century Man of War as his first model, but he's more likely to be put off by the complexity of a set of drawings than he is by a huge box with a beautifully-made glossy model on the front.

I've worked in just about every area of the model trade – design, manufacture, wholesale, retail and most recently writing articles – and I know which order of preference I'd put them in!

Dave M

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Dave

I don't know why this is but it does happen – and surprisingly often. The other point is that a customer's lack of skills is frequently misrepresented as a fault with the kit, and you can get an awful lot of bad press from just one clumsy loudmouth who can't be bothered to RTFM.

Roughly what percentage of customers qualify for entry into this dark pit of stupidity?

Paul

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

Fortunately time has dulled my memory, but incidents of numpties loudly complaining about something which was demonstrably down to them were frequent – maybe two or three a week when I was in a retail model shop and in kit manufacturing.

I'm on record as having quantified the percentage of "faulty" electronics sent back for repair or replacement – and which were either not faulty or had been obviously connected without reference to the instructions – as at least 80%. I still get them.

The next favourite down the list was kit parts which "didn't fit" – generally because it wasn't the part which was intended for that purpose, or the builder had jumped the gun and fitted something else prematurely which was now in the way.

Lawrie White (Model Slipway) tells the story of a customer who telephoned to ask if it would be 'all right' to paint his Maggie M a different colour to the one on the box lid.

Ron Dean was made to regret writing "cement the ballast weight into the bottom of the hull" in an instruction manual when a customer took him exactly at his word and used some of Blue Circle's finest. He was apparently puzzled as to why the model refused to float.

My own particular favourite was the bloke who came into Pegasus toy and model shop in Nottingham on the day after Boxing Day and slammed a 4.5v dry battery down on the counter. He said that he'd brought it back to complain that it had gone flat. It turned out that his kids had spent most of Christmas Day and Boxing Day playing a game which flashed about a dozen bulbs when a correct answer was given. Nevertheless "what was I going to do about it?" I think I just stared dumbstruck at him until he left…………….

One tries one's very best to make allowances but there are still those folk who would best serve humanity by not breeding.

DM

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

This is priceless..

Ron Dean was made to regret writing "cement the ballast weight into the bottom of the hull" in an instruction manual when a customer took him exactly at his word and used some of Blue Circle's finest. He was apparently puzzled as

to why the model refused to float.

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

'The customer is always right'….?

[Peter FitnessParticipant @peterfitness34857]

Except when he's obviously wrong

Peter.

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

It was a bright, clear and calm morning at Papplewick today so I got there early and threw caution to the wind and H23 into the water. She sails as well as she looks, although I didn't take my camera this time.
The next job is to firm up the parts shapes and build a second "proving" model. That's always a pleasure because I know it will all come together well at the end.

Oh – of course the customer is always right, and you should look him straight in the eye, smile and tell him so as you take his money.

Dave M

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi Dave

Love to see the plan in the model boats mag in the future.

A bit of a change from the Swordsman and others would be great.

Harry

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