Vic Smeed’s Model Boat Designs

[Martin Field 1Participant @martinfield1]

So are we saying that Sarik pay a licence to My Hobby Store? Who now owns the plans? Sarik or MHS? And I thought the main thing about Sarik was that now handled the old Traplet plans

It was so easy when all the model mags were MAP and they did the plans Service AND the cheap insurance. What a mixed up, inconvenient world the bean counters have created.

Martin

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Simple enough. Don't offer plans online which are currently listed by Sarik. Their relationship with MHS is their business.

Times change but the plans are still a source of revenue so not a good idea to offer them for free!

Colin

[Martin Field 1Participant @martinfield1]

Who's offering them for free? I only have 2 or three somewhere and the last one I bought was rubbish. No I'm just asking what has happened to a range of items that I have had a "relationship with" since I and my cousins were nippers going through a big white catalogue dreamin' of what we'd one day build. My surviving MAP handbooks are still on my bookshelf. My collection of MAP books takes pride of place next to all my Tom Rolt first editions. I am quite sure nothing with "My Hobby Store" on it will ever go on the bookshelves!

Martin

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Not quite sure what you are complaining about Martin.

A lot of those old plans existed only in hard copy and have deteriorated over the years to the extent that the originals are no longer reproducible. These are no longer listed. The actual ongoing demand for the older plans is extremely limited to say the least anyway. The reality is that nobody is really interested in them anymore so there is no commercial value in reinstating them.

On the plus side, those plans which were originally reproduced in copies of Model Maker and Model Boats can be resurrected by scanning them in from the old magazines by anyone who is interested.

Unfortunately MHS is in business to sell magazines, not to act as a historical archive of drawings which most people are unaware of and if they were would rarely if ever purchase.

Colin

[Martin Field 1Participant @martinfield1]

Beyond that bloody ridiculous name, I'm not actually complaining about anything and don't know why you think I am, but I do regret your attitude if that's the official line on what was once a fascinating resource. It's like having a lot of historic letters in a museum and just saying, "Oh nobody asks to read them any more, we'll dump them". As long as one person wants a copy of an old plan they are worth keeping. If MHS are ONLY interested in flogging magazines, maybe they should have bought a different company that wasn't sitting on what has become almost a national treasure. Of course if the current generation of useless 'erberts don't buy them we have to fall at the feet of their mediocrity and accept that their indolence is correct.

I wonder if the model aircraft and model car people are quite so dismissive of this attitude and so accepting of it. I rather doubt it.

Martin

[Daniel Cardona 1Participant @danielcardona1]

I’m an model aircraft modeller and and i also just recently startet into model boats. Unfortunatley in this ALmost Ready Made world contributed (IMO) into letting these national treasures close to fading away. Brian Taylor , dennis Bryant, Vic Smeed and others are names that some so hobbyist dont even know about. I have some original plans and parts from brian taylor and i consider them my treasures. The parts that once was i bought from My Hobby Store were not even up to par with the originals , apart the ridiculus postage costs that i had to pay. Well at least there is still some hope because one can still find these plans and build a proper model.

But now many first timers buy a get these ARTF , gone seems the days of what they were called modellers. Now only assemblers.

See all these woderful models of Vic smeed here and old magazines and photo’s of models still in there building stage gives me some hope.

Regards

Daniel

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Martin,

I don't think you fully appreciate the situation here. I am just trying to explain the current position.

In the days of MAP the company was run by modelling enthusiasts who were well aware of the need to support the widespread modelling interests of the day. In the case of NEXUS perhaps less so but modelling was still seen as a significant activity. The magazines have since passed through various hands and are now viewed as purely commercial assets. The only people in the organisation who understand the subject matter are the Editors. If the magazines fail to sell enough copies they will be closed down as was recently the case with Military Modelling. There is no commitment to supporting modelling by the company as such and certainly no recognition of the need to maintain historical records. Money is simply too tight.

I and others are very much aware of the historical value of the content of the magazines which in the case of Model Boats and formerly Model Maker go back to 1950 and I have been instrumental in ensuring that a complete set of magazines is lodged with a national museum as a historical record although I am not totally confident that it will survive as museum priorities unfortunately change.There appear to be no safe havens for material of this nature which in this case encapsulates the post war history of Model Boating.

Some individuals, such as Tony Hadley on this Forum maintain records of their own, in Tony's case, Vic Smeed designs, but when Tony eventually falls off the perch what will happen to his collection? And indeed, what will in due course happen to mine which goes back to 1964?

We live in an age where national museums have got rid of their models in favour of interactive displays so today's visitors can no longer look at a 3D representation of a ship but have to suffice with 2D paintings which are a poor substitute.

Models are generally no longer valued, literally if you look at the prices that even superb examples fetch at auction these days. It is a crying shame in my view but I'm not sure just what you can do about it.

Colin

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Daniel,

As an aero modeller for the past 50 years having built 120+ rc aeroplanes we have learned from the latest foam ARTF's which fly well , the old Taylor & Bryant designs are too heavy ! I love building them but you can't stop the hobby progressing.

Regards Ray

[harry smith 1Participant @harrysmith1]

Hi All

As per my post I only SWAP plans and DO NOT SELL them !!!

I scratch build my boats to the size I require not to kit sizes.

Mainly use marine plywood for frames, keel and outer skin.

Maybe a bit heavy per using balsa, but, with brushless motors it does not matter.

750 to 1600 watt motor will get to boat moving!!!

I prefer boats around the 30 to 40 inch size.

I built the Sea Hornet at 25 and 1/4 inch from the original plans and found it to small to work on.

Harry Smith

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Continuing with the build of Lorena (MM526) from #18 of this thread. The model is being built as a half size 21" mainly balsa round bilge model.

Still lots to do, roof, cabin sides, windscreen, further work on the cabins, mast, painting, fittings etc. The model did have a good bath test and had no stability issues but some lead ballast will be required. The radio gear and electrics have all been removed for the painting etc.

The stand is only a temporary building stand. I always use a cardboard box stand for building and make the correct stand at the end. The building stand will get covered with paint, glue etc.

The build has been plagued with niggling errors, the latest one – I sized and ordered the propeller from the drawing. However, when the hull was built, a size larger propeller could have been easily fitted. As these are quite expensive to buy it will be case of try it first and see what happens.

Still hoping to get her on the lake in 2019

Tony

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Vickers Vedette, came as a free plan in the Dec 1975 Model Boats.

Ray and HMS Cossack mass build team, thought the last paragraph may be of interest.

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Vic also designed many aircraft models, his last was 'Gamine', it is featured in the 2019 R.C.M.E. Special Issue (due in the shops 27th September).

**LINK**

[Matt Fisher 3Participant @mattfisher3]

Posted by Tony Hadley on 21/10/2013 21:05:53:

Neil, It is a pleasure to see your Vic Smeed ASRL and I'm sure that many of us would enjoy seeing her on the water. Thanks for posting. You are quite right in that the model doesn't appear on the list, since the list was posted other designs have 'crept out of the woodwork'.

Thanks to members of this forum we keep adding missing designs. Some of the others which are additions to the original list are :-

Moonsong – Cabin Cruiser

The ASRL mentioned above

Sparkler – 21" Customs Launch

Twinkler – the predecessor to Sparkler

XQQME – multi-race boat

Tom Tom – catamaran

Rorqual – R/C Comp model

Nippy – miniature

Antares- Portuguese patrol launch

Sharpshooter – R/C Comp model

and three designs which we need to confirm that they were designed by Vic :-

Sir Gele D'Isle – Car Ferry

Sundra – Steam yacht

Petrel – Yacht

Here is a photograph of Sparkler which I came across last week in an August 1966 MB. This photograph doesn't do the model true justice, the plan would build into a lovely little planing model after painting.

With the list, it always good to hear of (or even better see) these old designs.

Tony

Hi all,

This is my first post so if it’s in the wrong place then I do apologise! I’m just finding out about Vic Smeed as since a young boy I have had “Sparkler”. Now in my late 30’s I have shown the model the interest it deserves with a fresh coat of paint and new radio gear resulting in its first sight on the water in over 30 years.

Thanks Matt

[Matt Fisher 3Participant @mattfisher3]

[Matt Fisher 3Participant @mattfisher3]

Hi all,

This is my first post so if it’s in the wrong place then I do apologise! I’m just finding out about Vic Smeed as since a young boy I have had “Sparkler”. Now in my late 30’s I have shown the model the interest it deserves with a fresh coat of paint and new radio gear resulting in its first sight on the water in over 30 years.

Thanks Matt

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hi Matt,

Wishing you good luck with the sailing of Sparkler.

Is the second of your posts a photograph? If so you need to create an album. Colin has detailed it all in a thread.

**LINK**

Tony

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Thanks for reviving a great memory, I built a Sparkler way back in the day. It had a D.C Sabre, and homemade simpletone / Supertone radio. I won a steering regatta with it, a joy to sail.

You've got me hankering after making another, it's an ideal candidate for a small cheap brushless set up. Fun boating at its best.

Chas

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Charles,

Attached is the information to build Sparker, should you decide to go ahead with the model. The plan was never added to the plans service, it came as a free plan in the August 1966 edition of Model Boats magazine.

[Matt Fisher 3Participant @mattfisher3]

I am looking forward to getting it on the water. I will get the album of it uploaded here later today.

Matt

[Charles OatesParticipant @charlesoates31738]

Thanks Tony, I'll make a start this winter. It will be something I can do between laying rather a lot of planks on my current build.

Charles.

[Matt Fisher 3Participant @mattfisher3]

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

I started one for the MB Vic Smeed Special but Admiral Sir Colin Bishop decided that Twinkler was a better choice, so my Sparkler was never finished. I haven't a clue what happened to it – the bin when we moved house, I suspect….

I might yet build another one for Grandson #4.

DM

Edited By Dave Milbourn on 06/10/2019 15:15:51

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Model Railway scale M.V. Arran from February 1956 Model Maker magazine.

The plan is available from Sarik Hobbies, number MM415

**LINK**

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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