Vic Smeed’s Model Boat Designs

[Ian Bell 1Participant @ianbell1]

Hi Captain,

When you next visit the Jetty Museum, say hello to Elaine Middleton who works "front of house" Her father was Harvey Middleton who made and marketed the Duplex 575 yachts and Elaine wanted one to sail on the pond in the Museum. I dug an old kit out of the attic and she should get it in a few days, courtesy of UPS.

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hi Captain Haddock,

I've just had a read of the Moonmist Revisited item in the Model Boats magazine commemorative edition. The Glynn Guest revised Moonmist used a Mabuchi RE 385 motor powered by a 6 cell sub-C Ni-cad pack. The equivalent would be a 7.2v Nimh AA or Sub-C pack. Glynn's comments are – "In this case a top speed was about 2.7 ft/sec (0.8 m/s). Not exactly racing along but it produced a nice bow wave and looked just right for this sort of model".

Tony

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Moonmist, from originally from September 1960 and updated by Glynn Guest for the Commemorative issue Model Boats magazine.

Plan MM610 is not currently available from Sarik.

The original 1960 magazine item –

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

The Glynn Guest revision from the WH Smith Special Edition –

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Captain,

Why don't you go for a proper hull shape? Flat bottom boats are few & far between in the real world 😀I

Vee shaped hulls plane better

Try Remora a Vic classic 😀

Regards Ray

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Captain,

Not like flying models, no rocket science involved give it a go, I'm building Remora from Depron And glass cloth & epoxy for light weight construction.

Regards Ray

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Captain,

You never stop being an aeromodeller, I've been slope soaring this afternoon, boating tomorrow 😀 Depron & blue styro foam are great for model boat building. I enjoy balsa bashing .

This is a catamaran I'm building.

Regards Ray

[Former MemberParticipant @formermember11541]

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[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Whilst looking on Modelboatmayhem's facebook group site, I noticed these two models built from Vic's designs on display at the International Model Boat Festival at Warwick 2019. Photographs by kind permission of Martin Davis.

Cervia MM567

Pirana MM620

More photographs from the show are on the Modelboatmayhem site –

**LINK**

Tony

Edited By Tony Hadley on 11/11/2019 10:27:28

[Roy Verden 1Participant @royverden1]

Hello all, just read through this thread again. I see early mention of Petrel, I think this was a small Panache type yacht (I hope I have remembered that correctly as there was a small long keel yacht that I mave confused it with) and it came out around August 1963 in MM magazine. I remember building her as I was just about to get married and I needed a distraction! We are still married, 56 years ago now.

She sailed very well and I made a very simple vane set up which was very effective. I used to sail at Hampstead model yacht pond where the Highgate model yacht club were based with a storage shed tucked away, but eventually vandals broke in one too many times and the club closed. They were were very friendly and I seem to remember an A Class boat with early RC. I saw recently on TV's Flog it programme a Marblehead in lovely condition sold for £750. I noticed that when a hatch was removed it had the Highgate MYC reference inside.

I, much later (late '90s) bought a Star C yacht ( I also have a full set of plans) and sailed her for a while, she was OK but nothing special. My one was a fibre glass hull and one day at the lake an on-looker stopped to talk and asked about the boat and he said he had made about 30 hulls of the yacht and almost certainly made the one I had. I sold my one on but know where it is.

I have a large collection of Model Maker magazines going back to I think June 1952 with the coronation coach on the cover. I wonder what will happen to them when I kick the bucket but nice to know someone has preserved a set of the magazines. I have a few older model yacht magazines but these were more a letters and results of racing and club activities which are no longer relevant. Whereas Model Maker actually brought practical model making with plans and instructions for bulding to the beginner. I think my first build was a Bustler tug in 1955, it had a small Taycol motor as drive. I remember it bobbed around a lot until I loaded the stern with most of the ball bearings from my Meccano set.

I bought 2 similar (and I do mean almost identical) yacht hulls 2 years ago at a bargain price. They look a lot like the Sea Urchin by Vic Smeed but are 32 inches loa. and a small 4 inch bowsprit, (?). The original builder is unknown but I pay tribute to his ability. I think the builder had an enquiring mind as one hull has a bulb keel and the other a cast in lead keel. Both are bread and butter construction with a beautiful finish and with a skeg as per Sea Urchin.

The bulb keel boat is 8 ounces lighter than the other at about 6 lbs. The decks are screwed down and sealed apart from a hole for the mast. There are some less than presentable sails which do not look like they would have done the job. I tried to retain the skegs but could not come up with a solution and I sawed them off so that I could hang the rudder off the stern. I am sure they were fine with the originally proposed vane steering assuming these hulls are derivatives of Sea Urchin.

My intentions are to convert to RC but have one Bermuda rig (ex Aeronaut Bella sails) and the other as a gaff rig for which I also have a set of sails which I have made myself, and this hull will retain the bowsprit. To balance the gaff rig I have had to move the mast back some distance. I have carefully cut through the deck on one hull and there is a very rough but varnished internal finish. When completed I hope to race them in friendly competition with my son. (OK, who am I kidding it will be war)! I introduced him to dinghy sailing (full size) and now he is qualified as Yachtmaster offshore. So any wins will be a big deal for me!

I know some consider Vic Smeed plans to be over simplified but the artistry he had, retained all of the character of the full size.

Regards to all

Roy

[Roy Verden 1Participant @royverden1]

Hi all, just remembered the yacht I mentioned was the 'Dabchick'. Was that one of Vic Smeed's?

Regards Roy

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hello Roy,

Apologies for the late reply, things have been hectic, which is no good for me as a youngster.

Dabchick was one of Vic's designs MM1024 and is still available from Sarik. At 24" it's a neat little design. It was interesting to read your post and I liked the mention of Bustler. This is one design I've always fancied having a go at this one. Never having built a bread and butter hull, the design offers a good beginners model to this type of construction.

Dabchick –

**LINK**

The original magazine article for Dabchick from August 1963 –

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Vosper RTTL, plan number MM530 (still available from Sarik). Came as free plan with the Bumper Christmas edition of Model Maker magazine. Ripmax advertised fittings for the model on the magazine's back cover.

[Kev ConlonParticipant @kevconlon56483]

Hey….isn't this interweb thing great!!!

Came across a couple of Vic Smeed plans (Sea Mew catamaran…and the Vosper RTTL as referred to above!)

Dad had these from when I can first recall(1961…I was 5!!)….and now it appears that the Vosper may have been 'free' with a magazine….although priced at 10/-.

Would also be interested to find info on the Sea Mew…was it popular in it's day

Hehe….priced at 8/6d….perhaps this was also given away with a magazine???

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hi Kevin , welcome and thanks for the interest in Vic's designs, which bring back many happy memories to many of us.

Sea Mew was a 36" long racing catamaran, the magazine item was in the December 1958 Model Maker magazine. The Vosper RTTL (above) was the free plan in this magazine, whereas Sea Mew was a magazine article which I've posted below. Also in the magazine was a small 3/4 page size plan of Sea Mew, which can't be posted as the plan in still on sale with Sarik Hobbies MM533.

**LINK**

As to whether it was popular in it's day, I would very much doubt it being a top seller, yet I could be wrong.

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Recently, Vic Smeed's 'Royal Falcon' 24" (610mm) little balsa paddler has been under construction. Originally from 1955 and featured in Model Maker magazine, #8 of this thread shows p1 of the mag item. The model is loosely based around the River Thames paddler 'Royal Eagle'

Attached are three photographs of the build, currently the stern is under construction. I've also attached a photograph of Vic's original model from his book, Scale Model Ships.

Tony

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hello Tony,

It's nice to see some progress on Royal Falcon. Hopefully we can all get out to do some sailing soon. I haven't sailed a boat since last August when I took the video of SY Minnow. I'd love to see some video of your Guardsman if you ever got round to it and I'd still like to build a bigger Guardsman some day myself, but doubt I'll ever get to it now.

I wonder if you still plan to replicate Vic's epic voyage across Brotherswater with Royal Falcon when it's finished? That would be really something – but somewhat nerve-wracking I should think!

I'll be in touch soon,

All the best,

Ian

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hello Ian,

Thanks for the reply.

Royal Falcon is proving a lovely little build, there will need to be changes to the original e.g. to accommodate radio which wouldn't have been fitted back in the mid 1950s. It's all a learning curve as the build progresses.

I researched the epic crossing of the Lake District lake Brotherswater, by one of these little models and attached it to this post. The text is from Vic's 1966 book, Power Model Boats. Although the lake isn't big, it's still a remarkable achievement. Paddle steamers are notoriously unstable craft, slim hull with two large wheels to further upset the trim/balance. Vic has very cleverly engineered this one to be flat bottomed with slim paddle wheels which don't look out of place and shouldn't present a problem.

After watching the video featuring the superb SY Minnow on your website, this has given me an inspiration to make a couple of clips of my two little Smeed models, Guardsman and Lorena. Perhaps later this years or next, I would like to do some tidying up and minor modifications to these during the summer.

Reading the text on your website, SY Minnow was based around the Silver Mist design. Hope you don't mind me posting the link.

**LINK**

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi again Tony,

It's always nice to have a bit of video of boats if only for one's own satisfaction but I would like to see some of your Vic Smeed models in action. I plan to do more this year once I can get up to Cheddar again. Hopefully it won't be too long now.

One problem with sailing small boats on larger sheets of water is keeping sight of them. I used to sail very occasionally on the Round Pond as a boy and remember completely losing sight of boats among the wildfowl! I wonder if Vic took binoculars with him – and was it actually him? The article merely states, ''It is on record…'' You would probably know about this having done so much research about him.

Yes, my steam yacht did use the Silver Mist hull at 36". I'm not sure if this counts as Vic Smeed boat or not.

It is odd that my spell checker is quite happy with Sneed but doesn't like Smeed! I must look up Sneed.😐

Also rather sobering to note that you started this thread in 2013.

Cheers for now,

Ian

[Roy Verden 1Participant @royverden1]

Hi re Vic Smeed and The paddle boat, if memory serves this was published in Model Maker and I think at the time MM were based at 38 Clarendon Road Watford. With the workload that Vic must have had I suspect it was A. Nother, who recorded the trip across the water. It was a bit of a trip that far with Vic living in Croxley Green then.

Later his test sailings would have been at the lakes in Hemel Hempstead and not at a time when they encouraged it! I recognise the background of his 12 inch long Thames Barge when on that water. I built the same model from his free plan and still have it somewhere, it sails rather well.

I have the Guardsman plan and was going to make a larger one but other boats took presedence but it is an attractive model. My second build from scratch was the Bustler tug, My sister wanting something to remember me by and emigrating off to Oz was given the boat but I expect it has long gone by now.

I have enlarged the plan of Silver Mist to 26 inches loa and that will be my next scratchbuild, but things keep piling up that need doing and I am no nearer starting!

Best regards

Roy

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hi Ian,

Yes it's nice to have video clips of models, some of my early ones, of the Aerokits Crash Tender go back to sound cine. It's all so easy today with a mobile phone, although I still like to use a camera for stills.

I'm not really sure as to who made the crossing, I would doubt it being Vic as it's a long way from where he lived. He used to visit Fleetwood for the yacht racing and wrote many of the reports on the MYA events in the early Model Maker magazines. It could be possible, I just accept that we will never know.

Nowadays, as an alternative to binoculars a drone could be used to keep track. I'm just not getting too carried away as I haven't driven outside of the local area for a long time and at my speed of building, the model is probably a couple of years away from being anything like finished. Having said that, during lockdown, it's been possible to get more building done than normal.

Just had a look back and you are quite right with the 2013 start of thread, Colin (Admin) was the originator. Just shows that there is still interest in Vic's designs after all these years.

All the best, keep building

Tony

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