Vic Smeed’s Model Boat Designs

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I shall be at Warwick on Saturday on my own account but also covering for the magazine. This year I am taking Dave Wooley's advice and heading over to the IPMS show at Telford on the Sunday. Quite a bit of driving!

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hope to meet you at the Warwick Show, then Colin?

Will be nice, after all these years of Emails and a forum postings

We went to the Telford show, last year and was quite a culture shock!

Millions of nicely made plastic kits………As far as the eye can see!

Bob

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Hi Tony,

I have that 1957 Model Maker Manual too and was having a look through it at the designs you mentioned. I suspect thay are all Vic's as all the articles in the book are attributed to other authors except those, and VS compiled the book- but still not really enough to definitely say they were his. One of the articles mentions the MM design which I believe was his and he uses his 'royal we' quite a bit too. I reckon he could have knocked off each of those designs before breakfast so maybe he wasn't too bothered about claiming them!

Funnily enough I found and advert in an old Model Maker for the Tuna fibreglass hull too.

It'll be interesting if you do have a go at Lorelei- I did buy the plan but I think it's just a bit too odd for my liking and I'm still plodding on with my Silver Mist based steam yacht. I must get round to putting some photos up as it's nearly there- next job is to finish painting the hull. Mattias' trials and tribulations in that area put me off a bit!

All the best,

Ian

 

Edited By Ian Gardner on 06/11/2016 19:41:34

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Bob, thank you for the comments about the thread, I just keep "chipping away" at those designs by Vic and adding anything which may be of interest.

Not sure I will get to any shows for the foreseeable future, weekends are difficult although I would like to get to the London show in January, but really not too hopeful. Must say the magazine's show reports are good for those of us who can't pay a visit, the IPMS at Telford certainly has to be amongst the best.

Ian, those small yachts in the book are really good designs which would look superb on the water, "Marina" would build into a manageable size replica vintage yacht of good lines. In the centre of the book are the plans for another of those Peter Holland designs "Sonic Sippi", an i.c. powered paddle boat, Dave Milbourn was correct in his earlier posting that Peter was a genius. With modern r/c and electric drive this would be an eye-catcher at the lake.

After seeing those small yachts, couldn't help but think that Vic's yacht designs just seem to have really lovely lines, and I've posted a couple of photographs of one of his 36R designs, which I think (but not sure) is "Gosling" MM1164.

Peter Holland's Sonic Sippi

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

A little more information about the designs in the previous posts.

Tuna, plan MM505 (no longer available). The sketch from the plans handbook is shown above. A strange looking model which could have given good performance.

Sea Kitten, from Model Maker Manual

Sea Cat, a catamaran from Model Maker Manual

Marina, a lovely vintage yacht which would be a good size to handle, from Model Maker Manual

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

I must say when I had a closer look at Tuna I did wonder what was going on with that bridge structure- the plan view doesn't make it much clearer. Otherwise it's quite a nice design.

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Looking back through this thread, Bustler (MM363) doesn't make an appearance. In Model maker magazine 1956, it was the most popular plan sold. A super little design which appeared in the February 1955 Model maker and Model Boats Construction Special 2011. Bread and butter construction, with no internal carving, now added to the future build list.

The photographs are from the 1955 article. The tug appears on the magazine's front cover (bottom left).

 

 

Edited By Tony Hadley on 14/01/2017 20:06:21

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Bustler, from the Model Boats Construction Special magazine 2011.

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Couldn't resist buying this 1964 book. Perhaps not in the best of condition but a good variety of designs from yesteryear. The ones of interest to model boat builders are a 24" yacht, a couple of catamarans, a hovercraft, a cabin cruiser and H.M.S. Lightning, a destroyer which with further detailing, would be a typical Glynn Guest design today.

Edited By Tony Hadley on 09/05/2017 21:10:30

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

There is currently a build of Hydro-Bat on the Cox engine forum. The airscrew design Hydro-Bat was presented as a free plan in the July/August edition of the American magazine Grid Leaks.

**LINK**

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Managed to find another of Vic's designs – Sandfly, a land/sand yacht. Presented as a free plan in January 1981 Model Maker magazine, very easy construction from mainly balsa with plastic bag material as the sail.

For anyone interested in Vic's designs, Model Boat Mayhem forum are having a Vic Smeed and Glynn Guest theme for their annual event next year, 27 & 28th May 2018. To be held at Wicksteed Park. Unfortunately too far for me to travel.

**LINK**

Tony

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Came across these images from the Doncaster Show. The photographs were on the facebook group, R/C Ships, Boats and Submarines. The photographs were taken by David King who has kindly given permission for them to be posted. David has posted many other show photographs in the group.

Models on display which I think are from Vic's plans (can't be 100% sure without speaking to the builders).

1)Frank Rayner Canal Boat from July 1956 Model Maker, plan number MM432 (no longer available).

and from the magazine article

2) Vosper RTTL presented as a free plan in December 1958 Model Maker, plan number MM530.

magazine front cover

3) S-Boat/E-Boat presented as a free plan in December 1961 Model Maker, plan number MM667

magazine cover

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Firstly, in the previous post the E-Boat model is definitely not one built to Vic’s MM667 design. The torpedo tubes and cabins are different. I won’t ask Colin to delete as it’s still a good model and worth showing. On some forums I would have been ‘ripped to shreds’ for making an error such as this, but it shows what a good bunch the members of this site are.

—————————–

Earlier in the thread I mentioned my next build from Vic’s designs was to be Lorena.

The design Lorena (MM526) was taken out of the plans service in the late 1960s, last appearing in the 1968 plans handbook. Originally designed as a 42” model for i.c. power with the possibility to build by different construction methods i.e. round bilge planked, hard chine and bread and butter. Model Maker magazine published the article to accompany the plans in October 1958. Lorena was based on the larger and earlier design Lorraine which was featured in April 1958. My thanks go to to forum member Dave Milbourn for locating and providing a set of the plans for the build.

Lorena was one of series of five designs by Vic which used girl’s/women’s names beginning with Lor. The others are Lorelei (MM267) Jan 1953, Lorette (MM370) April 1955, Lorosa (MM506) March 1958 and Lorraine (MM512) April 1958. All these others are still available from the Traplet plans service

Attached are a couple of photographs of the progress with the hull. The build is a half-sized round bilge 21” balsa planked version to suit ‘kitchen table’ building. The finish of the hull’s planking (after filler) is light glass cloth and Eze-cote. The next stage is to fit the propeller and propeller shaft which are on order. The rudder shown on the plan is not a commercially available shape and size and will need to be fabricated, as was done with my previous Smeed design, Guardsman.

Future thoughts, probably for the autumn/winter building season, go towards a suitable motor, fitting the already made decks, a stand, the superstructure, fittings and a colour scheme. The speed doesn’t need to be to that of a fast electric, it’s a cabin cruiser! I did think of making the switch to brushless, but a spare MFA RE385 in the spares box might be worth a try. Any help/advice would be welcome. The i.c. motor in the original 42” is within an enclosed area with open vents to allow the engine to breath, these vents need only to be dummies for electric power. For the paint colours, 1950s retro colours would look good, perhaps a shade or two deeper than DM used on Twinkler earlier in the thread.

Time really moves on at an alarming rate and since selling all my other models except two, (Guardsman and Southampton RTR tug) I’m now thinking about the next build, which will be back to paddle power, Vic’s design again, Royal Falcon (MM381).

Tony

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Yet more models built to Vic's designs. These three were all built by forum member Ian Gardner. Ian and I became friends some years ago through discussing Vic's designs. I emailed Ian the other night and his lack of appearance on this forum have been due to his music commitments.

Mistral MM348 with the accompanying magazine article in November 1954 Model Maker. The model has been enlarged from the 18" design size to 25" giving an approximate scale of 1:16. Hull is lite-ply covered in tissue and dope. Powered by a Graupner Eco 500.

Silver Mist MM524 the accompanying magazine articles were in the September, October, November and December 1958 Model Maker. The original design was for a 21" model, Ian's model is an enlarged 36" version at 1:16 scale. The hull is 6mm birch ply frames with obeche bow and stern blocks, the planking is also obeche. The superstructure is ply faced with sapele to represent mahogany. The decks are parana pine with black card caulking. Bob Abell has also built a large Silver Mist and a detailed build log can be easily found on the forum.

The third and final offering to this post is Ian's Veleta MM575. Built again at a larger 1:24 scale giving a model of 36" long as against the design size of 24". Hull is balsa and lite-ply covered with a nylon stocking, finished with Poly-C used for skinning aircraft. The deck is basswood with black card caulking. Waterways and kingplanks are mahogany.

This is only a selection from Ian's website and more information about the builds (and other models) can be found in the link.

**LINK**

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Tony

The pictures of Vic's timeless models are very easy on the eye and have a nice peaceful soothing effect on me

Do they affect you, like that?

Bob

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Hi Bob,

Timeless models, I think that's a good description, not only of Vic's models, but also many others. Others which I like are the novel designs of W.P. Holland, I also wish I had room for a graceful vane 'A' class yacht. My future build list keeps growing but …..

Tony

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi there picture of Vic Smeed's Cervia the funny thing on the front of the bridge is an actual spy camera – onboard videoing –

Edited By bluebird on 27/06/2017 17:05:04

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Tony…….Hope you don`t mind me adding a contrived picture of Vic Smeed`s Silver Mist of differing scales?

Bob

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Clever stuff Bob! Makes me realise what a huge model your Silver Mist is, although I suppose they might not quite be in proportion to one another due to the differing photos.

All the best,

Ian

Edited By Ian Gardner on 28/06/2017 16:17:40

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Ian

An interesting picture

The lengths are exactly to scale, and I only guessed it………36" and 48" ……My boat is a bit high in the water

Bob

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Posted by Bob Abell on 28/06/2017 14:23:10:

Hi Tony…….Hope you don`t mind me adding a contrived picture of Vic Smeed`s Silver Mist of differing scales?

Bob

Bob, I only wish I could find a colour photograph of a 21" Silver Mist which with some of your photo magic would show the 'as design' size against yours and Ian's enlarged versions.

Bluebird, what a superb model your Cervia is. After seeing your photograph, I did some further research and found the original magazine item. It was published over two parts, December 1959 and January 1960 with a free plan in the December 1959 issue. The written work was by Arthur O Pollard, Jr. who wrote many items about Thames ships for the early magazines. His item also features many photographs of the full sized tug. The full sized tug is of course still in existence and would be worth a visit for anyone near or going to Ramsgate.

**LINK**

I also came across an enlarged model which was featured in two of Vic's books, Model Ships and Scale Model Ships from the 1980s. The model is steam powered and one of the photographs shows the steam plant. The text regarding the steam installation mentions the use of asbestos string which can be seen in the photograph, today a knitted glass wool would be used. I didn't like the use of the chocolate block electrical connections, much prefer to see solder and heat shrink or mechanical crimp for a more professional looking installation. (this has been discussed many times and it was only an observation regarding this model).

Plans and a hull are available – MM567 – **LINK**

Edited By Tony Hadley on 01/07/2017 20:27:07

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Tony

Your wish is granted

Models by Ian Gardner, Ray Wood and Bob Abell

Bob

[Ian GardnerParticipant @iangardner62867]

Well done Bob! I was also going to suggest adding Ray's model. No doubt I will be corrected if I'm wrong, but I think his was about 30''. We still don't have a 21'' model- there was one in the gallery somewhere, but I forget the name of the gent who made it. I remember having some correspondence with him, and he used to sail it on Roadford Lake in Devon – not a million miles away from me. I used to sail dinghys there.

I think mine and Ray's are about to collide! Fun to see them all together though.

Tony, you are a mine of information. Interesting work, hunting for this information. I remember the original Arthur O Pollard articles from my younger days.

All the best,

Ian

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Must agree with Ian in saying "well done Bob", on making a good photograph.

Ian, a "mine of information", I think Mrs H. would add an extra word and say a "mine of useless information". Guess I like researching information from the archives and to further add to this I came across another Smeed/Pollard joint item. A Trinity House Pilot Cutter, Pilot II from June 1960 Model Maker and re-printed in the Model Boats Plan Features Special of 2012.

Pilot II would make into a super little model at only 24" (600mm). Again the written works were done by Arthur O Pollard, Jr. with the plan by Vic. MM645 plan number.

**LINK**

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Morning All

Ian is spot on my Silver Mist is 30" long and one of my favourite of Vic's designs, Original 21" plan behind, really tiny in comparison, The stand doubles as transmitter storage. Build pictures in my album, ply keel & decks everything else balsawood. The pilot II is another design which I need to build at some stage

Regards Ray

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