Whilst on a cruise on the Black Prince, I saw Voe Venture, a tug/workboat working at one of the outer Scottish islands. Unusually she was being used as an intermediate landing stage between the ship’s tender and the quay, owing to the low tide. I took a couple of pictures because she was so interesting.
In 2006 I was browsing these holiday snaps and was inspired to make a model of Voe Venture.
The first step was to prepare a drawing. I like 1:24 scale as it allows a fair degree of detail and for craft up to around 90ft long produces a manageable model.
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Having no actual dimensions, I worked on the height of an average human ‘being’ and unusually made the superstructure first, out of styrene.
The hull caused a bit of a problem – I had no picture of the whole craft, although I guessed she was about the size of an average tug. However a friend with internet access, made some searches and came up with details of Voe Venture and three other similar craft operated by Delta Marine Ltd.
I then decided to proceed at a scale of 1:30 and not 1:24 and as it so happened, the already completed superstructure did not look out of place.
The hull was made from styrene sheet. There is a wood inlay on part of the deck, the superstructure lifts off as one piece and there is a small hatch near the stern for access to the rudders.
SHG Model Supplies provided practical guidance on motors, propellers and rudders. The hydraulic crane is from The Model Slipway and does not look out of place. 25mm dia. tyres also from SHG Marine were hung on each side, 27 of them! A ‘D’ shape rubber moulding was used for the vertical fenders.
About this time I found a photograph of Voe Venture in ‘Sea Breezes’. This enabled me to add more detail.
Nameboards were computer generated and copied onto Lasertrans. The ink was not waterproof, so I copied them on to glossy coloured photocopy paper, then waterproofed with clear lacquer, cut out and glued to the superstructure.
The model is 720mm long x 255mm beam and 85mm deep with a height of 350mm and weighs 3.3kg.
Regretfully Delta Marine Ltd. of Lerwick were unable to reply to my requests for information, but the model is a good representation of the original.
My thanks to David Beadle for his assistance and that of SHG Model Supplies.
