Dr MARCUS ROOKS and his two semi-scale J class destroyers It can be quite surprising what can turn up at an auto jumble. This was the first one that I had attended for nearly thirty years and Beaulieu is perhaps one of the most well known events in the world of auto jumbles with thousands…
JAKE KELSO restores an old pond yacht A good friend of mine was doing a job for an elderly customer of his when he was asked if he would like what was left of a pond yacht. This boat had been in the loft of the customer’s house, which had been his parent’s home before…
Malcom Bard from Queensland, Australia, describes his models In the few years before moving to Australia in 1985 we lived at Leigh-on-Sea on the Thames Estuary near Southend. There we often saw Thames Barges in the distance and had a close-up view of them from the end of Southend pier on race days from time…
BRIAN JOHNSON makes them go even quicker! Maxi-Skim completed The sheer variety of model boats never ceases to amaze me and a slow look through issues of this magazine or a walk around one of the model engineering exhibitions, with models from many builders, gives ample proof of modeller’s skills. From yachting enthusiasts where design,…
ROBERT ABELL describes the making of the Atlantic cable laying feature for the BBC Coast programme A bit of background Brunel’s Great Eastern needs no introduction to most people, as this colossal vessel completed in 1860 and years ahead of her time, was intended to be able to make the round voyage from Britain to…
ROBERT HOBBS restores a vintage ketch Paul Freshney was kind enough to publish details of a restoration project on my 1920’s 10 Rater in the May 2010 issue. Sometimes these articles produce a few questions and this resulted in Paul passing to me details of someone who had a large ketch which he had sailed…
DAVE WOOLEY’s semi-scale model built in eleven days! In late 2011, my five year old grandson was introduced to ship models with a visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum and later his father took him along the Thames to see HMS Belfast and it was here that he first sighted a modern river police…
JEAN-PIERRE COURVOISIER scratch builds an amazing 1:100 scale model Her name is indicative of her function. ‘Mighty’ means she is impressive and ‘Servant’ means to serve! Her role is as a heavy transport vessel and she is actually a semi-submersible ship designed to transport objects or structures which cannot be transported in the usual maritime…
COLIN BISHOP visits the Thames River Police HQ at Wapping. Service launches and vessels are always a popular subject with Model Boats readers and it isn’t hard to see why. They offer a huge variety of modelling subjects, can be built to a relatively large scale and embody the essence of ‘boatiness’ and maritime character.…
