Colin that's a marvellous old boat you have there - and its still around after over a Century. Don't think many modern plastic wonders will be.

Amazing what people used to make models from when you think of all our modern glues etc - which we all seem to take for granted. Even when I was a youngster Dad still used the glue you melted with hot water in a special double pot for his woodwork - smelled awful - probably made from some kind of fish..........

Many years ago read about a club that moulded have-a-go boat hulls for youngsters from newspaper & house paint - wonder what the builder of your boat used?

A wonderful collection you have altogether. Looking forward to seeing the details of the rest of the boats - and how you aquired them.

Nerys, when I purchased it from the auction it was listed as a model of SS Great Britain .
Although I'm sceptical about that, the general shape is pretty good.
Cheers Colin.

Your oldest boat looks very interesting, presumably she had a bridge and a funnel at one time. Think you must have a most unusual collection spanning the years if this is an example.

Cheers, Nerys

Agree with Nerys keep rambling Colin.Wonderful pictures of an old boat .
Rick

Colin.
Classic,absolutely classic.
What a wonderful exhibit.
Regards Bill.

The Oldest Model in my collection was built around 1914 using newspaper over a card frame with wooden bracing stiffeners and a wooden deck and masts, with a clockwork motor driving a small tin prop (possably home made).
What you see in the pictures is basically how it was bought from a local clearing auction from a deceased estate in Monmouthshire.
The date of build is based on the newspapers it was built from, sadly the motor had rusted so badly that when i was removing it it fell apart.
The hull is about 3 feet in length and 5 inches wide by 6 inches deep. the two masts are 3/8" dowel 15 inches long.
Although originally when i got it home the paper laminations were coming apart, but I remedied this by spraying the inside with dluted Ezekote and allowing it to soak in and air dry.
Even though its not in a condition to use, many people are curious about it when i take it to the vintage shows.
Cheers Colin.

Colin, half the fun of this site are the ramblings we all come up with, at least you and I think so.

Cheers, Nerys

Nerys, you clever girl, I couldn't remember the name, I remember in the late 60's early 70'sdad managed to get a job with Avon testing ribs, and mid 70's he was testing Metzler ribs. I'd already left home by then but still joined him at weekends when he was testing the compatibility of various RIB and Motor combinations.
Great fun sometimes dangerous in the winter months.
Only ever went overboard once when we hit a sandbank at speed, boat stopped as if we'd hit a wall. I was sat in about 6 inches of water, we couldn't stop laughing.
Happy Times lass, my son and I are now looking for a fishing boat project that we can trailer to the coast for fishing trips.
God knows how the rest of the members put up with my ramblings.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Colin,
When you say 'the big boat show on the South Coast' in the years after the war, do you mean the 'Pavillon d'Or', which was the major event of the year for motor cruisers. I used to read about it, with all due reverence, in 'Motor Boat and Yachting' magazine. Those were the days.
Interesting you should talk about your father keeping a boat in Aberystwyth Harbour. We were there this afternoon and was it hot!

Cheers, Nerys

Glad to hear it Colin - good luck with finding a boat . Look forward to hearing of your exploits in it.

Red, that's blatant piracy!!! lol.
No problem, my son and I are looking for a trailer boat at the end of summer, as we know a few free launching sites on the Welsh coast directly from campsites we use.
Cheers Colin.

Friend in UK had to move his yacht to the Med because of astronomical mooring fees - not sure where exactly but sure it was not the South of France...............

Never owned another boat after leaving the country I grew up in - for the same reason as Colin. Fortunate to have had the use of other peoples though - and when taking a sabbatical year after the kids finished varsity etc spent virtually every day at sea either in my friends tripper boat or in the little Cape Cutter belonging to someone from UCT. Sadly my friend of 65 years standing passed away earlier this year when working on a boat he & I were to use to go fishing here. Unfortunately cant do that on my own so no more full size boats.

Apologies for hijacking your thread Colin.

JB, I use rc equipment of the same age as the models wherepossible, or keep them for my vintage shows display.
Some of the old valve receivers are hard to get parts for so they are only used for shows.
Cheers Colin.

Colin,- thought it might have been a good sized boat, and 66 ft is certainly that. Shame you couldn't keep one of the boats. Re mooring costs- I saw that the chap (Phil Clabburn) who rebuilt the HSL 102 and MGB 81 found the same thing years ago, after the boats were finished. He had to moor the HSL in Malahide-Ireland, (about 100 miles away from his home area) as the mooring costs (and maintenance) for the boats were unmanageable closer to home. As everyone knows, non trailerable boats of any size are known for being big holes in the ocean, unless they are paying their way.

JB

Very nice looking model. I have a Vivacity in the works right now!

Thanks for that Colin ,really interesting.

JB, she was 66ft long OA 60ft at waterline. Dad sold her when he got made redundant and mooring fees for that size of boat were astronomical if you wanted moorings to use all year round at all tide levels.
From then on he bought boats each autumn to refurb ready for spring launch, then sell at end of summer season.
Finally when he and mum retired to the Welsh coast he bought and maintained fishing boats which normally he kept in either Aberaeron Harbour, then Finally in Aberystwyth Harbour. But sadly when he died the rest of the family weren't interested in keeping a boat as it wouldn't get enough use, and I couldn't afford to.
Cheers Colin.

Very nice model Colin and a great restoration. The original must have been nice. Any Idea of the originals length? I still have a Futaba 2ch Attack, and used it originally in the Fairacre, but it kept losing range, so I put it away. Could have been the Acoms RX, but that was all I could get, as crystal sets disappeared really quickly once 2.4 came in. Still have a Futaba 6ch 'brown box' like your FP4,(?) with all the original servos and RX. Nice firm sticks on them, not loose and whimpy like most TXs these days. Works 100% but wouldn't dare use it these days.

JB

Great model your Dad built Colin - and the memories it brings back must be priceless.

Don't know where the yachts Dad built ended up - they moved when I was in the UK in the late 60's and a lot of stuff disappeared then. One was made from a hollowed out large lump of Meranti - more like a barge yacht but Bermuda rigged - sailed very well. We built a lot of full size dinghy's on the front verandah - Sister in the UK has all Dads photos so none available here

Very nice Colin.
I really like MV CAROLINE.
I also like the way it is all labeled inside.

Martin555.

Nerys you are spot on lass, it's my favourite boat, and as we don't have any photos of the real one it gives a great deal of pleasure to know that evokes beautiful memories of 12 years happy holidays and occasional work trips with Dad.
Dad always called her his floating home and would use her whenever it was possible to, and if us kids where on school holidays we would go along.
Even my sisters like to see the model on the water.
Cheers Colin.

Colin, I was interested in the big motor cruiser too and am delighted to know that she is a model of a real boat that was actually owned by your father. I am sure she gives you just that extra bit of pleasure when you look at her reminding you of all the happy times you had on her. I think when you have a model of a real boat with which you have had a proper relationship, it means just that bit extra. I can really appreciate this because the model I built of the motor barge 'Nellie' which I skippered in the 1960's has a very special place in my affections.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi MT, that's a scratch built 1/15th scale model that my late dad built in 1964 based on a full sized boat that he had bought at the end of the war.
The model is 53 inches long,
And weighing in at 13.2kilos dry weight without blast or batteries, I named her MV CAROLINE after my wife when I inherited it in 2008 and refurbished her as it had been damaged and lost the aft cabin while in storage. As I hadn't any pictures of the original I decided to use an open aft deck.
The boat it was based on was built in the 30s was a comfortable 6 berth, 2 double cabins forward, large lounge midships with small bathroom and kitchen. The aft cabin was the master with ensuite shower room.
I can't remember what size engine, but it was a big diesel driving a hydraulic gearbox and had a top speed of 15 knots.
As kids me and my 4 sisters spent many happy holidays aboard cruising the East Coast mainly, but each year we would go down to the south coast for the big boat show.
Sorry for waffling on but I loved that old boat.
Cheers Colin.

Colin just great wonderful boats.
Rick

Colin.
You should be very proud.
An interesting and varied display of models.
Regards Bill👍

Hi Colin what a fantastic display/collection. I really like the look of the big cream coloured cabin cruiser, any more details please

Nerys, as to the actual count of models, all I can say in excess of 50.
Of which about 20 ready to use, the rest either static display for the shows or awaiting revival.
My moto is don't chuck it out if its interesting as it may make a good display model to show how models have progressed over the years.
I like to have at least 1 model for each decade from 1910 onwards up to 2000 on display.
As for storage about 5 visible in the home. I think there's another 12/15 in the attic. There's another 15ish in my garage workshop and the rest in the trailer.
I sold about 20 duplicates last year and raised £327.85 for RNLI.
Still have some basket cases which I may be able to repair Good enough for the show circuit when it gets going again. The few that I've found that are running this summer don't have a model section. My support for the Kington steam and vintage show over the last 30+ years has fallen on deaf ears as of 2019 they stopped the model section as they couldn't afford the marquee any more, which we shared with the refreshments, but now the refreshments have the whole thing.
I do miss my campervan, it would have been great to do displays in the awning.
So I'll have to keep looking for shows with model sections.
Cheers Colin.

Wonderful varied collection of boats, Colin. There can't be many people with as big or as good a collection as this. Do you have an accurate assessment of how many boats there are. I see why your wife is a bit wary at you building any more. Are you able to keep them in the house or do you keep many in your trailer?

Cheers, Nerys

Just another show, but this was outside with only what we had with us to cover our display on a wet weekend at Pembrey race circuit south Wales on 23rd and 24th August 2013 at the welsh national vintage and steam show.
Awful weather, we were camping with our 2 dogs, but a great show.
Cheers Colin.

Good evening all here are the pictures of my display from Abergavenny steam and vintage show in May 2018.
Individual boat descriptions to follow.
Cheers Colin.

Thank you everyone for the compliments.
As it's something that so many of you are interested in I will try to post pictures with more details very soon, as I need to dig out my archive book with the details of my collection, as my memory isn't working as well as it should.
Stay tuned for updates shortly.
Let's see who else has an eclectic collection to share with us.
Cheers Colin.

Thank you Nerys, I didn't expect to get so much interest from this, but it seems quite interesting to a good few members, so over the next few days I will try and dig out my archive book so I can put details of each boat with photos.
I believe that little sailing dinghy was given to me at the east of England vintage show in Norfolk about 1997/8 .
I will see if I have a better photo, it's beam is half it's length.
Cheers Colin.

Impressive collection Colin - your wife's cars too - how about listing all the boats individually with a photo & details of of each ones history.

Would love to get my hands on a few of the boats you find - but in SA there is virtually nothing.

See you have the 08 yacht in the collection - still cant believe it was only 10 quid from our local Lidl - a special special it was the only one they had. With a bit of extra weight on the keel and a slight increase in rudder size it sailed perfectly last time it was used.

You have some great models there Colin, your wifes' collection is pretty impressive as well!. looking forward to seeing more.

JB

You have some great model there Colin.
It would be nice to see them in more detail.

Martin555.

Hi Colin, I was going to ask you if you had found any vintage shows to attend this year because we haven't but it is clear from your post that you have had no more luck than us. We used to attend a lot of shows when we lived in the Midlands, there seemed to be one nearly every week within reasonable striking distance. We used to go as an exhibit with our vintage 1964 Fairholme caravan and as you said, that meant free entry.
I liked the photos of your boats, you certainly have a good varied collection and I very much look forward to seeing them in, as it were, the flesh, one day. The little open boat with a balance lugsail and jib particularly intrigued me, do you know what she is? Your wife has a good collection of vehicles too, they are always of interest.

Best wishes,
Nerys

MT, vintage shows are sometimes called steam and vintage shows and the are throughout the UK. Look in a magazine called OLD GLORY, there is usually a calendar showing where the shows are.
I haven't been able to show since summer 2019 firstly my own health and then Covid.
But hopefully they will be starting again soon. Britain's best is the Great Somerset show, it's a whole week.
My wife and I usually display in the model section marquee, but occasionally we have displayed out on the field if the weather is good.
Most of these shows have a great selection of vintage transport and machinery of all types to cater for all tastes.
A few pictures from 2017 Kington Steam Show Model tent, showing my boats, wifes lorries and cars, and another modeller who makes matchstick models.
Cheers Colin.
PS. This is the best steam and vintage show in britain:-https://somersettractionengineclub.com/somerset-steam-country-show

Keep posting Colin. Where are these vintage shows?

Looking forward to pictures of the fleet Colin - will be very interesting as most of us are much the same vintage........

Colin.
Never bored with your posts.Always full of interesting facts and pictures.
Regards Bill

Hi Colin, would love to see pictures of your collection, if it's possible to make a montage or similar. I've used 'paint' to do mine by copying the pics over and sizing them to fit, (ie- start with one, copy another, re-size etc) Handy if you want to have them all to show in fewer pics, (sounds like you might need a few pages😁

JB