Zoom 1 (Interceptor) Mono boat.
Built from a Glassfibre hull, brought on Ebay for £35 the hull is a slim mono racing type with a self-righting side cabin it runs a 1400W 14V 2958 4200KV Brushless Motor and 29-S Water Cooling Jacket with additional air cooling fan.
I did not want to use a flexi drive as high maintenance and prone to failure so the shaft runs via two universal joint one at each end. the propeller is a 38mm copper alloy
The ESC is a 200W and water cooled the twin rudders supply separate water one for the motor and one for the ESC.
The rudder are positioned to reduce prop-walk and are hinged to prevent damage if you hit a object in the water and also for ride adjustment.

Turn fins and trim tabs for ride adjustment were provided by a spares kit for another boat. also foamed and added an inner sealed hatch, a rubber bump strip and safety loop.

PT 109 was one of the hundreds of motor torpedo boats (PT) of the PT 103 class completed between 1942 and 1945 by Elco Naval Division of Electric Boat Company at Bayonne, New Jersey. The Elco boats were the largest in size of the three types of PT boats built for U.S. use during World War II. Wooden-hulled, 80 feet long with a 20-foot, 8-inch beam, the Elco PT boats had three 12-cylinder Packard gasoline engines generating a total of 4,500 horsepower for a designed speed of 41 knots. With accommodations for 3 officers and 14 men, the crew varied from 12 to 14. its full-load displacement was 56 tons. Early Elco boats had two 20mm guns, four .50-caliber machine guns, and two or four 21-inch torpedo tubes. Some of them carried depth charges or mine racks. Later boats mounted one 40mm gun and four torpedo launching racks. Many boats received ad-hoc refits at advanced bases, mounting such light guns as Army Air Forces 37mm aircraft guns and even Japanese 23mm guns. Some PTs later received rocket launchers.

This Proboat PT 109 model was brought in 2013 for £100 these boats are rare now, This one had a few faults with the propshafts they were bent and noisy both were replaced, with quality 4mm shafts, motors twin 600s were also replaced by Graupner versions along with mounts and couplings, basically all the running gear, also two ESCs by Aquapower were added and a 2.4G RC system.

Greetings from Germany! I've been out of the net for a while and rebuilding this boat with a totally new superstructure, paint job and electronics. I obtained the fiberglass hull measuring 24.5 X 9 inches from a California fellow via E-bay. Formerly a 45-footer Chris Craft at 1:24 scale, this updated vessel was inspired on a 1970s 30-footer Chris Craft Tournament Fisherman and on 1970s 28 and 33-footer Bertram boats. 😁 The Chris Craft in the attached picture from an early days brochure was the very only Chris Craft utilizing a Deep-Vee hull. The story goes that they apparently copied their boat following the lines of a Bertram 28 based on famed boat designer Ray Hunt. Bertram sued in court and Chris Craft ended up building less than 200 boats of this type. After all, the Chris Craft vessel ended up being better than the Bertram in terms of cabin space and overall value. Highly cherished within the American sports fishing community, many of these boats are still up and running.

Just fresh off the shipyard, this is my version of an American made Uniflite (firm died several years ago) "Salty Dog" 28. its name is a Puerto Rican slang for escapade. From the same firm who designed and made the legendary Vietnam War Patrol River Boat (PBR), this boat was part of Uniflite's recreational boats line. For this one, I utilized a fibreglass hull I found on Ebay and did the rest with Ethylene 2mm plastic sheets. it runs a 9.6v NiHm battery, a 30A Mtroniks controller, a 3-bladed 35mm M4 bronze propeller.

Westbourne is a Port of London Authority steam Tug from the Caldercraft Mini-Fleet Range - it is 1:48 scale. This model was discontinued a few years ago but I did manage to purchase a brand new boxed one via ebay a couple of years ago.

During her time Westbourne was hired by the Royal Navy as a rescue tug. She saw service with them between October 1916 and July 1919 in the HM Dockyard. Prior to that she was on general towing service duties on the Thames.
She can be found mentioned in “SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - by TYPE & CLASS
Section 3. SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS”

Following the first world war ‘Westbourne’ was one of three tugs attached to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Dredging Service, they were the "Westbourne", "Thorney" and "Brent", they were all fitted with a drag and under running gear.In 1940 during the Battle of Britain. ‘Westbourne’ and many other tugs were used in assisting the berthing of these large ships that entered the Thames.
The photos show from box to construction plus her on the water.

This free sailing pond yacht has remained a treasured model from childhood. it “escaped” one holiday and sailed out across the bay at Tenby. it was retrieved a mile out to sea by persuading local boatman to pick it up. Hull carved and hollowed from wood. Must be well over 100 years old now. Sails well without rudder fitted.

Building a German Police launch right now and thought that the radar scanner components were a bit 'heath robinsonish', so decided to see if I could make an alternative unit.

Photo 1 shows the Radar scanner parts obtained from MMB (ebay) for the princely sum of ONE POUND !!!!! plus 28p postage, and construction is of a medium soft resin that isn't prone to breaking or splitting when shaped or drilled, and a short length of 2mm brass rod becomes the drive shaft. This particular unit has a 44mm sweep bar but there are many other sizes available

Photo 2 shows the drive motor which operates on voltages between 1.5 and 6v, ideal for the control driver which is the next item. Available from saih.tan on Ebay for under 7 pounds, and if the motor is mounted on a removable bracket as I have done, this unit can be used in several models without the need for major 'surgery', the motor and radar shaft being connected with a short piece of rubber tubing

Photo 3 shows the receiver driven radar motor speed control which operates from an auxiliary receiver channel and takes the motor voltage from the main receiver supply, thus obviating the need for a separate supply and switch.
This unit is available from www.mr-rcworld.co.uk and costs a staggering 14.50 post free sheesh !

I must add here that I am in NO way connected to any of the suppliers mentioned here, but just though some other modellers may be interested in 'home brew' accessories and suchlike.

The model was bought off eBay as a barely started kit from the 80s and was called Ontario. it was a basic model with no detail and so we decided to make it into a tugboat it had a huge resemblance with called Ionia.👍👍👍😊

ON THE WAYS: 1:48 SCALE USCG 140' BAY CLASS ICEBREAKING TUG; FIBERGLASS HULL WITH WOODEN CABIN/SUPERSTRUCTURE KIT FROM COAST GUARD MODELS IN CHICAGOLAND. WILL BE REPRESENTING ONE OF THE CUTTERS I SAILED ABOARD IN THE EARLY '80s.
USCGC KATMAI BAY (WTGB-101), H/P SAULT STE. MARIE, MI, USA.

I don't know if this is of interest to other modellers, but I was trawling through Ebay's wares when I found this supplier and, on a whim, decided to once again try my hand at using etched brass parts. As you might see, not exactly the biggest of fittings, but they really test the patience and skill.
Also in one of the photos is the brass bending tool I use and the supplier can be found at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/models-parts-shop?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

so here is the long awaited video of my scratch built Solent Class lifeboat based on the vintage Aerokits plans purchased on ebay. Sailed today for the 1st time and went like a dream, so pleased with it.

Gordon bought this hydro from Ebay and fiddled with it lots to get it going. So we went to Ilfracombe pond for a test. it went jolly well to begin with until a large input of water through the windows made it unstable and the result you can see !!! After we recovered it and dried it out it went lovely as you will see from a later video. Les Breame