Information from Nerys -

In the 1940s and 50s, many traditional Thames Sailing barges were converted into motor barges. This is a model, based on photos and my memory of the 'Nellie'. The sailing barge 'Nellie' was built by Cremers at Hollowshore, Faversham in 1901,. She traded under sail carrying about 90 tons of cargo around the Thames, Medway and Swale until about 1952 and then had the gear taken out, a Chrysler Crown petrol/paraffin motor installed and carried on trading for some years owned by R.Lapthorne & Co of Hoo on the River Medway.. She was eventually sold out of trade and is now privately owned. She has been rerigged with a reduced sailing barge rig without a topsail. My model is based on a 30" barge hull from Dave Watts Mastman.

NOTE More information from Nerys - read on ........

Hi Phil,
I'll just add a little more information to that. I was Nellie's skipper in the mid 50's for a few years. We were based at Hoo on the Medway and carried cargoes around the Medway, Swale, Thames and Colne. Regular trips were such as ballast from Fingringhoe on the Colne to Hoo, sand from Upnor on the Medway to the Ford works at Dagenham, fertilizers from London to Faversham and Queenborough, wheat from London docks to Whitstable and more or less anything that could be carried between ships in the London docks to anywhere in the Estuary. We were paid by the freight. Half the value of the carriage charges going to the owners and the other half to the crew, shared 2/3 for the skipper, 1/3 for the mate, Then fuel and other expenses were divided up similarly.
Nellie, of all the barges I served on was the one I liked best. She was the smallest, but there was just something about her. However as a footnote, in the 1970's I built a forty three foot schooner rigged barge yacht in the same yard as Nellie was built.

Known as 'TID's', 182 of these little prefabricated tugs were built in modular units, by several different yards around the U.K. often by women workers. Brent started off as TID 159 and was the very last of her class to be built being completed in 1946.
https://www.steamtugbrent.org/history...

This model belongs to Buxton Model Boat Club member Bob Armstrong.

Hello again, here’s a picture of an M class destroyer which I built some years ago, she is of again balsa construction from Model Boat Magazine plans, I built over one winter about 9 years ago, she is sealed with dope and tissue which gives a smooth finish, the guns were constructed from plastic card, with brass rods for the barrels!
She was retired a couple of years ago, but recently she was brought out retirement and gifted to family friend was showing an interest in battle ships!

Just a simple model I built for my son about 14yrs ago. He wasn't interested (more into computers) so I use it for the salt water. Just a brass shaft and 12v high speed 380 motor, runs quite well. Ran it to try out the new 4K camera, (set on 1920x1080) but had to convert the vid from MOV to MP4 to edit it, so it reduced the clarity a bit. At least it doesn't have a blurry bit in the middle of the lens like my 10yr old one. have to figure out a better way, (or get a better editor)

This might be clearer

A short video to celebrate sailing 3 x 1/24 scale Fairmile D's as well as a Vosper 73' Type 1 at the same time.
Graham's boats are scratch-built onto fibreglass hulls.
My boats are totally scratch-built.
it is best viewed on a larger screen in HD.

Exploring the possibilities of a new sleeker look to the Wee Nips that I have built previously , - I created the "Slim Nip" just as a development from the original classic Graham Bantock design.
Length - 720mm
Beam - 166mm
Keel depth - 290mm
Mast height - 1130mm above the deck.
Maintaining the simplicity and convenience of a Uni rig , easy to transport , easy to rig , & no guys .
Result was : - a new look, light wind, high aspect ratio - "Slim Nip".

One more Sparrow Video !
Designed by Bryn Heveldt
Built by Graham Royle
Music ( The Lounge) by Bensound (+ the local ducks as background)
Video by Phil
............. Just for fun !

This Racing Sparrow was built by Buxton Model Boat Member Graham Royle.
Detail and precision are Grahams hallmark and it is a privilege for me to showcase some of his work through "RC Sailing" and the Model Boats Website.
(Note best viewed on big screen to allow for pausing !)

Model Boats Website also hosts other blogs of his ie. :-
https://model-boats.com/blogs/106408 - Racing Sparrow
https://model-boats.com/blogs/86653 - Gaff Rigged Pilot Cutter
https://model-boats.com/blogs/99841 - Rescue Launch
https://model-boats.com/blogs/68795 - Row,row, row
Phil

The Odessa is fitted with a action camera to record her journeys. This video was produced as a trial. The Odessa has recently been resprayed in metallic red and the little dingy was removed.
She now also has a crew of three.
1:20 scale - Lindberg kit built.

Perhaps not a boat, but no pond is complete without one of these gems.
This lighthouse is fully remote controlled.
The lamp rotates at 12 rpm allowing a flash of light every 5 seconds.
A 5kg weight is mounted under the island and winched down to the bottom of the dam to anchor the island. The winch is powered by a 6V Ryobi Cordless Screw Driver's gearbox and motor.
The Fog Horn is operated by a 9V motor with a counterbalance causing a vibration inside the tower, amplifying the sound effect of a steam horn.
It's built at 1:35 scale and stands 80cm tall.

HMS Solebay was a Battle-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was named after the Battle of Solebay which took place in 1672 between an Anglo-French force and the Dutch Navy during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Solebay was built by R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Company Limited on the Tyne. She was launched on 22 February 1944 and commissioned on 25 September 1945.
Music - "Deepblue" from bensound

Here we have a "Video log" of Nordkap 476 - a Bllling Boats kit of a deep water trawler from the 1970`s .
Built by Buxton Model Boat Club member Adria Lucas