Built out of house guttering to a scale equivalent to model railways HO the layout is approx. 4 x 3 ft. Mounted in a wooden frame and provided with a protective see through cover it fits into the car and can go anywhere. it has been an on-going project to build RC boats to suit. Those used at present are commercial products (loa 5" (125mm)) with simple two channel two prop drives - not proportional but with forward and reverse and by operating one or both props plus reverse steering is OK. Battery life limited to 6-8 minutes with similar recharge time. Built largely from scrap and odds and ends the project cost well under £80. The idea is/was to have several units and link them together to make a large layout!

This model was built from a model slipway Tamar kit. it was modified substantially.all rails are soldered brass. info was from the website of Peterhead R.N.L.I. Station were there are excellent photos. The models engines are thumper motors 4240' at 900kv and run on three cell lipos @ 5000ma. Which give me at least an hour. With a speed of at least 10 mph, which lifts her bow out of the water,way passed the bow thruster , which is a graupner 400. Radar works through an old servo . Flashing blue light on mast. Running and accommodation lights. These boats are normally red below waterline however Scarborough life boats have always been white below the waterline. The crew are star war figures modified with plastic putty and a sharp knife. Not an easy build but very enjoyable. Eric Plaxton was the chairman of plaxtons coaches, and platoons building services. He left 9 million pounds to the boro of Scarborough, and 3 million to scarborough R.N.L.I., for a new boat .

This model was scratch built from US Coast Guard plans. The boat is constructed of balsa wood and the hull coated with fiberglass resin. All the deck gear is scratchbuilt from brass, the propellers, led's and figures are the only commercial parts. Scaled at 3/4=1 foot the model measures 42 inches in length.
It's powered by a Pittman 12 volt motor and controlled by a 4 channel radio. Working features are running and spot light, siren with flashing blue light, sweeping radar antenna and deck lights. Built in 1985 the model the lifeboat is accurate in appearence for that time period.(The prototype has been modified since).
The actual lifeboat is attached the the Coast Guard's Motor Lifeboat School at Cape Disappointment and is one of four boats of this class.

This is a 40" long model of a gas powered Berkley Company kit of a US Air Force crash boat from 1955. The plank on frame kit was in production for about 10 years and was meant to be powered by a model airplane gas motor with a single shaft. it depicts an experimental 50 knot rescue boat (painted in a peace time color scheme) during service with the USAF. if successfull it would have been put into production designed to be a replacement rescue craft for all Air Force 65' crash boats. Unfortunately for the crash boat program the Air Force lost interest as helicopters were become a reliable way of rescueing downed pilots along the coast. The prototype and a sister boat were scrapped, as was the entire program.
The model was given to me to be restored(top picture) for the son of a retired USAF veteran that was a crash boat crewman. The model was built in 1957 and had been run a few times on a tether line, R/C was pretty expensive back in the day. I stripped the hull, filled in all the cracks and rebuilt the mast. I added a small boat, davit, liferaft, coxswain station, spray shield and deck hardware among other things. Actually all the owner wanted was a paint job, he was very happy with it's new appearencep! Although I fiberglassed the wooden hull and made it watertight, the owner doesn't plan to run it, just a memorial to his dad's service. I really enjoyed working on this "rare bird".

Some of our club members [including myself] giving our boats a run on the club pool just after dark.
Boats included are : Fishing boats, trawler, Tug, Lifeboat, sports cruiser and patrol boat.

Appologies for the background noise, but thats the traffic on the M6 toll.

Vintage Model Boat Company Sea Breeze electric powered model with a small brushless motor. This is a laser cut reproduction kit produced to a very high standerd. please take a look at a new club coming soon at
http://froggyt996.wix.com/vintage-model-power-boat also take a look at www.vintagemodelboats.com
Thanks to John Lockett for the Video

Vintage Model Boat Company Sea Scout electric powered model. This is a laser cut reproduction kit produced to a very high standerd. please take a look at a new club coming soon at
http://froggyt996.wix.com/vintage-model-power-boat. also take a look at www.vintagemodelboats.com

Thanks to John Lockett for the Video

Hi, I'm sorry if these pictures are on here already, I did search through and couldn't see any.... I'm after a few peoples opinion on colours etc 💭 As the pictures are all black and white (grey scale) it is difficult to get the colours correct. A lot of model boats seem to be grey on the deck with white roofs, some with wooden decking, some just white and any number of variations. I'm trying to rebuild mine to be as close to the real thing as possible. in my opinion it looks like the top is all in white (as it matches the shade of the "FIRE" sign). The handrails appear to be brass ends with wooden rails?? Most of the other fittings seem to be either white to match the boat or silver for the tie-offs. The spot light seems to be darker than the monitors so I'm not sure if that is a dark silver or maybe black? Any thoughts??? 😉

Hi" All . Thought I would put some photos of my last winter project for all to see ! This model took approx 3 month to rebuild from an ebay wreck . A 1980s lesro Stiletto speed boat kit.A total rebuild was needed . Siletto running set up is a Johnston air cooled speed 600 electric motor. 50 amp speed contoller 7.2 volt at4600mh power pack which will lift her out of the water at very good speed. Siletto is finished of in dark mahogany stripwood vinneer & Ivery white / post box red .I do think the older colours look better on the older models . I sail my boats at Sheringham Norfolk
enjoy the photos . From A prestney

HI fellow Modellers,
Another model from the RADMC fleet at the fleetshaven workshop and boat yard in Ponthir.This model was built using a Billings Kit, bought for me as a Christmas pressent in 2009. A graupner 6 volt steam unit is fitted in the funnel and to make the boat a little more realistic a maplin steam sound system has been used to generate the sound of the engine. A simple mod allows the revs to be linked to the engine voltage. The steam engine rotates using a stripped down minI servo, fitted under the motor housing on the deck, again linked to the main motor voltage. The two 9.6 volt AA batteries and control gear are mounted under the boats floor, forward locker, a minI servo for steerage is fitted under the rear seat and the receiver is located under the wood pile. Figures are self made from items obtained from the local pound shop. The modal can be seen sailing at Cwmbran Boating Lake or at shows the society visit. Hope you enjoy the pictures, Regards GreyWolf.

HI to all you Fire Boaters,
I have decided to finally bring my Fireboat out of the closet and up for inspection.
This is the first of my many boats I am showing, I will probably show others in the future.
I started to build her back in 2006 after being off work and having a shoulder operation. She was not going to be a R/C boat, just a bit of something to do whilst on recovery.

I have a 34" still in the box unmade, purchased back in 1994 from Aerokits.
I drew round all the parts and then shrunk them on my scanner. She is 27" long I think that's
just fraction over 1/20th scale . She is almost all balsa except the 2 under skins that are balsa laminated with 1/64th ply. The hand rails are 1/4" balsa blocks I cut from a strip and the rail is ally tubing.
The mast is made from plastic strip from packets from the model shop.

When I returned to work she was put into the shed and left unfinished.
I stumbled across the Fireboat website and registered in 2009 when I was off work once again. This then made me think more about working on her again and I decide to turn her into an R/C model. So out she came and I fitted an Electomax Delta 480bb motor and a M3sonik esc.
I also purchased a couple of Robbe fire monitors, put them together shortening the nozzles and cutting the bottom of the base of to try to look a bit moreto scale. I know they are not the correct type but if I want to go down the road of getting them working then these ones will.

Then off I went to Wilkinson's and bought some paint. Then set out to paint her, as I brushed on the paint it seemed to be drying almost as quick as I was painting her. Dragging the paint I had just put on with next brush stroke. What a TOTAL DISASTER !!. I gave up on her and back into the shed she went.

2010 arrived I started again rubbed the paint down a bit and bought some Tamiya spray acrylic and started spraying, underside red, it seemed look all right. I used a nice new roll of low tack masking tape, taped up the underside and the decking and sprayed on the black on the sides. I thought that look all right. Took off the masking tape, which also took off the red paint and the dope from the decks. Another DISASTER. Back in the shed she went once again.

A couple of months went by and I was up in Norfolk on my own boat and watching the workers in the boatyard, ideas came to me and when we returned home, out she came and I repainted the sides
and then with red oxide paint I painted her undersides to make it look like antI foul paint. I used some white stripe to cover the join of the two different paint colours.
I had bought some roundels in Anglia Model Shop in Gorleston and some lettering in a shop in Norwich and after painting put these on.
Not looking fantastic but passable I was a little happier with her, but still not satisfied, back in the shed she went again.

Now after so much nagging from my brother out she has come, I've started again. He talked me into changing and trying a brushless motor and a smaller esc he had in his tool box from his helicopter he was shelving as its rota head was damaged beyond repair.
I have now fitted them and if they work I will change the esc to a forward/ reverse esc in the future at some point.

Sea trials are still away off more than likely in the spring, because the decking has yet to be painted. That will be the next job.

I think that's all for now, as I have probably bored you all to tears. I hope update as I progress further.
Just to let you know I'm Tom (alias BOATSHED).

HI Fellow enthusiasts
The first photo shows the boat as it was bought from an E Bay auction in late February for the price of 14.50, for that price I had to bid on it, even thought I had a new kit of the same model on order from a model shop from the end of December, before VAT went up. The models turned out to be the 4 feet versions some 11 inch wide and now is about 19 inch high. This model turned up several days before the new kit turned up, and was a bit worse for ware than anticipated as the deck had started to part company from the hull. After stripping the deck of all remaining deck furniture the deck was re laminated to the hull, prop shafts and rudder tubes also refitted using plenty of resin and cloth. A rubbing strip was fitted around the deck hull line to tidy up the visible damage. When I was happy with repairs the hull and deck was rubbed down and sprayed. Using the information in the new kit and some photos of actual boats, MJB's (My junk boxes) supplied all the required parts to scratch build 90% of the models fittings as seen, this includes the figures on the deck. These being obtained off an EBay site as 1/24 unpainted train scene figures that required some or may be a lot of adjustments to their appearance. Several items have still to be made and fitted. As I'm working on her sister boat P147, will make extra parts in one go.
The boat has twin electric drives, the motors, MFA 919D series, are fitted with their own 2.5/1 gearboxes and they drive 40 mm three bladed conta rotating brass props. They have independent 15 amp Electonize speed controllers run from two 7.2 volt packs in series. The switching arrangements for lighting has still to be finished off. Don't know if I'll fit a sound system as the boat is for my grandson.
The boat has had several trips on the Society's water at Cwmbran with myself and my grandson at the helm. it seems to go fast enough for him. (The new boat P147 has been built with triple screws.) Can't wait to see both models on the water together.
Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and information.
Regards
GreyWolf