I visited the Yamato museum in Kure, Japan, to photograph the 1/10 model on display there. The museum was built around the model, which is 86 feet long.
In addition to the 1/10 Yamato, the museum features an entire wall of 1/100 models of every IJN warship class from WWII, as well as a second gallery housing full-size artifacts from the war, including a fully-restored Mitsubishi A6M "Zero", and a type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo.
Now that would take a large pond to sail on!! - interesting you mentioned the A6M Zero, I had the privilege of sitting in the cockpit of a Zero several years ago - had to take my dive kit off as it was 30 mtrs underwater in Chuuk (Truk) lagoon !!
HMS Flirt, built by Palmers of Tyneside in 1897. It was a C class aka Star class three funnel 30 knot destroyer. Twin reciprocating steam engines.
The model is 1/72 scale, 3ft long. I have some figures to stick on yet as well as the torpedo davits and the ship's boats.
The model has twin electric motors and is controlled by a Flysky 10 channel radio. The motors can be run synchronized or independent, selected with one of the switches. The left knob rotates the forward gun and the other knob rotates the torpedo tubes.
The model is entirely scratch built. Fiberglass sheathing balsa for the hull. The funnels and cowl vent are 3d printed to my files. I now have a 3d printer which I'm sure will make many fitting for future models.
Hi Ronald,
What a beautiful video! I watched it several times, and I think you chose the perfect time of day to film her.
The sunset in the background, the calm water, and the silhouette of the sailboat create such a peaceful and realistic scene that, at times, it almost looks like a full-sized yacht instead of a model.
Many of us spend countless hours building our models, but you also reminded us that presenting them is an art in itself.
The lighting, the reflections on the water, and the gentle wake behind the boat all came together perfectly.
Congratulations on a wonderful build and an equally wonderful video.
Thank you for sharing it with all of us. It was a pleasure to watch, and it has inspired me to think more about photographing my own models in natural light once they're finished.
It is quite a question whether the propellers will be built correctly. The speed is too high on my small model. We will see about that during the water tests.
Just a few photos of the Three Musketeers sailing on Sunday 19th July. We seem to be the only three that turn up on a regular basis. Just so happened there was a young lady photographer (Inga Zaiat) taking pictures around the lake. She asked if she could take some of us and the boats. From left to right Myself, Arthur & Ian. Arthur picked up the Victoria for a song at Model Boat Mayhem and after a bit of tinkering we had it up and sailing. Considering the sails are in poor condition it sails very well. Ian's boat is a second hand DF65 and mine (Red one) is built from plans out of the Model Boats magazine but does have a purchased DF65 rig. All good fun. PS. I uploaded the photos in low res as they take up less space and load faster.
The Wiesel is Back: Sea Trial at Lake Seminole Park (Florida, USA)
Had a nice run with the Schnellboot Wiesel at the June 21,2026 meet of the Suncoast Scale Model Boat Club. First time back in the water after 15+ years in my display case. I was hoping for a little more speed but the boat ran well and looked good cutting the water. But then, don't all of the Schnellboot look good? Only issue was me letting it drift into some weeds while setting up my camera on the tripod. Most of the video was recorded at about 30 meters away but the decent zoom on the camera brought the boat in close. I hope you enjoy the video.
But, I have a tough enough time squeezing my 36" and 42" models in my RAV4.