Model Boat Hulls From Kingston Mouldings

Kingston Mouldings a small Uk based company .
Has been around for a good many years now, a one man operation these days,
. The founder, Principal and everything else besides, is Robin Whitmarsh. A model maker from the age of about eight, initially mostly model planes though sometimes boats and cars as well, Robin learned industrial model making and the fiberglass business at leading companies in the race car industry, initially making tank-testing models of high speed boat hulls and also aerodynamic racing car models for wind tunnel testing, both of which had to be 100% accurate for obvious reasons, then full size body patterns for everything up to Formula One cars, and subsequently moving into the technical side of full size GRP boat hull and racing and road car body production. This leads to a company that produces very high quality Glass Fiber hulls

Most of Products here come as just hull and plan though one or two have no plan

Fairmile D WWII MTB-MGB

At the start of the world war2 the British Royal Navy had need of a fast seagoing patrol boat so they set about designing there own. By the winter of 39 and after a lot of extensive testing they adopted a hard Chine semi planning type .
It was decided that the company that should build them would be FAIRMILE . Constructed from ply bulkheads along with ply decks and superstructure then with a double diagonal mahogany Planking . Built primarily as an MTB (Motor Torpedo Boat) but due to shortages of MGB (Motor Gun Boats) And time saved by not putting the Torpedo firing mechanism on board consequently the first 94 were built as MGB .
After that they were a mix of MTB / MGB benign armed at First with two 21in (53.3) tubes then Four 18in (45.7) tubes the boats with two tubes were classed as MTB / MGB while the Ones with four were classed as MTB,s only . They were powered by four direct drive Packard's Producing 1250 BHP giving a top speed of 30nts though latter Fitted with 2/1 elliptical gearboxes were used giving another 2.5knts. The first FAIRMILE D (MGB 601) was built at Tough Brothers on the Thames in Teddington Middlesex .
Though in all There were over 229 built by thirty firms .The main task of MTB were to sink enemy shipping in coastal waters catching them by surprise with there high speed and then sinking them with there torpedoes .

This semi-kit of a 1/24th FAIRMILE D MGB / MTB is very good indeed, the torpedo exits are moulded into the fibre glass hull allowing for the MTB version; the rubbing strakes are also moulded onto the hull. In my opinion This moulding from Kingston Mouldings is superb .Precision Controls have made a complete set of fittings, the running set is from Radestock and the plans are from John Lambert.

Hull Length:1470mm (57.5") Beam:275mm (11") Scale:1/24th

	Fairmile D WWII MTB-MGB ... £115.45
	Running set ... £116.48
	Fittings ... £497.47
	John Lambert Plan Set ... £50.00

1904 Windermere Steam Launch

Although this design is typical of the steam launches that were operated on Lake Windermere in the Cumbrian Lake District the early years of the twentieth century, it isn’t an exact scale model of any single vessel.
The general appearance is very similar to the steam launch Bat, which is currently one of the exhibits in the Windermere Steamboat Museum, but Bat's hull lines were slimmed down quite considerably, mainly to make the hull more easily driven on a modest amount of power. This hull is essentially a slightly enlarged version of a rather older design in the Kingston Mouldings range, the Victorian steam launch.
Although the Windermere launch is slightly longer and broader in the beam than the earlier design, the main difference is in the displacement, which is about 50% greater, mainly due to fuller hull sections, particularly at the bow and stern.
Although some achieved it, because of the small displacement, fitting a steam plant into the earlier hull wasn't really an option for most modellers. This much revised version greatly increases the hull’s capacity, and makes it possible to fit small steam plants
electric propulsion is a simpler and much cheaper option, and a standard 385 type motor or similar, will provide plenty of power.

Hull Length:1040mm (41") Beam:185mm (7.5") Scale:1/10th

£73.46

1912 Yacht Tender

Yacht tenders like this one were used for ferrying passengers between the great ocean-going steam yachts and dry land.
The earliest tenders were simple steam cutters and picket boats, and many of them were modified ex-naval craft, but later purpose-built civilian versions became flashily opulent with hardly a visible surface that was not varnished wood or polished brass.
The inspiration for this elegant design was an example built in 1912 by the principal UK builder of such vessels, Simpson Strickland & Co, who had boatyards at Dartmouth in Devon and later also at Teddington on the Thames. The lines of the shapely transom-sterned hull are still very similar to those of a Royal Navy picket boat or Admiral's barge of the same period. The hull is moulded with full keel and rubbing strip, and the only deviation from scale has been to make the hull slightly slimmer than the original, and as a result, not a great deal of power is needed to drive this fine-lined hull at realistic speeds.
The model is equally suitable for a wide range of electric or steam power plants, and many popular steam units from manufacturers like Cheddar and Stour Valley Steam can be fitted, though sadly neither of these two model steam engine manufacturers is still around. The Picture used is another of Dave Dunn’s, this time fitted with an American Gage twin cylinder steam engine with a Cheddar boiler, which is reported to drive the model at well in excess of scale speed with an impressive bow-wave.

Hull Length:1145mm (45") Beam:240mm (9.5") Scale:1/10th

£85.06

1939 German Schnellboot S-9
The German S-Boats, or E-Boats as they were usually referred to by Allied Navies, were considered by most experts to be the best all round performers of WW2 coastal forces craft.
Large enough to carry a heavy armament, they were powered by technically advanced high-speed diesel engines, which made them rather less susceptible to fire and battle damage than the smaller petrol-powered Allied torpedo and gunboats. All the British Vospers and many of the larger Fairmiles also had much less sea-kindly hard chine hulls, which unlike the rounded hull form of the S-Boats, tended to restrict their speed in rough weather. S-9 was one of the earlier schnellboot variants, which were built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s, and this hull and plan were produced from some original German drawings and photos.
The hull is moulded with the central keel and bow torpedo cutouts. These vessels had triple shafts, but a model could be built with either single or twin shafts to simplify construction.
The first photo on the left shows one fine model, the second and third show what can be achieved with a little judicious wear and weathering, which greatly increases realism, and the fourth photo shows a model powered by twin Monoperm Supers, looking good on the water and running at near scale speed, but examples powered by a pair of cheap 385 type motors on 6 volts have performed equally well. The last photo is of the real thing in service during WW2.

Hull Length:1070mm (42") Beam:155mm (6") Scale:1/30th

£77.14

African Queen

Open steam launch African Queen. at one tenth scale, which makes it around 930mm x 270mm, or 36½" x 10½".
With those distinctive hull strakes, it hasn't been an easy one to make, and research has proved especially difficult.
Kingston lost count of the number of times He sat through the film DVD to try to gain fresh info on the boat, and I know almost all the dialogue for both Humphrey and Katherine off by heart. As all who have seen the film will know, the boat that they used was pretty rough and battered in appearance.
Kingston haven’t reproduced this effect on there hull, no dents but not a polished high gloss finish either, so you could also use this hull for a model of several other period launches if you want to. I originally thought that it would be a relatively simple matter of scaling up the little Billings kit design, but not at all, the original boat from the film still survives, but some time between the date the film was made and the present day, the boat topsides & deck layout were altered substantially, also the dummy steam plant used for filming was replaced by a completely different functioning one, all of which means that the Billings version is pretty inaccurate and doesn't represent the film boat at all.
Naturally, no useful drawings of the original exist, but think they have managed to do justice to the true African Queen design in the end. .

£89.15

Bantam Tug & Barge

Almost 90 of these little canal tugs were built between 1950 and 1969, and a few are still with us today. They were powered by 40hp air-cooled diesel engines, and although all were broadly similar, there were quite wide variations in length, beam and draught, according to the requirements of the different owners. The largest operator was British Waterways, and Bantams were employed working barges and moving dredgers on canals, and rivers around the UK, and also in sand and gravel pits. A fair amount of licence has been employed with the hull design, mainly to improve stability and increase the amount of room in the hull, and although both the tug and barge have been deepened to increase displacement, as can be seen, they make a very convincing replica of a Bantam tug & barge. Because the hulls are fairly cramped inside, and only have limited freeboard, they are definitely calm water models, and they aren’t very suitable for beginners, but they don’t present too many problems to modellers with some experience. They are great fun to sail, and are certainly a bit out of the ordinary. If you sail the tug and barge together, and the two are fairly closely coupled, they handle and perform just like any other boat of roughly the same overall length. You can buy the tug hull on its own, or with a barge, and if you buy both mouldings together, there's a useful cost saving.

Tug Hull Length:300mm (12") Beam:125mm (5") Scale:1/24th

Barge Hull Length:510mm (20") Beam:140mm (5.5")

£63.86

Boston Blenheim

This is a scale model of a 1980s British deep-sea stern trawler design from the Fleetwood Lancashire based fleet of Boston Deep Sea Fisheries.
This type of vessel quickly replaced almost all of the older deep-sea side trawlers, being more effective and therefore more economic to operate, as well as much safer for the crew to work in heavy seas. The hull is moulded to include bulwarks and also the superstructure sides, all of which are accurately trimmed, as is the cut-out in the squared-off stern, as can be seen in the first photo. The model was such a success that a second wood hull was eventually made as the basis for the fibreglass production version. Model displacement was slightly under 22 lbs (10kg), and the single screw was powered by a geared Decaperm electric motor. A large 12 volt gel cell was fitted, and this provided a long running time as well as useful ballast to help bring the hull down to the scale waterline

£80.21

Brede Lifeboat

The 18 knot Brede was a new departure for the RNLI, as in order to have the design in service as quickly as possible, it was based on a slightly modified version of an existing commercial GRP hull design, the Lochin 33 which was used mainly for fast inshore fishing boats. Up to this point, almost all UK lifeboats had been designed from the keel up by the RNLI themselves.
One apparent disadvantage of this approach was that Bredes were the only boats in the RNLI fleet not allowed to venture out in sea states higher than force 6, but this has not proved to be a great problem in service. Most Bredes were based at lifeboat stations like Poole, Exmouth and on the Solent, where their size and handling characteristics made them particularly well suited to attending the many inshore small boat rescues typical of such locations.
The first photos show the Exmouth Brede, 33-06 Caroline Finch, a superb model built by Brendan Dempsey of Dublin, and then the real thing at the RNLI base in Poole. This model was originally powered by two 540 motors, but replacing these with more efficient Decaperms greatly improved duration without affecting the performance noticeably.
Power supply is a 6volt 8amp lead acid accumulator, and the all-up weight is around 6kg.The second photo shows the hull and cabin mouldings as supplied. As can be seen, the hull is moulded with full keel as well as all the complicated multiple spray rails on the hull sides and bottom that are such a prominent feature of the Brede design.

Hull Length:830mm (33") Beam:295mm (11.5") Scale:1/12th

Brede Lifeboat ... £83.68
Brede Lifeboat Cabin Wheelhouse Moulding ... £35.25

Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Mascotte

Bristol Channel pilot cutters had to be both fast and seaworthy to ply their trade, and Mascotte built in 1904 is one of the finest surviving examples of these classic sailing craft.
At 60 feet in length one of the largest of her type, Mascotte was built at Newport, and operated out of the ports of Barry and Newport on the south Wales coast.
No trusted hull lines drawing was available, so the model hull was produced largely from photos of the full-size vessel, but the resulting hull shape is believed to be fairly authentic.
The hull has not been deepened or altered in any way, but the model is large enough to be a fine sailer in all but the strongest winds, without the need for any added external keel or ballast, and it was easy to fit the required 8.5kg of lead ballast inside the moulded fibreglass hull of the prototype. A half-size general-arrangement drawing and sailplan is included as standard, but an extensive model construction manual providing complete step by step instructions, is also available as an extra if required. This manual covers every detail of building a sailing model, with drawings of all fittings and comprehensive rigging details. Although quite a large model, it’s designed in such a way that it can be kept fully rigged at all times where space allows.
The bowsprit can be retracted and the topmast lowered for transport, so that the model will fit on the rear seat of most medium-sized cars, and it then only takes a minute or two at the pond side to have the model ready for sailing. The first pic shows the hulls as supplied, the second shows the second shows the prototype model, looking so realistic that it could almost be mistaken for the full size boat.

Hull Length:1140mm (45") Beam:300mm (12") Scale:1/16th

Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Mascotte ... £110.34
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Mascotte Build Manual ... £17.88

Clyde Puffer Inchcolm

Small Scottish steam coasters such as Inchcolm built in 1909, were a common sight in northern waters in the first half of the 20th century, Para Handy’s Vital Spark was one well-known fictional example. They became known as 'puffers' because of the sound the simple non-condensing coal fired engines of the very earliest boats made.
The drawing for this hull contains details of Inchcolm as originally launched, and also as rebuilt around 1930 with an enclosed wheelhouse and a few other small changes. Most puffers were 66 feet long, and this meant that they could travel between the east and west coasts of Scotland through the 70 foot locks of the Firth and Clyde cana that connects the two coasts, and also the smaller Crinan canal, which saved a long loop around the Mull of Kintyre in Argyll, when sailing to the Western Isles. Some of the later Puffers were larger than this though, so that they could carry greater loads and undertake longer coastal voyages, and these were commonly referred to as ‘outside’ boats. The first photo shows an electric powered Inchcolm, and the second a Cheddar Pintail powered example. Some ingenuity is needed with steam powered models because of the rearward funnel location, and although a scale arrangement is possible, in this model the builder took an easy way out, mounting the boiler over the propeller shaft, with the steam engine in front of it, and underneath the hold amidships.

Hull Length:810mm (32") Beam:225mm (9") Scale:1/24th

£83.68

WWII destroyer Erich Steinbrinck

This WW2 destroyer Erich Steinbrinck, together with the steam tug Flying Eagle and the two German armed trawlers, are from the range that was produced by Ted Radestock, and sold through his business Scale Propellers of Hoylake on Merseyside for many years.
Ted gave all the moulds and production rights to Kingston Mouldings when he retired and closed his own business.
The hulls are just the same, except that some are considerably improved following the replacement of worn-out moulds, and all are supplied with the same scale drawings as before. In the photo, the hull at the front is the steam tug Flying Eagle, and the hull at the rear is the WW2 German destroyer Z15 Erich Steinbrinck. The one between these two is the trawler type hull for the Hafenschutzboot and Vorpostenboot. The underwater shape is identical for both these hulls, though the topsides are different, and the two are not interchangeable.

Hull Length:1210mm (47.5") Beam:120mm (4.5") Scale:1/100th

£84.04

Director Tug

Director was launched in 1956, the first of a class of seven diesel electric paddle tugs that were built for the Royal Navy to be operated by the RMAS.
Unusually for paddle steamers, their paddles could either be linked together or independently controlled, and this made them highly manoeuvrable. The low profile of these powerful tugs made them ideal for handling aircraft carriers with their characteristic large overhangs.
Although the tugs were fitted for fire fighting, salvage and oil pollution spraying, towing winches were not fitted, and they were not used for long-distance towing, largely because of the vulnerability of their paddles to any floating debris in the open sea. The plan was produced from the original Shipbuilder's drawings of Director, and it also contains some model construction information. Most of the class were modified in service, and both as-built and the later updated versions are detailed on the plan.
Although all of the inward-sloping bulwarks are moulded on our hull, the paddle boxes are not included. The first photo shows an excellent model with intricate feathering paddles, independently driven by a pair of Monoperms. This model depicts Director as originally built with none of the later modifications, and it can be compared with the second photo which shows the full size Director all shiny and new, sailing under the red ensign in the river Clyde on Builder’s trials.

Hull Length:990mm (39") Beam:200mm (8") Scale:1/48th

£76.14

Dutch Harbour Tug

This is an accurate scale model of a modern small harbour and barge towing river tug, one of a considerable number built over several years by Damen Shipyards in Holland as variations of a standardised design called the Stantug 4.
Damen offered a huge variety of options for these tugs, which were built on a production-line basis. In recent years, they have been constructed in Eastern Europe to save on labour costs, being shipped over to Damen as bare hulls, for fitting out to the customer’s exact specification. The model can quite correctly be fitted with either single or twin motors and propellers, either open or in Kort nozzles, and there have been pusher and tractor tugs versions with forward or aft superstructures.
The superstructure layout and fittings are relatively simple, and the roomy shallow-vee hard chine hull has a wide transom stern. .

Hull Length:740mm (29") Beam:230mm (9") Scale:1/30th

£62.33

Endevour Inshore Trawler

This is a classic small inshore fishing trawler, many examples of which can be seen today, working out of harbours all around the British Isles.
The full-size Endeavour was built a few years ago on a 45 foot Halmatic commercial trawler hull which is very similar to most of the equally popular Cygnus range, and operated out of Hayle in Cornwall under the name Endeavour.
The beamy round bilge displacement type hull with moulded keel and a wide transom stern, can be used as the basis for a wide variety of small fishing and other types of harbour and coastal workboats of various descriptions. As can be seen from the pic of the prototype model, this colourful little boat offers lots of scope for detailing and imaginative deck clutter.

Hull Length:865mm (34") Beam:280mm (11") Scale:1/16th

£83.68

Eskgarth Tug

Eskgarth is a powerful single-screw diesel tug that was built by Richards Shipbuilders at Great Yarmouth in 1976, for handling some of the very large oil tankers that visit the port of Milford Haven on the south Wales coast. In addition to towing, Eskgarth is also well equipped for dispersant spraying gear for dealing with the oil spillages that were a constant hazard to marine ecology in the area. The detailed drawing was produced from the original Shipbuilder's plans, together with some additional material supplied by Cory Towage, who were the vessel’s original owners. Eskgarth also had an identical sister tug Edengarth, and the real thing can be seen in the second photo below. The next two photos show a model built, using a slightly modified Eskgarth hull, of an almost identical Clyde based Cory tug that was originally named Campaigner. This model was built by Phil Thomas of Glasgow, the well-known draughtsman and writer, whose book British Steam Tugs is a classic work. Phil has also had countless plans and magazine articles published over the years, both on full size ships and scale models, and he supplied the original drawings for several other designs on this website.

Hull Length:760mm (30") Beam:215mm (8.5") Scale:1/50th

£66.21

Fairmile B WWII MTB

Almost six hundred Fairmile B motor launches saw service during WW2. Most of them were assembled from prefabricated components such as frames and bulkheads, often produced in factories that had been turning out furniture or other wood items, during peacetime.
The boats were built and launched at many small boatyards around the UK, but also yards in Canada and several other countries. Bs were used as rescue boats, minelayers, anti-submarine launches, torpedo boats and gunboats, and many other wartime duties. This hull is moulded with the full-length keel but no rubbing strakes, and this means that it can be used to model any example of the many Fairmile Bs that saw wartime or peacetime service in all their different guises all over the world.
We can’t offer any drawings of our own for this hull, but very well detailed sets of scale plans are available direct from John Lambert at www.john-lambert-plans.com as well as a number of other sources. The first photo shows one of the hulls completed in WW2 guise as an anti-submarine launch, but the second shows a post war passenger carrying conversion. A number of Bs were used as ferries and excursion craft, and this model example was one of several that were named Western Lady and employed during the summer months carrying passengers across Torbay between Brixham and Torquay. A trip on one of these boats was the highlight of my own Devon holidays as a child, and the service is still operating using the same WW2 surplus Fairmile Bs in 2005, at the start of the 21st century.

Hull Length:1420mm (56") Beam:230mm (9") Scale:1/24th

£102.02

Flying Eagle Tug

The coastal single screw steam tug Flying Eagle was built by Bow McLachlan of Paisley in 1928 for The Clyde Shipping Co of Glasgow. The vessel was considered quite innovative at the time, and was designed with quite a broad beam to increase coal bunker capacity and range, as she was intended for coastal towing work in addition to the usual port duties. Flying Eagle was purchased thirty years later in 1958 by J H Lamey on the River Mersey, and renamed James Lamey, finally ending her days working out of Belfast harbour as Lilias. The scale drawing is by P N Thomas, and model displacement is 4kg, or about 9lbs. Of course, you wouldn't have to use this hull to build a model of Flying Eagle, being a fairly typical steam tug shape, the hull would be suitable for use as the basis for many other similar designs from around the same period.

Hull Length:730mm (28.5") Beam:180mm (7") Scale:1/48th

£69.94

German WWII Armed Trawler

This WW2 destroyer Erich Steinbrinck, together with the steam tug Flying Eagle and the two German armed trawlers, are from the range that was produced by Ted Radestock, and sold through his business Scale Propellers of Hoylake on Merseyside for many years. Ted gave all the moulds and production rights to Kingston Mouldings when he retired and closed his own business. The hulls are just the same, except that some are considerably improved following the replacement of worn-out moulds, and all are supplied with the same scale drawings as before. In the photo, the hull at the front is the steam tug Flying Eagle, and the hull at the rear is the WW2 German destroyer Z15 Erich Steinbrinck. The one between these two is the trawler type hull for the Hafenschutzboot and Vorpostenboot. The underwater shape is identical for both these hulls, though the topsides are different, and the two are not interchangeable.

Hull Length:750mm (29.5") Beam:190mm (7.5") Scale:1/33rd

£66.21

Grand Banks Scooner

This is a close to scale model of a cod fishing schooner of a type that was once a common sight on the Atlantic Grand Banks off Newfoundland. They were sometimes known as Gloucester schooners after the largest of the fishing ports in the region, where many of these vessels were based. This design is very similar to Bluenose, which was probably the best-known single example of this class of fast sailing ship, her speed being legendary, though she was built as just a typical Grand Banks fishing schooner. The moulded keel of our hull has been deepened slightly to improve stability, and because of this, the model can carry sufficient internal lead ballast to enable it to be sailed in calm weather without any need for an added external keel, though in any event it is important to keep top weight as low as possible, and some previous experience of building and sailing scale models of this kind is desirable. The photos show well-built R/C examples of this model, all carrying plenty of sail, and employing varying degrees of complexity and sophistication in the sail control department.

Hull Length:810mm (32") Beam:200mm (8") Scale:1/36th

£78.93

Brave Borderer

Only two Brave class 50 knot gas turbine powered fast patrol boats to this design were built by Vosper for the Royal Navy, but larger numbers of a slightly simplified export version of the same basic design were built for the navies of Denmark, Greece, West Germany, and Malaysia of which Perkasa is one example,
and all of the boats served with distinction in these navies for many years. Braves were armed with 40mm guns, torpedo tubes and wire-guided surface-to-surface missiles. Three unarmed fast training boats, Cutlass, Sabre & Scimitar also served in the RN for some years, and they also were essentially similar to the Brave class with the same basic hull form, though just two instead of three gas turbine engines.
The detailed plans for both Brave Borderer & Perkasa were produced from original Vosper drawings and photographs. The first photo is a relatively simple model of Brave Borderer, the second is the full size Brave Borderer at high speed, and the third is an excellent Perkasa built by Ande Ma of Hong Kong.

Hull Length:910mm (35") Beam:220mm (9") Scale:1/32nd

£52.62

HS Tug

A classic British coal-fired single screw steam tug design that was built in quantity to replace losses during the 1914 -1918 war. All began life in Naval service, mainly towing barges laden with supplies such as fuel and munitions between the UK and the French channel ports, as well as along some of the larger French inland waterways. In wartime service all H.S. tugs would have been painted grey, but almost all of those that survived the war were sold to civilian users, which means that many alternative colour schemes can be used to depict these tugs in post-war service. Model displacement is about 20lbs (9.1kg) and the hull is spacious enough to carry several of the smaller steam plants.
The first photo shows a very nice model in a fairly typical post war colour scheme. The next two photos show my own prototype on the maiden voyage in the salt water boating lake at Poole, powered by an early and very well-used Cheddar Pintail, not quite finished, and looking rather bare at this stage with no fenders fitted, and still awaiting several other small parts.
The next photo shows the bare hull, plenty of room inside with no bulky frames or bulkheads to hinder access, and a superstructure lifting off in one piece will make operating the finished model at the pond side relatively easy. The last photo depicts a standard H.S. tug in Naval service.

Hull Length:875mm (34.5") Beam:215mm (8.5") Scale:1/30th

£73.46

Inga IV Motor yacht
This is the same Inga IV twin masted motor sailer that was produced for many years as a fairly expensive kit, first by Schuco-Hegi, and more recently by a second German company Wedico, who sent us most of their original moulds for the production of this elegant hull, after their own kit production ended.
Our plans on two large sheets, are adapted from the original Wedico Inga IV kit drawings, but none of the other kit components are now available, and the picture was taken from Wedico’s old marine products catalogue.
The deep hull is moulded so that all necessary ballast can be carried internally, no additional external keel is needed, and it would be suitable for several alternative sailplans and deck & cabin layouts if you want something a little different from the original German kit design.

Hull Length:1090mm (43") Beam:275mm (11") Scale:1/16th

£84.04

Lady Margaret Steam Launch

This launch was originally designed for the larger steam plants like Cheddar's Proteus and Gemini, neither of which is currently in production unfortunately, but other slightly smaller steam units or electric power are just as suitable. The is essentially a modification of a 1920’s RNLI lifeboat hull form, and fairly fine lines mean that the hull doesn’t need a great deal of power to drive it at realistic speeds. The Lady Margaret design is really a collection of features from a number of early 1900's launches, and is not offered as a scale model of any particular vessel.
The hull is moulded with keel, stem and sternpost as well as bilge keels. Two half size plans for alternative open & cabin versions are supplied, but many customers have used this hull to produce models to their own design, with a number of different cabin and cockpit layouts.
The first photo shows a model under construction by Ralph Leeder, the style of deck and cabin roof planking probably isn’t very authentic.

Hull Length:1155mm (45.5") Beam:315mm (12.5") Scale:1/8th

£107.79

Lloydsman ocean going tug

A long-range ocean going single-screw salvage and fire fighting tug that was one of the largest and most powerful in the world when built. Originally owned by United Towing of Hull, Lloydsman was subsequently sold to new owners in Singapore, and there gained a rather startling all-white paint job.
The deck and superstructure layouts of the design are relatively complicated, which makes this single screw tug a good project for the more experienced modeller. Lloydsman was built with a device called the Towmaster nozzle, thought to be a revolution at the time.
This was essentially a single fixed Kort type nozzle, with three moveable rudders aft of the prop, and another two in front of it. This would be very complicated at model size, and something closer to a conventional single propeller would be a more practical proposition.
As can be seen from the photo below, Lloydsman is a handsome and impressive model, especially when finished in the original United Towing colour scheme.

Hull Length:1230mm (48.5") Beam:225mm (9") Scale:1/65th

£99.36

Port of London Tug Charles Edward

The small single-screw diesel tug Charles Edward was built in 1958, and was one of a large fleet of tugs operated by the Port of London Authority, and smaller towage companies, before the nature of shipping on the River Thames was changed forever by the introduction of containerisation.
This created new ports like Tilbury that were closer to the open sea, and could handle much larger ships. Before cargoes moved down river in the sixties and seventies, many small tugs like this one could always be seen in and around the London docks.
They were employed mainly for towing unpowered barges or lighters, and because these vessels almost always worked in sheltered waters, one typical feature of this type of small tug is the unusually low height of the bulwarks.
This makes quite a simple tug with few fittings, and the hull has also been used to model a number of other small tugs and harbour and canal boats which tend to share a very similar basic hull form.

Hull Length:825mm (32.5") Beam:215mm (8.5") Scale:1/22nd

£66.21

RAF Crash Tender 1:16th or 1:12th Versions

This is an accurate scale model of the RAF Crash Tender, two of which were built by Vosper in the early 1950s, where their official title was '46 foot firefloat Mk 2'.
The hull was copied from the original Shipbuilder's plans, so it has all the elegant flared hull sections and flowing lines of the real thing, features that were completely missing from the slab-sided and thus none too accurate all plywood Aerokits model kit version of the same boat that some will remember from many years ago.
The scale drawing for this model has been copied largely from Vosper drawings and other original material, and depending upon how accurate you want your model to be, you can fit either a single shaft like the Aerokits version of old, or if you want something more accurate, the twin shafts and rudders that were fitted to the real thing.

The original Aerokits RAF Crash Tender was produced in two sizes, and as well as the 1/16th version, there was also a much larger one at 1/12th. This was a big model, and at first I didn't think that there would be very much interest in it, but the reaction of customers who have admired the lines of the smaller hull convinced me that there would be a reasonable demand for the big one as well, so there’s now a 1/12th scale hull to accompany it’s smaller brother.
As can be seen in the pic of both hulls above, I decided to mould the spray rails on the larger version, in addition the full keel and gunwale strakes that are common to both sizes of hull.

Hull Length:880mm (34.5") Beam:255mm (10.5") Scale:1/16th
or
Hull Length:1175mm (46") Beam:340mm (13.5") Scale:1/12th

RAF Crash Tender 1:12th 46inch Version ... £113.67
RAF Crash Tender 1:16th 34inch Version ... £57.83

Neptune

This is a very close to scale version of a modern twin-screw trawler yacht, a type of boat that has become increasingly popular by providing high standards of sea-worthiness together with spacious and comfortable accommodation.
The full-size versions of this particular example were originally built in Taiwan, from where they were imported into the UK by Neptune Yachts of Southampton. The hull is moulded with bulwarks and rubbing strips, the full central keel, and also the two propeller shaft outlets.
Twin 385 type motors are all that is needed to power the model in a realistic manner, and if you like working with intricate deck planking, you’ll enjoy building this model. The example of Neptune in the first photo was built by Canadian customer Bill Burtwell, and it’s shown sailing on a lake in Calgary, Alberta. Also, several customers have used this hull to build models of small fishing boats of various types, including American shrimpers & tuna fishing craft.

Hull Length:740mm (29") Beam:270mm (10.5") Scale:1/15th

£71.47

Pilot Launch

This is a scale model of a twin-screw high-speed pilot launch, many examples of which have been built by the well-known Dutch shipbuilding company Damen Shipyards. Boats very similar to this one can be seen in service in ports all around Europe, as well as farther afield. A boat of this type was built for the French Pilotage Authority at Le Havre, and this vessel is shown in the third photo below.
Exactly the same basic medium-vee hull is used by Damen as the basis for a wide variety of fast crew tenders, customs and police launches, and fast fishing boats.
This means that our standard hull can be used to model a very wide variety of commercial vessels, as well as modern cruisers and similar pleasure craft. The diagonal fender strips on the hull sides that are a feature of the pilot launch version and seen in the side view above, have not been moulded as can be seen in the first photo, and this makes the basic hull suitable as the basis for models of many of fast commercial and pleasure launches, so you aren't restricted to models of pilot launches.
Hull Length:890mm (35") Beam:280mm (11") Scale:1/16th

£0.00

River Queen

River Queen is one of the best of the vast number of model boat designs penned over many years by the legendary modeller Vic Smeed. This one was intended to convey the spirit of well-known fictional vessels such as Forrester’s African Queen, as featured in the Humphrey Bogart/Katherine Hepburn film. The model is loosely based on a full size clinker-built small steam launch that was built some time in the early 1900s.
When the plans were first published in Model Maker magazine in the 1950s, Vic Smeed was the Editor in those days, and it was intended to be constructed using traditional boat building methods, just as a full size boat of this type would have been. However, the availability of this exact fibreglass replica should encourage some of today’s’ modellers to have a go at a vessel of this kind.
The hull is suitable for an accurate representation of a wide variety of steam, petrol or diesel powered small boats of just about any period, right up to the present day, and several have even been completed with drop keels as sailing dinghies.
The hull is moulded with well-defined and accurate hull planking and keel detail, and it has an accurately trimmed sheer strake.
The design does not need too much power to propel it at a realistic speed, and a small steam plant such as Cheddar’s Pintail, or one of the small units from Stour Valley Steam, will provide more than enough motive force, as would almost any medium sized electric motor if you want to model a motorised craft.

Hull Length:890mm (35") Beam:280mm (11") Scale:1/10th

£87.36

Please Note Prices are subject to change without notice

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