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[Martin (Admin)]

What do we think is the most popular model boat KIT ever built?

Once we find out, lets see if we can do a Mayhem Build Masterclass on it.
( We'll do kits first and plans later. )

Your nominations please....

[tigertiger]

I would guess the Airfix 1:72 scale Spitfire has to be high on this list.

Somewhere not too far behind would be the Airfix 1:72 Meschermitt ME109.

But neither of these are boats. Although they would fit into a large Jiffy bag if you did want to post them.

[Tester]

Precedent Huntsman, wooden version.

Everybody seems to have built one of these in one form or another 

[RMH]

I'd say it has to be the aerokits crash tender.

[DickyD]

Fairey Huntsman 31 or Aerokits Sea Commander 

[rem2007]

HMCS Snowberry 1/72 Revell. Sounds like everyone has one up on the shelf and saw quite a few at Warwick last year. :)

[DickyD]

Oh yes, I've got one of those 

[malcolmfrary]

At one time, Perkasa seemed almost compulsory, then there is Billings Nordkap.
The various traders should have some idea which of their wares sell most.

[Tom@Crewe]

I think Rem is right HMCS Snowberry 1/72 Revell, can you imagine the amount produced compared to anything else over the years

[Ghost in the shell]

actually it is probably the MATCHBOX corvette that is the best one yet, maybe the Airfix Bizmark, and perhaps some of the Tamiya ships aren't too far behind

[cos918]

what about billings smit rotherdam , You all way see one of them.

john

[alan colson]

Cheap, Cheerful, still selling well and a good deal of fun CLUB 500
Alan

[John W E]

hi there one and all

Multi-part question huh Martin  in my eyes  if we are talking about the most popular kit build in Model Boating clubs, the three that spring to mind are:

The Brave Borderer

and the Joffrey (may have spelt that wrong)

Also the batch of Smitt tugs

I think every club has at least two of these 2 models in their fleet.  :)

The problem with there being so many of them is - one sees some extremely good ones built and also you see so many variations.  As far as how easy or how difficult they are personally I wouldnt have a club or is it a clue   see frightened before I even look at the instructions ; personally I would not like to attempt another kit after my miserable attempt on the Robbe PT15 - you have to be disciplined to build from a kit - that is what I have learnt - in more ways than one

if we are referring to the best build kit built on the forum; the three that spring to mind are:

Tugboat Kenny's - Boston Fury

that build there to me is an enjoyable build to watch and it's interesting to see how Kenny is tackling some of the problems he encounters & overcomes them.


RTTL range target towing launch ; although a standoff model - to me the guy who has built it - I cant recall his name off hand; but to me it looks pretty professional even though he has some problems in the beginning - he overcame them and has produced, in my eyes, a lovely looking model which a first timer like me would contemplate tackling.


The speedboat Dicky D - with his MTB build - that is again a semi-scale model, but looks very very impressive - very nice - and if it goes as fast as Dicky has built the model - it should have wings

To me, those are the 3 kits on the forum which have been enjoyable to watch being built.   If someone were to ask me what model I would like to see being built on the Mayhem Forum, I would like to see:-

The Vigilant

the Vigilant was included in the issue (March 2008) Model Magazine - love to see someone have a crack at building this on the Forum.

yours
aye
John E
bluebird

[chas]

I've built the Huntsman, Snowberry Nordkap and crashtender from that list so take your pick. I bet it ends up as the Snowberry though.
 Chas

[Stavros]

Snowberry NAH too fragile to small How about  SEA Queen and put a brushless in it to modernise it



Stavros

[sheerline]

Depends how far back we go on this, I seem to remember Airfix's HMS Ajax was very popular. If not a model boat, did anyone NOT build the Airfix Lancaster?

[Roger in France]

If not a model boat it must surely be a model of a Spitfire.

I made them in pasteboard; paper mache; balsa; pine; plasticine and then in balsa kits and later plastic kits.

I can imagine no one boat which would be so overwhelmingly popular but if pressed I would nominate Titanic and Bismark. I have built neither but have seen many, many models of both.

Roger in France.

[djrobbo]

Hi guys.........had a wooden huntsman........got a perkasa when i get round to building it.........still got a crash tender......i think that probably the two most popular kits since the sixties has got to be the crash tender or the sea queen..........they were everywhere you went , seems like everybody had one .

           regards..bob.

[Martin (Admin)]

Hi Bob,

We need you to do a Mayhem build of the Perkasa! 


Martin 

[djrobbo]

Hi martin.....the reason i haven't built the thing yet is it's the large fibreglass hull version and to say that i am totally unimpressed with the quality of the wood is somewhat of an understatement :'(..........i will let you know if i decide to replace some of the wooden bits with better quality wood and make a start on it

        regards....bob.

[nhp651]

for out and out quantity sales I would have to say the Revelle/minicraft/acadamy "RMS TITANIC" at 1:350/1:400
Much to my shagrine and dissappointment, they even have one of them in a glass showcase in the "Titanic exhibition" at the heritage centre at Cobh ( Queenstown) in County Cork, Eire, her last port of call.
I would have thought that a museum as dedicated to her demise as this establishment is ,would have had something a little more outstanding.They even use that kit on the film "Raise the Titanic" and god only knows how much they spent on producing that film??
but that kit gets my vote for the most sold kit on this planet.

[GaryM]

I'm on page 6 out of 50 odd posts - the "Springer" forum - if it comes in a kit - it HAS to be the most popular!

Gary

[FullLeatherJacket]

to say that i am totally unimpressed with the quality of the wood is somewhat of an understatement :'(..........

Yeah - it's a shame because at one time you could guarantee seeing a Perkie at ANY model boat club water. The original kit, like the Huntsman, was made from quality marine ply cut on a bandsaw (ask me how I know............ ). When Precedent discovered how to die-cut liteply for the Hi-Boy etc they went berserk and changed both boat kits to use this method. IMHO the parts never did fit properly after that and the instructions were very limited in scope. As time has gone on the dies have become worn to the extent that I wouldn't recommend anyone except a seasoned modeller to buy either of these kits. Most current models seem to be from the GRP-hull-based kits with a total replacement of the wood parts. You also have to bear in mind that Huntsman was designed before we had any decent powerful electric motors so she needs a pretty hefty piece of machinery to get up on the plane - along with some expensive batteries to go with that.
At the time he died in 1999, John Rudd was working on a complete update of Perkasa with new shapes, tools, instructions etc. I still have what he did on a disk somewhere.
Now.........when I eventually get that 1/12 scale Huntsman 31 designed and built...............
FLJ

[djrobbo]

Hi flj........have to agree......i used to have a huntsman of the all wood variety probably getting on for nearly 30 years ago........lovely kit to build but really heavy i used to race it in the sea at hole haven creek and even with a breathed on webra 61 and tuned pipe it still wasn't that quick ...so you can see my frustration in thinking that if i bought the glass hulled perkie it wouldn't be so heavy so therefore would be easier to get it up on the plane........silly me ...didn't realise they had substituted the decent wood for offcuts of tea chest >:(.........as you said its going to be a virtual scratch build minus the hull .....the gun kits are about as much good as a saddle on a parrot ...............oh well, when  i get round to starting it  , it will keep me busy for a while

         regards..bob.

[Martin (Admin)]

That really disappointing to hear. I always thought one of the most popular
kits would be the Huntsman or Perkasa and was going to invest in a kit for
someone to do a masterclass build but...... :'(
Is it also true that the kit's Perkasa hull is nothing like the original vessel?
What about the Tamiya 1/72 Vosper Perkasa? I hear good things about that!

I do have a Matchbox/Revell Corvette I am willing to donate to the cause but we'll wait
to see what else is nominated.