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[madrob]

just intrested to know how you guys got started in model ships, seems to be the less popular of all the r/c hobbies


Rob

[Stan]

 :)Hi Madrob

I used to build and fly model aircraft in the days before you could buy them out of a box. Soon got very tired of carrying out repairs after each flying session. While on holiday in Devon attended a model show got hooked on marine models and the rest is history.One of my models is stiil going strong after 17 years, I do not think I would have had a model aircraft  that long.


Stan 

[dougal99]

Started with Dad building me a yacht and trawler. I then tried the Keil Kraft eazee? MTB and built a Tug from a free plan from the Hobbys catalogue, foray into Model aircraft and continued with model railways. Still with model railways and have a free flight, rubber powered aircraft on the shelf. However, RC boats just seem to hit the spot at the moment.

Cheers

Doug

[Shipmate60]

I built my first Diesel powered model boat a 10 yrs of age and carried on modelling on and off ever since.

Bob

[boatmadman]

I was given a Caldercraft Talacre when swmbo's uncle died 15 yrs ago. Hooked ever since!

[Stavros]

needed a bait boat for long distance Carp fishing and built one well got well and truly hooked so to speak and will confess to having 20+boats in the fleet,will only confess to 10m if Swtmbo is about

Stavros

[Bunkerbarge]

Plastic modelling, railway layouts, Scalextric and then a couple of RC planes over the years but finally a 90% complete Deans Cossack on Ebay about five years ago.  I took it to about 95%, where it has been ever since, redid the internals, thoroughly enjoyed it and have been playing around since then.

One of my biggest assets is being near to a superb club with exellent facilities and one of the most friendly groups of people you could ever wish to meet.

[chingdevil]

I started in plastic modelling, a railway layout, until the daughters came along, I built a couple of boats for them to put their Barbie's in and take out then went on to RC planes and RC cars. Started to build a SRN1 from a plan, moved it got trashed cancelled.

I them moved away from modelling and into genealogy

Couple of years back had to have a back operation which meant no manual work, so stuck in office for eighteen months, brain started to rust up. Believe it or not found Model Boat Mayhem web site and Martins puffer build, though I could do that (he made it look so easy ) Puffer still not completed.
Moved into springer tugs a pusher tug plus two other tugs in the planing stages, plus a possible Maid of the Mist boat complete with spray

I have started to make noises about a bigger shed, well Christmas is coming


Brian

[KenP]

Years ago, in the '70s, I was working out of Geneva for a year. Couldn't understand the tele, they all spoke scribble, so wanted something to do. Started to build Billings Norske Loeve

KenP

[djrobbo]

Hi guys. Started with plastic kits in the 50's. then railways. railways didnt run well in them days, so tried aircraft until i got fed up digging engines out of the ground and finding rubbish bins to put the remains in. The turning point was the fact that as a kid i suffered with cronic hay fever and found that by standing in a pond (in waders) ,with  what was then the forest gate model boat club, i didnt sneeze......nuf said,  been doing it ever since, currently have amsterdam tug, sun 21 tug, clyde puffer, half a vivacity,h.m.s.intrepid etc...etc

                                  regards.......bob.

[malcolmfrary]

Did Keil Kraft planes as a lad, then the new fangled Airfix kits as well as model railways.  There was a motorised HMS Hood when it first came out.  After many years of railwaying I figured that I almost never had a working layout, and I was having problems seeing when the little wheels were all on the track (N gauge), and the stuff was getting priced like jewellery.  Boats were a low priced alternative, and a little way in, I found they were addictive.

[tonyH]

Airfix Nelson/Rodney and a latin master who served on Nelson.
Followed by Keil Kraft Easibilt Terrier MTB.

Tony

[Tom Eccles]

I enjoyed building model aircraft since buying my first airfix spitfire as a boy. I kept building them on and off until about 6 years ago (so well over 40 years). I gave that up when I could no longer see to accurately paint the very fine detail I liked to do.
Started building Model Slipway Yorkshireman in 2001 then, following 2 cataract operations and recovering from the effects of a stroke I finished it last year.
I am now building a Mountfleet Cruiser and a Robbe Comtesse and I have half of another sail boat. Not sure what it is but I enjoy sailing her hence my decision to buy a Comtesse.

'Good 'ere innit?
Clegg

[Bryan Young]

How about a general love of ships. I don't mean the modern utilitarian units, or the plethora of "look-alike" clones that seem to clutter up our harbours (getting a bit like the average High Street with the same frontages). The days of the past were filled with such beautiful vessels that it would be a crying shame if no-one attempted to re-create some of them. I know and acknowledge that a lot of "static" and "miniature" builders do this, but not many working models are built. I really do not know why, but perhaps research into a model is not a cheap or easy option. Perhaps it is the desire to get "the boat" on the water as quickly as possible. There are thousands of wonderful looking ships that just beg to be modelled...all it takes is interest and a bit of application.

[taxi]

Its that long ago that I don't remember which came first, trains planes or boats but the first build was a Sea Urchin with a Kako electric motor,   then a RAF crash tender with 1.5 Heron diesel then I stuffed a 10cc HP into it, next was a Miss Enfield deep v with an ops 10cc, then a thing called a cougar with the same motor, next was a Billings Cutty Sark which beat me with the rigging.   A long love affair with 7  yes 7   V8 Rover sd1,s  followed  and now its  back to boats.

[Ghost in the shell]

madrob, basically my mother's now deceased fiance in his last few months brought one of those £5.99 maplins hover crafts, and well "if he's having a hovvie im having a boat" read one 79.99 speedboat RTR, closely followed by my first kit a Najade which though it looks good now, was a total heap of crap when i first built it.

now several years later I have a small fleet

[Peter Fitness]

I started with balsa model aircraft in the late 1940s, sixpence at the local newsagent. Just blocks and sheet with line drawings, they had to be carved to shape. I progressed to flying models in the early 50s, all free flight, then moved to plastic models, Airfix and Hasegawa mainly. When our oldest son was born on 1961, I bought him a Triang "Princess" loco - at age 6 months . I still have it :) I had another excursion into free flight when our 3 boys were old enough to be interested, flying in a paddock owned by my uncles. The aircraft used to hit the only tree in the 145 acre paddock with monotonous regularity, so I became quit adept at repairs. I got into model railways fairly seriously during the 70s to 90s, then joined a model flying club in 1989 and learned to fly RC (eventually). We moved to the beach in December 1994, and my flying got progressively less frequent due to the distance to the field. At the end of 2003 I learned of the local model boat club, so decided to join up, and the rest, as they say, is history. I am president of the club now, and a confirmed boat modeller. I still fly occasionally, as a small club has been formed reasonably close, but my reflexes aren't what they used to be, and I find boating far more relaxing.
Peter.

[Welsh_Druid]

Back in the 60's to early 80's I was a fanatic glider pilot, then circumstances having changed, I got into offshore sailing.

Eventually, getting too old for long nights at sea I gave up, and looking for another hobby was enticed into r/c flying. My interest then was building and flying models of the full size sailplanes which I had owned.

Eventually I thought I would like a change from aircraft and decided to build a model boat.

Following the previous trend, I started by building (from scratch) a scale  model of the full size sailing ketch which I had owned.

(I was in touch with the local model boat club through ex model flying friends who suggested that maybe my project was  "rather ambitous for a first boat"   -however all was well and it has even appeared on Mayhem as a "photo of the month".

Since then many more boat models have been produced (even a dabble with Hovercraft)  and the model flying has dropped off almost to nothing - but Heh - I really enjoy the boats, there is a super crowd of like minded people at the lake, and the repairing work is a fraction of that needed for the aircraft.   

Don B 

[bigH]

  Living in a house with a river at the bottom of the garden and playing Pooh bear races with my beloved brother got me hooked

[Circlip]

     
    Daddy bless him,
                 Started me off on a traumatic jouney of highs and lows with aircraft,boats,trains,aircraft,muddle engineering
                 aircraft and back to boats - many frustrations,and funnies.

[wingertaz]

Started in the early 60s with an aerokits seanymph ! after moving to Blackpool and finding out we had an excellent boating lake at Fleetwood. Quickly progressed to a Sea Commander and then a Sea Queen powered by a twin plugged Merco 61 Engine. I now build mainly scale models powered by electric rather than I.C. I am currently a member of the fairhaven model boat club.

Regards Gary.

[Red_Hamish]

Well what can you say , having lived by a very busy port as a young'un the beauty of the various ships calling makes you want to emmulate them in what ever way you can. Too many to mention in the current line up (wife looking over shoulder  ) Particular favourite was my first Graupner 'Fuchs' and still a good little kit for a first attempt. A love of working harbour vessels maintains the build interest. Now to find or set up a club since I've moved to Shetland. Anyone interested  in or who knows of a scale oriented club in the northern isles let me know please.

cheers

Jim