Agree with Martin, nothing wrong with the Carlson, but it's easy to make it a lot better. I think I wrote about mine before, but here it is again. I took the cheap option from Howes Models, a basic boat with motor & prop but nothing else for £25.00. I wanted a fun boat to let friends have a go, so when it arrived, I was a little alarmed about the flimsy hull mouldings. You probably won't want to go this far, but I cut around the deck about 8mm from the edge to gain access to the hull, and then added a couple of layers of thin glass and epoxy, and after this hardened you could probably safely stand on the thing. Then I added a few simple mountings for 6v gelcell, ESC, rudder servo etc. Then came the hardest part, cutting a new deck from 1.5mm ply, which had to be a perfect fit within the bulwarks, added a coaming to fit the existing superstructure, and a few other small touches like a proper M4 shaft so I could use standard props, then off to the lake. It went OK, but way over scale speed, so I replaced the motor with a spare 385, and with the 35mm Graupner prop I was now using, this made it too slow. After another search in the parts box, I found an old Robbe motor of some kind, similar to a 385 but slightly larger diameter, and still too slow, so I changed the prop for a 35mm Robbe one, and now it's just right. That's all there was to it, most of the fittings are the ones that came with it, but I added one or two more bits like the bow fender, and everything else was done with a bit of paint, some masking and a steady hand. Now I have a great little boat which didn't cost much, performs well, and has converted at least two people to the delights of the hobby. The name ? The boat proudly bears the pedigree name of Crufts Champion Ludvic, the father of one of my Cairn terriers, and to me, it seems like a perfect name for a tug.
Pictures to follow.
Posted by Martin... for a small fee.....