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[scalespeedonly]

New to this wonderful forum, not new to scale RC ship modeling, been building for more than a quarter century. You folks are great, wish we had a community like this in the states with a passion for scale ships and such. I have just purchased a Italeri Schenellboot, it's the first RC model I've made from a plastic kit, I'm used to fiberglass hulls, wood superstructure, brass stanchions and other metal bits. I've found this forum to be a wealth of knowledge to help with powering this boat and many other tidbits of information. You folks are great, keep up the

camaraderie!

[Stavros]

Welcome to the Madhouse so to speak may your voyage be long and fulfilling..........Oh by the way it's YOUR round
 
 
Dave

[PW569]

Welcome here Speedy!

I am kind of new here myself, but must say, this forum has some magic!

Looking forward to your input from the new world!

Cheers!

[merseyferry]

hi and welcome speedy  its a nice place with nice people   

[Mad_Mike]

now then
A mate of mine i email in who lives in the US told me that the scale side of model boats isnt that popular in the states, more the faster stuff. I have noticed that fast electric is very popular. He says its also quite hard to get hold of scale fittings and propellers. Do you find that?

[scalespeedonly]

Scale ship builders are few and far between, although there is a club near New York city, I've never gone to any of their regattas tho.  Scale fittings and kits can easily be bought online, the best dealer for me is Harbor models in California, great for Tug fittings, running gear, motors and other bits. Because of the economy, just like in Europe, these places have been disappearing, it's not worth keeping the doors open. I don't think the U.S. has the same shipping history like Europe does, somehow a boy from the midwest (middle America) just loved working boats, I really think it was another life or something, I can't really explain. Now model Trains in the U.S., that's another story, the railroad tradition is huge, it runs very deep in our blood, although I know they're pretty popular in the UK too.


Neil

[Neil]

Hi Neil, and welcome...............I am a member of the american R/C site, and there seem to be a decent number on that forum that are good scale builters, but they tend to build the smaller work boats and run abouts, but have to say there is a healthy interest from your side of the pond in our kit manufacturers over here, and an increasingly bigger demand for those kits to go westward.
good to see and hear..........
 
But a model is a model......there are no bad models, and the more we see and the more that are built, the better in my mind.
 
enjoy your stay here and lets see some of your builds............that's what it's all about.
 
from another Neil, best wishes.

[Mad_Mike]

Scale ship builders are few and far between, although there is a club near New York city, I've never gone to any of their regattas tho.  Scale fittings and kits can easily be bought online, the best dealer for me is Harbor models in California, great for Tug fittings, running gear, motors and other bits. Because of the economy, just like in Europe, these places have been disappearing, it's not worth keeping the doors open. I don't think the U.S. has the same shipping history like Europe does, somehow a boy from the midwest (middle America) just loved working boats, I really think it was another life or something, I can't really explain. Now model Trains in the U.S., that's another story, the railroad tradition is huge, it runs very deep in our blood, although I know they're pretty popular in the UK too.


Neil

In my town trains are very popular, there a quite a few clubs. There a no boat clubs at all, the. I only know of howard from my town that also builds boats apart from me and he doesnt even sail here. I think the models that people build depend on the heritage of the town or area.

[PW569]

Hmm?

Dear Neil,

The U.S. has a great maritime history!

Never mind George, who needed a boat to cross the Delaware:



...imagine the US without shipping? No shipping, no need for trains! No Vikings, no Columbus, no Mary Rose (no Pilgrims), no slaves, true it is, no Tea Party, think about the Civil War and Ironclads or "U-boats" leading the way into modern naval warfare, a Gold Rush without shipping to get the guys north? Mississippi paddlers? Who mastered the Air Craft Carriers? Pacific War, Island hopping, Normandy landings, "invenitng" the section pre-fab shipbuilding by Kaiser producing Liberty ships faster then we could send them down, which later brought the Greeks all their shipping wealth, "inventing" the Container with the first container ship of the world being a converted WWII T-2 Tanker, the first FULL Container ship being a converted C-2 WWII Troop Transport, fine Yachts (Americas Cup), no global Security without a strong and ever present Navy, no exports of agri prods or imports of consumer goods, you name it!

MAN, without shipping the U.S. of A. would not even exist and no trains running west in the first place!

Do not underestimate the early U.S. contribution to the maritime industry and heritage!

People should know about this, and your hobby can educate them!

I do get carried away though!

Before being shot down by the Brits, I agree, the U.S. appeared late on scene!

Cheers!

[tony52]

Neil,
You mentioned US Railroads, I am watching these two projects from the US with interest,
1) The return of a Union Pacific Big Boy to steam by 2019 -- http://trn.trains.com/en/Railroad%20News/News%20Wire/2012/12/Union%20Pacific%20looking%20to%20restore%20Big%20Boy%20for%20excursion%20service.aspx
2) A Biomass steam locomotive to challenge the speed record for a steam locomotive, breaking the current record by set by Mallard -- http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/cities/new-biomass-powered-train-to-travel-at-130-mph/3286
Tony

[PW569]

sigh!

[scalespeedonly]

Yes, you are right, and I totally agree about the shipping industry, the American Navy and all that they a contributed to nautical advancement, but it didn't start here. I admire your passion!  Yes there is a Model RC boat forum here in the US, I'm part of that too. It's a very nice community like yours, but in the US it's much more spread out, so it's harder to have a club of like-minded folk ( I'm into Scale, not fast electric speed boats – not that there's anything wrong with that). I just think it's a closer community in the UK, less landmass to get in the way and an older nautical history to drive the passion IMO only.

[Mad_Mike]

I think in the UK because its a smaller country you are never too far away from a town which has either a fishing or shipping industry. And like i was saying the modelling usually reflects the heritage of the town and its community, if not then theres a canal network nearby. I suppose being in the middle of the US you wont have a fishing community becuase you not near the sea. It would be rail.
I noticed pw569 that your location is germany, is scale modelling popular there? I know there is a fast community, you guys dont hold back when it comes to spending money on your builds. 

[PW569]

Well, I guess it is as popular here as anywhere...hard to tell really, however, we do have quite a few kit manufacturers here and indeed several household name model train companies, if that is a kind of indicator.

And yes, some, not all, do go extreme on model building...although money does not buy you skills!

Was it not the case that there is no place on the British Isles that is further away from the coat line than 80 miles????

It is also interesting how many words in the English language and slang have their origin in a maritime context, and you would not know using them every day...

Cheers!