Hello All
New to the forum so thought I would say hello.
I am not a big internet fan but forums like this one are a great source of info and help so I thought I would join in the fun.
I am a Marine Engineer by trade and have worked on a huge variety of build and refit projects over the last 30+ years both on commercial/military vessels and recreational craft. I have had to take early retirement due to health issues so I have a lot more time on my hands now to start on that long to do list
I got into scratch building at a very early age as my Granddad was ex navy and built a good few scratch build coastal defence and rescue Tug models in his retirement, sadly none of these has stood the test of time. I have built a couple of Vosper MTB's and a couple of barrel back's mostly from plans I have acquired over the years but again none of these have stood the test of time, the numerous house moves or have been sold on eBay to clear some space. I don't do kits to be honest.
I intend to stick to tugs and support vessels built by local yards like Dunstan's Thorne and Hessle yards, Cochrane's Selby and Goole yards and CD Holmes, along with some of the United towing tugs as my subject material. Whilst is was undergoing treatment for my illness I got hold of some books on the above yards and the plan sort of grew from there, this should keep me busy till I pop my clogs.
I am also going to do some rescaling of drawings along with producing CAD hull profiles, the plan being to make my own GRP hulls as the base of any new models I build and I am going to stick to either 1/24th or 1/48th scale depending on the subject. I am a plan and drawings hoarder so if you have any unwanted Tug or Support Vessel plans from the above yards please give me a shout and I will gladly pay the postage to take them off your hands.
Well that's the intro over and I hope to become an active and helpful forum member in the near future.
Regards to All
Nick