Hi all, I feel like I have been here before, was there a recent thread on this boat?
Things I picked up included also in a personal letter from John Lambert when I contacted him about the boat.
The boat was only ever used for training and was stationed at an Island in Scotland.
There is a plan available from Sarik I think MM 101 or certainly very low down. These plans are pre-Model Maker magazine and were published originally by Drysdale Drawings (Drysdale Press) at 15/- (fifteen shillings) in 1950. That was quite a lot of money then!
I don't think the guns were ever either fitted or used.
Thw prototype is a twin screw craft but the scheduled engines from Perkins went down in the Atlantic when the transport ship was sunk. Other less powerful engines were fitted and she was judged as not being fast enough for active service. The plans are for a single screw.
There is a review of the boat in Yachting Monthly in 1944 with lots of detail on rudder control, I have some rather poor photocopies somewhere.
There is a book with all of these plans in called "The Model Boat Book" edited by GH Deason. First printed in 1949 it is worthwhile obtaining a copy as it is a good read and covers several subjects including sail and an early Jetex 50 model hydroplane. Expect to pay £12 or so.
These were the days of "The Model Mechanic" magazine later absorbed into Model Maker magazine which spawned Model Boats magazine. Pictures in the book show the Walton on Thames boat with the number 1258.
She is an elegant boat and looks quite different and has a character of her own, I started the build but only got as far as the frames mounted on the keel. I stopped when I found out she was twin screwed.
Good luck with your find, I would not mind doing up one of those myself.
Roy