Today I had a go with the paint stripper. The first go was with Nitromoors, which took one layer off. So thats two layers of paint gone now. Next I applied Wilkos's own brand paint stripper, its very cheap and it worked well, it stayed wetter that the Nitromoors, it took away two more layers, one of a red oxide and another of black gloss, to leave behind the first coat of red oxide and bare metal. Whatever paint was used it fought hard, the paint stripper was on for a couple of hours, it softened the paint so it could be removed with a scrapper. The paint certainly did not fall off. Any way as suspected, there have been previous repairs carried out. I believe this model had a steam plant in it once upon a time, there are signs of a water intake for a boiler feed pump, sadly, it only had an electric motor when I picked it up. Now I have washed off the paint stripper and dried the hull, the fabulous plating is revealed, next will be repairing the some holes that have come to light, it was always going to get worse before it gets better. The repairs are a bit more extensive than soldering a leaking seam to a plate, so will think about the best way of achieving a strong long lasting water proof repair to the hull. What has been revealed is the skill of the engineer that constructed this all metal boat, the work on the plating is a joy to behold.