Although the hatch opens, the wheelhouse roof cannot be removed, so decided to add more light to show the details inside. Put 6 concealed bulbs in the ceiling, as well as a spotlight and masthead light. These bulbs were advertised as white but there's a very slight blue caste, which goes away if you up the voltage slightly over the rated 3v. Of course they then get very hot and the only way to replace an LED is to cut the roof off! The bulbs are tiny - 1.4 millimeters!

The anchor chain that Graham sent to me arrived yesterday. He wouldn’t accept money for the item or the international postage to the US. I post on 4 Facebook pages and Instagram, so, without using your name Graham, plenty of modelers now know about your random act of kindness! The chain is naturally quite delicate and I imagined it would end up broken if left to flop around on deck, so I replicated the cabin top and deck with scrap wood and ran CA glue down the chain to make it rigid, moving it to the model when dry. Thank you Graham, both for the chain and the kind gesture which left a good feeling in these strange times!

The metal mast is rigged. The forward cleats are split pins with epoxy sanded to shape. The aft cleats are rectangular brass with a brass pin. After cleaning windows etc., permanently glued the wheelhouse roof on, sealing this area.

For some reason I missed posting the concerned doctor, done a while ago. He was made the same way as the previous figures. Not sure how he would be dressed, but put him in a white coat so it was a little more obvious who he was.

I want to add a figure on deck, operating the forward fire hose. I purposely pointed this hose high in the air, so the figure can be kneeling, giving a larger area to attach and less chance of breakage by a grandson! He could either have one knee on the ground like the guy to the left, or both like the guy on the right. Suggestions?

Where I really need HELP is how he would be dressed. I was thinking some kind of oilskin, but I'm not sure if it should be yellow. The picture isn't much help as I believe, as someone else said, that this was a builder's demonstration run picture. Maybe even Vosper employees! Suggestions very welcome!

I'm going to put this on hold for a bit, as I put the floats in last week and we are getting ready to play with real boats! We have to make the most of the boating season in Maine. My daughter sends me pictures of tree blossoms and beautiful flowers in London but here the daffodils are just starting (2" little green shoots!).
Ed

Brought the Wesmac and this winter's RAF Crash Tender to my local model club meet. First time for the Tender and I was happy with her performance, but not with my photography. Will bring a tripod next time! When you run models at far greater scale speeds than the original, instability is always a risk, but she was very steady even in tight turns. With the finished interior, figures and added details, she is quite a bit heavier than intended, which might well have helped. She was at full throttle once in the video, towards the beginning, just after passing the other boat. I particularly liked the way she flattened out at speed. The massive Wesmac seemed to dwarf the tender but at 34.5", she's not that small! An enjoyable day with like minded souls and their beautifully made models. Hope the video loads ok! Ed