I have admired this design for many years, along with a lot of Vic Smeed's drawings.
This model is enlarged by 1.7 giving a length of 36'' and a scale of 1:16. The finished boat weighs about 15 1/2lbs and is powered by an MFA 919D 540 with 2.5:1 reduction, using an Mtroniks ESC and Planet 2.4ghz radio.
The hull was planked in obeche on 6mm ply keel and frames with mahogany blocks at bow and stern. The photos were taken on her maiden voyage at Crealy in Exeter.

Here is my 34 in Fireboat that I built some 30 years ago and recently rescued from my loft and updated with an MFA850 with Mtroniks 40A ESC driving through the original shaft to a Graupner 55mm prop. Seen on Nov 25 just after we cleared the first Ice of 2010 from our club sailing water !

Original 1960s boat aquired this summer from the family a deceased former club member in scruffy, non running but basically sound condition. Was petrol powered at some stage and still had original vintage mechanical speed controller from a later electric power set up. Restored with two (secondhand) MFA850 motors in tandem driving a new single 20 in M5 shaft. . Using a 50 Amp Tornado speed control and plastic X55 Graupner prop.

Sprayed (Volvo) Flash Green Metallic with orginal decks stripped back and restained (using tea bags!) and relaquered

Planing gently on our club sailing water at Knightcote, Warwickshire on 25 October

Mrs Froggyt996's Solent Class Lifeboat which is running on 2 x MFA 800 motors. it has 4 x 12v 7amp gel batteries and a P92 combined mixer and speedcontrollers from Action.

Lesro Sportsman kit, wood sports fishing boat 33'' in length, weight about 8lb. MFA 850 on 12v (10 NiMHcells 3.5ah) MTroniks 40amp esc, X50 prop. Built by Ian Gardner.
March 2010. I am now using 12 cells and a Graupner speed controller. I added watercooling too and the boat goes noticeably faster- but melted a fuse holder on first outing so I need to upgrade some of the wiring. There was also a bit of prop aerating on turns so might reduce the prop size.
The last photo is with increased voltage.

Lesro Sportsman kit built from new with MFA Torpedo 850 and 12v NiMH battery sailing at Goodrington.

This boat was scratch built from Harold Underhill plans, available still from Brown,Son and Ferguson. The hull was mahogany on 6mm ply frames. The engine was a Caton from Maxwell Hemmens supplied bya gas-fired Cheddar Puffin boiler. The propeller was a two inch four bladed brass job from Rivabo I think. The displacement of the boat is 25lb- a bit of a lump to carry to the water but it does work well once in the water. She has now been converted to electric using a MFA geared 540 type motor witha 7.5ah lead acid gel cell. Looking again at this video I begin to wish I had left it as steam but there is something to be said for 'switch on and go'.
I started building the boat in the mid nineties and it has now had a repaint- it always been a favourite. This video was taken in the early noughties at Crealy in Exeter.

Here is a video of our boat (Vigilant star) sailing at New Brighton boat lake on the wirral every Wednesday.

The boat is a semiscale (Coast Guard Cutter), designed by Hal-Harrison in Marine Modelling. I have doubled its size and put two 540/1 Mfa motors in, driving quanta 45mm props. She is 36" length 8" Bow, runs of one 12 volt 7Ah SLA battery.

It is made from Balsa/Fibreglass resin. Runs well no leaks to date. Gerry.

This is a video of my re-make of the Aerokits Sea Queen. Build commenced in the autumn of 2006 and it was to be a winter build project for when the weather was too bad to fly R/C elec planes. The boat was finished mid 2007 and was launched in May.

My closest water to sail on is Lake St Clair, but one slip up and the boat's next stop would be Canada. its seen here sailing in the confines on an ornamental pond in Wahby Park, St Clair Shores, Mi, USA. The music has been added to cover up the sound of fountain just out of picture to the right.

The supplied motor has been replaced with an MFA Torpedo 850 which has substantially more power and 3x the RPM.

A week before the video was taken I lost the prop and its seen here running on a temporary prop while I awaited a replacement. The performance on the video is a little more sedate than normal.

More info & pics in the photo gallery

this boat has twin shafts two 777 motors twin mfa
esc twin rudders and two 7.2v buggy packs yet to
be tryed on lake as it is drained for cleaning

This model is a British "Hunt" Class destroyer.

It is a Sirmar limited edition (100) semI kit at 1/48 scale and some 6 feet in length. When he bought the model it was already constructed, but as a static model. So out came the jigsaw, Manual NOT powered.

The deck around the aft gun turret was cut to allow a good inspection of the inside of the hull. He tried to remove the bridge superstructure but this would have meant destroying it to remove. Out came the jigsaw again and cut an access hatch in the main deck.

The steering servo was fitted and attached ( by keyhole surgery ) and 2 x MFA 800 motors were fitted. Scale Prop Shop Props were fitted and the radio gear just jury rigged for her first trial. She was roughly ballasted with 2 x 12volt 7Ah batteries and she was ready for her first trials.

She sailed well with no water ingress to the hull, so the radio gear was installed properly with individual speed controllers to each motor. The results are as seen here.

This is the Hugh William Viscount Gough. She is a solent class lifeboat. She went into service in 1963 as the Stornoway lifeboat. She was there for around twenty years.

She then went on to Barra and ended her service at Dunbar. She was sold in 1993 and is now out in Malaysia.

I have scratch built her from the hull up. She has a fibre glass hull and the super structure is made from plasticard. She took four weeks to build. I have some bits and bobs to do to her.

She runs on two MFA 850 torprdos, but I am going to down size to 800's.

We sail her at Mote park Maidstone most Sundays and also at shows.

She is 48" long with a scale of 1:12