Two new additions appeared at The Pavilion Gardens lakeside recently - belonging to BMBC members.
The models were - "Bonnie Lass", and " Milford Star " from Caldercraft.

The Buxton Model Boat Club sail at the Pavilion Gardens lake on Sunday and Thursday mornings - comments being - "an entertaining spectacle for all the family" and - "a Valuable asset and attraction to the town" .

Westbourne is a Port of London Authority steam Tug from the Caldercraft Mini-Fleet Range - it is 1:48 scale. This model was discontinued a few years ago but I did manage to purchase a brand new boxed one via ebay a couple of years ago.

During her time Westbourne was hired by the Royal Navy as a rescue tug. She saw service with them between October 1916 and July 1919 in the HM Dockyard. Prior to that she was on general towing service duties on the Thames.
She can be found mentioned in “SHIPS OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1914-1919 - by TYPE & CLASS
Section 3. SUPPORT and HARBOUR VESSELS”

Following the first world war ‘Westbourne’ was one of three tugs attached to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Dredging Service, they were the "Westbourne", "Thorney" and "Brent", they were all fitted with a drag and under running gear.In 1940 during the Battle of Britain. ‘Westbourne’ and many other tugs were used in assisting the berthing of these large ships that entered the Thames.
The photos show from box to construction plus her on the water.

I built this one from a Caldercraft kit and powered it with a twin screw steam engine
Model has steam horn sound together with bilge pump and fully equipped lighting system
Have extensively weathered the model to create realism to imitate what it probably looked like after many years steaming and working round the world in the 1930's
A smoke generator has also been fitted which together with the twin screw steam engine gives a realistic look when on the water

I have just completed my Puffer and am quite pleased with the outcome. The components are quite good but do need a bit of fettling but this is what our hobby is about. This is my third Caldercraft build so I am used to their quality and sparse instructions.   As usual for Caldercraft you need to have your thinking cap on as the A0 plan and the 'instruction book' do not match up but of course they do expect you to have a little bit of experience in model building. it has taken me about 6 months to build working on and off over this time. it has a large hull which is easy to house the motor, ESC, RC and batteries, etc. (I installed 2 lead acid 6 volt batteries, one on each side amidships) which gives stability and ballast. Being a large deep hull it needs a lot of ballast, even in its short length.I have only tested her in the big white nautical test facility at home so do not know how it will perform on our lake but hope to try it out on Sunday if the weather is set fair. Tried her out Wednesday and she sailed really well - maybe a little more ballast in the bow but not too concerned.

scratchbuilt from ply and balsa wood powered by two Caldercraft 750 motors to 40mm props only took about three months to build as a winter project its not perfect but was never meant to be more than a toy, 54 inches long and gives a good response in speed and handling

KaSaBon, Caldercraft Riverman, 30 inches long. Has been left on shelf since I acquired it awaiting some TLC. Not done too much to it as. Thinking of modifying the wheel house and putting in steam funnel etc

SS Talacre - Single Hatch Coaster 1:48 Scale Just recently bought second hand and about to renovate to my own standard!
Caldercraft SS Talacre
The SS Talacre is a typical single hatch coaster used in the coal trade of a type that was found by the hundreds around the coast of the U.K. in the golden era of steam. Designed for Point of Ayr Collieries by Crichton, Thompson & Co Ltd., of London she was built by Crabtree &Co., of Great Yarmouth in 1917. Talacre was named after a small village near the colliery. Talacre was finally scraped in 1959 by the Hammond Lane Foundry in Dublin. Realism leaps out of the completed model, as if a turn of a valve will start the anchor windlass or the cargo winch clattering away and the lagged steam pipes to begin steaming and drying out.
Scale: 1:48
Length: 863mm
Beam 152mm

HI This is a Celia, I think, it was a caldercraft kit but am not sure. it is running on a 545 motor at either 6volt or 7.2volt with a 35mm 3blade brass prop. its performance is about right for the scale and type of boat. it sails at the Lake used by the Cwmbran Club. I bought it last year at the Shepton Mallet Show.

This is my tug Alte Liebe. it is a Caldercraft kit and is almost 1 metre in length. I have installed an MFA 540 motor with a 2.5:1 reduction gear and operate her on 6 volt SLA's. With ballast she is fairly heavy coming in at about 15 kg.

I have just added a photo of my tug breaking the Ice on our lake a couple of weeks ago.(December 2012)

HI Fellow Modellers,
Another model from the RADMC fleet at the fleetshaven workshop and boat yard in Ponthir.This model was built from a Caldercraft Kit, This model came into my possession for the price of 20p, a raffle prize at Bryn Bach Model Clubs OPen Day 2010, when it was built is unknown. The item being made for display use and not finished off, no internal electronic fixtures. Did have a prop shaft and prop that had not been fitted correctly. 50% of all the fixtures had to be removed and refitted before they fell off, some didn't stay in place from the show back home. The model was finised off using a photo of the Milford star on the internet. The fish boxes and figures being obtained off DON one of the Society members who had a mould to make them in white metal, only required cleaning up and finishing off. A graupner 6 volt steam unit is fitted in the funnel and to make the boat a little more realistic on the water,a maplin steam sound system has been used to generate the sound of the engine. A simple mod allows the revs to be linked to the engine voltage. The drive motor is a 550 with the lowest revs I had in MJB's this was married up to a 2.5/1 gearbox I also had in stock. The main motor and steam unit are supplied from a 7.2 volt nicad racing pack. This model has had meny fishing trips on Cwmbran Boating Lake and at shows the Society visit. Hope you enjoy the pictures, Regards GreyWolf.