Built this in the late 90s and never really had the skills at the time to make the finish the high quality these boats deserve. After sitting on the shelf for over 25 years I finally dusted it off and stripped it back to bare timber. I nervously applied a thin west system epoxy to it and spent what felt like an eternity sanding it up to 800 grit then polishing it . It’s a beautiful boat now and resembles the boats that were used for joy rides in Sydney harbour . I used cali graphics for the decals and they are awesome . Also added led lights . Enjoy

Brought this vintage Aero Kits RAF Crash Tender for £50 from Newcastle area, it is the 34in version.
To my surprise at home I found that it had a Bullet 30 motor installed these motors were the top drawer motor of early fast electrics in the early 1980's and its the only one I've ever seen, it can run on 24v and pull around 15A giving 300w not bad for a brushed motor.
due to the power of this motor I have modified the hull under the water line with turn fins and trim tabs to reduce torque roll and improve turning stability, the underside is incorrect already as it only has one propshaft, where the original had two and I believe that both props turned in the same direction.

The Pictures here show some of the work in progress I have remounted the motor and added a speed controller rated at 24v
I have remade the stern compartment and rudder gear under it.
I have blocked windows and foamed the front half of the boat.
made missing parts and repaired delaminating ply.

Note old ply is not as good as modern, the glue is not as water resistant.

Have painted the hull and have just ordered the decals from Cornwall model Boats :-https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=hose%20fire&PN=becc_fire_tender%2ehtml#aB_2dFTS1_2e32

The 34in is 1/16 scale

Fitting can be brought but many are cast white metal and can add weight to the boat, I have made two water cannons and plan to buy plastic fittings from this site.

This has turned out to be a task that is difficult to assess how much effort and money to spend on a hull that has been built by someone else (say no more).
Have just finished the steps for the stern compartment.
Painted and now for the test run.
the Bullet 30 motor ran well between 14 and 18v,

Somebody was either disillusioned with model boats or impecunious to the Nth degree because he let me have this BRAND NEW Ripmax Tomkat complete with Motor, ESC, brand new steering servo,action man driver,decals and instructions for a brownie with a bluey postage.
Not my usual type of model but will make a fun change down at our 'postage stamp' lake (?)

Finally managed to get a fellow club member to take some video for me.
This is a hobby King Tunnel hull boat, running a brushless motor and 11.1v 3 cell.
The weather was a bit windy, hence the rough sound, the water too was slightly choppy, any worse and I would of not run the boat, too risky flipping the hull over !

The boat itself was yet another ebay "rescue" item, sold by "cash converters", all I say it was a great pity the previous owner could not afford to keep it, its a fantastic piece of kit, and so, so much fun to handle. he also did a superb job of applying a different set of decals and repainting it, so thmbs up to this guy, hope that some day he finds this site and the video clip.
Your boat is still being appreciated and being run "as it should be - full throttle"

Hi" to all model boat builders. I thought I would add my new project to this fireboat website for all to see ! I bought this from fleabay as a total wreck. She is a rare Scratch built from a plan of a Walton Thames RAF ASRL launch at 36 inch long & 8 inch wide.took me approx 6 months to do the rebuild. Brush painted with 5 assorted colours with decals working lights ect.
Walton Thames is now running on a new Johnston speed 600 electric motor. 50 amp speed controller 45mm pitched propeller.A 6 volt at4.ah which gives good running time & good scale speed. Photos are taken at Eaton park Norwich England. Enjoy. 😊
My next project will be a 1950s Aerokits/Keilcraft Sea hornet. " So watch this space "

Have had this boat in my shed for 2yrs,so I decided now to start doing it up. The boat was given to me by my friend who had it in his garage for 20 yrs, and it was given to him by his boss as it was sitting in his garage for along time.So I am not sure how old it is I think it is a Yeoman 34" model, because it has all metal cast fittings, as shown in the photo with rest of fitting which were on the boat. The hull paint work and decals are the original one that came with the boat, the motor which came fitted to the prop is a Johnson made in Hong Kong.So if some can tell me the approx, year that would be helpful. Could some one tell me where I can get the fire hoses for the stern well please.

HI Fellow Enthusiasts
Photo shows my RAF crash tender in the colours as it was when first built in 1956/57 from a kit. (Red tops like all fire engines, well I was only 9 at the time.) This photo was taken at lakeside in 1993 when I first joined the Cwmbran Modelling Society. The Second photo shows the boat on display at the Portis Head Open Day event in 2000 several modifications taking place to the overall look of the boat. in 2008/9 I decided for it's belated 50th. birthday to revamp the model and bring it closer to the real thing. Damage to the woodwork being repaired and a colour scheme close to that of the real boat being applied. Several new deck fittings being made along with new window surrounds made out of plastic replacing the cardboard ones fitted in 2000. New decals and correct flag also fitted. The model was entered in the 2010 society Chairmans Comp. winning joint first place with one of my other models. Photo 4 shows my model as she is to-day repaired once again ready to sail, after hitting some Ice over the christmas period 2010 resulting in a hole in the bow that almost caused her to sink.
The model over the 54 years it's been around has been fitted with single and twin electric drives and to day it has a single johnson 550 brushed electric drive via a 2.5/1 gear box run off two 7.2 volt racing packs in series. The torque generated being too great for standard plastic props resulting in me using 40mm three blade brass props. The motor controller is an electolize 15 amp unit and I also use one of their switch units to activate the water pump for the scratch built water cannons. The water pump being salvaged from a 1960's car washer system and still goes to-day.
Hope you enjoy the pic,s as much as Ive enjoyed this model over the last 50 years plus.
Regards
GreyWolf

further pics of build and painting made seat and wheel installed dials from beccs decals