IMAI CHEBEC (Xebec) – 1/80 Scale Plastic Sailing Ship Model
Rare Vintage Japanese Kit – Long Out of Production

This model was built from the highly regarded IMAI No. B-296 CHEBEC kit in 1/80 scale. Produced in Japan many years ago and now long out of production, this kit is considered one of IMAI's finest offerings and has become a rare collector's item.

IMAI was famous for the exceptional quality of its molds and engineering. Although this is a plastic kit, the parts were molded with such precision and detail that they convincingly reproduce the appearance of a finely crafted wooden ship model.

The Chebec (or Xebec) was a fast and elegant Mediterranean vessel used extensively by Barbary corsairs during the 17th and 18th centuries. Its sleek hull, pronounced overhangs, and distinctive lateen rig make it one of the most beautiful and exotic sailing ships ever designed.

This model is fully rigged and armed with:
• 20 deck-mounted cannons
• 20 swivel guns
• Detailed anchors, yards, spars, and standing and running rigging

One of the most striking features of the kit is the elaborate decorative carving along the port and starboard bulwarks and across the stern. To highlight these intricate ornaments, I carefully hand-painted every detail using my finest brushes.

The flags were custom made from the lead foil wrappers found around wine bottle corks. After flattening the material, I hand-painted the Algerian corsair designs and shaped them to appear as if they were fluttering in the wind, adding a dramatic and highly realistic touch to the finished model.

Additional features include:
• Ship's boat mounted amidships
• Ornamental stern gallery with gilded relief work
• Open deck grating and finely detailed deck furniture
• Hand-painted decorative motifs throughout

Even after many years, this remains one of my favorite builds. The combination of IMAI's superb engineering and the unique character of the historic Chebec resulted in a model that captures the grace, power, and mystery of the legendary Mediterranean corsair vessels.

If Professor Pat can do it...so can I...lol.. The history of boating spans millennia, evolving from dugout canoes and rafts in prehistory to sophisticated vessels powered by steam and advanced engines. Early boats, appearing around 10,000 years ago, were used for fishing and coastal travel, with Egyptians developing reed and wooden boats for transport and trade by 4000 BCE. Over centuries, innovations like the Viking longboat, the Chinese junk with its rudder, and the Dutch yacht transformed seafaring, eventually leading to the Age of Exploration and the flourishing of yachting as a recreational pursuit in the 17th century. Modern boating integrates electronic systems, computer-aided design, and emerging eco-friendly propulsion, reflecting its continuous adaptation.

DUTCH POWER" | Shallow Draft Anchor Handling Tug / Utility Vessel
Classification / Flag: Machinery / Performances: Flag / homeport Dutch, Zierikzee Bollard pull 45,1 tons Year of built 2009 Max speed 12,5 knots Classification Bureau Veritas Main engines 2 x Mitsubishi S16R-MPTA I ✠ HULL ✠ MACH Tug Total output 2.340 kW = 3.182 BHP Unrestr. Navigation AUT-UMS Propulsion Twin fixed propellers in nozzles Class valid up to 2024 Diameter propellers 2,10 meter, Van Voorden Call sign PBTZ Bow thruster 340 kW IMO number 9547879 Generator sets 2x Mitsubishi 6D 16 T MMSI number 246607000 Generator power 2x 120 kVa Hydraulic powerpack 1x Mitsubishi S6A3 MPTK 600HP Dimensions: Length O.A. 31,10 meters Deck Equipment (running on biodegradable lubricant oil): Beam / width 9,50 meters Winch Maaskant Waterfall Winch Depth at sides 3,10 meters Towing drum Pull Force 45T, Holding F. 90T Draft (min. – max.) 2,60 – 3,10 meters 700 meters x 42 millimeters Air draft (min. – max.) 9,50 – 16,0 meters Anchor handling drum Pull Force 60T, Holding F. 120T Gross tonnage 257 GT 400 meters x 42 millimeters Net tonnage 77 NT Working wire 1x 400 meters, 42 millimeters Deck cargo cap. 3x 1 TEU Tuggerwinch 2x 8 tons on aft. deck Clear deck area 108 m2 Towing pins, wire catcher Delta pins Wire catcher Cargo deck load 15 tons per m2 Push bow Rubber Fender 900 mm Stern roller 4.840 mm x dia 700 mm Tank capacities / Transfer: Moonpool Dimensions 700 mm x 700 mm Fuel oil / gasoil 112.000 liters Incl. David crane for lifting Fresh water 31.000 liters Situated portside midships Lube oil / Dirty oil / Sewage 2.650 / 2.650 / 12.720 liters Main marine deck crane HEILA HLRM 200-4SL Fresh water generator 3,5 m3/day Maximum lift capacity 9,0 tons at 16,31 meters Transfer of fuel oil 35 m3/hr Transfer of fresh water 35 m3/hr Navigation & Radio: 2x Radar, Echo sounder, V-Sat, AIS, GPS, Autopilot, 2x Compass, Navtex, SART, EPIRB, 2x VHF, SSB, CCTV, 2x Inmarsat-CF & GMDSS Sea Area: A1, A2, A3. Accommodation: Facilities Airconditioned, 8 bunks (5 crew) Passenger transfer 15 P.O.B. (incl. crew max. 24hrs)

HMS Sir Lancelot (T 228)
MS Trawler of the Round Table class
Navy The Royal Navy

Type MS Trawler

Class Round Table

Pennant T 228
Built by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd. (Aberdeen, Scotland)
Ordered 21 Jan 1941
Laid down 17 Jul 1941
Launched 4 Dec 1941
Commissioned 26 Mar 1942
End service
History Became a danlayer in 1944.
Sold in April 1946.

Commands listed for HMS Sir Lancelot (T 228)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
Commander From To
1 T/Lt. T J Paull, RNR
7 Mar 1942 29 Dec 1942
2 T/Lt. William Fraser Smith, RNR
29 Dec 1942 early 1943
3 T/Lt. Colin Richards Forsyth, RNVR
early 1943 12 Aug 1943
4 T/Lt. Richard Norville Watson Smith, RNVR
12 Aug 1943

RV Sir Lancelot (LT263) was a fisheries research vessel that was operated by the Directorate of Fisheries, now known as the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).
It was based at the port of Lowestoft and was originally ordered by the Admiralty as one of eight Round Table-class trawlers during World War II
HMS Sir Lancelot (T228) took part in Operation Neptune, the D-Day landings in June 1944, attached to the 14th Minesweeping flotilla in Force U. She was primarily responsible for marking swept passages to Utah Beach.[1]
After the war and conversion to a civilian trawler Sir Lancelot came into service as a research vessel in December 1946. In 1962, she was sold to Mrs Karin Meta Alexa Husseini, Hamburg and renamed 'Hair-Ed-Din Barbarossa'.
Construction and wartime history
The ship was constructed by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd of Aberdeen, Scotland. The order was placed by the Admirably on 20 January 1941 and was allocated the yard number 160 by Lewis'. The keel was laid down on 17 July 1941 with the ship launched on 4 December 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 26 March 1942.[citation needed]
In June 1944 HMS Sir Lancelot (T228) was converted to a danlayer ahead of the D-Day landings. She was attached to the 14th Minesweeping flotilla in Force U and was one of the first Allied vessels to approach the French coast. In respect of each of the five beach Assault Forces (designated U, O, G, J and S), two channels would be cleared through the mine barrier for the first wave of amphibious infantry. HMS Sir Lancelot was responsible for marking swept Channel 2 ahead of force 'U' on Utah Beach.[1]
On 5 February 1945, HMS Sir Lancelot (T228) picked up survivors from the American merchant ship SS Henry B. Plant, that was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-245, about 17 nmi (31 km; 20 mi) east of Ramsgate in position 51°19′N 01°42′E.
Service as a fisheries research vessel
RV Sir Lancelot was the primary fisheries survey vessel used by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) throughout the period 1947 to 1960. She was used extensively to assess the status of fish stocks in the North Sea, Irish Sea and English Channel as part of the UK contribution to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)[2]
In 1950, RV Sir Lancelot was used together with 'frogmen' to take photographs and Ciné film of trawl gears in action off Cornwall. In 1951, she was re-deployed off Malta as there was a need for good underwater visibility. The film obtained showed the meshes of the net to be wide open whilst it was being towed and so helped in the acceptance of mesh regulation by fishermen everywhere.[3]
Datasets collected aboard the RV Sir Lancelot were instrumental in the ground-breaking book On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations written by Ray Beverton and Sidney Holt in 1957.[4]

The History
The Düsseldorf fire-fighting boat was developed and built by the Rheinwerft company of Mainz-Mombach, and it is operated in the Ruhr industrial region of Germany. The vessel is designed specifically to cope with disaster situations, such as a ship on fire, a major oil leak or a harbor system in danger of explosion, and its fire monitors, operating at a pressure of 10.5 bar, can hurl water or foam 145 feet high and a distance of up to 310 feet. The two V-12 engines produce a total of 930 kW (1260 BHP), giving the boat a maximum speed of around 23 mph.

The Model
The Romarin kit of the Düsseldorf fire-fighting boat is large and capacious enough to accommodate all the equipment required to emulate the wide-ranging facilities of the full-size vessel. Optional working systems include the fire monitors, crane, anchor winch, radar, searchlights, blue light, horn and siren, and also the sound of the diesel engines. The plastic hull is moulded in thick-walled material, and it offers plenty of space for the numerous mechanical and electronic parts required for the auxiliary working systems. The model is propelled by two proven MAX Gear power systems, giving it an impressive turn of speed. Four large rudders guarantee extreme maneuvering capability both forwards and astern. The fire monitors can be swiveled horizontally and vertically from the transmitter, and with the recommended electric geared pump they can fire a jet of water a distance of 20 feet. If a working boat crane is fitted, the vacuum-moulded rowing board can be raised, swung outboard and lowered to the water in true scale style.

The TD SR12 receiver is equipped with a triple antenna (2×2.4G & 1×900M) design that provides multi-directional wide coverage for the remote signal and is designed for RC users who want to benefit from resilience and long-range in their radio communications.
TD SR12 also provides a socket that can be used to connect the NFC Switch panel to enable the built-in Power Switch function. Dual-power provides a safe and efficient way to power the system with your power sources connected via a pair of standard XT30 connections. The dual-power consumption system is designed to operate in balance mode, where it consumes the power line from either power source depending on which has the higher voltage. With a built-in black box module, the data (Power & Signal related) under unusual status during the flight can be recorded by TD receivers.
The configurable 12-channel ports are a big feature of TD SR12, each channel port can be assigned as PWM, SBUS, FBUS, or S.Port. With the FBUS protocol, the Tandem series receivers can open up the possibility of seamlessly pairing with multiple telemetry devices (Neuron ESC, Advance Sensors, etc.) as well as simplifying the builds setup.

HMS Exploit is an Archer-class (or P2000) patrol vessel of the British Royal Navy, built in Woolston by Vosper Thornycroft and commissioned in 1988.[1][2] She is assigned to the Royal Navy Coastal Forces Squadron, carrying out a range of activities both in the U.K. and overseas.
The ship's company consists of a permanent staff of the commanding officer, two senior rates and two junior rates, but can take up to twelve students with training officers usually embarked when conducting navigational training. Whilst at sea, students are able to put into practice navigation and seamanship skills they have learnt in the classroom during weekly training nights. These include chart planning, acting as Officer of the Watch, using the ship's radar and carrying out seamanship evolutions from anchoring to securing alongside. Instruction is given in engineering, firefighting, damage control and ship handling. The ship is based in HMNB Portsmouth.
Operational history

Royal Naval Auxiliary Service
XSV Exploit was originally ordered for the now defunct Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) and had a distinctive black hull like other RNXS vessels.
On 19 March 1994, a serious machinery space fire occurred on Exploit approximately 30 miles off Lundy island as she was being transferred to Portsmouth from Greenock as part of the managed run down of the service by RNXS crew. The Padstow lifeboat and the RAF SAR Helicopter from Chivenor, were scrambled, and a tanker on route to Milford Haven was diverted to help, but were not needed. The fire was later attributed to a major mechanical failure of the starboard main engine, resulting in a large hole in the sump casing. The fire spread quickly to the air ducts, igniting various rubber coolant pipes causing thick acrid smoke.[3]
Royal Navy
In June 2017, Exploit, in company with HM Ships Smiter, Ranger and Archer, deployed to the Baltic to take part in the NATO BALTOPS exercise, the first time that Royal Navy P2000s have been involved in such an exercise.[4]
In the early 2020s, Exploit, along with other Archer-class vessels, was given a more operational role as part of the reconstituted Coastal Forces Squadron. In early 2024, Exploit and three of her sister ships deployed to northern Norway as part of the NATO exercise "Steadfast Defender".[5]

USS Crockett (PGM-88/PG-88) was a Asheville-class gunboat in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.
Crockett was laid down by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington, and commissioned 24 June 1967.
Homeported in San Diego, Crockett served off the coast of Vietnam as part of Operation Market Time.
Crockett transferred to the Naval Reserve Force on 1 July 1975 and was decommissioned on 1 October 1976.[1] On 15 December 1976, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, and on 1 April 1977, ownership was transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency.[2]
R/V Rachel Carson
Once transferred to the EPA, the vessel was renamed for American environmentalist Rachel Carson. At the time, it was the largest limnological vessel on the Great Lakes, and her initial use was monitoring and analyzing pollution in Lake Erie.[3]
The Rachel Carson was declared excess to EPA needs in 1982 and was transferred to the state of Illinois, and thence to the Combined Great Lakes Navy Association.[4] In 1985 it was proposed that she be moved to Muskegon, Michigan along with USS Silversides as an exhibit in the naval museum there.[5]
She was scrapped at around 1986.[6]

Introduction
The Island-class patrol vessel was first designed and built for the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency. As a result of the Royal Navy's experiences in the so-called Cod War with Iceland, and the success of FPV Jura (loaned to the Navy as HMS Jura) in fishery protection patrols, the Navy built a further seven. These ships were designed and built by Hall Russell of Aberdeen.

FPV Jura and FPV Westra were built by Hall, Russell & Company of Aberdeen in 1973 and 1975 respectively. Jura was loaned to the Royal Navy between 1975 and 1977 for evaluation

Island Class
The success of Jura encouraged the Royal Navy to build a further seven ships to the same design; these ships formed the bulk of the Fishery Protection Squadron, whose mission was to patrol the Atlantic fishing grounds, and ensure the security of the British oil and gas fields in the North Sea. However, since the mid-1990s, the class has been gradually decommissioned; Jersey was sold to the Bangladesh Navy in 1994, to be followed by Shetland, Alderney, Anglesey, Guernsey and Lindisfarne, with Orkney going to Trinidad and Tobago. The Island class was replaced in the Fishery Protection Squadron by the three ships of the River class.

Disposal
Presently, five Island-class patrol vessels are in active service with the Bangladesh Navy. They are Karatoa (ex-Alderney), Kapatakhaya (ex-Shetland), Turag (ex-Lindisfarne), Gomati (ex-Anglesey) and Sangu (ex-Guernsey). Another ex-Royal Navy Island-class vessel, Jersey, is used as the training ship, Ruhul Amin. The final ship of the class, ex-Royal Navy vessel Orkney is in service with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and named TTS Nelson.

The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency Westra was sold to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2006 and is currently named MY Steve Irwin. Jura was sold in 1988 and renamed Criscilla, and then N'Madi. She was broken up in Portugal in November 2001.

Ships In Class
1. HMS Jersey (P295) Commissioned 15th October 1976. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh in 1993, renamed BNS Shaheed Rahul Amin.
2. HMS Orkney (P299) Commissioned February 1977. Fate: Sold to Trinidad and Tobago October 2000, renamed TTS Nelson
3. HMS Shetland (P298) Commissioned 14th July 1977. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh Navy in 2002, renamed BNS Kapatakhaya
4. HMS Guernsey (P297) Commissioned 28th October 1977. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh Navy in 2004, renamed BNS Sangu
5. HMS Lindisfarne (P300) Commissioned 3rd March 1978. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh Navy in 2004, renamed BNS Turag
6. HMS Anglesey (P277) Commissioned 1st June 1979. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh Navy in 2003, renamed BNS Gornati
7. HMS Alderney (P278) Commissioned 6th October 1979. Fate: Sold to Bangladesh Navy in 2002, renamed BNS Karatoa

Specifications
Displacement: 1,000 tons (standard) 1,280 tons (full load)
Length: 195 ft (59 m) (overall)
Beam: 36 ft (11 m)
Draft: 14 ft (4.3 m)
Propulsion: 1 shafts, 2 diesel, 4,380 hp (Ruston-Paxman) Variable-pitch propeller.
Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h)
Range: 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 11 knots (20 km/h)
Complement: 35
Sensors and processing systems: Type 1006 Radar, Simrad RU sidescan sonar
Armament: 1 × Bofors 40 mm gun Mark III, replaced by 1 × 30mm gun in some ships

Admiralty Coaster C642
Typical of many such craft built for servicing fleet vessels. One of a group built by Yarwoods of Northwich, C.642 was launched in 1946 and served until being placed for disposal in 1956. Purchased by F.T. Everard & Sons Ltd of Greenwich, Kent, C.642 was renamed the ‘Clanity’ and used for a short period as a dry cargo carrier before being lengthened and widened in a conversion to a tanker. Steam propulsion was retained until she ended her days in a scrap yard in Antwerp in 1969.

TeThe Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland. It was a traditional fishing boat used by Scottish fishermen from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. These boats were mainly used to fish for herring using drift nets, and along with other designs of boat were known as herring drifters.
Design
While the boats varied in design, they can be categorised by their vertical stem and stern, their long straight keel and wide beam. These attributes made the Fifies very stable in the water and allowed them to carry a very large set of sails. The long keel, however, made them difficult to manoeuvre in small harbours.
Sailing Fifies had two masts with the standard rig consisting of a main dipping lug sail and a mizzen standing lug sail.[1] The masts were positioned far forward and aft on the boat to give the maximum clear working space amidships. A large fifie could reach just over 20 metres (66 ft) in length. Because of their large sail area they were very fast sailing boats.
Fifies built after 1860 were all decked and from the 1870s onwards the bigger boats were built with carvel planking, i.e. the planks were laid edge to edge instead of the overlapping clinker style of previous boats. The introduction of steam powered capstans in the 1890s, to help raising the lugs sails, allowed the size of these vessels to increase from 30 feet (9.14 m) to over 70 feet (21.34 m) in length. From about 1905 onwards sailing Fifies were gradually fitted with engines and converted to motorised vessels.
Isabella Fortuna 830820
There are few surviving examples of this type of fishing boat still in existence. The Scottish Fisheries Museum based in Anstruther, Fife has restored and still sails a classic example of this type of vessel named the Reaper. The Swan Trust in Lerwick, Shetland have restored and maintain another Fifie, The Swan, as a sail training vessel. She now takes over 1000 trainees each year, and has taken trainees to participate in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races to ports in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland as well as around the UK. The Isabella Fortuna is owned by the Wick Society.st

The lifeboat’s hull was of best quality steel, the plates being triple rivetted together with 72,000 rivets – torpedo boats of the period were double rivetted – without a single continuous seam, in order to counter the stresses smashing into waves, whereas other steel hulls were single rivetted. It was not self-righting beyond 110°, the mast being 20° below the horizontal, but featured modified end boxes designed similarly to self-righting vessels, and contained fifteen water tight compartments, bilge pumps and steam ejectors. 15.24m long with overall beam of 4.36m and 1.07m deep, including a flush deck with inset accommodation for up to 40 persons, it was powered by twin horizontal direct acting compound steam engines complete with one boiler and at full speed, a 1,000-rpm fan created forced draught, and it had twin funnels. Recognition must be given to the fortitude of the engine room crew including stokers of these steam lifeboats when being tossed around in storms but the forced draught would have provided ample ventilation. A fuller account may be read here.

This lifeboat was transferred in 1892 to New Brighton temporarily then was based at Holyhead – there, in 1901, while on passage, a boiler room explosion killed two firemen. It was retired from service in 1928.

TRACKER DUNDEE PILOT BOAT
FORTH Ports, the UK’s third largest port group, has placed an order for two new pilot boats to join their fleet working on the Rivers Forth and Tay. The investment in the vessels to work on the busy waterways will see the arrival next year of the next generation of pilot boats built by Holyhead Marine.
Pilot boats are important vessels on the river as they transport maritime pilots to the ships that need guided safely into port through the lock gates in Leith and Grangemouth, to a berth at a quayside in Dundee or Rosyth or to one of the deep-water anchorages in the River Forth. As the statutory river authority for the Forth and Tay, Forth Ports marine team operate over an area of 280 square miles of navigable waters.
The two pilot boats have been designed in Scotland by Camarc Design and will be built this year by Holyhead Marine in Wales. The pilot boats are 16.6 metres long and are the most advanced boats in operation with an updated hull design and engines offering increased efficiency. In the future, the engines would be capable of operating on HVO fuel (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) which could result in a C02 emission reduction of up to 90%. [**NB: further tech info is listed below]
Alan McPherson, Chief Harbour Master for Forth Ports’ Scottish operations, said: “It is important that we invest in our marine fleet to deliver the best service for river users and at the same time, decarbonise our vessels using the very latest engine technology. The Rivers Forth and Tay are two of the largest and busiest waterways in the UK with thousands of vessels using the rivers each year, ranging from very large offshore drilling rigs in Dundee, to container vessels heading to Grangemouth and cruise liners sailing into both rivers. We look forward to receiving the new pilot boats next year.”
Forth Ports currently has 5 pilot boats and 11 tugs operating across the River Forth and Tay.