Boy with his Boat

 

This is yours truly with a toy boat. Not sure what it is. I seem to think it was blue.

Butlins, circa 1964 or 5.

Kevin's Old Ships

I've been settling up another display cabinet and it has given me a chance to get stuff out of the loft that has not been on show for years. 

These are two model ships that I built well over 30 years ago. One is the Revell kit of HMS Victory, the other is a wooden kit of a fishing schooner.

Float on,

Kevin

UK

CLIM's CLASSIC PROPELLER SPEEDBOAT

This Spanish toy is really beautifully made I think. Sleek and glossy, it really looks the part of a super-powered propeller boat. I think its a CLIM toy.

The box art is superb too. The bigger picture has a hint of Batman to it!

I had something similar as a kid, the Comet.

Have you got anything like this?

Devonian Days

Today was our last full day in our old stomping ground, the South Hams in Devon. We lived in Slapton for six months in the glorious Spring and summer of 1987.

It's been a trip down memory lane for sure.

Here are a few snaps from today.

Plastic ferry. I used to have one. You?

Torcross. Unknown tank.

Torcross. D-Day Rehearsals.

Kingswear, islet of millionaires

Dartmouth Castle canon with a range of two and a half miles.

Unknown navy vessels.

Bayards fort, Dartmouth

Bayards. It's in my head they filmed part of the Onedin Line here. My Mum adored that old TV show.

A pedal car seen in a charity shop. £30.

Have you been to Devon?

THE AIRFIX MARY ROSE PROP MAKERS DIORAMA BY PAUL ADAMS

Every so often Max, from Max's Models, has a Group Build on a specific subject. This time it was Hollywood, in front of or behind the cameras.

I decided to build the Airfix Mary Rose sailing ship in 1/400th scale, but do it as a large scale movie prop, surrounded by Hollywood model builders. These are garage mechanics from various AMT and Fujimi accessory sets in 1/25th and 1/24th scales.

The room setting is a cut-down cardboard box, with sheets of coloured paper for the floor and walls. Then everything was laid out.

Now that the scene is done, I plan on finishing off the Mary Rose with all her masts, and adding the sails.

The model was painted entirely with acrylics (a very big thank you to Rob Craig for his excellent advice on sponge painting with acrylics, using make-up sponges - just avoid Tamiya brand acrylics). Detail work was done with a fine brush.

A word of warning regarding the decals. My recent experience with Airfix decals is that they look beautiful, but come off the model very easily.

Decal setting solutions may help, but I just used PVA glue. Apply this to the model, then add the decals, and glue them in place.

This was a fun project. It was also a rare chance to mix models of different scales, in order to achieve a particular effect.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

AHOY! SAILOR BUOY!

Ahoy mateys! I picked up this lovely little flat boat on Castleford's Thursday Market a while back, part of a job lot of small toy bits.

I had no idea what it was. The base gave some clues.

Some silver surfing later and voila!

Its the yacht off an obscure Tri-ang toy called Sailor Buoy!

This set, pictured is one seen on Ebay, was basically a table yacht blown around with a hair dryer! I wonder if it caught on with little landlubbers?

You can see it in action on You Tube with Phil'sWorkBench!

https://youtu.be/TKMusiTTOj4?feature=shared&t=172

What do you think?

Did you have a Sailor Buoy!?

WILL'S BOATS

My Victory industries turbine yacht and Vosper, along with an unusual Triang catamaran. 

Hope you like them.

Will O.

UK

ED'S BOATS

A couple of 'sleek' boats plying the waters out in The Cave:

-S&E (Japan) USAF Crash Rescue Boat R-3-A

-MPC No. 854 PT Torpedo Boat

-MPC Patrol Boat

-MPC Rocket Boat w/Radar Mast

-MPC Rocket Boat (yellow)

I have several more MPC PT/Rocket boats, but this'll do for now. 

Drying Out in Lost Wages

Ed B

USA

THE KENNER GLAMOUR GALS OCEAN QUEEN CRUISER

I was watching a You Tube video recently, which featured the 1982 Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalogue. It takes a while to get to the toys, which are towards the back, but there is plenty of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ntAVfREjDo

One of the items that really stands out is a giant, doll-sized cruise ship. What a wonderful toy. A little digging turned up some further details.

The ship was part of a 1980s doll line by Kenner, called Glamour Gals. These were mini dolls, which were more like small action figures. They were posable, and had rooted hair, but were only 4 inches tall. About a third of the normal Barbie size.

Glamour Gals were the girls, and Great Dates were the boys. There were several dozen of these mini-dolls, and plenty of accessories, with playsets in varying sizes, and price ranges.

According to Plaid Stallions the line was fairly short-lived, only being made between 1980 and 1983. Here is a catalogue from their site.

https://www.plaidstallions.com/kenner/gg3.html

Being so much smaller than Barbie, the accessories and playsets could include much larger items. Such as a cruise ship. This was basically a dolls house in the shape of a ship, with the box describing it as 'The most exciting way to doll house play'.

The Glamour Gals Ocean Queen Cruise Ship Play Set was a real monster. It was 37 1/2 inches long, and 21 1/2 inches high. There were three decks. The open upper deck, and two internal decks. Some assembly was required. There was a large sheet of stickers, which were numbered, for all the printed details, such as the name of the ship, and interiors.

The hull and superstructure were moulded in white plastic, with tan decks, and yellow railings. There were 'Over 50 pieces of movable furniture and accessories', in various colours. These included a motor launch. There was a heart-shaped swimming pool for the Pool Deck; an opening boarding ramp in the starboard side of the hull; and a working, lever-operated elevator so your dolls could move between decks.

There were 7 rooms (I am not sure how they got to seven, unless the Main Deck and Elevator are counted as 'Rooms').

On the upper internal level:

Navigation Room (bridge), with ship's wheel, and opening safe so the dolls could store their jewellery away.

The multi-level Elevator.

A single State Room, or cabin.

The open-sided Main Deck, with Shuffleboard Court.

On the lower internal level:

Dining Room.

Lower portion of the Elevator.

Beauty Salon.

Doctor's Office.

There was no engine room, and with only one passenger cabin, accommodation was limited. There were no quarters for the crew.

There were at least two different boxes. Both were basically plain white cardboard, with a large colour picture of the ship glued to the front, and folded around one side. One had a purple background, and pink or purple printing on the sides and back. The other had a red background, with red and blue printing. No.50690.

The Montgomery Ward catalogue lists this set at $67.88, in 1982.

I am not sure how sea-worthy this vessel would be, with so many large holes in the hull.

The ship did not normally come with any dolls (although some did include two dolls, according to a sticker on the front of the box). Crew figures were available separately.

On a single card, was Captain Kurt, in a white uniform, with blond hair. This was a Great Date figure.

There was also a three-doll Ocean Queen Crew Set, with accessories. This included Captain Bo, who seems to be the identical twin brother of Captain Kurt; Social Director Jessie (blonde, in a skirt); and Stewardess Danni (brown hair, in trousers).

I do not know if this is the full Ocean Queen range, or if there were any other figures or sets available.

Six photographs, all from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

CRUISIN' FOR A CHOOSIN'

 Further mental splashing in the wet stuff got me thinking about toy cruise liners.

Are there any?

I found this impressive mystery action cruiser from China. Complete with multiple decks and lights, it took me right back to getting my bump'n'go space toys in the 1960's! What do you think readers?

https://es.aliexpress.com/i/1005003183042771.html

I was also impressed with this model concept for a futuristic liner by design consultancy frog design I saw online [their image].

Its sleek curves and chestnut - cream colour scheme really do it for me! You?

For sleekness I still don't think you can beat the old Victory Industries Vosper Triple Screw Yacht model below, as used by the Century 21 modellers in Gerry Anderson's shows. Are there other boats and ships in Thunderbirds and the other Gerry Andersons?

Have you got a Vosper? Have you got a sleek boat or ship?

Are there any futuristic ships in TV shows and films?

COCKTAILS ON THE UPPER DECK!

 I'm currently off work with a stinker of a summer cold, so to keep me on an even keel in between sneezing fits I've been touching up my new but incomplete Nikko Fire Boat.

Ever the bodger I've looked for low-tech kitchen-drawer solutions to missing parts and hey presto, we have ...... operation cocktail stick [I prefer that to toothpick!]

They were very easy to cut to size and glue in position!

After testing a red sharpie and a red paint pen I opted for the paint pen and set to work painting the new wooden stick rails.

A little new chroming on the water canon and a bit of general spit and polish and we're ship shape.

What do you think?

I may add a thin coat of PVC glue to the new painted rails to give them a more plasticy look but that'd be icing on the cake. I could actually use icing! ha ha

Without a remote I can't test it's motor but for now the refurbed Fire Boat will be in dry dock.

As an aside, venturing into the attic yesterday I found one of the very first bits of toy bodging I ever did, probably 30+ years ago. Its a Beatles Corgi Yellow Sub periscope made from Fimo. It looks awful but it was a lot of Fab Four fun at the time! A true relic from my early thirties, I was amazed its still around.

Hope Tony's Fimo Dredd doesn't Judge it too harshly!

NIKKO FIRE BOAT RESCUE ATTEMPT

 I picked up this Nikko Fire boat at the weekend, a bargain at £4.

There is some damage; the windscreen is partly missing, there are missing red handrails and there's no remote control.

I thought I'd have a 'crack' at the damaged windscreen. After removing the glue holding it in I filed down the jagged edges of the split.

Placing the filed screen on it to measure up, I then cut out the 'missing' corner-side from an old plastic lid [don't tell the Missus!]

The new parts were glued in position and the whole screen was put back into place on top.

Nor perfect but it'll do!

Next up, the missing red rails.