# Using the van - other than for motorhoming



## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

We have had our motorhome now for nigh on ten years and, in all that time, we have primarily used it for our holidays and short breaks away. However, this past year or so, we have been using it more and more in conjunction with our new venture attending shows up and down the country where we take our r/c model ferry kits. We have found that our Cheyenne, with its large rear garage, has been ideal for this as we can get our whole display stand, display models and a number of boxed kits safely stashed away and still have full use of the van - no staying in dodgy hotels!!!!

Here are a few shots of our latest show we attended near Warwick. We have been developing this kit - our first - for around three years and it has proven quite popular with a younger generation of model boat builders; those who have little affinity to the usual fare of r/c model ships such as WWII warships etc.























































And this is a shot of the real ship that the model was based upon:










We are now working on our second offering which is due for release in the Spring - the MV Norland of North Sea Ferries. She used to run out of Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge:




























Many more in the pipeline........just have to find the time to design them!!!!


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

Brilliant, many many hours of work. I bet you get lots of satisfaction from building and exhibiting. Do you work from the original plans ?

I hope when I have more time to use our van to try and visit preserved railways. Also got lots of GWR oo gauge rolling stock and would love to build a layout.

Davy


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Good heavens ! The model look more real than the real thing. It's incredible and must have taken forever.

I'm in awe ! Thanks for sharing the photos.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Brilliant Carl! Sent you a PM yesterday by the way.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

barryd said:


> Brilliant Carl! Sent you a PM yesterday by the way.


Ah - Thanks Barry! Hadn't realised a PM had arrived....no notification anywhere.... Will take a look now ;-)


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

TeamRienza said:


> Brilliant, many many hours of work. I bet you get lots of satisfaction from building and exhibiting. Do you work from the original plans ?
> 
> I hope when I have more time to use our van to try and visit preserved railways. Also got lots of GWR oo gauge rolling stock and would love to build a layout.
> 
> Davy


Cheers Davy! Yep - one or two hours has gone into this one. When I first started out deigning this model, I was working from known published dimensions (length x breadth x draft) and a whole host of photos. There are no shipyard drawings left of the original ship. Toward the very end of the design phase, I came across the naval architect who looked after the ship when she ran for TEF out of Ramsgate and he had a few detail drawings he let me have. All the rest has been worked up from photos.

Using the van to visit preserved lines would be ideal - most would allow you to overnight in their car park.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Grizzly said:


> Good heavens ! The model look more real than the real thing. It's incredible and must have taken forever.
> 
> I'm in awe ! Thanks for sharing the photos.


I have always wanted a model of this particular ship as she was the first ship I ever sailed on to Europe, back in 1972 when I was 9 years old in my parents motorhome. Back then, the ship was in the early Townsend Thoresen colour of pale green. She gives me great pleasure sailing her on our local canal!!


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Its mighty impressive stuff. I Think there are a few R/C enthusiasts on here. I always fancied a radio controlled sail boat to be honest but I think you would need two to race them. So are you planning any other models Carl, will they be made to order, available as kits or complete? About time we had something interesting like this on here. Tell us more.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

Quite a few more models are planned - the problem being that it takes a good year or so to bring them to fruition. All our models are kits for anyone to build - they are complete except for the motors and radio gear. The hulls are fibre-glass, prepared for us by a chap in Sherbourne, Dorset, and all the superstructure is made up from sheet styrene plastic, with the shapes all pre-cut by us on our laser cutter:










All the fine detail such as handrails, grilles etc. is made up from etched brass sheet that has all the components individually etched out of the sheet brass and all the fittings - winches, bollards, radars, lifeboat davits etc. are all 3D printed plastic parts. I design these on the computer at home and then send the component file to Shapeways in Holland for them to print the part in plastic:



















That 'cube' of 3D printed parts measures just 5" x 3" x 2 1/2" and contains over 120 parts - the smallest being just 3mm tall and the thinnest just 0.2mm thick.

The model of the P&O ferry is to a scale of 1:96 and is 1.22m long.

As mentioned earlier, we hope to release a kit of the Norland in the spring and she will be bigger at about 1.55m long - but the same scale.

In the pipeline and being designed at the moment are kits for:

Spirit of Free Enterprise










Pride of Dover










A Swedish passenger ferry that runs from Stockholm out into the Archipelago:










And then a whole host of other classic ferries - Sealink, IOM Steam Packet and Calmac for example.

This is what goes into the box for the modeller to build:










Some have asked if we had thought about producing models of other ships such as tugs, fishing vessels or warships, but there are plenty of other manufacturers doing these - but, other than us, no-one produces kits of passenger ships and especially ferries!! So this is what we are concentrating on. It is a subject I know a fair bit about and I feel I can do it justice. Plus, we are having an absolute ball with it!!! Just a shame I cant turn it into a full-time job at the moment, although Flo has now quit her main job to look after the administration of the company.

Something different eh?


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

It never ceases to amaze what some people can do. I was about to say are you going to do other stuff. I would like a Bismarck with fully working guns. (by Christmas)  . Could you not take on commissions Carl as well as stick to the passenger ships? I bet some would pay top dollar to have a unique ship made for them.


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## Carl_n_Flo (May 10, 2005)

barryd said:


> It never ceases to amaze what some people can do. I was about to say are you going to do other stuff. I would like a Bismarck with fully working guns. (by Christmas)  . Could you not take on commissions Carl as well as stick to the passenger ships? I bet some would pay top dollar to have a unique ship made for them.


There are a few folk who would pay but, to be honest, it would have to be the equivalent of my salary for a year to do it justice. It took me close to 6 months to build that first ferry in evenings and weekends - but in that time, I didn't spend much time developing the next kits. To get the business working and able to pay for its development, we need to develop a range of kits sufficient that in the region of 6 to 10 models a month are sold. That number cannot come from just one kit in the range.

We also have to get the company onto a professional footing now.......:wink2: OK if I drop you a line tomorrow? Too late to get my head around those matters at this time of night! Had a quick read of what you wrote (and many thanks for that!) - but want to respond properly and not rushed.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

No problem Carl catch up later. I bet there are some that would pay many times your salary for a bespoke craft though when there is only one. Just watched new Top Gear and there are people who will pay £1.8 million quid for an Aston Martin thats not even road legal! Just saying.


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## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

Very interesting thread and a pleasant change. Great detail on your models, Carl, I immediately noticed the frames around the portholes and was impressed with that detail.

I have a scratchbuilt model of my first command, made on board ship during quiet evenings. The only material I bought was modelling ply, the rest was old packing cases, and stuff out of the medical locker. I never did finish it, still loads of deck equipment missing. I often think I'll finish it off when I'm not allowed out of the house on my own any more.


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## chilly (Apr 20, 2007)

Wow, amazing! I can't believe you design and organise the production of these kits in your spare time!
I've just been reading the ships' descriptions/histories on your web site. I can't believe what relatively short lives they had before being scrapped :frown2:
Well done you guys and I hope you can turn it into a full time business some day soon :smile2:


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Amazing Carl.


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## HermanHymer (Dec 5, 2008)

Awesome, Carl!!


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Absolutely brilliant, what a great talent you have, I do hope that you are successful in promoting and setting up the business and having a full order book for many years.

cabby


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Brilliant Carl n Flo.
I almost finished a radio controlled U boat when on nights in British Aircraft Weybridge. The idea was to come up under ducks and swans but BAC virtually died and it never did get finished. Must have taken me thousands of hours and many parts from The TSR2.

The only other thing the van gets used for now is at Boot Sales two of three times a year selling.

Ray.


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

amasing

i know this is a little old but was lovely to read all the posts and see what can be done if you put your mind to it

ray, i have met many gentlemen over the years that spent many work hours making models 

1 guy i worked with spent allmost 2 years making a steam truck he had a good job a a project development engineer and mostly made small gifts for the directors to hand out when people retired

but all the old big industries had guys mostly on nights keeping themselves busy

i know a guy that worked on a laser cutter and he said 80% of the programs on it were homers 

unfortunately i wa born just a little to late to reap the benefits of large companies employing clever engineers

barry


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes, nights always had many enterprising craftsmen. One guy in the packing case department must have made literally hundreds of engineers plywood toolboxes. I still have two marine ply ones now 28 years old and perfect.
It was the era of 'hammered copper chimney breasts'. Vickers ran out of copper sheet eventually. I also sprayed a house in TSR2 anti radiation white paint in Fleet. 

Ray.


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi ray

i assume fleet hants 

i was a supervisor for sciaky welding machines for a while one of the guys said in the old days they had so many homers on the go that getting the work jobs done was a problem they had a foundry and did a lot of brass stuff, one of the regular jobs were candle sticks for the jewish community in slough and yes chimney breasts were also popular


funny im here at home watching the ascot races on the tv but can also hear the commentary from the tannoy at the track and loads of choppers over head

barry


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yes, Fleet Hants. We bought a 3 bed sem det on the Pondtail estate before we got married and at 22 years old. But it was a silly whim and going down there every weekend to do the garden and maintanence beat us. But Farnborough air show was something else. I can still remember nearly being shaken off the shed roof when the Vulcan test bed for the Bristol Olympus engine almost went vertical at the end of our garden!
Two years of tenants destroying the place and we came out just breaking even.

Ray.


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