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MGB 40 awaits a paint job and I'm awaiting parts for a defunct compressor. So...inspired by Kev Longshanks and his Dog boat build MGB658 I'm going to kick off my attempt at a Fairmile B. They were in many ways the unsung work horse in motor launches and were deployed in a miriad of roles including acting as navigation leaders to mark channels for landing craft to use in their approaches to the D-Day beaches - as represented by ML 196. Pictures of these comparatively rare types are hard to come by. I am indebted to Christian Sheppard-Capurro for passing on some pics This pic portrays ML or Q196 as she was on or about D-Day... Mark Smiths "Coastal Craft History Volume 3 - Motor Gun Boat, Motor Torpedo Boat and Fast Patrol Boat depicts Q196. It's an indispensible volume for anyone interested in British Coastal Craft of WWII as our volumes 1 and 2. Volume 4 is due and will specifically detail Fairmile As, Bs and Cs. Further references will include And unlike the Dog boats there are still a few extant originals of which RLM 497 is probably the best well known having served as a ferry and pleasure day boat around the Dartmouth estuary for many years, she now resides in Portsmouth and I believe will become part of the Naval museum Th hull comes courtesy of Christian at MTB hulls and is truly a thing of beauty. if you have any interest in coastal craft - check his site out - he does a huge number of different hulls in different scales and here it is against the HDML that he also supplied ( this is approximately Vosper MTB sized) As Longshanks reports with his Fairmile D - the moulding is superb with barely a blemish. The deck is loose and will need epoxying down which fits with my plans I'll also be using Coastal Craft Model products Coastal Craft Models from Martin Blundell which are uniformly excellent. And Thanks Also to Longshanks for his encouragement and help to date. If I make half as good a job as MGB658, I'll be delighted. More soon Thanks for looking Rob