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Afternoon everyone As a kid I grew up on the Clydeside (Old Kilpatrick) during the 1970's and one of our favourite pastimes was watching the mighty tugboats sail past. My dream then was to be a tug boat captain but ended up becoming a draughtsman as sometimes happens in life. Still love to watch them when I can, though its a bit hard when living in Warwickshire! The Flying Phantom was built by Ferguson Bros, Port Glasgow and launched in 1981. She assisted ships with navigation and was also equipped as a fire fighter. Tragically on 19 December 2007 she was dragged over and sank while assisting a cargo ship past Clydebank in deep fog with the loss of Stephen Humphreys (captain), Robert Cameron (engineer) and Eric Blackley (deckhand) with only Brian Aitchison surviving. https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/girting-and-capsize-of-tug-flying-phantom-while-towing-bulk-carrier-red-jasmine-on-river-clyde-scotland-resulting-in-1-person-injured-and-loss-of-3-lives In tribute I have modelled the Revell 1/144 Fairplay X as the Flying Phantom 2 in the Clydeside colours of the 70/80's. I have added, chains, ropes, winch hydraulics, dinghy cover and my own decals as extra detail. Hope you like them ATB, Dave

Harbour Tug Boat "Fairplay" 1:144 Revell When large ocean going ships arrive, or depart ports they require the assistance of Tug Boats. Fairplay Towage of Hamburg have been providing this service since 1905. The Fairplay I, III, & X are Harbour tugs which can also assist with costal Towage and Salvage. Built by Astilleros Armon Navia in 2007 they are 308 Gross Tonnes with a 5000 Hp engine driving two rudder propellers in Kort nozzles. They have a bollard pull of 70 Tonnes. The Fairplay I is based in Antwerp, III in Rotterdam and X in Hamburg. The Kit This is a new tool from Revell for 2014 and a welcome one I would think for maritime modellers. Tugs are by no means sexy ships, but without them world shipping would grind to a halt. 1/144 is a nice scale for this size of ship. The kit arrives in Revell's standard open ended box. Inside are four sprues of white plastic and one clear sprue. Construction begins with the main hull. This is two part affair with two internal bulkheads to give it strength. Following this the two propeller arrangements and their Kort shrouds are made up and attached to the hull. The Hull has its anchors fitted, and then can then be mounted on its stand which will help the rest of the build. Various fittings (bollards, deck plates etc) are then attached to the main deck. The deck edging is added and the completed part can be added to the hull. The front rubber bumper (used for pushing ships) is then installed. The anchor winch is then assembled. Construction then moves on to the main deck house. The four side are made up and then attached to the main deck. All of the railings and fittings are in plastic, and at this scale they look good, with no need to resort to photo etch. The engine exhausts are also added at this stage. Its then time to add what would be called the bridge, but these days with modern tugs its much more like a control room. The Captain sits in a central chair with all the tug controls which gives him a 360 degree view, with the chair also able to move in 360 degrees. The main panels are all in clear plastic with the bottom parts and the roof needing to be painted. Once the control room is attached there is a plethora of parts to add on. Railings, the mast, radars, navigation lights, a ships boat, life raft canisters, and the anchor winch. Decals Decals are provided for three different tug boats. Fairplay I - Antwerp 2013 Fairplay III - Rotterdam 2013 Fairplay X - Hamburg 2013 Conclusion This is a welcome release for Revell and the kind of new release we like to see. This should build up to a good looking model which while a nice size will not take up masses of room. Highly recommended. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit