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My build of the Airfix 1/72 RNLI Shannon Lifeboat (A55015) I made quite a few changes to the basic kit and added RNLI figures from Scale3D. Flags were spare decals from a Severn Lifeboat kit. I used Humbrol and Xtracolor enamels and not the Starter Set acrylics. Dave

Hermann Marwede Search & Rescue Vessel (05812) 1:200 Carrera Revell The Hermann Marwede is the largest rescue vessel operated by the German Society for Sea Rescue or Die Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger (DGzRS) to give them their correct German name. In common with many such rescue organisations, the DGzRS receive no government funding, but instead rely on voluntary contributions, fund-raising and donations to finance the organisation. The DGzRS was founded in 1865 by amalgamating many smaller organisations under one umbrella, and celebrated its 150th Anniversary almost a decade ago. During WWII they operated under the Red Cross banner, and retained their principles of rescuing anyone in distress regardless of state or which side they fought for. They have since grown into an organisation with twenty ocean-going vessels and almost forty inshore lifeboats, stationed at fifty-five locations around the German Coastline. The organisation has rescued more than eighty-six thousand souls in peril on the sea since its founding almost 160 years ago. The Hermann Marwede was laid down in Gdańsk, Poland with an aluminium hull, and was completed by Fassmer in Berne, Germany, launching in 2003. She was named after Hermann Marwede of Bremen, who was a long-term partner in the Beck & Co. beer company, taking a turn as a director of the DGzRS during his life, and his descendants were significant contributors to her €15,000,000 funding. Displacing 410 tonnes, with a beam of 35’ and length of 151’, she is powered by a trio of marine diesel engines, each with their own shafts propellers, mounting the most powerful of the three on the centreline, totalling 6,800KW of power that can propel her at 27 knots in good weather, and only a few knots slower in rough seas. She carries a daughter boat in the stern that is secured in its own boathouse on a built-in slipway for ship-to-shore and shallow water operations and rescues. Three fire-fighting nozzles are mounted on the superstructure behind the wheelhouse, powered by one of the engines, and two can be operated remotely with substantial water output. The crew of eight have their own individual cabins, and casualties can be tended to in the hospital space that includes an operating theatre for dealing with urgent cases that can’t wait to be handled on shore. The aft deck above the slipway provides a large open area to secure rescued individuals while they await extraction, for crew training, and just forward of this area is a 20-tonne crane that can be used to launch another smaller RHIB inflatable to assist with operations. Should the need arise, the Hermann Marwede can operate for up to seven days without refuelling or resupplying, and is intended to be offshore for up to 104 days a year if the need arises. She is currently (as I type this) undertaking SAR operations in the North Sea, but her home port is in Heligoland, Germany. The Kit Originally tooled and release in 2011, this is the fourth boxing of the kit, arriving in Revell’s new design end-opening box with a dramatic painting of the vessel and her daughter boat in action on heavy seas. Inside the box are six sprues of various sizes in white styrene, a small decal sheet, and instruction booklet that is printed in black and white on cheap paper, which feels like a bit of a retrograde step when compared to most modern Revell booklets. At 1:200 scale the size of the hull is more manageable than its 1:72 stable-mate, and detail is good, although the railings and other fine parts are necessarily oversized due to the constraints of injection moulding technology. Construction begins with assembling the hull, adding two internal bulkheads and the anchor’s hawser pipe in the top of the bow. The deck consists of two levels that are linked by a vertical section and a pair of stairs that are moulded into the foredeck, with railings glued to both sides once in situ. There are many detail painting instructions for the moulded-in details on the decks, after which the hull is inverted to install the three prop-shafts with their fairings, the centre forming part of the keel, finishing by adding the screws at the rear ends, and triple rudders for full authority in the event of any engines going offline. The hull can now be placed on the stand that is included on the sprues, which is moulded as a single part, with contoured supports that brace the lower hull and keel. The daughter boat is built from two halves, fitting a folded mast and radar assembly on the wheelhouse, and detail painting the moulded-in windows, placing it in the slipway that is behind the stern door that is moulded into the stern panel, adding a safety rail around three sides, and fitting an outboard motor to the RHIB before it is installed in its supports on the port side. The boat’s housing is made from six parts that have railings and banisters moulded into the tops, fitting two support poles to the sides of the slipway, and topping the assembly off with the roof, which has a walkway leading forward. The mid-deck has a bulkhead with stair cases fixed to the rear of the foredeck, fitting the deck, side walls and sloped front, adding railings to the walkway and the level-change between the fore and aft decks, adding machinery and a thick supply pipe for the fire-fighting (Fi-Fi) gear, then building the wheelhouse from four sides and a deck, which has a cluster of searchlights and the solo hose fitted around the edges. The remote Fi-Fi stations are a single part assembly that is plugged into the deck behind the wheelhouse, with curving railings fitted around it, fixing the deck crane into its socket and resting the jib on a riser at the edge of the deck between the hoses. The mast has a Y-shaped form, with access steps moulded into the sloped legs, which has the main mast moulded into the centre, fitting twin radars on their own supports at the front, with additional searchlights, antenna and sensors mounted on the rear, again with their own supports moulded-in, following the detail painting instructions that are given during the steps. The completed assembly is mounted in sockets at the rear of the wheelhouse roof, fitting a short tapering mast on the starboard edge, and finishing the model by fitting a pair of mooring posts in the bow, and a bow pole with a section of the frontal railings moulded-in. Markings Whilst there is just one set of markings for this model, there are a separate set of profiles for the daughter boat, Verena. The profiles are in black and white, but a quick look at the box art will help immensely, as will the paint-code chart. From the box you can build the following: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion The Hermann Marwede is a major part of the German coastal rescue service, and this 1:200 kit gives the modeller a reasonably-sized model of the vessel, with a good level of detail, and crisp-new decals. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Finally got around to starting this It was tricky to work out where the demarcation is on the hull but here s my effort

I started the design of this boat this morning for a friend, it will be finished probably tomorrow. Once printed it will be 60 mm long, but can be declined in different sizes. Here is the model on the plan which is almost generic for the time. The boat is covered here, not with a boat cover, but with removable sheet metal plates. The material is more durable and waterproof. This is not the final model because there are still some details to be rectified and added, pulleys etc..

This is one of those builds that I really wanted to do as it brought back many memories of my time as a young kid rushing down to my local lifeboat station to watch them launch the boat down a steep ramp. The sight of the bow hitting the water and the large spray of water being thrown up was something else to a young lad. My local station was at Newhaven (Sussex) and that is why I used this name. Alas, the one I used to watch was not the robust Severn Class but I just wanted to have something to display. This kit is the new model as I read so much negative stuff about the old Airfix kit and so I decided to be patient and wait for it to come out. I had no major problems overall but the hull was a bit tricky to do. In the end I chose to glue the hull parts in stages and this seemed to work for me. I hope you enjoy viewing the pictures and thanks for taking an interest. A video can be found HERE and I will post some WIP pictures that show the internal work.

Junkers Ju 88A/C Life Boat (7468) 1:72 CMK by Special Hobby There is a large group of modellers who like to open up all areas of their models and add extra detail and this set for the life raft container in the rear fuselage of the Ju 88 will appeal to them. This set from CMK is suitable for the Revell kits. The set arrives in the usual yellow-themed CMK blister pack, with the instructions sandwiched between the resin parts and the header card. Inside are three resin parts on two casting blocks, consisting of the housing. the raft and the access door. The casting is up to the usual high standards from CMK/Special Hobby with minimal clean up being needed. The housing is very thin and car will be needed if you want to remove the casting block, though as this will be inside the fuselage there is not real need. Conclusion Detail is excellent, with some work this will give your model a little extra realism on top of that already provided. Review sample courtesy of

Having put it off for quite some time, recently I decided to start attacking my 1/76 Mersey-class lifeboat. £18 is a bit of a steal for a 3D printed kit of this size, so I was quite happy when it arrived. Unfortunately, the more I look at it the more inaccuracies I find to correct - most notable of which is that the hull is quite considerably too shallow. There are also some significant errors around the cabin windows and flying bridge, as well as an incorrect hatch. The deck is also too low and the stern profile seems too flat. That being said, there aren't too many options out there for an all-weather lifeboat (especially if you want something smaller than a Severn) so I decided to see what could be done with it. I'll also be building a Shannon too at some point so we'll see how they compare. Work so far has mostly consisted of trying to smooth off the very 'stepped print and removing some of the more crude detailing. The deck height is slowly getting there, though still a few layers to go at the bow before smoothing it all off. I tried shaping the stern to match the curved profile of the actual vessels & think it looks better though not perfect, but having run out of material to shape it'll have to do. I've also cut away the inaccurate parts from the rear. Again, it won't be perfect as I'm not convinced the window spacing is 100% but hopefully it'll look better. I think the cabin may be too tall already but I'm going to have to add a mm or 2 to the roof to get the proportions right relative to the windows. The front cabin windows also need reducing in height as they should match the sides. In all honesty, if I was to make another of these I think I'd use the hull and build the deck and cabin from scratch, but too late now!

At 0900 Hrs on New Years Day, 771 Squadron at RNAS Culdrose stood down from its Search and Rescue commitment and handed over to Bristows. Three days earlier on the 29th December three local lifeboats (Penlee, Lizard and Falmouth) gathered at Kilcobben Cove on the Lizard for one final joint exercise with 771 Squadron. The event was publicised on the local radio and via social media and a small crowd turned out to witness the exercise. The Squadron is due to stand down at the end of March 2016. And finally here is 'Coastguard 924' working up at Newquay earlier in December.

Hi Everyone, Here is my 5th completed model for 2015, the Airfix 1:72 scale RNLI Severn class lifeboat, 17-36 Ivan Ellen. The Ivan Ellen is the replacement for the Solomon Browne, which was lost on December 19th 1981 trying to save the crew of the coaster Union Star. This is the 2nd Airfix lifeboat I have built. I used the following colours for this build : Humbrol 18 Orange (spray & enamel), Revell Gunship Grey, Revell Fiery Red, Revell Night Blue, Revell/Tamiya Black, Humbrol 34 White. Here are the photos. I will be presenting the model to its intended recipient on April 18th, so I will know whether she likes it. I will let you know. All the best, Rick

Hi Everyone, Here is another project for 2015, this one has a deadline as it is another commission build for my step mum's birthday in April. She is from Cornwall originally and has heard about the Penlee lifeboat tragedy in 1981. She has always liked my previous lifeboat build, which is the current Penlee Severn class lifeboat and so I agreed to build another one for her birthday. I will be getting a display case for the lifeboat as soon as it is completed. Thanks to cmatthewbacon for sending me the kit, I will be donating to the RNLI as soon as the build is completed. We agreed this in lieu of any payment for the kit. Anyway here are the photos of the kit as I have primed it. First update will be following soon as I really have to get a start on this build. I'm hoping to improve on the way I built my previous lifeboat. Rick

Hi Everyone, I'm planning on doing a Severn class lifeboat as my step mum's 65th birthday present, possibly with a sea base. But I am especially interested if there are any aftermarket parts I.e. etch parts that can be got for it ? I am also thinking about including some crew members and am just wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of a set which might work ? Thanks in advance, Rick

Hi Everyone, Here is one of my birthday presents. I am working on this project whilst working on the Enterprise E and USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76. This is the Airfix 1:72 scale of the RNLI Severn class lifeboat, which when completed is 23.6cm from bow to stern and 7.8 cm wide and composed of 189 parts. It has a skill level of 2 The photo below shows the first 4 stages of the build completed. I will be painting the deck colour tonight. More photos tomorrow.