Hello, my name is Martin Davis. I’m 40something and build model boats just for fun and as you can see I have built one or two!!

I'm married with two kids and building lots of model boats can take quite a bit of money. So what you need to know is that the price of a model boat is  ....

1. The price you actually paid
2. The price you tell your wife you paid.
3. The price she gets you to admit you paid!
4. The price you pay when she finds out what you REALLY paid!
                                                               

Put the term "MODEL" in front of anything and manufactures automatically up the price by 200%!

Me and model boats.
  I   haven’t   been building boats for decades like some modellers seem to have been, I can only claim a few years modelling, therefore I’m aiming  this  series of articles towards  new  comers  and younger modellers.  Over a series of web pages, I will review lots of boat kits, how they  went together,  how they ran,  what modifications are possible  & / or necessary and most importantly how to make them go faster without breaking the bank.

  Everybody  has their own idea of what a ‘real’  model boat is,  be it   an   exact   working scale  galleon from the 16^th century or a  three   engined   out-rigger  hydroplane   capable of speeds over 100 m.p.h.  I for my  part like  off-shore  racing  power and sports boats  because of  their  clean, sleek lines,  terrifying power and  awesome  speed.  Fortunately there are now  quite a few off-shore boat type kits on the market which are sold  in the hundreds but these are often dismissed as “just toys”.  When you first get  into  model boats you will find,  like me,  asking yourself  lots  of questions but finding few sensible answers,  so now that I’ve built a boat or  two I’d like to help anyone else in that situation.  Hopefully you can use these pages as a kit review, additional  instructions but mainly to incite you to experiment. Some of the articles may seem to state the  obvious  and/or may go into too much detail but bear with me  as  the obvious is not always evident when your new at it.

  I  apologize   straight   away for the   gross   generalities,   lack   of technical  calculations  and hydrodynamic theory as most of my building is by general rule of thumb and dead  reckoning, I’m a life paid up member of the  institute  of ‘Suck it and see.’  This  process of non-design   means getting  the boat running properly may take a long time but I have lots of fun  during  the process.   Clearly I  don’t know  everything about  model boats,  some people reckon I don’t know nothing but  don’t listen to them, I’m well edumicated I is!
 

THE KITS SO FAR

 Most  of my boats are based on real boat and are assembled from kits  were the  major components are ready made,  this facilities a fast box to water time,  i.e. days of construction instead of months.  Most boats I’ve built  are  still   available in your  local  model  shop although some kits  may need a little tracking down.   As I bought all  theses  kits  for  my  own  use,   none have been  doctored  by  the  manufactures  to  make sure of a   good  review.   What I buy is what you  buy.   When something is good,   I  give  it  all the credit it deserves,   conversely  I’ll tell you  of  the reverse too! 

My Boats ( and Mayhem Builds)  in chronological order.
( Click on a boat for construction article. )
 

My New Projects & Status.

I don't have the skills or patients to scratch-build so all the boats are from kits. If you that recognize some of  the models, you  will immediately see that some kits have been drastically  modified usually to increased speed,  sometimes for the sake of experimentation and sometimes just for artistic sake but mostly because I'm a cheapskate and a terrible model builder!

As   I   said at the outset I hope to  help you  avoid  making the same mistakes that I made.   Apart from the boat reviews there  will be a few additional articles, starting in model boats, electric  power   and  IC  (internal combustion) engine  boats.   So  lets start  by building  a  model  boat  and we can talk about the other  stuff as  we  come   to  it.  My  first boat,  a MFA PIRANHA,  a mono  hull  for electric power.

Well that's it for this page.... But what the hell do I know!