March club evening.
Our chairman gave us an update of club activities, Roger S gave an update on progress at Puffing Park, and Mike G outlined the club outing and numbers for the visit to the Black Country Museum on Sunday 28th. June. Rob spoke about the forthcoming 'Easter Egg Regatta' at Verulamium Park boating lake on Sunday 5th April and the re-starting of 'Sunday Sailing' there on the second Sunday after the monthly club night, thus the first sailing will be on Sunday 19th April.
On the tables at the back there was a display of items for members to view and take for free, plus Tony Ashcroft's latest machined parts for the club's Ephraim loco project.
A few queries were answered and we moved onto the talk for the evening.
Finding subjects and members willing to stand out front is not easy and I would thank all those that have contributed in this way. After breaking the ice it becomes clear that talking to a receptive audience is both rewarding and satisfying, at least that is what I like to tell them!
When I approached Rob about his new project, already running on a model boat web site, he told me that half an hour was all he could do! So, I had backup arranged, 'just in case'. However, it was just not needed! Rob had decided to 'tell all’, and we were treated to a trip of the last 10 years through Rob's return to model making in retirement and then enjoyment of building model boats again. As could be seen from the models on display he has a talent for it, and it shows. When a kit manufacturer is impressed then you have cleared the bar as far as feedback is concerned.
Rob was confident and clear in his presentation with photos from the construction of his models, this developed into a more critical view of models when he re-designed the superstructure of his Southampton Pilots Boat and tried his hand at scratch building a new deck and cabin for the boat that better represented the modern type of craft. Most kits will carry the character of a model but skip on some of the detail and more complex parts of the model.
The methods of construction were shown and the way that the build remained square and symmetrical on both sides, keeping the keel locked into a straight line can be easily overlooked. Rob did an excellent job of showing how glass cloth and epoxy resin is used in cladding hulls to increase strength and finish. The method of attachment of removeable hatches and cabins was shown now using easily obtainable and very small neodymium magnets.
We had a break which encouraged many members to look closely at Rob's excellent work, and personally I was very pleased to see the interest in marine items, and I can see a few more marine / part evenings coming along.
Rob said to me, “I will finish shortly for your talk on installing R/C into small models”. I said “your talk is going so well just carry on”. Which he did after the break. Tea and coffee supplied by Jack and Neil, who both set up and cleared up afterwards as well. This, and the volunteers who set up chairs and tables, make the evening work very well.
As someone who is given a lift in to our evenings, I would like to thank all those who pick up other members as well. We used to lose members over the issue of night driving. I also need to mention David, hopefully a new member, who came to the evening as he has lately given up flying to return to floating his new boat interests on water.
We resumed with Rob's last model boat, a ‘Marlin’ cabin cruiser by Vintage Model Works, and we can only admire the finish of his deck planking on the boat currently under construction, he continued on detailing the work in progress and then onto answering questions. We had a grand evening with a good presentation, was it "Just half an hour"? Rob filled the evening and also kept everyone's interest going while doing so. Rob received a good round of applause for his efforts.
Another good evening from our own club members! Who needs outside speakers? I would remind members who favour outside speakers that they only talk for an hour!
Best regards to everyone from a pleasantly warm autumn day in Australia,
Roy Verden. 15th March 2026
Click on the links below for more information on Rob's build blogs & the kit manufacturers.
Rob's Build Blogs on Model-Boats.com
Vintage Model Works 'RAF Crash Rescue Tender'
Vintage Model Works 'Thames River Police Launch'
Vintage Model Works 'Marlin' pleasure cruiser.
Model Boat Kit manufacturers:
Model Boat kits from Vintage Model Works