The Ship Model Forum

There exists a novel, Bandersnatch, by Desmond Lowden, Pocket Books, 1969, about an ex-RN officer who lives, since the War's end, aboard his derelict Fairmile D which he used to command.

Down and out, he falls in with unsavoury folks and the story unfolds in the Med....

Hi,SR.GOPHER.I do apologise for NOT including the FAIRMILES and others from the other side of the pond.I have a FAIRMILE that I recieved some years ago that could NOT be put back in fighting trim,so,she became a yacht!! Not bad looking if I say so myself.The options are many and the sky is the limit as long as you remember the yachts I,m talking were built from 1945 to about 1980. The yachts of today ,such as REVELL,S sunseeker PREDATOR motoryacht , as far as I,m concerned are a waste of good materials and they,re NOT even wood!I have lived on converted vessels of many types .In the 45 to 80 foot nothing beats wood ! My last conversion was a former U.S.C.G. bouy tender! This vessel easily lived up to the title of LUXURY motoryacht.Sure she was slower than the EURO design counterparts ,but,she had things they couldn,t have because I had the deckspace!!How about DAVITS on both sides that held SKI NAUTIQUE restored ski boats! Topside a hot tub,with waterslide and a firepit and barbeque that was supported by a well equipped wet bar AND a full topside galley for those fine days off the MEXICAN coast!!!Now that,s yachting,A nice slow cruise to nowhere and no oneupsmanship!!I just loved going somewhere in her! commodore4 P.S. I also forgot to mention HUCKINS and STEPHENS!! SORRY!

Well, the idea is a good one, and then I saw that there weren't weapons - then I thought and also, what about the Vospers, Huckins, and Fairmiles?

Jim Baumann once sent me photos of a yacht converted from a torpedo boat. Maybe he still has those images and can post them here.

No, you did not misread the title.I have the two schnellboots now and I am going to buy another for the conversion.I will try to get the early boat.On the higgins boats there are 4 different styles that look good.The elco hull is ,or can be host to at least 12 different designs. The schnellboot can fit in three eras and probably 20 different styles. I would recommend this form of modeling for any one tired of warships and such.I even converted a LINDBERG Cape Class cutter to a yacht and it looked great.I guess thats why I,ve got all these guns and military stuff in four or five scales in my parts cabinets ,you think?.Like I said ,try it,you,ll like it!! commodore4