This is an accurate scale model of the RAF Crash Tender, two of which were built by Vosper in the early 1950s, where their official title was '46 foot firefloat Mk 2'. The hull was copied from the original Shipbuilder's plans, so it has all the elegant flared hull sections and flowing lines of the real thing, features that were completely missing from the slab-sided and thus none too accurate all plywood Aerokits model kit version of the same boat that some will remember from many years ago. The scale drawing for this model has been copied largely from Vosper drawings and other original material, and depending upon how accurate you want your model to be, you can fit either a single shaft like the Aerokits version of old, or if you want something more accurate, the twin shafts and rudders that were fitted to the real thing.

The original Aerokits RAF Crash Tender was produced in two sizes, and as well as the 1/16th version, there was also a much larger one at 1/12th. This was a big model, and at first I didn't think that there would be very much interest in it, but the reaction of customers who have admired the lines of the smaller hull convinced me that there would be a reasonable demand for the big one as well, so there’s now a 1/12th scale hull to accompany it’s smaller brother. As can be seen in the pic of both hulls above, I decided to mould the spray rails on the larger version, in addition the full keel and gunwale strakes that are common to both sizes of hull.