1/16 Free ward 35' Stern Trawler
'Celia'
Reviewed by Timothy Dike
| Here's something for you large scale modelers! How about 1/16th scale, this Trawler measures out at 27" long with a beam of 10", plenty of room for motors and servo's should you chose to make an operating model. The Celia or whatever you chose to name yours represents a typical stern trawler as used in the fishing industry. It is similar to the Trawler in the movie Perfect Storm. This type of ship can also be found in charter service for diving expeditions or salvage operations, or perhaps operating undercover in some clandestine mission. | ||
| The hull is formed from Styrene plastic by vacuum forming. The only real work for the modeler will be to trim the the flat flange away and add the holes for the propeller shaft and rudder. If you are going to make your kit a Radio Control kit, then you will need to mount that hardware before going much further. Don at Loyalhanna can assist you in your choice of RC gear if needed. If your building a static display model then just follow the instructions. |  |
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| The cabin walls and decks are die cut from sheet styrene. Each part has been scored with the outline of the various pieces, so there is no guess work. The cabin top is also vacuum formed and will need to be trimmed to size. The parts are easy to separate from the sheet by simply following the grooves, which are deep enough to almost cut through the sheet. |
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| The amount of metal fittings in this kit is almost intimidating. The detail nut will have a heyday with all the gear. There are gears and levers and all sorts of machinery parts to make up the hydraulic trawl winch. Some cleanup will be necessary to remove what little flash there is. The propeller shaft includes a brass shaft and bearing assembly and the rudder also has all the parts need to create a moveable setup. There is also some wood strips included to buildup some of the other components in the kit. |  |
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| The instructions consist of a 16 page detailed booklet with step by step procedures to finish your kit. A parts list and well annotated views showing how the parts go together at the various stages of assembly. Not only are some assemblies showing in the exploded view fashion, but also in their assembled views. Also included is a large multi-view sheet showing the finished Trawler drawn to scale. |  |
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| Conclusions:
This kit is a great introduction to the world of large scale ship building. Some of their kits are much more complex so I would suggest beginning with this one, before tackling one of the others |
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 Thanks
to Loyalhanna Dockyard for the review sample. This is just one of many
Caldercraft kits that they carry. They also carry complete kits and hulls,
drawings, semi kits, individual fittings, flags, motors, running gear,
radio and speed controls and just about anything else you can imagine.
Only a fraction of what they carry is online, I suggest you get a copy
of their latest catalog to see all the kits and accessories available. |
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