Old Model Boat Kits

So, what's this all about?

Old model plans have an historic and practical value to hobbyists, but as the sector shrinks, they become rare and vanish. Occasionally, they are shared or sold to collectors, but the information they contain is still generally unavailable. I have set up a web site so that anyone owning such a plan can easily make it available on the web, where it should survive much better...

Do you have a huge store of plans?

Not really. There are far fewer Model Boat plans than, say, aircraft plans. But, in my view, that makes them more important to save...

Aren't there such sites already?

There are quite a few sites for aircraft models, but I can't find one which specialises in boats. Find one for me, and I'll happily pass my data to them and spend my time and money on something else...

Is this free?

Yes. I run the host myself, so my costs are limited to the electricity. The downside of this is that my bandwidth is small, which is why I prefer you to download from other sites where possible.

This is going to be a big collection of free plans, then?

Well, not exactly! They are going to be free, but the site is about saving forgotten plans, not gathering everything that can be found. For instance, Les Rowell's Aerokits plans are not in danger of being lost - so there is no need for them to be included. I handle the copyright issues so it doesn't become a 'Pirate Bay' for plans. This repository is mainly here for the rare and unusual models - and I'm afraid that the best we can do won't make the collection very big...

How do you categorise your 'non-kit' boats?

Vaguely! If the boat uses sails or a standard propeller it goes in the relevent top two sections. Submarines get a special section, as do paddle-boats, and everything else is 'other'. That would include airscrew and water jet boats, etc. I'm happy to arrange a better system if someone can tell me what that is...

How long are you going to do this for?

As long as I can keep it up...at least a week.. :)

Can I help?

Of course! Look at the 'Help' section...

Why do/don't you...

I'd be happy to respond to any other questions through the Contact address...