Harbour Tug Boat

This is a nice little kit, I built one with my 7 year old son. I have a model railroad and believe it could have the portholes and doors enlarged to make it appear to be 1/96 scale and thus work in a harbor as a nice bit of scenery. I did find the 'bumpers' that are modeled as solid pieces in this kit to be inferior in quality when compared to the rest of it, hence the 'good' rating instead of 5 star. Still fun to do and a neat model results.

The Tugboat, is for it's size the most powerful craft afloat....(Wonder if anyone will get that reference, oh well). These plucky little vessels have been around since the early days of steam powered watercraft and are designed to tow, tug, and maneuver larger ships into confined areas where larger ships may damage themselves and others around them trying to dock. This kit represents a small diesel tugboat similar to those built for the US Army during WWII. The kit is a bit of a classic (as the date stamped into the bottom of the hull gives away)and the molds have been around the block a few times. Despite this the plastic parts are crisp, clean and in relatively good shape. There was some bending of parts upon arrival but nothing a little heating up and slow twisting could not cure. There are less than 100 parts to this kit, however what is there is well detailed. In the hands of an experienced modeler, one could have a good bit of fun with this kit. At the same time, a first timer will not be overwhelmed and can enjoy this as a starter project. However there are a few flaws. The most glaring of which is that there is no glass or clear plastic provided for the windows. Some flash is evident and the plastic seemed to reject some paints. The decals provided are for the London-based 'Lucky XI' and the plastic is molded in a bright red. Overall this is a well done little kit and will fulfill many needs for a basic model.