Nature Coast Hobby Shop

BB604 Billing Boats HMS Renown

This ship is a 50 foot steam pinnace from around the middle of the 19th century. These boats had a small forecastle, a room for the crew, a boiler room and a cabin. Above the crews’ quarters was a conical steel base with a permanent universal ring, on which a 3lb. quick-firing cannon or maxim machine gun could be mounted.

These naval launches’ ancestry began in the form of sailing pinnaces initially, before evolving into the steam-powered form of HMS Renown. They were built in their hundreds by the British navy all the way through to the late 1960s, using identical construction techniques – double-diagonal teak on oak frames, and were the standard ship-to-shore supply vessel in naval dockyards throughout Britain and the empire, some lingering on until the early 1990s. They are, by the way, always known as 52ft 6″ (not 50 ft) harbour launches, or HLDs, (HLD – harbour launch – diesel, or HLS harbour Launch – steam) or pinnaces/picket boats, the extra 2 ft 6′ being the width of the rudder. At Billing Boats’ we use the length of the hull (without the rudder) to identify our models for “boat to boat” consistency”. They remained steam-powered up to WWII, and were largely diesels post war. (Thank you Ritchie Tassle from the U.K. for his expertise on the history of this beautiful and historic vessel.)

Kit includes laser cut wooden hull and wooden strips, fittings set, plan and manual. Scale model of a steam pinnace. 1:35 scale Wooden hull 5.51″H 17.71″L 3.74″W

All of the 600 Series Model Boat Kits (item numbers 600-609) include an easier way of building the hull. The hull is assembled in halves, on a table. This allows for easier assembly and is quite useful in learning plank-on-frame or plank-on-bulkhead construction! Once each half is done you join the two for a completed hull. Make sure you work each half in opposite directions so that when joined they marry up evenly!

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