Revell 05213, 1:144 scale Fairplay tugboat

Today's post is not going to be related to trains at all. I'm going to write about my work on a model of a boat. I got the kit as a Christmas gift over five months ago. No, it was not put on a shelf and forgotten. It was being worked on all this time...

The product I'm describing is Fairplay tugboat set produced by the very well known Revell company. The reason I picked this particular item is because it's in 1:144 scale. And that means it should fit an N-scale train layout very nicely.

Here's what the article looks like before unboxing...

The product is a set that includes not only the model itself but also four small canisters with acrylic paints in relevant colors, a brush and a bottle of glue.

Most of the parts are white. So unless we want to model some sort of a "ghost ship", painting is mandatory.

Very few elements are transparent. Surprisingly - those are not just windows, but also some walls. That again underlines the importance of adding some colors.

The manual is very detailed. That's something I appreciate a lot, since the build is a complex one. A sheet of decals is included, too. It allows branding the model as one of the three selected Fairplay boats.

I did not document the entire process of assembling the ship. The reason why I decided to skip it, is because it literally took months. Painting the small parts in advance, waiting for them to dry, then painting them again, waiting once more, and then either finally gluing them or.... painting them for the third time. The build was a long one and with the time I had available, it spread over a period of four months. But it's over now - the model is ready!

I'm very happy with how it looks from a distance. Of course if we take a closer look at some details, we will quickly realize it's not perfect at all. Especially the way I applied paints in some places is not something I'm extremely proud of. But it was not easy, definitely not easy at all for a person who doesn't do this kind of modeling on daily basis. Still - let's see some close-ups.


I've obtained the model with an idea of using it on an N-scale train layout. I still believe this is perfectly doable. However, two aspects have to be considered:

• Most of the bottom part of the boat will need to be removed. Unless the layout is "deep" - and mine is not - this will be the only way to make the model look like it's floating on water.
• The model is big. This is not a row-boat that fits two passengers. This is a real ship that will require a vast water surface to look good. To give you a better idea of how big it is, here it is placed next to an N-scale passenger car.

Building this model was a lengthy and demanding job. I'm pretty happy with the outcome though. Revell's product definitely met my expectations. It delivered many evenings of relax and satisfaction mixed with moments of anger and self-doubt. For me those are exactly the emotions we expect when approaching a new modeling project. And now I feel accomplished...