Airfix 1/144 BHC SRN4 Hovercraft (09171)

Ratch · May 30, 2015

DavidJC · June 1, 2015

That's come up well.

Ratch · June 4, 2015

It was a bit of a nightmare to build.

Alanpurus · June 5, 2015

Yes to this! One of the classic kits of my youth. Never got to build it, and my best mate started it and ended up throwing it away! Sacrilege!

george_georgiou · June 7, 2015

Yes to this! One of the classic kits of my youth. Never got to build it, and my best mate started it and ended up throwing it away! Sacrilege!

Agree with you there, great kit, built it when it came out, would love to have another now. Come on Airfix, reissue please

alan_bean · June 27, 2015

Not a kit without it's problems - certainly a challenge to build, but I'd love at least two more. It always bugged me that the British Rail logo on the other version to the Hoverlloyd one I built here was upside down on the decal sheet and needed to be cut in half horizontally and swapped top to bottom to make it right! I reduced the skirt on this one to lower it (as deflated) and added a few N-gauge figures (1:160 but look about right for the 1:144 kit I think)./media/tinymce_upload/9cb76fec7b86b6e75f9506ee4e2ddc82.JPG

DavidJC · June 30, 2015

A point to note is that Sealink vessels often if not always had the BR logo the 'wrong way round' (that is the top arrow pointing to the left rather than the right). I don't know why that would be definively, but I've heard that it was deliberate. I've heard that though it was part of BR it was Sealink as an entity, but also something to do with ships running on the right unlike trains that run on the left and another theory where only one side of the vessel had the logo the wrong way round so that it showed the correct way when on the other side (how was this any different to railway locos?)

Of course, a shipping vessel though will only ever travel one way in relation to the vessel where a locomotive, diesels here with the double arrow, can work either direction in relation to itself.

So though the logos look wrong, it could be they are not in fact a mistake on Aifix's part.

Harold Twerp · April 23, 2016

Yes to this! One of the classic kits of my youth. Never got to build it, and my best mate started it and ended up throwing it away! Sacrilege!

Agree with you there, great kit, built it when it came out, would love to have another now. Come on Airfix, reissue please

Vote for it on KitStarter... just a suggestion

John Symmons · April 23, 2016

Looking good Ratch. Another solid good looking build. I know the kit's no longer available, but a little How-To would be interesting.

A little while ago I did post on seeing this kit for sale at a Cape Town model shop and recieved an answer for details as the shop owner did say he would post it world wide. Haven't heard any more.

Thanks for sharing this model I must admit to being tempted but in the end gave it a miss.

Remember vwe do this for fun John the Pom

Ratch · April 24, 2016

How to what John? I built this five years ago, it had many ill-fitting parts.

My build thread is here, although many of the pictures have been deleted.

http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=337&t=25510

Dad Paul B · April 26, 2016

I have fond memories of these flying from Ramsgate (Pegwell bay strictly speaking). Incredibly noisy but the fastest thing over water. Never caught on as I think they were very expensive to run and the fuel crisis pretty much did for them. I remember seeing the kits around but never tried anything that big back then.

The cutaway panel is a really nice touch - it would be interesting to see the Thames Clippers given a similar treatment and I love the landing apron diorama..

Pretty Mediocre Modeller · April 27, 2016

These craft kept on going with HoverSpeed at Dover until about the mid 90's, I remember them as I was a seaman on the conventional ferries at the same time. I lived in Ramsgate and also remember than the Pegwell Bay base was used as maintenance after HoverLloyd pulled out. There were two out of service SRN4's on the ramp slowly being stripped for spares, sorry don't remember which ones. The terminal was left unguarded and just abandoned when they finally left, I recall as a teenager having a look around in there just after they went. All the offices were fully furnished and computers and other equipment was just left around the place. Didn't go near the hulks of the hovercraft though as they didn't look to safe propped up on old oil drums! The terminal is now long gone, but the ramp remains, as does a smaller concrete ramp in Ramsgate outer harbour used for the original SRN1 tests, I think, very close to where Hornby were going to move their visitors centre.

Chuffing Billy · April 27, 2018

I made this when it first came out, whenever that was. As I remember the fit if the skirt was dire ! But I finished it nevertheless. It must have looked awful, but to my young eyes, it was brilliant. Although, it didn't float as I remember and I never fully got the damp out of it either..............

But I do remember being disappointed that there were no passengers or crew included, especially with the clear roof that let you see inside.

Happy Days !

Chuffing Billy · April 27, 2018

These craft kept on going with HoverSpeed at Dover until about the mid 90's, I remember them as I was a seaman on the conventional ferries at the same time. I lived in Ramsgate and also remember than the Pegwell Bay base was used as maintenance after HoverLloyd pulled out. There were two out of service SRN4's on the ramp slowly being stripped for spares, sorry don't remember which ones. The terminal was left unguarded and just abandoned when they finally left, I recall as a teenager having a look around in there just after they went. All the offices were fully furnished and computers and other equipment was just left around the place. Didn't go near the hulks of the hovercraft though as they didn't look to safe propped up on old oil drums! The terminal is now long gone, but the ramp remains, as does a smaller concrete ramp in Ramsgate outer harbour used for the original SRN1 tests, I think, very close to where Hornby were going to move their visitors centre.

There is one in the Hovercraft Museum at the the old RNAS airfield HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire. https://www.hovercraft-museum.org/collections/

Ratch · April 28, 2018

I made this when it first came out, whenever that was.

1970 😉

Kenneth ONeill · April 30, 2018

Firstly @Ratch - I've never seen this kit look this good before!

Secondly, as a historical aside, I remember watching and hearing one leaving Dover from the castle, and that must have been October, November or early December 1995. (I've only ever been to Dover Castle once)

spadgent · April 30, 2018

looking good

Ratch · April 30, 2018

Thanks guys. I saw another at Modelkraft for £25 but declined 🤑

Sailorman · April 30, 2018

Nice one Ratch!

I "flew" in the Princess Margaret from Dover to France way back in 1980 ......A fantastic trip. The sea was choppy but she didn't pitch at all. The only odd sensation was a slight side to side motion ..... not really rolling but more like a slipping first to one side and then to the other. The sea spray thrown up by the motion of the craft over the water resulted in rainbows visible ....I obviously had selected a window seat.

I don't think youngsters today can appreciate that to us these were the transports of the future! So sad to think they never lived up to their promise no doubt because of the ecconomics. Perhaps we'll see something like them in the future.

I really must pull my unbuilt kit from my stash. Believe it or not I never built it because I couldn't make up my mind whether to build it with the clear section or to build it with a removable roof so that with the roof in place it would look finished.........still haven't decided!

Ratch · April 30, 2018

There's still a hovercraft service between Portsmouth and Ryde (IOW), but for foot passengers only.

T2B · May 1, 2018

I have revisited this post and your build looks good Ratch. I did 1 back in the 70s when I was a teenager so the finish was probably a bit ropey (my skills at the time rather than the kit lol) but I have a 1990s release in my stash ready to do.

Over the past year I have bought some N-Gauge (approx 1:150 scale so almost perfect) passengers and vehicles to do a little diorama but at the moment I can't drag myself away from my love of WW2 aircraft to start it ☺

Ratch · May 1, 2018

TBH its not a great fit, so be prepared to have some work to do. It's a pity there's not a deflated skirt option as the ramp doesn't reach the ground, so it's not really suited for modelling 'in dock' loading or unloading. But its a great subject, and where else would you get the opportunity to model it.

Kenneth ONeill · May 1, 2018

Actually, back in the day I left the port side passenger cabin side and roof to about the centreline clear, and painted the starboard side to get the best of both worlds.