Electric

Electric speedboat 1643 15.5 inches

New Model Cruiser 9 inch with outboard motor

Clifford Hydroplane 7 inches with outboard motor. Powered by 2 Penlite (AA) batteries.

8 inch Speedboat

Clifford Speedboat 313 . Powered by 2 Penlite (AA) batteries.

A lovely motor yacht complete with its mast top light. A typical example of these beautifully made boats. They have a real feel of quality about them , as we have come to expect from Japanese products.

Guiterman Electric Speedboat

Made from aluminium. Powered by 2 Torch cells. Modern equivalent would be 'D' cells.

A nice sleek looking Commander boat with a detachable outboard motor. Powered by 2 C cells , it has the added feature of working headlights. Lovely graphics on the box.

Wooden Model Boat missing a few bits. Battery holders missing. Non original on/off switch. Two red foredeck lights works.

8 inch Alaska Tanker powered by 1 penlite (AA) battery.

9 inch Tug Boat with detachable submarine motor. Powered by one penlite (AA) battery.

A tug and a trawler both with the 'submarine' motor. Uses one Penlite / HP7 battery. The modern equivalent is the AA.
They positively 'whiz' across the pool. Not particularly scale speed , but fun to watch !

Battleship. Powered by 2 HP11 / C batteries. Unusual in that you started the motor by flicking the propeller. The motor is stopped with your fingers too. The engine sound is provided by a metal strip being flicked by a plastic protrusion on the propeller shaft. The hull has drain holes at the rear enabling any water ingress to be drained out after each voyage. My grandmother bought me one of these in the 1970s.

Hong Kong Laurie toys 8 inch speedboat. Unfortunately missing a couple of parts , but nevertheless it is nice to have any example of these less than common boats. Powered by 2 HP7 'AA' cells , it has forward and reverse controlled by the white lever at the stern of the boat.

Lucky Toy Company LTC Motor Boat. Powered by 1 'C' battery. Chrome parts have been re-painted.

Speedboat with Neptune outboard motor. Part No. 3811. A lovely boat ,that I consider myself lucky to have in my collection. Powered by 1 'C' cell , or HP11 in 1960s/70s money. I like these boats with a 'driver' ; I especially like the facial expression , usually grim determination , but this one has a face with a nice smile. There is a video of this boat trundling around my paddling pool. Click on the image and thumb through the gallery.

Louis Marx of Swansea Lumarine 11 inch plastic speedboat. Powered by two HP11 'C' cells. Look at the lovely graphics on the box. The graphics on the boxes of some of these old vintage toys are as nice as the toys themselves.

Meccano/Hornby Fast Patrol Launch PL1

A lovely little boat , albeit incomplete. Missing its cabin rails.

Small well made West German speedboat.

Gun boat

Dolphin

Playart Torpedo boat with 'Hi-Rev' Gold seal motor. The 'submarine' motor could be detached from the hull . It was powered by one Pencell or HP7 which is the modern AA. The boat has a surprising turn of speed considering it was powered by only one cell.

The fantastic Playart submarines were definitely one of my favourite toys of my child hood. The submarine on the right is the earlier version powered by the same slide on motor that powers the Playart Torpedo boats amongst other Playart boats , and incidentally many other boats from other manufacturers of
this era.

These submarines dived and surfaced repeatedly . You could adjust the depth they dived to , and also make them cruise on the surface. The submarine on the left is the 'improved' version powered by two Penlite (HP7 , AA) batteries , as opposed to the single Penlite of the earlier version, held vertically under the torpedo behind the conning tower. I and a friend had endless fun with these when we were kids. Superb toys.

Because , as all submarines , whether real, model or toy , they are sensitive to buoyancy, modern batteries being a bit heavier and bulkier than the old 70s Penlite HP7 batteries, it's sometimes tricky to get these submarines to dive correctly.

Scalex Rambler 12 inch river cruiser. One of the larger , if not the largest , of the Scalex motorised boats. 2 'C' size batteries are house under the deck cover.

Scalex Queen Elizabeth 2 with submersible torpedo motor . 18 inches in length. Missing foremast and all decals. Quite a rare boat. Manufactured in Hong Kong , but branded by an English company. It was at the time increasingly common for UK companies to outsource manufacturing to countries that had cheaper manufacturing costs then UK companies.

Scalex Sea Sprite. Lovely 12 inch speedboat with submersible, detachable torpedo motor. Quite rare for a Scalex boat , especially in this lovely , boxed condition. Has stickers that allows you to put different names on the boat. A good seaworthy boat as the hull can totally sealed because no workings are required in the hull , unlike more conventional toy boats.

Aluminium motor boat with variable speed motor

The Kestrel is structurally identical to the clockwork Commodore but with an electric motor powered by 2 'C' cells. The Kestrel proved not as popular as the Commodore. Maybe, this was because any parent buying the Kestrel for their child had to purchase batteries too !

At 24 inches , this is the longest boat Sutcliffe made and very rare. I've not had this running , but I would think progress would be very sedate. Would have been very expensive when it was made. Has an oiling tube on the propeller tube.

The rarest of all Valiants ,and one of my favourite Sutcliffe boats. There were between 6 and 11 built by Mr. Ken Sutcliffe using an electric motor instead on the more common clockwork. As you can see the box simply had a hand written sticker placed over the word clockwork.

The two bladed prop was replaced with a three bladed prop allowing for the greater rotational speed of the prop , but less torque than from the clockwork motor. The superstructure is modified to hold the one HP11 or 'C' size battery as it is now commonly known in place.

Being powered by one cell , it gives a realistically slow speed.

The electric Valiant showing the electric motor inside , and the battery (cell)  holder.

Note the modified superstructure with a 'U' section soldered to the underneath to hold the battery in place.

A lovely cabin cruiser with a non functioning outboard motor and working headlight.

Another Telsalda lifeboat, battery powered. The battery required is 3 volt, 7.5 cms long and 2 cm diameter and is no longer available today, therefore if you want to sail it ,you have to improvise. The battery is housed under the cabin.

Firefly 12 inch speedboat

Electric powered cruise liner . Parts missing. Requires 2 HP11 , 'C' batteries.

Wooden model boat with foredeck light.

Wooden Model Boat.

9 inch long pleasure cruiser powered by 2 'AA' penlite batteries. Has a switch at the rear of the cabin which gives stop in the centre , forward and reverse.  

Catamaran with air propeller.

A lovely little cabin cruiser with , again , lovely graphics on the box.

12 inch Solar Powered Speedboat . I can't comment on its operation , as I haven't tried it.

Paddleboat

Speedboat with inboard motor powered by 1 'C' cell. Another boat you don't see every day. There is a video of this boat in action.

Electrically operated submarine. The submarine is connected to a battery box and speed controller by long wires. I haven't tried it out , but I have examined it and can say that it dives by setting the manually adjustable forward diving planes to the diving position , and driving the submarine through the water with sufficient speed to overcome the buoyancy of the submarine. The submarine has 3 speeds , which are achieved by setting the dial on the battery box to numbers 1 to 3 in forward or reverse. This corresponds to supplying the motor with 1.5V from one battery ,3V from 2 batteries or 4.5V from 3. It is interesting how the maker's enclosed the motor totally in a plastic case. There isn't any mechanical link between the motor shaft and the propeller shaft , but a magnetic link. This means that water will not be able to enter the motor housing. The downside is that you can't lubricate the motor. I have taken a couple of pictures of the inside of the submarine , which can be viewed in the gallery.

Clifford Hydroplane 7 inches with airscrew motor. Powered by 2 Penlite (AA) batteries.

Clockwork speedboat 12 inches

8 inch Speedboat

I count myself lucky to have found a very rare 50's Miss Ever Ready speedboat. At 30cms long it is powered by a small Ever Ready motor fed by 4 batteries (C cell). It's made of aluminium. Unfortunately, no box.

A lovely little cabin cruiser with a nice graphic showing London Bridge.

9 inch Air Sea Rescue Launch powered by 2 'AA' penlite batteries. Has a switch at the rear of the cabin which gives stop in the centre , forward and reverse.  Part No. R3337

9" Harrow speedbird. Powered by two 'AA' cells. I have not seen many of these about. Has 'Ray's' with a small crown stamped on the underside of the hull with the the number 1776. Cells are under the removable deck behind the cockpit. The switch is nice small chromed lever in the cockpit between the seats. A very pleasing little boat. A nice example of the very underestimated in my opinion Hong Kong toy boats.

Wooden patrol boat with deck lights.

KIng Tug Boat K3224. Powered by 2 C cells. As you can see, it has a perforated panel that should be removed before it is displayed for sale.

9 inch Trawler with 'flick and go' propeller.

9 inch Harbour Master Tug with hooting sound. Video of boat out of water with hooting sound.

Aircraft Carrier. Powered by 2 HP11 / C batteries. Unusual in that you started the motor by flicking the propeller. The motor is stopped with your fingers too. The engine sound is provided by a metal strip being flicked by a plastic protrusion on the propeller shaft. The hull has drain holes at the rear enabling any water ingress to be drained out after each voyage.

Lang Craft Speedboat. Part No. L-302

Oh boy , it's a Lincoln toy ! Lincoln Catamaran powered by 2 HP11'C' cells , one under each cover of the pontoons. Motor powers the air propeller. 8 1/2 inches long. There's a short video of the boat running. The motor is a bit noisy and I have put a tiny amount of WD40 on it. One of the boats you don't see very often.

Comet Hydroplane 12 inches with air propeller. A popular toy in its , and still is a popular collectors' toy today.

Dinghy and outboard marked 250. Another boat you don't see every day.

Meccano / Hornby Motor Llaunch.

Meccano / Hornby French made speedboat. A lovely boat. All post war boats from Meccano were made in plastic. 12 inches long. The battery required is a flat 4.5V type.

Fleet Line Day Cruiser

9 inch Speedboat . 2 in 1 speedboat , so called because you could sail it as an open top speedboat or as a cabin cruiser as shown in the gallery.

Gun boat PT1093. Part no. 965046

This jolly Playart  'Sturdee' tug is one of the many Playart boats issued by the Hong Kong company in the sixties / seventies.
The single AA cell  is housed in the funnel. The tug is turned on by twisting the funnel.
Unlike many Playart boats and submarines, which used the external 'submarine'  motor , the motor is housed internally.

Plastic battery operated battleship. I think this is modelled on the German WW2 heavy battleships , the Bismarck and Tirpitz. Comparatively rare for a Playart toy. 386 on bow. Turned on/off by rotating the main control tower. A lovely little piece.

Twin propellered 12 inch cabin cruiser

Scalex Wanderer River Cruiser 12 inches in length. Quite rare for a Scalex boat. You have to be careful with the on/off switch , as the plastic deck can easily be cracked.

Scalex Firefly Speedboat 12 inches in length. Quite rare for a Scalex boat. You have to be careful with the on/off switch , as the plastic deck can easily be cracked. This boat was previously sold under the Triang brand.

Scalex Lighning. Lovely 12 inch speedboat with submersible, detachable torpedo motor. Quite rare for a Scalex boat. A good seaworthy boat , as the hull can totally sealed because no workings are required in the hull , unlike more conventional toy boats.

12 inch Commodore Speedboat . The only Sutcliffe boat supplied in kit form. Very rare and very sought out by collectors especially when unbuilt. Has the same hull and running gear as the similar age Zodiac.

Merlin. Identical structurally to the Hawk but battery powered. Uses two 'C' cells , but I would use 2 'AA' batteries with adaptors. The circular cover towards the stern of the boat is removable and allows light oil to put on the linkage between the propeller shaft and the motor shaft .

Sutcliffe Zodiac. Exactly the same dimensions as the clockwork powered Meteor. Has the toggle push button switch on the battery cover. Has a smaller diameter propeller than the Meteor , but has 3 blades. Note the sheet accompanying the boat - I do not know if photocopying was generally available about 1960 , and if it wasn't , every one of these leaflets must have had to been typed individually !

A lovely little cabin cruiser. Typically of a lot of Empire Made , Hong Kong boats , it has taken its styling from English made toys. This example looks like a loosely scaled down version of the clockwork Penguin Solent cruiser.

Another Telsalda lifeboat, battery powered. The battery required is 3 volt, 7.5 cms long and 2 cm diameter and is no longer available today, therefore if you want to sail it ,you have to improvise. The battery is housed under the cabin.

Sunfish Catamarine 12 inch speedboat. An unusual , and in my opinion , not one of the better looking toy boats from Tri-ang. Has a catamaran style hull.

Tri-ang Firefly Speedboat 12 inches in length. Quite rare for a Tri-ang boat. You have to be careful with the on/off switch , as the plastic deck can easily be cracked.

Comet Hydroplane 12 inches with air propeller

Wooden Model Boat with K-Bee painted on bow. Looks to have been badly overpainted on bottom of hull. Has a nice working light on the foredeck.

Union Craft / Langcraft powered model boat with outboard motor , part no. LM-210. Has a detachable cabin roof.

Hydroplane Boat

12 inch Ferry with Submersible Motor

Lovely little 7 and half inched hulled speedboat. Uses 1 'C' cell. The battery seems a little large for such a small boat , but she sails well with it , albeit a little low at the stern.
I would have thought an AA or even an AAA battery would have suited better. With today's batteries being far superior to the batteries available when these toys were made , it is better to use a battery adaptor that allows one to use a physically smaller battery. This boat performs very nicely with a AAA battery.
It states on the box 'You can put the battery in the boat'. Where else ! 'Moulded in tough plastic'. No 372. The illustration of a young man and lady is lovely and adds to the period charm of the toy.

Victory Industries Electra

Police Rescue Launch