Let's face it, the UK model trade has weathered some pretty nasty storms over the last 40 or 50 years and, in parts, not weathered them terribly well. Traditional wooden model boat kits seemed to suffer quite badly, with names like Keil Kraft, Aerokits, Nor-Star and Veron slipping below the surface many moons ago. Of course, the reasons for the demise of these great British institutions will be many and varied, encompassing everything, I suspect, from a poor appreciation of the changing market, through quality control to the rise of far eastern manufacturing and cheap imports. Whatever the cause, disappear they did, in the most part never to be seen again. But wait. Can that really be the end of the story? I'd like to think not. You see, unlike other R/C disciplines - cars and aircraft, for example - the traditional model boat hobby hasn't been subjected to cheap mass-produced, Ready-to-Run Chinese imports on anywhere near the same scale. Sure, there are some quite superb RTR model boats available and some genuinely impressive scale subjects too, but on the whole the marine ready-built market has been dominated by racing sailboats, fast electric powerboats or cartoon-scale .: tugs that teeter precariously on the fence between toy and semi-convincing miniature. A number of companies have, of course, dabbled in the scale RTR market over the years. Thunder Tiger was one such and Horizon has given it a go too. However, success in this arena must surely be measured by the variety of RTR scale boats in a given company's range and, if you look closely, you won't find many. The reasons for this seem pretty clear. At least, they do to me. Traditional model boat building, whether it be scale, semi-scale, or |ust flight-of-fancy, is as much about the creation of the subject as it is the display and the running. Take away the creative element and you kill much of the enjoyment, not least the satisfaction and the pride of ownership. What I find encouraging about recent events is the sign of life I see in the UK's withered and battered traditional wooden R/C boat industry. If you want proof of this you need look no further than the Vintage Model Boat Company range that, having recently been rejuvenated by SLEC Ltd., is selling rather well thank you very much. How can we tell? Simple, the growth of the range and investment in the development of new 'traditional' products. Allied to this is the fact that model boat plan sales are particularly buoyant at the moment, all of which points to the notion that RTR model boats haven't made an impact on the hobby that we know and love and that a swing back to tradition may be on the way. Okay, we might not have come full circle just yet, and I'm sure we never will, but there's definitely some turning going on. If you've not come across SLEC's VMBC range, then you're in for a treat. Make a point of visiting www.slecuk.com, but before you do, check out our Sea Breeze build on page 62. From me and all the crew here at Model Boats, we wish you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.