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In 1977, Lego hit upon the idea of floating boats with airtight hulls, the first pair being a the first in an improbably long line of firefighting boats (I dunno, are there a lot of burning ships/oil rigs in Denmark?) and the other another recurring theme, a police launch. The former was a small-scale model, while the latter was designed to scale with the rudimentary Minifigs of the time (the ones who look like they're in straight-jackets). In 1982, with the Minifigs turning the whole thing into a massive success, they revisited the theme, issuing three fresh boats - a firefighting ship (well, obviously...), a cargo ship and a tug boat. And, after always wanting one, I finally got the tug boat about a year ago. The best way of getting the thing is keeping an eye out for the hull on ebay, and then cobbling together the other parts. That way I got it for about £8 all up, which I was rather proud of. It's a lovely little model too, surprisingly cute for something of this size, but still looking like it's up to the job of towing larger ships. The colour scheme is nice, very functional, with some nice touches such as the yellow bars and red hook. There are a couple of nice details on such a small deck (you can't go wrong with a clip with a spanner on it), but a realistic amount of space too. I like tug boats as it is, and also like it when the Town range throws in a few less glamorous models - this completes a harbour better than half-a-dozen fire or police boats. Aside from the three-part hull, most of the parts are very simple, which works nicely. Getting another couple of middle sections would leave you with the basis for a nice bigger boat, while the superstructure would be pretty easy to extend. From this aspect, the 1982 boats worked better as parts than the later boats with the one-piece hulls. That said, this isn't a great set to buy just to contribute to your parts box. It is, on the other hand, fairly easy to put together if you can get hold of the hull. Unusually for such an old model, I didn't even make any modifications to this. About all I've added to it is a second sailor, who actually fits on it nicely without making the thing look over-crewed. It looks a lot better with someone manning the winch, and someone steering. Aside from that, mine had to survive with a grey hook for a while before I lucked into a red one. Overall, it's an excellent model, and possibly the best of the floating boats. Highly recommended for your harbour, even if we're probably still a bit too old to have the thing in the bath any more... Review
Written: 03/07/2006 |
