The Ocean Explorer

My uncle bought this as it reminded him of a research vessel he worked back then called RRS Discovery.

The model itself is really impressive, and big, once it is completed. He spents about one week on it, building after work. It is a challenging build, which he like, and its great to see the scale of the ship increase, as you add the fore and aft sections of the hull and finally the bridge.

The designers have a done a neat job with the rear rudder and on-board crane, and the way this moves by turning the small screws on the roof. The little helicopter is great fun as is the submarine, especially the moving propellers and sub sampling arms.

His only gripe is the heli-deck; it's far too big and high for this type of vessel; usually it would be on the rear. I therefore modified my model to lower the heli-deck, and put in a replica rear sub-launch derrick on the back. He also added seats in the submarine and helicopter to make them more realistic.

This is superb value at this price point.