Hello Colin,

The Sea Queen I am restoring is about the same age as yours.
It has a Torpedo 850 fitted, and with 12v SLA's, it will plane - with the 'right' propeller.

Beneath the new wood that it's last owner added - to mount the Torpedo motor upon...

...are the original mountings for the rusty old Taycol Supermarine that was removed - unnecessarily !

Whilst restoring the model, I am lightening it quite a bit.
For example - the fitted handrails are from 6mm BRASS bar !

The cabin roofs are built up from 4mm thick ply - each weighs over 5 ounces !
As with my Fireboat - I will make new roofs - from balsa.

They are not structural - and do not need to be elephant-proof - like a Tonka ! 😉

Those two changes will alone reduce the hull weight by about 1/2lb.

When I am done, I shall be fitting a new Taycol Supermarine motor, suitably equipped with the necessaries for modern R/C operation.

The lower waterline will be remedied by adding extra battery capacity, if necessary, after adding that brass lump.

Keven. 😊