Built at the Coast Guard shipyard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, USA.

After minor adjustments the vessel is now doing duty in British coastal waters for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

This former 44-foot Coast Guard is a very seaworthy lifeboat, designed to carry out search and rescue assignments in poor weather and water conditions. With a skilled and experienced crew, this vessel can carry out the most demanding of rescue operations.

Kit includes plastic hull, stern tube with shaft, rudder, fittings kit, plan and manual.

Plastic hull 1:40 scale, measures: 9.29" H 14.29" L 4.21" W (23.5cm x 36.5cm x 11cm)

Note: Suitable for beginner modellers and up.

Billing Boats History

In the early 50s Mr. Ejnar (Ed) Billing, a former RAF pilot during WWII, was working as an Architect in the town of Esbjerg in Denmark. His wife was running a Hobby shop called Vestjydsk Hobby and Mr. Billing was proudly displaying his build up model of a Danish Fishing Boat. At that time there were no actual modelboat kits around, from which you could make a boat. One day a Danish magazine saw this beautiful model in the window of the Hobby Shop and were very interested in buying 50 “build ups” of this Fishing Boat for a competition the upcoming summer. Mr. Billing was very keen on the idea, but it was a huge undertaking making 50 models, so he came up with the idea to make the model as a kit, exactly the same way you would build a real ship. This was when the concept “plank-on-frame” was invented by Mr. Billing, which is now used by all modelboat manufacturers around the world. Up until 1958 the kits were produced under the name “VHT” Vestjydsk Hobby Teknik, but this changed as Mr. Billings products became known outside Denmark. August 1958 the Billing Boats logo and name was a reality, and the company started to be known around the world as the first and the finest manufacturer of modelboats.