Revell-The Coastal Series

I remember that tug too, painting it all sorts of silly colors at my young age.

I only remember the "Coastal Series" faintly.  The only other kit in it that I can recall is the tugboat (though it seems likely there was at least one more).  The tug originally appeared in the early fifties under the name Long Beach, and was in fact a scale reproduction of a San Francisco-based tug of that name.  It's been reissued several times (I've misplace my copy of Dr. Graham's history of Revell, so can't check the dates; my fault).  I have in front of me the latest incarnation from Revell Germany.  It's labeled simply "Harbour Tug Boat," and the scale is given as 1/108 (which is, in fact, pretty close to reality - for once).  It's the same kit except for the decals and the color of the plastic (bright red instead of the original light grey).

This kit is an old favorite of mine.  It represented the state of the art when it was originally released, and still holds up quite well by modern standards.  (The three beautiful crew figures in it found their way into my models of the Bounty and Hancock.) 

Newcomers unfamiliar with it do need to pay attention to a couple of odd points, though.  In one of its earlier American issues the kit was motorized, and the entire superstructure was made removable to give access to the motor and batteries.  On each of the superstructure sides (parts 45 and 46), down next to the deck, are a pair of crude-looking plastic projections about 1/8" apart.  When the superstructure is assembled to the hull, the gaps between them line up with a pair of round "dimples" in the main deck.  Those dimples originally were the holes for a pair of metal screws that, by means of the projections, held the superstructure to the deck.  Slice off the projections, fill in the dimples, remove fifty years' worth of flash, and you'll have the basis for a fine scale model of a typical late-forties/early fifties American west coast diesel tug.  I have my doubts about whether any European tug ever looked much like that (though heaven knows I'm no expert on European tugs), but in terms of representing its originally-intended subject it's a real gem.

You're correct, the Revell "Sports Fishing Boat" (reissued last year) is definitely a modified re-issue of their Chris Craft Flying Bridge Cruiser. It has a few additional parts (platform, fishing rods, figures) but I think the boat itself is unchanged. It would be fairly straightforward to convert it back to a standard cabin cruiser, which is what I intended to do with this kit (I actually bought it to use as a river boat on my 7mm model railway layout; but I haven't built the riverside section of this yet, if I ever do, so the boat may end up in my ship model collection instead).

Unfortunately Revell's "Coastal Series" of kits is long discontinued. The box art on their 2006 reissues were direct reprints of the original 1950s boxes, so some of the other kits shown on the box sides are no longer available. However, their Harbour Tug Boat is still in production (currently boxed as the London-based "Lucky XI", though I think the kit is based on the American tug "Taurus"). It's quite a nice kit despite its age, I built it last year. The scale is about 1/100.