The Graupner Kitty
My first real model boat, with electric motor powered by a 4.5V flat flashlight battery. On theory it could even be equipped with a small remote control.
It was a birthday gift from my parents. A kit with a prefabricated styrofoam hull, lots of balsa wood parts for the cabin, propeller shaft, propeller and rudder, and some plywood for the stand. Extras to be purchased separately were styrofoam glue, a special paint for styrofoam, and the electric motor.
The building was straightforward. Painting was a bit difficult, the styrofoam was quite soft, so it was recommended to apply several layers of the paint to give it a harder surface. Also, i did not have a clue yet about different layers of paint and therefore did not apply primer. As a result the wood structure of the deck was very visible. Bit, it was my first ship model, so I was very proud of it. As far as I can remember I only had it on a lake once. Without remote it was not mich fun. You could just let it go either in circles or straight to try to catch it at the other shore of the lake. I had no money to buy a remote, even the battery was far to expensive, costing a large share of my monthly pocket money. So the kitty ended up on my bookshelf, first at the bottom, very visible, moving up over time to make space for other, more interesting models.
Years later I gave it a new paint job and even tried to fit my MiniProp remote control, but that was too heavy for the little boat.
I recently found it in the basement of my parents’ house, stuffed away in a carton box and very, very dusty.