Billing Boats St. Roch 1:72 RCMP Arctic Patrol Vessel Wooden Model Kit

Billing Boats BB605 | Plank-on-frame construction | Advanced beginner

Most historic ships are remembered for doing one extraordinary thing.

The St. Roch managed three.

In 1942, after spending two winters locked in Arctic ice, she became the first ship to navigate the Northwest Passage from west to east.

In 1944, she crossed it again in the opposite direction—this time through the more northerly deep-water route and in only 86 days. That made her the first ship to complete the Northwest Passage in both directions and the first to make the crossing in a single season.

Then, in 1950, she became the first vessel to circumnavigate North America.

Apparently, once you have made maritime history twice, stopping feels unnecessarily modest.

The St. Roch was not a battleship or one of today’s enormous icebreakers. She was a compact, heavily reinforced RCMP schooner built from thick Douglas fir, sheathed in exceptionally hard Australian eucalyptus “ironbark,” and strengthened internally to withstand the pressure of Arctic ice.

She served as a patrol vessel, supply ship, transport, floating police detachment, and representative of the Canadian government across some of the most isolated territory on Earth.

A Different Kind of Historic Ship Model

The Billing Boats BB605 recreates the St. Roch as a compact 1:72 scale wooden model measuring 18.5 inches long.

Rather than another elaborately decorated warship, this is a model of a genuine working vessel. Her appeal comes from the purposeful details: the bluff ice-strengthened hull, enclosed wheelhouse, working decks, boats, masts, rigging, rails, ventilators, and equipment required for years of Arctic service.

The finished model has plenty to study without demanding a new room in which to display it.

From Wooden Framework to Arctic Workhorse

Construction begins with a central keel and a series of laser-cut plywood frames that establish the St. Roch’s compact, heavily built hull.

At this stage, it looks less like a legendary Arctic patrol vessel and more like a carefully organized collection of ribs.

This is temporary.

Once the framework has been aligned and faired, the wooden planks are fitted progressively over it. Shaping, bending, and sanding the planking creates the St. Roch’s stout, purposeful hull—the part of the build where a flat collection of wooden components finally begins to look like a ship.

From there, the project keeps changing. The deck and wooden superstructure are added, followed by the wheelhouse, boats, rails, vents, deck equipment, masts, spars, and rigging.

That variety is one of the kit’s strengths. You move from structural assembly to hull planking, then to carpentry, fittings, painting, and rigging. No single type of work occupies the entire project, and each stage makes a visible difference.

Skill Level: Advanced Beginner

Billing Boats classifies the St. Roch as an advanced-beginner kit.

The laser-cut plywood framework provides an accurate foundation, but this remains a genuine plank-on-frame wooden model. Planking, shaping, fitting, painting, and rigging are part of the experience rather than inconveniences someone at the factory has removed for you.

This is best suited to a builder who has completed at least one simpler wooden model or is comfortable working carefully from full-size plans.

The printed instructions are concise, and the plans carry much of the construction information. We strongly recommend studying the complete building sequence, identifying the parts, and dry-fitting the major assemblies before reaching for the glue.

In other words, five minutes of preparation can prevent several hours of developing new vocabulary.

Plenty of Room for Personal Detailing

The St. Roch is particularly well suited to builders who enjoy giving a model the appearance of a vessel that actually worked for a living.

The hull, deckhouse, equipment, boats, and exposed fittings offer excellent opportunities for subtle weathering: worn deck surfaces, faded paint, rust around working hardware, soot near the exhaust, and the general evidence of a ship that spent years carrying people and supplies through Arctic conditions.

Builders who prefer a clean museum finish can follow the kit’s color scheme. Those who want to go further have an unusual advantage: the real St. Roch has been preserved at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, providing an exceptional source of photographs and reference material.

See the Build Before You Begin

This complete St. Roch build time-lapse by EZ Model Building  shows the BB605 kit from its components through the finished model.

It is an excellent way to understand the split-hull construction, preview the major building stages, and see how much model Billing Boats has fitted into an 18.5-inch hull.

Main Features

Historically important subject rarely represented as a wooden kit

Plank-on-frame wooden hull with laser-cut keel and frames

Laser-cut plywood framework

Detailed wooden superstructure and working-vessel fittings

Excellent opportunities for realistic painting and weathering

Compact finished footprint

Preserved original vessel provides extensive reference material

Full build time-lapse available online

She is not the largest model you can build.

She is simply the model of a ship that crossed the Northwest Passage both ways and circumnavigated a continent.

Some vessels do not need gun decks to be impressive.

Specifications

What’s Included

Laser-cut plywood keel and frame components

Wooden hull planking strips

Wooden deck and superstructure components

Brass and plastic hull and deck fittings

Masts and spars

Rigging cord in multiple sizes

Full-size plan sheets

Multi-language instructions and parts information

Glue, paint, tools, and R/C equipment are not included.

This is a proper wooden ship build with a compact footprint and a remarkably large story.