I have just bought this set off ebay. I really wanted it because it reminds me so much of my childhood. It is compact but does the job. It's great how the boat actually floats. This takes pride possession in my collection

This set is really great. my friend bought it off ebay, and he has a pool so we take the base of the ship and rearrange it for storm troopers. over all, a great set, good for the little ones sence it floats.

Yet another set we received as a hand-me-down, in this case it even came with instructions! Finally we had an answer to our cousin's #4025 Fire Boat, bath time was always more fun when you could have a free-for-all with floating boats.

The instructions in this case are a single sheet with the photo of the set, a blurb on attaching third-party motors and a warning to not expose the ship to temperatures exceeding 40 degrees C (or 104 degrees F according to the scans on Peeron, I'm not sure if that is also mentioned on our copy but I cannot check that now), followed by ten steps for the 80 parts that are needed. One strange thing I just noticed: the photo shows a grey brick to anchor the mast, the instructions don't mention that brick at all. Peeron and Rebrickable don't list the grey brick but Bricklink does, so what's with that piece?

The end result is a small ship, supposedly a freighter although the Dutch name in the catalogues always tried to sell it as a trawler which, given its size (especially when compared to later ships like #4030 Cargo Carrier), makes more sense to me. Then again, the stickered logo on the side decidedly has more of a 'cargo transport' vibe to it, though it's easy to ignore that if you wish. Speaking of stickers, they are all still firmly attached after all these years so nice quality to say the least!

In contrast to all later floating boats, which use a moulded one-piece hull, the hull of these older Town boats (#4005 Tug Boat, #4015 and #4025) is built out of various parts just like the LEGOLAND boats from the seventies. This creates a bit more flexibility, if you have some more middle sections you could build a longer boat, or you could replace the middle section with a shorter one and make it even smaller (like #4005). On the downside, this can leave slight gaps between each section and makes them a bit more fragile - we have a couple with a chipped gunwale or connecting ledge. The middle section in this freighter is unique as it is 50% longer than a standard section and has a (small) cargo hold moulded in. I always liked the look of the weight bricks you have to attach under the ship but they are less versatile than the rectangular weight bricks found in trains and later floating boats so we have a boatload of them floating around (puns not intended, no really).

Aside from the hull parts there's not really anything rare, except for one thing which is not immediately obvious from the photo: the captain's shirt is really that everyday blue workman's shirt with white pockets but in black, which was only found in this set and a promotional set in the Netherlands. Although that tall white mast (and especially the white hinged bar) hasn't been in more than a handful of sets either. The red sloped brick in the funnel (best not to look at where that is going) is also rather rare in our collection, and who could say no to that inverted windscreen?

So all in all it's a nice little ship, you can decide for yourself if you want to see it as a freighter or a trawler (or, just rebuild it as something else ;-) but my mind is made up, I'm going to try that tip from another reviewer to add some nets to it! Just hope you have it lying around as the price it goes for on Bricklink seems rather steep for what it is...

4015 is another early set which I was bought as a youngster. I always enjoyed this set but I felt that the boat represents a coaster more than a freighter due to its short length and apparent lack of cargo hold space.

The opening hatch and derrick system for loading / unloading the cargo is great fun, and the small wheelhouse at the stern is typical of these vessels where space is at a premium. I like the simple navigation lights and mast, combined with the red funnel and ‘blackened’ top and note the Plimsoll line on the side of the ship, very realistic!

Again a great set, maybe a little on the small side, especially when compared with the Cargo Carrier (4030) or the later police boats (7899) but it does the job and can look great when arranged with other sets of the same scale, possibly to represent a small coastal harbour or fishing town.

Very cute little ship, although the captain won't get rich any time soon with a cargo-hold of this size. Personally I always considered this ship to be a fishing boat rather than a freighter, even more so after the release of the 4030 cargo carrier.
The use of the 1x2 technic bricks as port-holes is quite a nice touch and coincidentally the first time ever for a technic brick to appear in white.

With the use of one or two nets like the ones found in some adventure-theme sets you can really upgrade this ship. You can either use it (obviously) as fishing nets, thus turning your ship into a little shrimp- or mussel-trawler.
Or you can use it as a lashing-net to cover any extra deck-cargo stored on top of the hatches, thus allowing our humble captain to make ends meet.