The customer wanted something to represent a type of gunboat used to patrol the great rivers in china based on the types used in the early 20th Century. This particular design is inspired by the British "Fly" Class of Small China Gunboats although only loosely based on it. Both the Fly Class and the Insect Class while designated small and large China Gunboat respectively were in fact built to serve on the River Tigris during the Mesopotamian Campaign, the "China Gunboat" title being a cover.