Amarna 20’=1″

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Just completed my latest. The Moss Hutchison cargo liner Amarna of 1949.

The hull is 18 inches overall.

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Although zero interest here on MB, the Amarna has been a resounding success and is now in her new home somewhere in the UK.

Also, Sofala, that initially seemed to be a bit of a "damp squib" eventually proved successful and is now safely "at home" in Hong Kong!

At the moment, I am taking a rest from it all and am involved in a big tidy up!

Bob!

Edited By Bob Wilson on 12/07/2012 18:57:45

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Not quite zero interest Bob as quite a few views. I suspect some people may have run out of things to say about your superb models.

I am featuring a miniature waterline liner plan in the forthcoming Plans Feature Special Issue of Model Boats. It is reproduced at 1:1200 scale which I think is a bit small for most people but if enlarged to 1:600 I do think these drawings offer a lot of scope for very attractive models which can be easily and very cheaply built in domestic circumstances. It's just necessary to catch people's imagination i suppose.

Colin

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Don't get despondent, Robert

Colin is quite right, I do get fed up myself of posting……….."Another nice model, Bob"……..etc

I look at all your model pictures and I'm always impressed!

I look forward to the day you create my favourite ship…….The Great Eastern!

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Thanks for replies. I am not getting despondent though. It is just that I never see anyone else building similar types of ship (Merchant Navy, 1840 – 1965). More than complimentary comments, I would prefer to see more of what others build. But even when I go to the local Northwest Model Shipwrights club, there are very few models taken along – often none at all!

Bob

[Peter FitnessParticipant @peterfitness34857]

Another lovely model, Bob. I do like the lines of some of the cargo ships of that era.

Peter.

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Thanks Peter,

Sadly, interest in the Merchant Navy, pre 1965 has dwindled away to almost zero. I believe the ship model room of the Science Museum has now been closed due to lack on interest and changed to a display of mobile phones!

My own interest has declined lately as well, and since completing Amarna, I have not really felt inclined to start another, and I have ceased accepting private commissions once and for all – Amarna was the last!

I find that as I get older (68), I am becoming allergic to almost everything I use. If I get a bit of contact adhesive on my skin, if I don't remove it completely within half an hour, it comes up in a very itchy red wheal that lasts for several days. Glue and dust fumes give me an awful cough that can last for weeks, so I now have to wear a respirator mask whilst working. That is 100% effective in filtering out fumes or dust, but it is quite uncomfortable after about half an hour!

Bob

[Peter FitnessParticipant @peterfitness34857]

Sorry to hear that, Bob. I do know what you mean about allergies, though. I have found that, as I get older (75) I get skin irritations that, while relatively minor, are extremely annoying. I'm able to control them with a cortisone based cream, so it's not too bad. I suppose it's all part of getting older, but it's far better than the alternative.

Fortunately I haven't developed any allergies to super glue (yet).

You may be interested in this photo of Sydney Harbour, which I took in 1963. A number of cargo vessels can be seen in what is only a small section of the harbour docks. It is a very different scene today, as Sydney is no longer a working harbour as regards cargo handling, although a large number of cruise liners visit each year, including the three Cunard Queens.

Peter.

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Peter,

Thanks for the picture – reminds me of times gone by. I first called at Sydney in early 1961 aboard the old Rhodesia Star. Then again in 1977 in the bulk carrier Silverdon, when things had changed quite a lot.

The glue fumes may be temporary though. Just as I started Amarna, I got bronchitis pretty bad and it lingered on for weeks and weeks, but is finally getting better. Having to build the Amarna didn't help, but I am hoping that a break will get rid of it, as I have never had anything like that before!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Bob

I am very sad to hear that you are not building any more, of all the superb builders that frequent this forum I hold your skills in the highest regard. I simply do not know how you manage to work and produce such wonderful work at this tiny scale, I can not come close to achieving your level of finesse (and believe me I have tried)

Could you produce an idiots guide to working at 20ft to 1in and include some hints / tips to help a ham fisted amateur like myself.

Paul

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I don't think it is surprising that interest in the pre 1965 merchant navy has dwindled away, the period is some 60 years in the past now and the people who sailed on those vessels are largely no longer with us, indeed, their chidren's generation is now of retirement age so the personal connections that held the interest are broken too. So all you have is a rump of historical enthusiasts like myself who enjoy looking at photos and models of the ships and this small group isn't increasing either.

Colin

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I don't think it is anything to do with pre 1965 merchant ships being too far back to remember. Conventional companies were still running old ships until the late 1980s and there must be thousands of men & women who sailed in them when they first went to sea that would only be in their 40s now!

Out of living memory does not stop a continuous string of Cutty Sark, Bounty, Victory etc being modelled! I think it is the size more than anything else. A 500-foot-long ship would be 62.5 inches long at 8'=1"!

When it comes to miniatures, most modellers seem to decide that it is beyond them and there the matter ends!

But with special techniques, introduced to me by the writings of Donald McNarry (book Shipbuilding in Miniature), I found it considerably easier than building large ones and I went from 8'=1" to 32'=1" literally overnight in the ealy 1970s.

I am certainly NOT going to stop building them! I have stopped ing on private commissions, that is all! At the moment, I am resting after building the Amarna. Today, I am building a radio set using valves!

Future models will go on Ebay when the house gets too full! Last week, it was so full that we had no more space, but then Sofala went on Ebay a few days ago to Hong Kong and Amarna was collected as well. Then someone in Switzerland wants Belle of Lagos and I am awaiting payment, whilst someone else is interested in Harlech Castle after he has seen it!

I have written two comprehensive CD disks for use in computers. They are NOT movies, but Acrobat Reader and may be printed out to form A4 sized books. One for sailing ships and the other for steam or motor ships. They are both doing extremely well.

Bob

 

Edited By Bob Wilson on 15/07/2012 12:37:10

Edited By Bob Wilson on 15/07/2012 12:38:10

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I have just put details of the two disks in Buy & Sell!

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Well, the Harlech Castle went today to a local buyer, so I am now in the very satisfactory position of "empty shelves" and for a time at least, will be able to continue my hobby. Must confess, ten days or so ago, I was at the point of chucking it all in because of lack of interest! Am now building 32'=1" waterline model of Norwegian barquentine Barden!

Bob

[Author]

Posts