Coastal Steamer

[ShipbuilderMN]

The good ship Helen Craig, of Belfast, that ran on a regular service from Belfast to Preston for 68 years, after which she was scrapped in 1959.

Bob

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by ShipbuilderMN

[cngaero]

That looks nice Bob. Is this going to be your next project?

[ShipbuilderMN]

I doubt it.    I am doing very little model shipbuidling these days.    It is far too stressful, with collectors forever wanting them and pushing me to build more.    I am doing more drawing and writing than anything else, because I enjoy it, and it is so unpopular, no-one ever bothers me to write more, or draw more! 

Bob

[Killingholme]

Hi Bob, 

 

another excellent picture. As it would happen I picked up a brand new copy of 'More Miniature Merchant Ships' in a discount bookshop in Bristol for £3 this weekend.

 

And even more co-incidentally, I have just read an article about SS Robin- a Blackwall-built coastal steamer of 1890.

 

Will

[ShipbuilderMN]

I haven't got that book, but assume it is one by John Bowen, I do have the others.   Such books are now appearing for only a fraction of what they cost when new.     Same with David MacGregor books.       I never met John Bowen, but we corresponded over many years when he was editor of Model Shipwright and I wrote for them on a regular basis.   He died recently at the age of 99, and Conway then abandoned their ship model publications - it is all pretty much "washed up" now as far as traditional scratchbuilding is concerned - kits rule supreme, and sometimes I think their day is numbered as well with 3D printers creeping in and printing models at the touch of a button!

Bob

 

[Killingholme]

Yes, that's the one.

 

Interesting context Bob. I thought Conway became part of Bloomsbury group- I know they're publishing 'Warship' now, but if they've stopped commissioning new merchant maritime subjects that would be a real shame. 

 

I am certainly going to have to try a scratchbuild in small scale using some of the plans in the John Bowen book. There are some quite modest looking vessels in there and I certainly have enough wood brass and plastic kicking around the modelling den.

 

Will

 

 

[ShipbuilderMN]

After they discontinued the quarterly Model Shipwright, they went on to produce an annual, starting with Shipbuilder 2010, but after Shipbuilder 2013 came out, John Bowen finally resigned as editor, being in his late 90s, and they never produced any more.    I  believe Warship continues, but as I only deal with merchant ships, that was the end of my long association with Model Shipwright that had begun in the mid 1970s!        100 feet to 1 inch was always rather too small for me, and my favourite scale has been 32 feet to 1 inch (1:384).      For anyone interested, I run a group on Facebook called Merchant Ships In Miniature, that currently has 142 members, and some quite good builds in it - all merchant ships of course!    Lots of the models are of modern ships, but a few old "dinasaurs" like myself prefer to stick to pre-1960s ships.

Bob         

[Bandsaw Steve]

Off to have a look at 'Merchant Ships in Miniature' right now!