Some of my model ships

Lorenzo -
That is true, but my models very rarely fetched high prices until I stopped buiding them, but the selling price soared when they re-appear for sale in various auctions or Ebay.
 
These are fantastic!!!! I too prefer obscure ships in the grand scheme of things. I am somewhat new into the model building game and strictly do freighters that ply the great lakes. I build for myself, and may one day consider commissions, but I would have no idea where to even start on a price. Happy enough to build my own no so little "port".

I really love the bases you have that have the water effects on them - adds so much character to the display, and is an artform in itself.

Thank you for sharing these!
 
Thank you. I began selling them via auctions in London, but they take a large slice of the profit, and there is also the cost of getting them there. Then I sold quite a number on Ebay, as well as private commissions, but with private commissions, you have the added problem of finding the plans. I made the display cases and bases myself because it was too expensive to have them made.
Display case (Large).jpg
 
Hello Robert,

Again, I am amazed at the level of craftsmanship in your creations. Would you, by any chance, have any photographs showing your construction process?

Thanks for the great pictures.

Bill
 
Blimey! I count over 60 models so far that you've posted - every one of them a work of art. That's a lot of time hunched over a modeling bench. How many do you reckon you've built in your career?
 
Thanks - I have built over 260 in the past 33 years. I began counting when I left the sea in October 1992. They don't take as long as you would imagine, the bulk of them about 50 hours, timed on a stopwatch, spread over two or three weeks. The most complicated ones just topped the 100 hours. The sum total of my knowledge is contained in just over 60 downloads. Most of them cost less than the price of a cup of coffee, and a few are free of charge. Here is the complete catalogue, click any front page to read the synopsis, then, if you wish to purchase a download, the synopsis contains a payment button for either Paypal or Debit/Credit cards. Purchasing any of these will not open the doors to an endless load of SPAM as I never chase anyone up for feedback or pleas to purchase more. If printed, these downloads will make A4-size print-outs lavishly illustrated with colour photographs and drawings. This is not a business, you could more honestly say it is a "labour of love!"
Catalogue link
 
Thanks, that is because there are so many different merchant ship types from a few tons to more than quarter of a million tons, all shapes, colours and sizes. I don't have any obsessions with particular companies or ship types, I generally like them all. But when I used to display them in exhibitions, I observed that eyes would generally "glaze of over" if they accidentally fell on one of my models. Too small and no guns. The greatest interest has always been from collectors, or from people who sailed in these ships. To the vast majority of the general public, they are merely "boats" and of no significant interest. I didn't want all my knowledge to disappear when I die, so spent a considerable amount of time putting it all in downloads or books. The books I had to resort to paying for the printing, because none of the main stream model ship publishers were interest in book manuscripts about merchant ships, but I did write regularly for a number of years for Model Shipwright journal (Conway Maritime Press), but they ceased publishing Shipwright in 2014 on the death of the Editor, John Bowen, at the age of 90. There will be no more printed books from me, because I have now become too old to physically go to the Post Office to post them, but I hope to continue adding to the list of downloads.
 
manvscode said:
Thank you Bob. Just bought a bunch of your books. Your models are amazing! I wish I will get to your level one day.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I think you will find it a lot easier than you thought. It is really the special techniques developed over the years, that make this possible, and no expensive tools are required, although a small bandsaw will make things quicker. The techniques can be applied to warship models as well, although my preference has always been merchant ships.
Bob
 
Sir, I am stunned by the quality of and detail in each of the models that you have shared. What a testament to your skill and patience to a lifetime of the skills you have created in such a labor of love. At 63, I cannot ever imagine even gaining a fraction of the skill you have shared with us here. I wish you fair winds and following sea as you move to the next chapter.
 
Mwentling said:
Sir, I am stunned by the quality of and detail in each of the models that you have shared. What a testament to your skill and patience to a lifetime of the skills you have created in such a labor of love. At 63, I cannot ever imagine even gaining a fraction of the skill you have shared with us here. I wish you fair winds and following sea as you move to the next chapter.
Click to expand...
Thank you, but they are not as difficult to build as you may imagine, and I have very little patience, and liked to see the models taking shape in the first two hours. I rarely took more than 50 hours to build one, spread over a few weeks. I began minitures in the early 70s when I was at sea, and they were more convenient than large ones. I moved from 8 feet to 1 inch to 32 feet to 1 inch literally overnight, and found miniatures much easier from the start. At sea, I only managed about an hour a day in the afternoons. Small ones like this, only took about 24 hours, but were not very detailed - no ratlines -
I really think that most modellers talk themselves out of it by deciding that they could never do anything like this, so never try - and there the matter rests. As the rigging is all fine copper wire straightened, and glued on in short lengths, there are no fiddly knots anywhere.


California (Large).jpg
 
Great Lakes ships would make great subjects for miniature models. They are huge; the classic ones c1900- 1930 were 600ft long and modern ones 1000ft, so not candidates for display in most homes if built to usual modeling scales. They are also fairly simple and one can add or omit detail without spoiling their appearance.

My current project, the Great Lakes canal sized freighter Benjamin Noble built to 1:96 scale is 30” long; about the limit for most homes.

As a subset to a not particularly popular set of subjects, I suspect that their market would be minimal.

Roger
 
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