Model Boat Mayhem
The Shipyard ( Dry Dock ): Builds & Questions => Navy - Military - Battleships: => Topic started by: Geoff on August 22, 2018, 02:22:03 pm
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I just found some video footage of one of my older, and still very much a favourite, model battleship. Canopus 1899. This is now some 25 years old and is still sailing quite well.
It is steam powered using a Cheddar Models Puffin unit. I get exactly 30 mins sailing on one boiler full so I bring her in about 25 mins.
Both gun turrets rotate and fire (using an old system).
[size=0pt] [/size]
[size=0pt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNr1WZ7yEk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNr1WZ7yEk)[/size]
Hope you enjoy.
Cheers
Geoff
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Hi Geoff
Great to see Canopus in action :-))
Out of curiosity do you remember a chap called Jamie who was building a HMS Orion in the early 1990s?
It’s a small world as I bought a plug from him in June and with it he gave me his research on the Orion class battleships. There was some correspondence between him and a certain modeller called Geoff Dixon who was building a HMS Neptune at the time! I couldn’t believe it!
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Nick,
I do indeed remember Jamie, really nice guy, and we met a couple of times to go sailing. At that time I had been rebuilding Neptune (all 6 feet) to install an early gunnery system and Jamie was interested in building Orion.
I think we got in touch due to articles in Model Boats or Marine modelling. There was quite a lot of that at the time - all before e-mail!
I recall seeing the plug and thought it was extremely well done to a very accurate standard. He was building from the original plans. The plating was done in cardboard and he was going to make a fibreglass hull at some point.
As time went by and life intrudes we lost touch but I often wondered what became of the plug.
I'm curious as to the connection between you and if you were also able to get the plans as well? If not Jamie kindly gave me some copies of parts, which I still have, so I can provide them to you of course. If you know Jamie, do please pass on my regards.
So, what are you going to do with the plug, Deans Marine might be interested?
Nice to see you are moving into Super-Dreadnought territory. Orion would make a very impressive model.
Cheers
Geoff
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Hi Geoff
I bought the plug from Jamie at the Doncaster Model Railway Show, well he was there and I was up the road at the model boat show! I found the plug for sale on eBay for a ridiculous cheap price of £30! So I contacted him to agree on a meeting and we met up in the car park. He told me that he was selling it because he was retiring to France and didn’t want to see the plug thrown into the skip. Like many modellers having children stopped the project and he hoped to restart it later but never did. He included the original ships plans, his research papers which included the letter correspondence between yourself and Jamie, and some fittings he turned up on a lathe when he was at night school.
I took the plug into the show to get Ron Deans opinion and he agreed that it’s a brilliant plug and just needs some tidying up from the years kept in storage. He is interested in making a mould from it if I can get the little bits finished on it. So there might be a 1:96 Orion class super Dreadnought hull available soon.
I have his mobile number if you’re interested in making contact again.