Friday, November 15, 2013

HMS Discovery.. my Dad's memorial???

I posted some time ago about 'good old fashioned model making'. Well, how's this? My father was an exceptionally talented fitter and turner, and at the time of his early death he was part the way into the construction of what was to be a working steam model of HMS Discovery. The model was being built 'plank on frame', and he was so focussed on getting the detail correct that he had even acquired a large selection of timbers of the varieties that had been used in the original construction with a view to making the frames, and the planking, from the correct timbers. Here are some photos of the model as it has sat since his death in 1984.





As we prepare for house demolition, we have to get rid of things. This is a hard one.. and I type this with a small tear in my eye. However I've just sent these photos off to the Canterbury Society of Model and Experimental Engineers in the hope that they have a member somewhere who might like to take the model, plans and timber, and maybe ..  just maybe ..  think about finishing it.

The connection goes back quite a way.. my great grandfather AJ Cuddy painted this painting of the Discovery locked in the ice during Scott's expedition.


The painting now resides with Canterbury Museum

I gave away several pieces of Dad's machinery from his workshop a few months ago. That was hard. This is harder....

1 comment:

  1. I hope someone will take you up on it. It does seem quite hard to be faced with the prospect of throwing it away. I would not be able to do it.

    ReplyDelete

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