Ship modellers embrace hobby on South Shore

There are some very small boats sitting in Brooklyn and not one of them is docked at the Brooklyn Marina.

Hugh Dunlop who has a few model boats permanently on display in his home, allowed the South Shore Ship Modellers Guild to host their monthly meeting at his house, Nov. 18.

South Shore Ship Modellers Guild president Tim Chance explained, the meetings allow members to discuss model building and allows each model builder a chance to present his model or talk about a project he/she is currently working on.

Established in 1997 the South Shore Ship Modellers Guild is a non-profit organization. Members build a variety of boats including, remote control, sailboats, tugboats and static models.

Meetings are held on the second Saturday of every month, which usually takes place in the Lunenburg Fisheries Museum.

“We try to make the meetings a little bit different so we have different venues and that sort of thing,� said Chance.

He added, the reason they held their Nov. 18 meeting in Hugh Dunlop’s home was because they have a number of people that have to travel long distances and one of them is Hugh Byrne of Liverpool. Chance says, because Byrne is in a wheelchair finding a ride isn’t always easy.

After having lunch at the Mersey House, members gathered at Hugh Dunlop’s home in Brooklyn around 2:30 p.m.

Chance says, meetings usually last a couple hours and on average 15 to 25 people attend.

The Nov. 18th meeting in Brooklyn had a better than normal turn out.

Chance says, it takes many dedicated hours to build a model and it is a passion that cannot be done all the time.

Model kits are estimated to take between 200 to 4000 hours depending on the size and detail of the model.

Some people have built boats and sold them for $40,000 to $50,000. Chance said one example of this would be the Queen Mary, which probably took the model builder two years or more to complete.

Membership to the South Shore Ship Modellers Guild costs $20 a year and Chance says anyone can join.

For more information contact Ralph Getson at 902-634-4797, Extension 233.



ldelong@theadvance.ca