PERFECT MODEL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 307, 28 December 1935, Page 16

PERFECT MODEL.

THE SHIP GOLDEN HIND.

ENGINEER'S HOBBY AT SEA. Model-making as a means of passing the tedious hours between watches at sea is a common pastime, and many a work of art has been made by those whose hobby it is, but surely few of the replicas produced can compare with the model of the Golden Hind, made by Mr. C. H. Mayne, second engineer on the Cornwall which is. now in port (states the "Post").

Drake's famous little sailing ship, in which he was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in 1577-79, has | been reproduced by Mr. Mayne in its every intricate detail, from the figure-! head of the Golden Hind to the antique' lanterns suspended over the stern. Vellum sails and gaily-coloured flags and pennants adorn its three masts, and tiny cannons gape menacingly from its sides. Windows and doors are faithfully shown in the poop, and the array of detail in the rigging is bewildering. Every one of the 170 blocks is in working order, the cordage running freely through them. Every part is made to exact scale, and the colouring of the hull and its multitude or accessories is a work of art in itself, following faithfully as it does the interlocking triangular design in many colours of the original Golden Hind. Yellow pine, an easily-worked wood, forms the hull, and the incidentals, which, being of n.inute dimensions, took most of the time to make, are formed most carefully out of scrap wood and metal available on the Cornwall. Nothing has been bought ready-made; the whole model represents the patient handiwork of Mr. Mayne upon scraps of wood and metal available aboard the Cornwall. It seems incredible that so much fine work could be done in the five weeks of spare time that Mr. Mayne has devoted to the job. The component parts of the model could be bought for less than £1, but the constructional genius of Mr. Mayne has wrought from them a model worth well over £20. The ship is about 18 inches in overall length, and, of course, is meant for ornament and not for sailing. Its lucky owner is the Cornwall's chief steward, Mr. S. Gee.

Mr. Mayne is reticent about his constructional work, and it was only with difficulty and after conversation with other members of the Cornwall's complement that a "Post" reporter who went on board found out that he had many other splendid models of ships and locomotives to his credit. His unusual engineering ability has stood him in good stead in the manufacture of the working models of railway engines and tug-boats, while his love of the sea and its sailing ships is demonstrated by his success with the building of model yachts. There seems to be nothing in the constructional line that this versatile man cannot do.