CELLULOID SHIPS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 15

CELLULOID SHIPS

MODELLING AS PASTIME

AUCKLAND DOCTOR'S HOBBY

SEVERAL FAMOUS CRAFI

The construction of scale models of ships of the past and present, out of pieces of coloured celluloid, is the unusual hobby of Dr. G Stuart Moore, of Auckland In the past two vears he has made over 20 of the models, the types he hxs chosen to represent ranging from primitive sailing-vessels of Phoenician origin to modern varhts and cutters

The exercise of infinite patience and unfailing attention to detail are apparent in each of the models. None is more than 4in. long, yet all are perfectly proportioned. Onlv with the aid of a magnifying-glass can the fine nature of the work be fully appreciated. A box of celluloid sheets of different colours, a small supply of amyl-acetate for making joints, and a selection of old surgical instruments comprise the necessarv equipment.

One of the most interesting of the models is that of a schooner-yacht decorated rainbow-fashion. The tiny vessel is only ljin. long, yet it has been •'dressed" with the complete set of commercial code signal-flags. Each of the flags is a perfect miniature, and under a powerful glass can be easily recognised, although too small to be appreciated with the naked eye. The rigging of all the vessels consists of frail hair-like strands of celluloid.

Among the famous ships of which Dr. Moore has made models are the Henri Grace A Dieu. the pride of the fleet at the time of King Henry VIII., the Dutch "first-rate" warship Hollandia, the British warship St. Michael, of the samo period, Nelson's Victory, Captain Cook's Endeavour, the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert, King George's racing cutter Britannia, and Columbus' Santa Maria. Representative of national types are a Marseilles trader, a Goole collier, a Dutch fishing-boat, a Thames barge, and a Penzance lugger complete with net. Dr. Moore also has a fine model of the ketch-yacht Wild Wave, formerly owned by his father in England, and is at present making in miniature the greatest ship of the time of Charles 11.. the Sovereign of the Seas.