Miniature sailing ship

[Sparks]

I have just completed a miniature of the iron-hulled wool clipper Wairoa, at 32 feet to 1 inch.    Completely hand-built by myself (never was much good with kits )     The hull is wood and the masts, spars and rigging are 100% metal, the rigging being of fine copper wire!
Bob

[Mike Watterson]

Fabulous.
I visited some offices in Harland & Wolff shipyard in early 1970s. One long corridor had glass cases with models of almost all the ships they had made. It seems making a model first was part of the process.

[Terry]

One long corridor had glass cases with models of almost all the ships they had made.

Did they include a model of the Titanic in their display?

[Sparks]

I sailed in some of the Harland & Wolff Ships, Richmond Castle, Reina del Mar, Pretoria Castle, Pendennis Castle  and Edinburgh Castle.  
I believe their apprentices built the models as part of their training, a custom that was long-since discontinued.
Bob

[Mike Watterson]

One long corridor had glass cases with models of almost all the ships they had made.

Did they include a model of the Titanic in their display?

I'm nearly sure it was ... "Other well known ships built by Harland & Wolff include Titanic's sister ships RMS Olympic and RMS Britannic" It might really have been a generic model with "Titanic" painted on later.
They only had one model for each class of ship, as part of the design process. The apprentices models would have be separate constructions.
" a custom that was long-since discontinued."
Certainly wasn't happening in 1970s!
When did they last have apprentices or build a ship? It's only a small bit of maintenance work. The bulk of the place on "the Queen's Island" is long gone.

These ones were not made by apprentices, but by the "design team", before the plans would be completed in the drafting / drawing office which had a monstrous slide rule inset in a bench. Other that that I don't remember much, it was 43 years ago!

EDIT:
I suspect the model was really the Olympic and repainted later:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Olympic
I have feeling I read an article about these models being sold in recent years (a search of the Belfast Telegraph might find it)

[Sparks]

Here is the "official" professionally-built model of my last ship, the passenger liner RMS St. Helena.    Someone dropped it, (not me) , and I was given the task of putting it back together again, with the results shown in the 2nd picture.      St. Helena is a very famous ship now  (currently aged 26 years).     Loads of videos on U Tube.   Here is a recent one:  Leaving London
Bob

[Crackle]

I love your model ships. Fantastic skill and a keen eye for detail.

Mike

[Sparks]

Thanks,
I am now going to covert this lump of wood into a cargo liner!
Bob

[Terry]

Hopefully you'll be posting updates on progress - I'm sure I won't be the only one who is interested!

[AlanBeckett]

Indeed not.

Alan