Andy's Modelmaking Misadventures

[Andy in Germany]

In the unlikely event any cargo reaches its destination in this ship, it will need to be unloaded. Obviously today this is done using containers and massive cranes, but on 1930’s tramp steamers, and in particular this tramp steamer, things are considerably more low-tech.

As far as I can tell, the system for loading and unloading in Ascension would be a very labour-intensive process, where a lot of men would each move boxes and sacks of cargo between ship and shore. Even with cranes, this must have been a very, very slow process.

Presumably the derrick would assist the shore cranes, or be used on even more remote places where there wasn’t a crane available, or where the ship would have to unload to a smaller boat alongside.

Anyway, I decided it would be interesting to try and make one, which shows I never learn.

After some dithering research, I contacted a member of a model railway forum who is a former merchant sailor and has built some very lovely ship models. He kindly gave me a full description of the working of a derrick with enough accompanying pictures that even I could understand it well enough to build a very rough copy.

I won’t pretend that the result is technically accurate. My goal was to make a moderately convincing and, importantly, fairly robust background for gaming, rather than a perfect copy of the original: it will likely get walloped a few times while we move little figures around.

Painting and weathering next, although probably not for a week or two, as I’ll be heading off to the UK to visit family with Beautiful Daughter…

 

[Punkawallah]

Or the little figure will get walloped with the derrick :-)

 

[Reynard]

I'm loving this model. It's brilliantly bonkers.

P.S. If you find yourself in the Cambridge area whilst in the UK, give me a yell.