The Silver Surfer Ship

If every cloud has a silver lining, then as boat models go, my ship has finally come in!

Fresh off the back of constructing my most recent ship, the one where I gave up trying to build a curved hull, I decided to give it one more focussed effort and cut through the surf once more.

I started the first day giving it only two hours, putting together two sets of curved strips for both sides and some angle girders across, but it felt like I was on to something.

By the time I started back on the model a few days later, and having built of one side of the hull only, I decided I would go on to create the model to be viewed from one side only.

By the mid-afternoon the front side was built with towers, decking and other details. I was delighted with the look the model was taking in light of the fact that I went about only using chrome-coloured parts to construct it.

Within a few days I had done most of the design construction, including an anchor, several cannons and the rudder. For all the openings for the cannons I used red small flat plates which I think look striking against the ship’s silver façade.

Enthused with the golden progress I was making, I kept adding small details and on day six I added the rigging, a flag, and built a platform for the model to stand on.

At this stage I decided not to add any sails to the model.

When all masts were done, small red plastic pulleys were used to tie some of the rigging, but on the other side without a proper hull I used supporting struts so the whole model was solidly and properly held together as strongly as possible.

Having built so many ships and galleon-based models before, I didn’t feel the need to construct this one with 360° completion, as here my main objectives were to explore the curved hull and to build using parts mainly in silver. That said, to balance the cannon hatches and to offset the masts, I decided to construct the crow’s nests in red as a contrast.

The completed size is approximately 1.2m in length and 1m in height. Overall the model is heavier than expected. 

The three additional masts at the top are removable for ease of transport; as such not all parts of the rigging are attached to one other, so that they can be lifted off without problem.

I can’t believe I have built yet another ship, but I just had that itch that needed some scratching and now I am so happy with what I am about to launch.

I have always tried with my Meccano ship models to reach for some golden horizon, agonisingly just out of view, though it was the waves of my own imagination that always seemed to thwart me from feeling like I had reached my final destination. 

There is no bigger challenge or ocean vast enough to equal how hard it is to circumnavigate the waves of the human mind, but perhaps my ‘Silver Surfer’ will help me find the golden horizon that’s always been there just out of reach. 

The Silver Surfer – making waves for horizons gold!