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A model life in Huntly
Ivan, a Housing New Zealand tenant in Huntly, has a passion for building model ships.
This hobby not only keeps the spirited 80 year-old man busy - it also gets him out of doing the washing up!
Ivan's love of ships runs in his blood. His father was a boat builder so Ivan says his family, who lived in the Christchurch suburb of Sumner, always had a boat when he was growing up.
When he left school Ivan completed a three-year joiner's apprenticeship before enlisting in the army.
After that he worked on fishing boats and then worked at the railways. When he retired, Ivan decided to build model ships.
He also builds dolls' houses. Ivan either makes plans from pictures he likes or buys the plans and modifies them.
“It usually takes around six months to build them,” he says. “It's better than washing dishes.”
All the boats he makes, which are mostly painted by his son, are seaworthy.
Boat One (pictured in the foreground) was modelled on a British Wooden Steam Hearing Drifter. Admirably named after his wife Colleen the ship, Colleen HW1, runs on methylated spirits. According to Ivan, when the ship is fully fuelled it can run for about 45 minutes by remote control.
Boat Two was modelled on the steamers of the late 1800s and is powered by a six-volt motorcycle battery which is remote controlled and has a range of approximately 300 metres.
Ivan has made two dolls' houses to order. A further two he donated for raffles and the remaining three were given to his grandchildren.
The first dolls' house took six weeks to complete which didn't go down so well with Colleen. “We had to eat off our knees while the kitchen table was being used,” she says.
Nowadays, Ivan can be found out in the garage where he tinkers for hours. He has also made a television cabinet and computer table for the lounge.
Ivan has also completed a 12-foot dinghy to add to his list of achievements which he hopes to use this summer.
