Model maker spends 20 years building scaled down fleet of radio-controlled warships
Tony Ansell has been making model warships for the last 20 years at home
Mr Ansell uses original Royal Navy blueprints to make scale model ships
On average ships take three years to make but HMS Dreadnought took nine
Each is made from fibreglass and flexible plastic and is radio controlled
Tony Ansell has been making model warships for the last 20 years at home
Mr Ansell uses original Royal Navy blueprints to make scale model ships
On average ships take three years to make but HMS Dreadnought took nine
Each is made from fibreglass and flexible plastic and is radio controlled
When Tony Ansell was given an Airfix kit at was six-years-old, it was something of an inspiration.
Twenty years on the keen model maker has created a fleet of radio controlled warships at his workshop in Ferndown in Dorset.
Each warship is made to scale, using original Royal Navy blueprints and photographs to ensure they capture a snapshot in time when the vessels were in action. Model maker Tony Ansell spent the last 20 years making scale models of radio controlled navy warships. His Dorset workshop features models of HMS Campbeltown.
Twenty years on the keen model maker has created a fleet of radio controlled warships at his workshop in Ferndown in Dorset.
Each warship is made to scale, using original Royal Navy blueprints and photographs to ensure they capture a snapshot in time when the vessels were in action. Model maker Tony Ansell spent the last 20 years making scale models of radio controlled navy warships. His Dorset workshop features models of HMS Campbeltown.
Model maker Tony Ansell spent the last 20 years making scale models of radio controlled navy warships. His Dorset workshop features models of HMS Campbeltown, HMS Hood and HMS Fencer
Mr Ansell, a former plumber, uses original Royal Navy blueprints to make the scale models of the warships and so dedicated is the former plumber to his craft that he is in the process of writing to the Queen to ask for permission to name one of his ships – a G3 battlecruiser – Beatty because the original was cancelled and therefore never named.
‘You need to put in the research and I tend to pick a particular time in the ship’s life to make it at because warships went in for refits lots and could be different from year to year,’ said Mr Ansell, 63.
‘I like to make ships you don’t see at model shows very often and bigger ones are more of a challenge because you have to be more detailed.’
Mr Ansell, a former plumber, uses original Royal Navy blueprints to make the scale models of the warships and so dedicated is the former plumber to his craft that he is in the process of writing to the Queen to ask for permission to name one of his ships – a G3 battlecruiser – Beatty because the original was cancelled and therefore never named.
‘You need to put in the research and I tend to pick a particular time in the ship’s life to make it at because warships went in for refits lots and could be different from year to year,’ said Mr Ansell, 63.
‘I like to make ships you don’t see at model shows very often and bigger ones are more of a challenge because you have to be more detailed.’
Mr Ansell uses fibreglass to make the hull of the ships and flexible sheets of 1mm thick plastic for the rest of the structure. He researches each of the vessels before he makes them, using photographs to ensure accuracy.
Most of the other items such as guns and aircraft are made from resin and mini Airfix kits.
Constructing the models is a painstaking process, sometimes taking longer than it took to make the actual warships themselves.
Most of the other items such as guns and aircraft are made from resin and mini Airfix kits.
Constructing the models is a painstaking process, sometimes taking longer than it took to make the actual warships themselves.
HMS Campbeltown was an American ship that was eventually transferred to the Royal Navy in 1940
Mr Ansell’s most recent build, the battleship HMS Dreadnought, is a 6ft long, 1:196 scale model and has as taken him nine years to finish – nine times longer than it took to build the actual warship in 1906.
But the project was delayed by a lack of photographs of the vessel and he built two other models during that time.
He has also made models of aircraft carrier HMS Fencer, HMS Campbeltown and HMS Hood, the ship sunk by the Germans in World War Two.
Mr Ansell’s most recent build, the battleship HMS Dreadnought, is a 6ft long, 1:196 scale model and has as taken him nine years to finish – nine times longer than it took to build the actual warship in 1906.
But the project was delayed by a lack of photographs of the vessel and he built two other models during that time.
He has also made models of aircraft carrier HMS Fencer, HMS Campbeltown and HMS Hood, the ship sunk by the Germans in World War Two.
The HMS Dreadnought replica was the most time consuming of all Mr Ansell’s models and each additional part, from aircraft to weapons and fighters is made with similar attention to detail from resin or airfix kits
He is making a G3 battlecruiser – a ship that was planned but not built because a naval treaty came into place that limited the weight of warships.
Because the G3 was cancelled, it was never given a name, so Tony plans to write to the Queen to ask her permission to name his HMS Beatty, after the British admiral at the Battle of Jutland.
FROM 860FT TO 7FT: THE WARSHIPS THAT INSPIRED THE MODELS
HMS Fencer – 1:196 scale model
The original HMS Fencer was an aircraft carrier, commissioned in February 1943
Escorted Atlantic, African and Russian convoys
Also took part in a strike on a German battleship
HMS Hood – 7ft long, 1:1,128 scale model
Original was an Admiral Class battlecruiser
Warship sunk by the Germans during World War Two
Had an overall length of 860ft
HMS Dreadnought – 6ft long, 1:196 scale model
Took Mr Ansell nine years to finish
The Dreadnought was introduced in 1906 and became an important development in naval technology
It was the first naval warship to have a uniform battery, rather than just a few guns
He added: ‘With the Dreadnought I even laid the planks on the deck one by one. It took six months just to do the deck but it looks like the real McCoy.
‘The G3 was never named because it wasn’t built. Some names were banded about but they were then put to other ships.
‘So I want to keep with naval tradition and write to the Queen to ask for permission to name it after Admiral Beatty.
‘The Navy do it when they name ships and I want to make things official. I’ll ask her if there’s something else she’d rather I called it.’
On average, a ship takes about three years to build and his hobby has cost Mr Ansell several thousands over the years.
He said: ‘Back in the 90s, my ambition was to make a 10-foot model and I got laughed at, but I kept making models bigger and bigger.
‘The next one I’m going to do is nine-foot so I think I’ve proved the doubters wrong.’
Mr Ansell belongs to a model boat display team in Portsmouth who stage battles with their ships and even use pyrotechnics, which means they have to have a health and safety team at the ready.
He is making a G3 battlecruiser – a ship that was planned but not built because a naval treaty came into place that limited the weight of warships.
Because the G3 was cancelled, it was never given a name, so Tony plans to write to the Queen to ask her permission to name his HMS Beatty, after the British admiral at the Battle of Jutland.
FROM 860FT TO 7FT: THE WARSHIPS THAT INSPIRED THE MODELS
HMS Fencer – 1:196 scale model
The original HMS Fencer was an aircraft carrier, commissioned in February 1943
Escorted Atlantic, African and Russian convoys
Also took part in a strike on a German battleship
HMS Hood – 7ft long, 1:1,128 scale model
Original was an Admiral Class battlecruiser
Warship sunk by the Germans during World War Two
Had an overall length of 860ft
HMS Dreadnought – 6ft long, 1:196 scale model
Took Mr Ansell nine years to finish
The Dreadnought was introduced in 1906 and became an important development in naval technology
It was the first naval warship to have a uniform battery, rather than just a few guns
He added: ‘With the Dreadnought I even laid the planks on the deck one by one. It took six months just to do the deck but it looks like the real McCoy.
‘The G3 was never named because it wasn’t built. Some names were banded about but they were then put to other ships.
‘So I want to keep with naval tradition and write to the Queen to ask for permission to name it after Admiral Beatty.
‘The Navy do it when they name ships and I want to make things official. I’ll ask her if there’s something else she’d rather I called it.’
On average, a ship takes about three years to build and his hobby has cost Mr Ansell several thousands over the years.
He said: ‘Back in the 90s, my ambition was to make a 10-foot model and I got laughed at, but I kept making models bigger and bigger.
‘The next one I’m going to do is nine-foot so I think I’ve proved the doubters wrong.’
Mr Ansell belongs to a model boat display team in Portsmouth who stage battles with their ships and even use pyrotechnics, which means they have to have a health and safety team at the ready.
By CLAIRE CARTER FOR MAILONLINE
