RMS Queen Mary Restoration

Towards the end of last year I took delivery of a model of the Queen Mary in need of restoration, the model delivered by its owner came in its own display case which is always a bonus for the return journey to her home port. The model dated from the 1930s built by the owners father using several different materials and was certainly very highly detailed, however time had taken its toll on this very detailed model so some TLC was needed to bring her back to her former glory.

The work required was to include (whilst maintaining the aged look for authenticity) replacing the rigging, repairing the rear mast, deep cleaning, and to replace or re-make any damaged or missing parts, as well some damage to the superstructure. The first task was to sort out the fittings this required checking each fitting and re-fitting it if necessary, once this job was completed I could move onto cleaning and sorting out the handrails as well as the remainder of the ship which although very fiddly certainly made a difference to the overall appearance. Now that the cleaning etc was completed I moved onto the re-rigging of the ship, so the first job was to take some notes and several photos of the original rigging in place so the new rigging would match perfectly. The next job was to remove the rigging and start the process of replacement; once the rigging had been removed the rear mast could then be repaired and re-aligned with the existing forward mast. With the mast now repaired I could start the full re-rigg this would take some considerable time due to its complexity and the small area’s where some of the work was carried out but in the end certainly brought her back to life.

Once all the main work had been completed the only job left to do was to replace the rear flag which sadly fell apart with a new one (supplied by Becc) and thoroughly check over the entire ship to make sure everything was just as it should be.

Overall this restoration proved very challenging in some areas as with all restorations but well worth it to preserve her for years to come.