FOUND THIS ......From 2004 independent Wednesday 15 October 2014 Hi 14°C | Lo 10°C | WEATHER Drogheda INDEPENDENT.IE NEWS SPORT ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE LOCAL NOTES OPINION SEARC Model sailor Steve floats his new business. 20/08/2004 | 00:11 A LOCAL resident is hoping to turn an unusual hobby into a small business with a made-to-order ABSTRACT modelship building. Steve Arendse spends his spare time building metre long fibreglass models of warships, oil rigs and aircraft carriers.Steve, a South African, moved to Drogheda in 2002 with his wife who works as a Radiographer at the Lourdes Hospital. He took up his hobby while he was a sailor in the South African Navy. ‘I started to build ships in 1989 just out of interest while I was in the Navy. I wanted to build a model of the ship I was serving in and from there I just started to like it so much that I took it up as a hobby,’ he said. Since he moved to Drogheda, Steve has been regularly seen scavaging materials for his boats from various hardware stores in the town. ‘I go around Drogheda looking for off cuts of wood so I’m known in all the shops,’ he said. Steve also collects the balls from roll-on deodourants and the tops of champagne bottles, which he uses for the anti-electronic warfare devices on his ships. But Steve has to buy many of the materials himself and he says that his hobby is not a cheap one to have. ‘It takes about 10 weeks to build a boat and it doesn’t come cheap. You can’t sell them for less than e100,’ he said. At the moment, he is building a 1.5m long aircraft carrier complete with lights. ‘It is going to be a long ship and the deck will be a beauty. It will be quite an item,’ he said. Steve also finishes his models with model guns, men and anchors. Over the past 15 years, he has built warships, tugs, oil rigs and helicopter ships although he has yet to build a ferry because that would involve getting tiny model cars. Now Steve, who is currently unemployed, is hoping to set-up a small business making ships to order. ‘It would be for the 10 to 18-year-old market. I think that any boy would love to have a warship in their bedroom,’ he said. He revealed that, in the absence of plans, he builds his model shops using pictures from shipping magazines he buys in newsagents around the town. He also uses his naval experience to make the models as authentic as possible. Steve can be contacted on 042 9375835
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:28:55 +0000
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