Donald McNarry, who has died aged 89, was considered by model ship enthusiasts to be the master of “extreme” miniature shipbuilding.
He took up model making as a hobby when he was a boy and built model ships for the rest of his life. From 1955 he worked as a freelance professional and created some 350 models of historic ships covering the period from 700BC to the late 1960s. His styles of presentation included scenic, waterline, full-hull and the traditional Navy Board type – almost all of them constructed according to miniature scales ranging from 100ft to one inch to 16ft to one inch.
Even though the scales were small, McNarry put as much detail into a model only a few inches in length as model builders who use much larger scales. Decks were always planked to scale and rigging always accurate, with the correct number of strands. So finely detailed were his models that in some cases his workmanship could be properly appreciated only by using a strong magnifying glass.
McNarry was a regular contributor to Model Shipwright and other journals, and published three books: Ship Building in Miniature (1955, reprinted in 1982); Ship Models in Miniature (1975); and Royal Yachts in Miniature (1996). All his publications have helped to raise overall standards in small-scale ship modelling, both amateur and professional. His models, meanwhile, were highly sought-after, and examples can be found in museums and private collections around the world. His work was particularly popular in the United States, where his pieces can be found at the Peabody Essex Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Mystic Seaport Museum, the Mariners’ Museum and the Naval Academy Museum at Annapolis.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the obituary.