That Warm and Fuzzy Feeling....

1:1200th Warship heaven - "Gonna need a moment alone boys...!"

Yesterday evening was a shocker. I had an interview after work (my contract has just been extended for an additional month but such is the lot of the contractor that you are always on the lookout for your next contract) which meant that I was not back to Liverpool Street station until 6:30pm - earlier than anticipated and so a visit to the club was certainly on the cards.

Overhead power cable problems meant that everything was slow and crowded and as a result I eventually wandered into my house at a miserable 8:35pm. Why are the trains always messed up when I am late anyway?

My low spirits were very soon revived though by the arrival of two of the three parcels I am expecting this week - still no Hexon though.

Basset-Lowke Waterline Ship Models by Derek Head (ISBN 1 872727 72 7 and published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies by Golden Age Editions) is one of those books that can best be described as a piece of pure indulgence and it is absolutely gorgeous, albeit only 160 pages long. the book covers the history and the models produced by Basset-Lowke between 1908 and 1950 at a scale of 1:1200th or 100ft to the inch. Of particular interest to me though is the models that were subcontracted and made as cheaper version of the 1:1200th models (these were being handmade) at a scale of 150ft per inch as these are the models I have a selection of via the Minifigs versions and some die-cast copies of indeterminate origin. These cheaper versions were produced in more limited numbers and production ceased in the 1920s. Sadly the book describes these models as being out of the scope of the title but having said that it has for me answered a number of questions.

Of the 1:1200th models there is much of interest. Ships were produced for a whole range of navies for WW1 and 2 and one wonders if the cheaper and smaller versions were ever produced of these other navies from the earlier period.

I recently saw some Basset-Lowke 1:1200th models on ebay going for some staggering amounts of money as these are effectively antiques and priced as such.

If you like ship models you will love the 'eye candy' in this book and it is a fabulous title to dip into. It is also very expensive (check out amazon!) and I was very lucky to have acquired this copy via ebay for £12.50! I will be honest and say that I would probably not have purchased this book any other way but I am certainly happy that I was able to!

It certainly brightened up what was a depressing evening transport wise!