Turn a planter into a ship
paul a. Lunn has a view to a keel as he converts a cheap plant pot into a ‘oo’ gauge ocean‑going ship.
it was while I worked on last issue’s layout design, inspired by Liverpool’s docks and the Overhead Railway, that I realised just what a shortage of good-sized scale ships there are in ‘OO’ gauge. I needed at least one big ship for both plans, but despite extensive searching, I found nothing. Scratch-building could be problematic, given the complex shape of the bow and stern sections. The answer came from an unexpected but somewhat familiar source - a garden plant pot. I used this inexpensive, everyday item when I wanted to make a power station cooling tower (MR226). Could it also be the answer to my ‘OO’ gauge scale ship issue? I found this Stewart Terracotta Trough planter for less than a tenner at my local garden centre. Size-wise, it looked about right, but there are clearly some shape issues. Would I be able to turn it into a ship? I retired to my garage to find out!