The Wade Warrior Ship
Built by Santiago Plicio in August 2023
You could say my so-called quay of Meccano-based ships has become a crowded place in recent years for me to introduce yet another new ship needing room for its mooring!
However, as I still had this irrepressible urge to build yet one more, with a new fantasy imaginary type of galleon where I wanted to try new ideas with the design of the hull, I decided to take the plunge anyway and proceed with yet another new ship-based model.
It was Monday the 31st of July 2023 when I started the journey of wading what by now are indeed busy waters already, but I defiantly put that feeling to one side and set about constructing.
I bolted together two long chrome strips with some red flat plates (№ 74) at three hole intervals from each other; these were to be the portholes for the cannons. Then I added several strip plates in red to build the hull, already suspecting at this stage that it was taking a familiar shape in body, kind of similar to those I had built before.
Pushing past those waves of doubt, I waded in even further and proceeded on both sides of these bolted parts to increase the length of the ship to later add the decks and towers I was imagining.
Still here just stood waist deep in the shallows of the model’s building, I guess I thought I was only just trying a few new ideas, rather than thinking about launching a whole new ship, but I carried on adding more and more parts and the developing shape just continued even though there wasn’t that much to set it apart in its DNA from the so-called Armada I had docked in the archives of my previous efforts.
I added some specific parts to just one side of the ship to form a base so the model can be placed self-standing and upright on the table, but just in a supporting capacity while I decided how and if to continue. No one wants to feel their work is ‘old hat’ but it’s also difficult to make every new model feel like something ‘new wave’. But I still felt that if this ship was going to win favour among the rest of my fleet, it was still going to have to stand out as something different, or sink trying!
With the so many previous ship models all chopping up water, the building of any new vessel is less than plain sailing, but I guess the trick was just to persevere and continue to wade deeper and deeper, and as I did so I started liking the shape and the distinctive new colour markings I was giving it.
The adding of yellow parts to the red and green ones have certainly given the ship an individuality, and that was enough to keep my intentions afloat, so I kept going and going and three days later the full ship was complete.
The finishing touches were mainly to add the three masts, steps, and the rigging which I completed using yellow ribbons.
It took approximately 40 hours to transform my déjà vu doubts into something that metaphorically floats! Buoyant from adding yet another completed effort, all there was left was to successfully move the model from the dry docks of my home to the wet crowded seas of exhibiting it. That launch began with christening it with its name.
I named this ship after the overcoming of any doubts that it wouldn’t be as worthy as any others that had come before it, and in defiance of any challenging it’s right to moor along the rest of my fleet!
‘The Wade Warrior’ — you won’t navigate far if you fear wading too deep!