Modeller of the Month - March 2009 - Ron Cameron

Building model ships is so much more than a hobby, it is a passion to discover and recreate moments in history, to piece together the adventures and travels of seafarers past. Recreating the travels of ships which sailed to discover Australia has made modeller Ron Cameron one very keen modeller indeed.

A tool maker by profession, Ron Cameron, 65, retired and soon found he missed the finer details that construction of well made tools requires. To fill the void which retirement had left, Ron went in search of a way to continue to use the skills he had gained during his working years and he found model ship building.

Fascinated by Early Australian Exploration, Ron pursued this interest by conducting extensive amounts of research. What most people do not realise is that the first documented European sighting and landing on the continent was in 1606 by the Dutch aboard the Duyfken. “Captain Cook was using 100 year old Dutch maps,” Ron said of some of his research findings.

Ron was extremely interested in the Duyfken and visited the replica which came to port in Queensland near where he lives and this visit fuelled his quest to learn more. “Visiting the Duyfken was a sensational experience, it really captured my interest,” Ron said.

Ron began his model making days with the popular Port Jackson Schooner, which he feels didn’t turn out too bad. Soon after finishing the Port Jackson Schooner Ron began building the Endeavour, making alterations to match the book Anatomy of the Ship: Endeavour. After completing the Endeavour Ron continued his research on the Duyfken.

Ron embarked on a journey of his own pursuing his quest for knowledge and travelled to Perth. While in Perth Ron spent his time finding out all he could about the Duyfken. The reason for travelling to Perth is because there is evidence that Dutch explores landed on the Western Australian coast. As Ron learned more about the Duyfken the Batavia kept emerging in history books. Ron soon found some books on the Batavia.

Still needing to satisfy his want for crafting and building, Ron began to sketch out plans to build the Batavia from scratch. Drawing up plans can prove to be difficult at times and so Ron bought the plans for the Wasa, very similar to the Batavia and modified the plans to suit. This meant redrawing the plans which included widening the hull and lowering the deck.

When Ron completes the Batavia he will return to the ship which caught his first interests. Now with his knowledge and research the Duyfken should provide an excellent scratch model to create, accompanied by plans of the Half Moon it could turn out to be a truly fine scaled down piece of remarkable Australian history.