My first thoughts are the loss of such a skilled craftsman, my heart goes out to his family !

The Model should be offered to one of the several D Day museums, Portsmouth, Portland come to mind. Or even the new big museum at Arromanche in France.

God rest his soul ! Noel.

I’m not sure that being of circa 1985 would be such a problem, last  years D Day clebrations at Arromanche had 2 modern landing craft on the beach ! Another thought would be the tank museum at Bovington, landing craft and tanks go together. How many people looking at it would say 1985 ? Noel.

Having just spoke to the tank museum at Bovington it will be worth contacting them if the family consider that a suitable place to gift this Truly fabulous model to. N

Don’t forget The War Museum in London, the model is too important to go anywhere other than one of the museums mentioned.

Yes, loaning the model is always an option but does have its drawbacks. Many of the Science Museum exhibits were builder’s models originally on loan from the shipping company concerned. They were originally displayed in the company offices such as those in Leadenhall Street near the Tower of London an offered on loan to museums when the company moved premises or merged with another. 50 years on all these companies have gone and the line of ownership can be tenuous at best and often impossible to determine. Interestingly, although not wanted by museums now these models command high prices at specialist auctions with even nondescript cargo ships typically fetching  £6,000. Not so long ago a 12 ft model of the Cunard record breaker Mauretania fetched £135,000 plus fees. It was loaned to the Science Museum by the builders in 1938 and sold by them in 2015. The buyer was an art gallery which went into liquidation in 2024. I don’t know what happened to the model, it probably ended up in the hands of a private collector.

https://www.charlesmillerltd.com/auction/lot/lot-379—a-164-scale-builders-model-for-the-famed/?lot=5441&sd=1

Getting back on subject, this landing craft is something of a ‘technical’ model and would be of almost zero interest to the average museum goer. (It doesn’t have four yellow black topped funnels) and would only be appreciated in the right context. If Bovington are interested then that would certainly be an excellent option due to the association of the landing craft with the Army and the fact that the class carried tanks:

https://www.shipphotos.co.uk/ship/?ship=arezzo2

Colin

I remember this model well when Harry did the show circuit with it just after he had finished it.  He frequently used to visit my own club and, I believe he was a member at one time.  I had a few chats with him during the quiet times at the Harrogate Engineering Exhibition, he was a very quiet chap to talk to but his skill with brass was unequalled.

He did other brass models as well, I seem to remember one was a cabin cruiser, all as beautifully made.  I once asked him why he didn’t paint them and he replied with a twinkle that he never got around to it.  Sad to hear he is gone, a great loss of an amazing talent.

This was the other of Harry’s models I was thinking off.  This was at a Kirklees Model Boat Club open day in 2009:

On 14 October 2025 at 15:40 Colin Bishop Said:

… Curators want to ‘tell a story’ rather than just have a lot of artifacts in glass cases.

 

Very much so, and we’ve lost something in the process.  An enthusiast started my local museum in an ex-farmyard and showed many artifacts covering a wide range of local history.  Plenty of interesting insights, but no coherent story, always assuming there ever was one!  The Home Guard snippet consisted of a dull log-book, but it was spiced up by a Mills Bomb, WW2 Field Dressing, and Gas-Mask.  On the whole, the curio approach worked well and was popular.

After getting lottery funding the whole lot was moved to the town centre and sanitised by a professional curator.  Now tells a very narrow story, and most of the exhibits are in the cellar!  I find it dull and patronising and suspect the coherent story only shows an unrepresentative slice.  Children aren’t excited either, unless they like colouring in!  They enjoyed the old museum because it was stuffed with exciting “what’s that” bygones like a school cane and ink-pots.  Every artifact was a conversation piece.

A major problem with high-end models is how long it takes to appreciate them.   You have to know a lot about modelling and Landing Craft to appreciate Mr Barrow’s model.  Too much for a passing glance – I could easily spend an hour on it.   Curators prefer to keep people moving past dumbed down presentations, and they may be right!   I buy books and spend hours re-reading them whilst my family prefer an excellent CGI imitation of the Titanic sinking!  Hard for museums to compete with Hollywood.

At ME exhibitions, I wanted to discuss models with the builder.  Rarely happened, either the bloke on duty knew nothing, or I was pressured to move on by the queue.  Life is difficult!

Dave

At ME exhibitions, I wanted to discuss models with the builder. Rarely happened, either the bloke on duty knew nothing, or I was pressured to move on by the queue. Life is difficult!

Given the extended duration of the ME Exhibition in its heyday, entrants would normally attend only to deliver their models and collect them unless they had won an award. Transporting the models alone was often a major logistical exercise given that they came from all over the UK and elsewhere. On one occasion I drove from Surrey to Bradford to collect a 6 foot model of the liner Stirling Castle as my friend the builder was unable to deliver it himself for health reasons. I kept it at home for a few days before driving it to the Exhibition and collected it several days later when it closed. It stayed at home for a while before I was able to take it back to Yorkshire. The elderly builder was delighted with his Silver Medal.

The stewards at the exhibition were there to protect the models from straying hands etc. Usually they were volunteers and it was pot luck to what extent they were knowledgeable about specific entries. Sometimes the entrants would be at the Exhibition but wanted to spend their time using their free pass to enjoy the show rather than hover over their entry in case someone might come along and want to talk about it. Perfectly understandable.

The answer was usually to encourage entrants to provide a folder with information about the entry which could be displayed alongside the model and  and browsed by visitors who wanted more information. Some entrants were very good at this, others not so much.

Colin

Richard, the format of all shows is different. At the MEX if Brian’s Havelock had been displayed the entry form would have been structured so the the method of construction, extent of bought in items etc. would have been summarised on it and taken into account. Supporting information was also encouraged but whilst some entrants provided succinct details aimed at helping the judges, others simply provided a pile of rolled up plans which it was quite impractical to check in full and could only briefly be referred to in the time available.

I was a MEX Judge for over 30 years and the whole process was a balancing act juggling between the model itself, the supporting information and the knowledge of the judges of the subject material. Knowing the entrant and their dedication to accuracy and track record also helped things along. At the end of the day it still came down to the considered opinion of the appointed judges based on their expertise and experience. The MEX used to have a separate judging day which allowed the judges to spend some time on looking at supporting documentation but in latter years budget restrictions meant that we had to do the judging on the opening day which made things a lot more difficult, not altogether helped by some entrants looking over the judges shoulders trying to eavesdrop on their discussions. It could be pretty difficult sometimes.

Your IPMS stand was something quite different, it was your display and you were literally standing behind it which was great for visitors. Ashley’s stand at the Egham Show was something similar.

Back in the day everything was more competitive, sometimes unpleasantly so. These days I take the view that I just enjoy seeing and enjoying the models as they are. Judging in the old sense has become impossible now given the application of technology to produce component parts and thereby an inability to assess the degree of input from the show entrant. ‘Scratch Building’ has given way to producing the most accurate representation using a variety of methods from sticking bits of wood together to buying in 3D printed fittings to achieve the desired result. I don’t have any problem with that. Life is too short now!

Colin