In the afternoon of 14 November, the exhibition halls were opened to set up the
show. After assembling our stand, we finally were able to unpack and assemble
the diorama with all the vessels. Everything fit and went according to plan and
– most important of all – as we had envisioned. Our depiction of the Liverpool
docks was easily recognizable and more than a few visitors said
„these are Liverpool Docks aren’t they“. We very much appreciated that,
as it showed that we had replicated the original in a fair way. After numerous
images showing individual components and the progress of work, here are some
images of the completed item from various perspectives.
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Conclusion
We can but confirm what Frank Ilse and Dirk Mennigke related us after building
their Pacific diorama – the commitment and the number of hours needed to
complete such a project is considerable. We did not count the hours, but it must
have been several hundred of them. Originally we had thought it would not matter
if we did not complete the project on time; but at some point, upon realizing
the amount of work still needed, we got caught by an ambition to nonetheless get
things done on time. Considering our professional and private commitments, this
is anything but simple, and it must not be forgot that scale modeling is a hobby
(or is at least supposed to ...)
Realizing this project presented fresh experiences to us all. Most important
to me is to learn that it is possible to build a common project with
four individuals, all of them with opinions and perspectives of their own, even
though separated by several hundred miles and with phone and email as main
communication tools. That needs discipline, commitment, mutual respect and
appreciation!
This diorama is a team project of
„German Gamblers„ Christian Bruer, Frank Spahr, Guido Hopp and Torben
Keitel; it was realized between May, 2007 and November, 2008.
Christian Bruer and Frank Spahr (translation)
December
2008
„VMF-06
German Gamblers“
Our very special thanks go to the Liverpool Old Mersey Times Public Relations
Department for their kind support in any research for photos and information
around the Liverpool Docks. A special thank goes also to Andreas Krause for his
precise work with his milling machine on the polystyrene dock sections and
Stefan Schacht for procuring the polystyrene sheet!