Half-hull ship models were an important step in the process of building a vessel. Shipwrights or designers would construct a half-hull scale model of a ship before the vessel was built. They used it to ensure that the dimensions would work together and that the ship look balanced. They would often mount the half hull onto a board in their workshop. The half-hull ship models were also used to show prospective buyers how the design would work and look. Given the plywood construction of the model, it is believed to have been made around the 1930s as plywood construction had started in earnest in Queensland around this time and soon became the centre of the industry because of Queensland's attractive rain forest woods used which also included red cedar, silver ash, black bean, Queensland maple and silky oak. It is also believed the model was a design for a clinker-built barge to be built by Peter Payne who operated a boat building works on the Mordialloc Creek, Victoria going out of business in 1973. Records show Peter Paynes' first craft launched in 1962 and the last in 1973 from Mordialloc Creek works. However, he was one of the most prolific builders from the 1930s and produced many more vessels than the records currently show. There is at this point no further record of the subject model or whether a full version was ever built and for whom is not known at this time.A model that demonstrates the boat-building process is believed to have been made by Peter Payne or someone who worked in his yard. P Payne was a very well-known boating personality, vessel captain and boat builder throughout most of the 20th century. Model barge half hull on wooden of plywood laminated construction. Marked "AUXILIARY BARGE 80'x16'x6' 315 TONS 4" - 1 FOOT" "P and H PAYNE?" "22/E/26" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, ship model half hull, ship half model, shipbuilding, shipwright, ship design, peter payne, boat builder victoria, clinker design, barge

An authentic half hull ship model of the type used by boat builders as a plan for building a ship's hull. It is the model of a barge, a ship used for carrying cargo or as a working platform.The trade of ship building has been carried out for centuries and taught to generations of ship builders. This half hull ship model is part of the process of building the hull of a barge. Flagstaff Hill's collection includes equipment once used on the vessel Reginald M, which at one time was used as a barge to carry grain in South Australia.Ship model, half hull model ship. The half hull model represents a barge. It is made from a length of laminated timber, curved into shape including the bow and stern. The deck is lower than the front and back of the ship model. flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, ship model, barge, ship building, half hull, craft, trade, boat builder

This ship model is of the sailing brigantine MARY CAMPBELL, which once belonged to Captain James Arthur Robilliard. The model was made by Harry McKenna, a well-known ship model maker and Warrnambool resident. CAPTAIN ROBILLIARD James Arthur Robilliard, sea captain and tent maker, was born in 19th April 1843 in St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. He trained there in his father’s sail loft as a sail maker. He later became a skipper. His first job as a sailor was achieved in Liverpool, England. In 1875 James Robilliard migrated to Australia as mate on the “E.M. Young”. Captain Robilliard and his family were amongst the early settlers along the Curdies River in the Heytesbury district. In 1877 he became a Captain. On 14th November 1879 Captain Robilliard married Helen Beckett. James and Helen had ten children; James Arthur (Jnr), Henry William, Nellie Jessie, Alfred Albert, Rubena Nellie, De Jersy Norman, Clifford Beckett, Olive Ida, Frances Ridley Havergal and Nellie Elvie, all born in Victoria. THE MARY CAMPBELL The ship “Mary Campbell” was built by Alexander Newton Jnr. She was carvel planked, of iron bark and blue gum timber. The family shipyard was at Pelican, on the Manning River, NSW, and “Mary Campbell” was first launched by her builder in 1869 as “The Son”. Three months later she was renamed “Mary Campbell’ by her purchaser J. Campbell in Sydney. She was used to carry equipment for the Sydney Sugar Refinery’s Mill in Southgate, NSW. She then traded for the next 20 years between Australian ports and rivers along the east coast as well as regular ports in New Zealand. She was “recognised as one of the best carrying little vessels in the timber trade” (Sydney Morning Herald). She had several owners over this time, the last one being Captain James A. Robilliard. On 29th April 1889 “Mary Campbell”, in the charge of her owner, Captain James A Robilliard, was on her way from Clarence River, NSW to Melbourne, Victoria with a cargo of railway girders for the Melbourne Harbour Trust. Captain Robilliard encountered a storm off Port Macquarie. He sailed the vessel south to 25 miles (about 40km) east of Cape Hawke, near Tuncurry and Forster. At 7pm, he discovered that the cargo had shifted during the stormy seas and the heavy girders had damaged the hull, causing a leak. The pumps were inadequate to stem the fast flowing leak and over a meter of water filled the hull during the next 2 hours. Some of the crew began throwing the cargo overboard to lighten the vessel, hoping to keep it afloat until daylight. When the water reached over 2 meters in the hull they realised their efforts were in vain. At 1:30am on 30th April 1889 the crew left the vessel. They stood by in the lifeboat until 3am. The ship was sinking fast, so they left for the shore, looking for a safe place to beach their boat. While still miles off Cape Hawke all 7 crew members, including the Captain, were rescued by the Government Tug “Rhea” and taken to Port Macquarie hospital then returned to Sydney in the “Wellington”. Captain Robilliard managed to rescue his ship’s compass but no cargo was saved from the vessel. It had been under-insured, only covered for half its value, due to lack of funds. Many years later, in 1976, an anchor was caught up in the net of a trawler south of Forster and thought to be from the “Mary Campbell”. It was donated and installed in the Great Lakes Museum, Tuncurry, NSW. (The same museum also has a half-model of the hull of “Mary Campbell”.) The name of the last ship Captain Robilliard sailed is currently unknown, however he sailed that ship from the port of Marlborough, Queensland, carting steel railway girders for the Geelong-to-Camperdown line. On one trip it hit a storm, the cargo shifted and the ship was wrecked along the NSW coast. After this, Captain Robilliard exchanged sea life for farming in Peterborough. In about 1897, verging on retirement, Capt. Robiilliard superintended the Melbourne Sailors’ Home in Spencer Street, Melbourne, before being asked to leave this position in 1902 for trying to shut down the local hotel! At this time the Melbourne Sailors’ Home was about to change its location. On 6th May 1917 Captain James Arthur Robilliard J.P. died at Blackwood Park, in the Cobden district of Brucknell, which is now considered the first official Robilliard family homestead in Australia. He was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery, Victoria. His wife Helen passed away in 1947. The Becket and Robilliard family names continue to be well known in the Western District Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village also has a ship’s compass in the collection that was also owned by Capt. J. Robilliard and was used on the ship Mary Campbell.This ship model of the MARY CAMPBELL is of local significance for its association with well known Warrnambool resident and ship model maker. The model is also significant for its association with the brigantine MARY CAMPBELL, a trading vessel that brought railway girders to the Melbourne Harbour Trust.Ship model "Mary Campbell", a two-masted vessel with black hull, brown masts and black rigging. In glass case with timber frame painted green. Painted on the bow in white “MARY CAMPBELL” Gold label with black print attached to display case “MODEL BY THE LATE HARRY McKENNA OF WARRNAMBOOL”flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, marine artwork, model making, captain james arthur robilliard, j.a. robilliard, vessel mary campbell, ship mary campbell, melbourne sailors home, vessels, harry mckenna

These two framed model ship plans are from more than 650 produced for the LOCH ARD Centenary (1878-1978) Commemoration Committee. These plans were originally researched, designed and distributed in 1977 to assist entrants in the Committee’s Ship Model Competition. The competition was arranged as a means of creating public interest and awareness for the 100th anniversary of the tragic LOCH ARD shipwreck on Victoria’s south west coast in 1878. The main subject specified for modelling was “The Loch Ard ― Iron Wool Clipper 1873”. “The plans were drawn by Mr P Webb to the order of the Committee through Mr P Williams, organizer of the competition. The details were based on all available information which resulted in considerable historical research…and received favourable comment from model makers because of their attention to detail…In excess of 650 sets of plans were sold before entries closed…Many plans were probably purchased by collectors and interested persons for historical reference. An illustrated historical story sheet…was prepared and enclosed with the plans…” (‘Loch Ard Shipwreck Centenary 1878-1978 Report’, November 1978). An example of the attention to historical detail delivered on the plans is the inclusion of the following useful information about the original vessel: “Tonnage….1,693 G.R.T., 1,624 N.R.T. Builders….Charles Connell & Co., Ltd., Scotstoun, 1873. Owners….General Shipping Co., Glasgow, (Aitken Lilburn & Co., Ltd.)”. The quality of research and drafting makes these framed copies of considerable interpretive value to related items from the LOCH ARD shipwreck on display at Flagstaff Hill. They were originally mass produced but are now out of print. Flagstaff Hill retains other (unframed) copies in storage. The plans, in conjunction with the scale Ship Model of the LOCH ARD also on display, are of interpretive significance to Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The plans provide historical and technological context to artefacts from the shipwreck, increasing understanding and appreciation of those objects. Flagstaff Hill’s collection of artefacts from LOCH ARD is significant for being one of the largest collections of artefacts from this shipwreck in Victoria. It is significant for its association with the shipwreck, which is on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR S417). The collection is significant because of the relationship between the objects, as together they have a high potential to interpret the story of the LOCH ARD. The LOCH ARD collection is archaeologically significant as the remains of a large international passenger and cargo ship. The LOCH ARD collection is historically significant for representing aspects of Victoria’s shipping history and its potential to interpret sub-theme 1.5 of Victoria’s Framework of Historical Themes (living with natural processes). The collection is also historically significant for its association with the LOCH ARD, which was one of the worst and best known shipwrecks in Victoria’s history. Two framed model ship plans of the LOCH ARD. These are detailed and researched plans from the original vessel, drawn to scale and printed on good quality paper, and framed behind glass to be hung on display. One slightly smaller plan “Lines, Decks and Details” portrays the hull lines as a body plan (straight on at the bow), a sheer plan (full side view), and a half breadth plan (a top-down view of deck to keel), as well as two top-down views of the upper decks and main deck with fittings and details of specific fixtures. One slightly larger “Sail and Rigging Plan” presents a side on, above deck view of masts and shrouds and a front on, above deck view showing “Elevation of Mainmast Looking Aft”. Each plan bears the draftsman’s initials and date of completion (“P.A.W. 10/77”). The larger plan also includes a boxed label attributing the project to the “LOCH ARD CENTENARY Commemoration Committee Ship Model Competition.”Smaller plan: heading “LOCH ARD: LINES, DECKS and DETAILS”; initials “P.A.W. 10/77”. Larger plan: heading “LOCH ARD: SAIL and RIGGING PLAN”; initials “P.A.W. 10/77”; label “LOCH ARD CENTENARY Commemorative Committee Ship Model Competition”. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, loch line, loch ard, captain gibbs, eva carmichael, tom pearce, glenample station, mutton bird island, loch ard gorge, ship model plans, loch ard model plans, sailing ship, loch ard centenary