Dave Milbourn – in Memorium

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

It is now four years since we lost Dave Milbourn but his name still crops up again and again, usually in connection with his Fairey designs. I have put up a reminder  on the Mayhem site and the response shows just what an influence Dave was on our hobby, not just with his Faireys but in helping people in many ways, especially with electric/electronic issues. He was a real character and a pretty special one.

https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,70786.0.html

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

One of the great characters of the hobby, and there are fewer and fewer of them left.

I’ve never been a fan of the Fairey type of model as they traditionally frequently tended to be put together very simplistically and with little attention to detail.  When you see examples like the two above though it makes you realise that they can be built as beautiful scale model boats.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Dave’s designs, both the early and current ones, were light years ahead of the old traditional Aerokit and contemporary offerings which were just simple generic ‘cabin cruiser’ types and of their time.

His Faireys depicted actual full size boats and as such looked much more realistic with the opportunity for adding extra detail.

I built the Huntsman (top picture) ‘out of the box’ for the magazine review the only embellishment was planking the deck. With the Swordsman I also built it according to the instructions, (you can’t really do anything else without coming unstuck!), but added more detail such as the swimming ladder and other items. Dave himself fitted out one of his prototypes with a lot of extra detail to the extent that it was pretty much a true scale model with the exception of the straight deckline and single screw. The SLEC kits might reasonably be described as near scale.

When building the kits I was vastly impressed with Dave’s design and engineering skills. The parts fitted together more like an Airfix kit than the offerings we are normally used to which often need a degree of fettling and filling.

Dave stressed that it was essential to follow the instructions exactly. He said that if you think something doesn’t fit then you need to check the instructions and assembly photos because it’s all in there – and it was. I know there has been the occasional criticism of the kits but there are those who regard the instructions as a last resort and prefer to do things their way in which case, with these kits you can quickly be in trouble.

Colin

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Wow, four years!

I echo everything that has been said. And as well as the boats there was all the model aircraft that he designed as well. Along with the electronics side he certainly made a huge contribution to the world of modelling over many years.

If you had the right attitude e.g. were willing to put some effort in yourself then Dave was very generous with his help and advice. I was late to the hobby but so happy to have been influenced and helped by Dave.

He could certainly put some detail in as I found with his second Huntress prototype.

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Four years! How time flies. Dave was such a great guy. Away from his love of the Fairey range, I can remember the Vic Smeed “Twinkler” which he built and updated the plan for. His superb build of this model was featured in Colin’s 65th Model Boats Special Edition (still available from Pocketmags).

Dave’s pet hate – the use of ‘chocolate block’ type electrical connectors in models. He would always say the cable joints should be solder and heat shrink or mechanical crimp connectors.

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

I built a Huntsman out of spare parts Dave gave me after a visit to his workshop at Carlton. I had been admiring his models that he had got out to show me. I took him a large tub of strawberries from my garden in exchange.

Of course , mine was nothing like Dave’s.

A very generous man.

Tim

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