SEARCH FINESCALE.COM

Enter keywords or a search phrase below:

Donald McNary 1921-2010

2773 views
3 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: vernon hills illinois
Donald McNary 1921-2010
Posted by sumpter250 on Thursday, October 14, 2010 1:34 PM

I was just over at Drydock Models, and saw there, that He has passed. We have lost one of the greats.

Lead me not into temptation ..................I can find it myself

  • Member since
    June 2010
  • From: Irvine, CA
Posted by Force9 on Friday, October 15, 2010 10:52 AM

I saw one of his small scale models in a Boston ship gallery once - absolutely incredibly exquisite... stunning in fact.

Here is the posting from the American Gallery site:

"

Donald McNarry FRSA (1921 - 2010)

It is with great sadness that we announce that Mr. McNarry passed away on Sept. 21, 2010.

Mr. McNarry, born in London, resides on the southern coast of England where he can glimpse the sea from his studio window. Now retired, he built ship models all his life and from 1955 was a free-lance professional, creating over his lifetime approximately 350 models of historical ships covering the period from 700 BC to the late 1960s. Considered “the master” of extreme miniature shipbuilding by his peers, his works are highly sought after by museums and private collectors worldwide. His contribution to the art form has been enormous and he has been instrumental in raising the overall standards expected from small-scale ship modeling. Mr. McNarry’s works are found in major public institutions and private collections worldwide, including that of the British Royal Family, and can be viewed in the United States at the Peabody Essex Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Mystic Seaport Museum, The Mariners’ Museum and the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, MD."

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Friday, October 15, 2010 11:53 AM

A major loss indeed to the world of ship modeling.  Even a brief glance at any McNarry model should lay to rest anybody's doubts about whether ship models can be works of art.

I never met Mr. McNarry face-to-face, but when I was working at the Mariners' Museum (between 1980 and 1983) he and I had quite a bit of correspondence.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to acquire a McNarry model for the museum, and I finally succeeded - though the best we could manage was a little eighteenth-century ceremonial barge.

As I've said several times in the Forum before, I don't like to use superlatives when talking about such things, but if I had to apply the label "world's best ship modeler" to anybody, it would be Donald McNarry.  Not only because of his models' quality, but because of the staggering number of them that he built - with subjects ranging from ancient galleys to twentieth-century warships, liners, and yachts.  And he was a genuine expert in all those subjects.  I'd be curious to know exactly how many models he built.  The number has to be in the hundreds - and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were over a thousand.

Fortunately we - and future generations - have access to his work through his books.  It sure would be nice if some conscientious publisher would give us new editions of them.  I hesitate to describe them as "inspirational"; I make it a policy never to look at a photo of a McNarry model when I've just finished a session in the workshop, lest I get depressed and give up.  But anybody who's at all interested in the hobby/profession/art of ship modeling needs to be acquainted with the man's work.

He will indeed be missed.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Monterey Bay, CA
Posted by schoonerbumm on Friday, October 15, 2010 11:59 AM

Mr. McNarry's work was showcased in a book published in 1975, "Shipmodels in Miniature". Copies can be found very inexpensively with the search engine on "ADDALL.COM". Copies of his "Shipbuilding in Miniature" are also available through the site, but are more expensive. 

Truly impressive work.

Alan

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Benjamin Franklin

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

SEARCH FORUMS
FREE NEWSLETTER
By signing up you may also receive reader surveys and occasional special offers. We do not sell, rent or trade our email lists. View our Privacy Policy.