John finds new ‘dock’ to show off his model boats

Retired architect and model-ship builder John Cottee… ” I would never want to design a ship but I have designed plenty of houses.” Photo: Lily Pass

by Lily Pass

FASCINATED by how they used the forces of nature in getting around the world, John Cottee developed a love for crafting model sailing ships when he was 10-years-old.

The bigger ships, such as the Swedish royal warship, “The Vasa”, took John two or three years to build.

Now, it’s on display at his Greenway retirement village alongside six other ships that John, 81, has crafted, and he’s more than happy to finally be able to show them off.

“I had tried for about 10 or 12 years to keep them all together, in hotels or galleries throughout Australia,” he says.

“I had started to give up, but when I put my deposit down here, I thought I’d give it one last go and wrote to management.

“Two days later they said they’d take them, it’s just terrific.”

John says he picked the ships he wanted to make based on whether they were still in use.

“It’s not very often at all that you’ll see them in Australia,” he says.

“Once though, I had just finished making the German ship ‘Gorch Fock’, and I was in correspondence with the German embassy here.

“A couple of months later I got a special invite to get on board the ship for the bicentenary with the German population, in Sydney, and it was just magic.”

Funnily enough, says John, his love of putting the model kits together found him a career in architecture.

“I really found it quite stimulating to be reading and interpreting the plans. I would never want to design a ship but I have designed plenty of houses,” he says.

“I have made a few model airplanes too, but I just kept coming back to ships. I’m just too impressed by their ability to use wind forces to get around the world.”

John says he’s made 12 ships in total, and once, “many, many years ago” won an award at the Canberra Show with his models.

“I came here from Sydney, having finished my architecture course in 1964.

“I joined the Canberra Model Shipwrights Society, it was established in 1988.

“I worked on extensions for Old Parliament House, the School of Music and Campbell Park Offices near the airport, with the National Capital Development Commission.

“Once that was finished, I joined Defence and I retired in ‘95.”

He finished his most recent model, the cross-section of Lord Nelson’s flagship, “HMS Victory”, eight years ago.

John says his three daughters have a model ship from him in each of their homes, as does his nephew.

One other person has one of John’s model ships in their possession, the surgeon who saved his life 22 years ago.

“Noel Tait was the surgeon,” he says.

“I was nearly stabbed to death in my own home. It was a drug addict who broke in looking for things he could sell to fund his habit.

“He’d stolen a serrated hunting knife, and I was stabbed in the liver, kidneys and pancreas, I had a blood pressure of 20 over 10 when the paramedics got to me, so I’m very lucky to still be here, and I wanted to say thank you to Noel for saving me.”

John says while he is still capable of making the model ships, he’s kept busy helping a new friend he’s made at LDK Greenway Views, Jenny.

“LDK stands for love, decency and kindness,” he says.

“I care for Jenny, take her to dance lessons and such, she’s had Parkinson’s disease for 25 years now.

“My wife died, and Jenny was divorced, and we found each other on a trip. I was heading down into a depression, I was alone, so it’s nice to have a friend.

“Unfortunately, in the last couple of months Jenny’s been moved into 24-hour care, but we can still go and see each other.”

In his free time, John still enjoys reading about ships, and says he’s open to making another.

“I just haven’t seen another one yet that takes my fancy,” he says.

“But I guess you just never know what you’ll do next.”

First published at Canberra City News online, August 23, 2023