Obituary: George Scammell, model boat builder

As the son of a Granton trawlerman it was only to be expected that George Scammell would have an interest in boats.

But although he never went to sea in one, he created an astonishing array of lovingly-crafted models over almost 50 years, becoming one of Scotland's leading model shipbuilders.

Built and stored in his two-bedroom flat in Granton Terrace, they ranged from small-scale versions to eight-foot replicas of Leith's most historic vessels, some of which are on permanent display at Edinburgh's Ocean Terminal.

Born in Leith, he was one of 12 children of Harry Scammell and Helen Munro. His father sailed from Leith and Granton but Scammell did not follow him in a life at sea. Educated at Granton and then David Kilpatrick's schools, he left at 14, initially intending to become a baker.

But it was not the trade for him and he soon left his apprenticeship to become a welder with engineering firm Bruce Peebles.

He was in his 30s when he began crafting the models and had a huge passion for 14th and 15th century galleons. He built every one of the Scottish fleet which numbered more than 30.

Among his creations were also the Princess Anne, the Titanic and the Royal Yacht Britannia. Known locally as the Captain, for his perennial habit of wearing a cap and love of watching the boats at Granton, his versions of the Great Michael, the Lion of Scotland and the Great Ship - all built of pier timbers from Hound Point on the Firth of Forth - are installed in Ocean Terminal just along the coast.

Others have gone to private collectors or organisations including Scottish museums and libraries. Scammell's interest in ships also extended to his work as a member of the SS Explorer Preservation Society, the organisation established to help with the upkeep and restoration of the celebrated boat, the last steam-powered trawler to work the Atlantic fishing grounds. One of his more recent creations was not a vessel but a replica of Granton Gasworks, built to commemorate Edinburgh's industrial heritage before it disappeared forever.

As a boy he played in the shadow of the towers, which dominated the skyline, and he had known many of the men who worked there.

It took him two years to design and build the model, featuring all three of the original towers, adjoining offices and surrounding landscape.

He had retired from Bruce Peebles at 65 but continued to be a well-known and colourful figure in his local community, joining the board of directors of North Edinburgh News, a charity producing a community newspaper for the area, and taking a keen interest in the preservation of his beloved Granton and Leith.

Boats, however, remained his passion and, though he denied mortality was on his mind, his penultimate project was a four-foot-long Egyptian funeral boat, inspired by his recollections of a boyhood book describing the ancient funeral rites.

At the time he said: "I remember reading about how these boats would ferry the pharaoh down the River Nile after his death, powered by 22 oarsmen and led by the high priest at the back of the boat.

"When they reached the pharaoh's final resting place they would carry the boat into the tomb and then they would all be sealed up inside together. The slaves and the high priest would sacrifice themselves in order to row the pharaoh across the river in the afterlife. I thought it was the most wonderful image and fitting subject for my last boat."

However, despite his intention to call a halt to his model-making career, he went on to create one more vessel. Just before he died he was working on his latest model, the Margaret Paton, the doomed Granton trawler his father had been due to sail on but which he did not join on the fateful trip in 1949 when she went down with all hands while fishing the Coral Bank.

Scammell, who lost his wife Joan in 1986, is survived by their son Harry, their two grandchildren and two great grandchildren and two of his brothers, Alex and Sonny.