AS a young boy, Ron Robinson used to watch his father build model sailboats out of his Surry Hills bedroom.
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Accompanying his father to the duck pond at Moore Park in Sydney, Ron would stand at the water’s edge and watch intently as his father and his group of friends raced their boats out into the middle of the pond.
“I’d get on one side and if dad or any of his friends’ boats got grounded I’d push it off for them so they could keep going,” Ron explained.
“Dad used to make his own boats. Back then we didn’t really have a lot of room so the bedroom ended up being his workshop too.”
It didn’t take long for the hobby to rub off on Ron when at the age of 14 he managed to save up enough money to purchase his first plastic model boat kit.
In his later years he went on to work as a French polisher. Working in Sydney for many years for a business and then for himself. Ron and his wife Noelene finally decided they had, had enough of the city life so, after putting their house on the market and it selling three weeks later, they headed north. The couple relocated to Forster in 1980 where they have lived ever since.
I just found him to be one of the most genuine, generous and humble people I’ve ever met.
- Filmmaker Danny McShane
Mr Robinson opened another French polishing business in Forster, which he operated for many years. It was taken over by Ron’s son, Russell, 20 years ago when Ron decided it was time to retire.
The decision meant Ron had more time on his hands and so his passion for model boats was reignited.
But you won’t find Ron making the plastic variety anymore. These days his creations are the painstakingly scratch-built examples. They are intricately detailed and require a lot of patience – which, luckily enough Ron has plenty of.
Over the years, Ron has made a variety of boats with most of them relating to the Great Lakes maritime history in some way.
“A lot of the boats I’m interested in are the boats that belong to Forster and where built here. I’ve built three that were actually built in John Wright Park at Tuncurry,” the 82-year-old said.
Mr Robinson can be found making his creations out of his garage at his home at One Mile Beach or at his son’s workshop in Forster.
Two of his model boats feature in the museum at Tuncurry. One of them, named the Lake Wallis, was used to transport groceries to residents in Coomba Park many years ago while the other was used for transporting timber up and down the NSW coastline.
“You get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a nice model finished,” Ron said.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist so you’re not always happy but most of the time you’re satisfied with what you’ve made.”
Danny McShane, a filmmaker and photographer from Brisbane, often had to walk past Ron’s house, while visiting his parents’ who live nearby, to get to the beach. He was intrigued by Ron’s hobby and decided to film him while he worked on some of his models.
“Everyday I’d pass his garage on my way to the beach and see him working away on his model boats,” Danny said.
“I eventually got talking to him and asked if I could make a short film about him.”
The short film shows Ron being interviewed where he talks about his hobby and how he got into it as well as various scenic shots. Most of the filming took place in Ron’s sons’ workshop and at various locations around Forster and Tuncurry.
“The purpose of the film was to capture Ron – I just thought he was a great character,” Danny said.
“He’s really talented with the way he can make the model boats such perfect replicas of the real ones but he would never toot his own horn and that really shone through immediately when I first met him.”
While the film wasn’t made for anything in particular, Danny said he just enjoyed telling Ron’s story and thought it would be a nice way people could remember him by.
“I just found him to be one of the most genuine, generous and humble people I’ve ever met - he spends months on those model boats and then he just gives them away which I thought was so great,” he said.
“He has his model boats in the surf club, the museum and all over town. He also has a really strong sense of pride for the history of Forster too. I guess you could say in the same way Ron’s making a record of Forster’s boats I like making films to make a record of interesting people.
“I really enjoy meeting and getting to know interesting characters like Ron and then learning about the world through their unique point of view.”
Mr Robinson said he was “proud as punch” of the film and showed it to some of his friends who teased him by saying he might be “the next big thing” in terms of acting or may even “win a grammy” for it.
He chuckles at the thought as he says he doesn’t consider himself much of an actor at all. He’s just happy sticking to what he knows and what he’s good at and that’s making beautiful model boats from scratch.
To view the film visit www.dannymcshane.com