Ship Kit’s Keeping Margaret Sharp as a Tac

74-year-old Bethanie Illawong Retirement Village resident, Margaret Devine, has an eye for detail and is showing no signs of losing her hand eye coordination as she keeps herself busy creating wooden model ship kit masterpieces.

Her first replica model kit was the Titanic which she started in 2003 and took her two years to complete. Margaret says, “I was fascinated when I saw the Titanic advertised on the TV and when I finished it in 2005, it was the most wonderful thing I have ever done in my life. I ended up giving it to my grandson as a gift.”

The replica’s come in kit form from the news agency and each piece must be glued, sandpapered and painted individually. Each issue tells you what you need to paint and what glue and tools are required, which you have to supply yourself. Margaret adds that it isn’t always a cheap hobby!

In 2015 Margaret took on her second model – the 17^th Century warship of the English Navy – HMS Sovereign of the Seas. It took her three years to complete and being self-taught and simply learning as she goes, she admits there was a lot of tears and stress.

Margaret says, “My friends at Bethanie can’t believe that I built it, although some of them did see me doing it. My family are over the moon and my husband saw me start it but unfortunately, he died in November 2015. Before he died, he asked me to promise him that I would finish it and I did.”

Bethanie Illawong Village Manager Nikki Dhawan says, “It’s incredible to see what Margaret has achieved and how proud she is of what she has done. These sorts of projects are critical to keeping our residents well and active, and the hand eye coordination and patience required is just amazing.”

Margaret adds, “To me, the most exhilarating thing is, when you finish a part and you look at it and say, did I do that?”

At this stage Margaret has no plans for another ship, however, she is busy arranging silk flowers for her niece’s upcoming wedding.

Find out more about Bethanie.