SD-14 designer passed away.

[Diderick A. den Bakker]

Some weeks ago I received the following message:

Hello, my name is Andrew Smith. Myself and my family were friends and neighbours of George.
Unfortunately George Robinson passed away on the 16th of July 2013,
If you know anyone who knows him please let them be aware of his passing,
I have been asked by his sister Mrs Ve Stott to inform all his friends.

In spring 2011 I traced and contacted Mr Robinson, asking for a little background to his iconic SD-14 model. He sent me the following mail:

Good Morning Mr. den Bakker. Sorry I am being so slow working round to your request. Yes, I was a Merchant Navy Captain. I came ashore in 1968 and from then till 1990 I was the Safety Officer with the Manchester Ship Canal Company dealing mainly with dock labour in Port of Manchester. I never actually sailed on an SD14, indeed I don't even think I had seen one. It was not till 1977, when I met Mr John Lingwood who worked in the Naval Architecture department of Austin and Pickerskills Shipbuilders at Sunderland. He had produced a cheap booklet of just a few pages about and describing the ship. This caught my interest and Mr Lingwood kindly let me have a General Arrangement Plan of the vessel. From this plan I was able to produce the drawings for the model. That's about all for now but I will go on if requested. Cheers for now and all the best. George.

In another mail he implied he wanted to write a brief article on the subject, but I heard no more from him since.

He has given the modelling world a truely memorable model - may he rest in peace.

[MIKBEW]

That's a shame, but we all move on...Since I have enough stuff on my shelf to model 'till the ripe old age of 120 I doubt I'd have a bought a copy, but I had looked at it longingly. Perhaps it'll emerge again...

[gert]

Hello,

Diederick: thanks for your information.
A couple of years ago, I just bought the SD14 cardboard model, I also wrote to him and received after some time a pleasant answer.
I think he was already rather old by now.
We do not always know the designer of a certain model but his name will always be connected to this very special model. Even more special as, so far as I know, he only developed one model.

Gert Vlaanderen
The Netherlands

[romanmodels]

Thanks the information Diederick sad to know but at least he'll be remembered by those who continue to buy and make this wonderful model

[Draco]

Sorry by the loss, but, will somebody tell us what is and where to find the sd-14 model? is a cargo ship, a destroyer, an icebreaker?

[nighthawk78]

Originally Posted by Draco

Sorry by the loss, but, will somebody tell us what is and where to find the sd-14 model? is a cargo ship, a destroyer, an icebreaker?

I don't know if this will help but here is a link to where you can get it from:
Untitled Document
NH78

[Diderick A. den Bakker]

Some very basic information on the SD 14 from Wikipedia:

A&P (Austin & Pickergill, UK) maximised the competitiveness of its prefabrication process by producing ships to standard designs rather than individual specifications. From 1962 onwards the company offered standard bulk carriers in a range of sizes designated according to tonnage.
A&P's most numerous product was another of its standard designs, the SD14 shelter deck cargo ship. During the Second World War, shipyards in the USA had delivered more than 2,700 Liberty ship shelter deck cargo ships. By the 1960s many Liberty ships were reaching the end of their service lives, so in 1965 A&P started to develop a low-cost shelter-deck cargo vessel to replace them.

Go to A&P Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more.
More on my own site www.zeistbouwplaten.nl, and pictures on my collection on Flickr: New Photo Collection, via www.zeistbouwplaten.nl's Photostream

The model in the picture has been downsized by 50%!

[Don Boose]

Thanks for this exceptionally useful information, Diderick.

The people who contribute information to Wikipedia on merchant ships seem to really know what they are talking about and go to great lengths to provide accurate information. The article on bulk carriers is fascinating.

I'm glad to know more about these UK counterparts of the U.S. Maritime Commission ship types and to know more about the man who designed the famous SD-14 model.

Don

[gert]

Hello,

As Diederick already wrote the design and main production of these ships was by A & P . There were licenses given out to some Greek and Argentinian shipbuilders as well. In total about 225 of these ships were bult.
Only a few ( < 25 ? ) are still in operation, mainly by Vietnam and Cuba.
To see photograph's of these ships:
www.shipspotting.com , go to PHOTOS and then to categories. There is a special category for SD14 with about 1.275 pictures.
In UK the model can be bought through Marcle Models. For approx. 300,== UK pounds.
In total there are 3 sections which can be purchased seperately. Scale of the cardmodel is 1 : 70. In total over 4.400 parts have to be cut and glued together. The model is printed on "Manilla Cardboard" and has to be painted. About 2 years ago Marco van Hattum has built the model in a very nice way and showed all his progress on this site.
There is also a very impressive book about these ships: SD14, the full story, by John Lingwood. He was one of the guys who developed this type of ship.

Gert Vlaanderen
The Netherlands

[gert]

Hello,

The untitled document is a page of the catalogue of Marcle Models.
It shows also Mr. and Mrs. Robinson in a picture.


Regards,

Gert Vlaanderen