A retired sailor's half-century long quest to build a model of HMS Victory has been thwarted at the last moment - as he can't find anyone to make the final parts. Michael Byard, who started the work on the 5ft-long replica of Nelson's flagship way back in 1969, is 'really desperate' to get the last pieces of the extraordinary replica finished.
Fifty-three years after he first began work on the vessel, the 82-year-old says he feels like he is 'bashing my head against a brick wall' having been this close to completion for nearly two years. He is now resigned to the fact that he may never finish it - as he simply can't find anyone willing to 3D print the missing parts.
Currently, the striking model is enclosed in a bespoke museum quality case in his conservatory - in need of only a print of the sternworks - the decorative part on the rear of the ship. Appealing for help, father of two Michael, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, said: “I need someone who can make the sternworks in 3D print."
