'Every man should have a hobby'

GEORGE NEWS - Colin Burgess (79), a retired industrial modeller who built sections of the scale model for the Mossgas refinery in the 1980s, still has a good pair of hands and is keeping them busy by continuing to live out his lifelong love for the trade, just on a much smaller scale.

In between building delicate scale model aeroplanes, motorcycles, cars and helicopters, he is also keeping busy with woodwork, painting and 4x4 camping with his partner, Esle.

They live in Fancourt, but Burgess' enthusiasm for his hobbies has necessitated a man cave - which is a second home not far from there in Blanco. Here he has enough space to store about 400 boxes of scale models that still need to be built.

"If I did one per month, I would be 132 years old when I finish," he chuckles, pointing to the full shelves and boxes stacked up all over the floor.

Piled up in another room are boxes full of completed models he brought along when they moved to George, and for which he intends to build a display cabinet.

Burgess is also a member of the South Cape Association for Visual Arts (Scava) and has exhibited some of his works at their exhibitions.

A series of helicopters in order of evolution from left.

He was born and bred in Manchester, and from a young age has had a flair for art and things technical, taking up sketching at about eight and building plastic construction kits from nine. After school, when he had gone through the technical stream, taking art, woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing, he landed up with the Royal Navy, where he received his initial trade training. Here he worked as a mechanic on antisubmarine aircraft and later with a helicopter squadron, when he had his own aircraft to look after.

Nine years later, he wanted a new career. "I had worked in the training aids workshop and had built a couple of large-scale helicopters for the recruiting department, sectioning aero engines and undercarriage legs. I had heard about industrial and architectural modelling and sought out employment in the Manchester area, close to where I was raised."

He initially worked in architectural modelling and then moved into the engineering side. "The idea of a model is to prove the engineering before anything gets built on site. It costs far less to find problems on the model than out on site. One of my first projects was a 13m atomic submarine in scale, 1:10."

Colin Burgess with part of his collection of scale models yet to be built. Photos: Alida de Beer

In 1980 he emigrated to South Africa, living in Johannesburg, where he worked on chemical, power station and coal-moving equipment mining models for Anglo-American, and also breweries, power stations and finally the Mossgas project, where he was involved in the gas dryer section.

"When I retired, I needed to be using my hands," says an energetic Burgess. Scale modelling was the ideal pastime, and he took it up with great enthusiasm.

He is involved at the top committee level with the International Plastic Modellers Society, countrywide, and currently with the Outeniqua Scale Modellers Group.

"I find the modelling mentally therapeutic and it keeps my motor skills going. I believe every man should have a hobby."

Paintings done by Burgess in his 'man cave'.