History of the Wingrove Workshop.

After some success as a freelance designer and pattern maker for 'Meccano'  (Dinky Toys), 'Mettoy Playcraft', (Corgi Toys), jewellery design and making miniatures for Film and TV Companies, I received  a commission in 1967 from Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. This was to build a series of fine detailed scale models for the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in the south of England. From this first commission others soon followed from collectors, and I found myself being invited to visit private car collections in Europe and the USA, many of which contain some of the world's finest automobiles ever to grace the roads of the western world, the lines and proportions of which, in my view, class them as an art form in their own right, ie. 'Rolling Sculpture'. Much of this work can be viewed in Galleries of photos at <www.geraldwingrove.com>  

So fascinated did I become with the automobile, that the data file was soon extended to include additional subjects other than those immediately required as miniatures. This led me to take a look at personal transport before the age of the automobile, and I found the fascinating world of the elegant carriage that is all but forgotten today. However, the most outstanding finds for me were the spectacular State and Gala Carriages of much earlier centuries, many of which are still preserved in museums and Palace Collections across Europe.  

Having decided to extract myself from the commercial side of model making after thirty five years, all-be-it as a one man band with excellent back-up from Phyllis, my wife and partner in the enterprise, my aim now is to give every encouragement to a younger generation to take up the basic skills for a very rewarding and creative hobby of scratch building scale models. Also, having spent most of this time building scale models of collectors' cars, I am looking forward to returning to ships, in particular the ‘Falls of Clyde’ - a four masted sailing ship of  1876,  which should provide enough information for a reworking of my first book,  ‘The Techniques of Ship Modelling’.  With regard to Carriages, this whole new field will also certainly provide plenty of new techniques to warrant a worthwhile book. And finally to aircraft;  my particular interest here will be in the single engined Lockheed aircraft of the 1930's, which are not only a most interesting family in their own part, but many of them made a fascinating mark in the history of aviation.  

For those interested in the Carriages, we have a number of Portfolios of data photos and scale plans available. The data for all those listed is on file, and more, will become available as soon as we have updated the plans into a format suitable for scratch scale modelling.  

  Click the eye to view a sample of a Portfolio and Supplementary data photos.