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The model was designed by R.C. Johnston, naval architect of Niagara-on-the-Lake. His web site is worth looking at: www.rcjohnston-naval.ca
It is a presentation model designed to be photographed, hence the lack of detailed finish and the lights. It was part of a proposal to replace the ageing Maid of the Mist before Hornblower won the contract. I understand the electronic design files were sent to a company in Ottawa for CNC machining out of high-density polyurethane foam. ("They did it in an afternoon", Bob told me.) The model sat in the window of his design office on Mary Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake for a few years. He moved office last year and gave the model away to another man whose name I forget. This gentleman's wife wanted it out of the house(!), which is when I heard about it. Having seen the model in Bob's office, I volunteered to take it. It needed dust, debris and insect parts cleaned out which I what I did before passing the model on to you.
I've known Bob for a few years. He is rather shy and it took a while to get to know him. He trained at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast in the days when men who had built the Titanic still worked there.
Confederation Marine Modellers