Scale: 1:24. The cross-channel ferry ‘Dinard’ had a long and varied career. Built in 1924 by Denny Brothers of Dunbarton, Scotland, for Southern Railway, she was designed to carry 1300 passengers, 354 of them in berths. Between the Wars she plied the night route between Southampton and St. Malo. During the Second World War she served with distinction as a hospital ship, and was present at both Dunkirk and Normandy.

On returning to civilian service she required a major overhaul and, at a time when the demand for the transportation of cars to continental Europe was increasing, ‘Dinard’ was rebuilt as a car ferry. Returning to service in June 1947 she plied between Dover and Folkstone, and Boulogne with a capacity of 363 passengers and 70 vehicles, which had to be crane-loaded aboard. She passed to the newly nationalized British Railways the following year.

In 1953 she underwent modifications to her stern which enabled cars to be loaded over a ramp, thus inaugurating the first drive-on/ drive-off service between Dover and Boulogne. She was withdrawn from this service in 1958 but, instead of being scrapped, ‘Dinard’ was sold to the Baltic ferry giant Viking Line, renamed ‘Viking’, in whose service she remained until 1970.

The model has been made with obvious enthusiasm by an amateur and has a bespoke case. It depicts the ferry at the start of her career in the colour scheme of the London and South Western Railway, distinguishable by the minimal white upperworks. The company became a part of Southern Railway in 1923.