A HOUGHTON Regis artist with a “Titanic obsession” is creating a huge homage to the ocean liner that sank a century ago this month – out of matchsticks.
It has taken John Paine 16 years, thousands of matchsticks and a lot of PVA glue to build the 53ins model of RMS Titanic – which set sail from Portsmouth on April 10, 1912.
John, 49, of Hillborough Crescent, has painstakingly reproduced the ill-fated vessel – which claimed the lives of 1,514 people on her maiden voyage – to scale by referring to its original dimensions.
Every detail has been accounted for by John, including the correct amount of lifeboats – 20 delicately constructed pieces made up of 16 matches each.
He told the Gazette: “It’ll still take me a few years. I don’t have much room to work in.”
John says his obsession with all things Titanic goes a long way back.
He said: “I’ve been obsessed with it since I was very little.
“I used to do the old Airfix models when I was a kid, like the Spitfires. But I always wanted to build one of these (the Titanic).”
His portfolio also includes three large acrylic-on-canvas paintings of the record-breaking behemoth, as well as another 63cms x 43cms replica model.
He said his largest and most recent painting will be framed and hung up in one-year-old granddaughter Alayah’s bedroom.
As well as his own works of art, John’s living room walls are heavily adorned with other paintings and maps.
He said: “I’m amazed by it all. Just watching the film gives me a cold feeling, and freaked out about all those people dying.”
