Para Handy and a drop of the real stuff (scroll down)
Overview #1	Overview #2
On the pier #1	On the pier #2
On the pier 3	Under the pier
Sonny Jim	P.C. Murdoch
Dougie, the first mate, the only mate.	McPhail the hingineer
The man himself, Para Handy	Sonny Jim again
The Great West Highland Seagull	Scotland won 2-0
And for the whisky salesmen Forget about your man walking around the world, Here, I am introducing the next Scotch Whisky advertisement icon.To avoid copyright lawsuits let's call it 'A barrel of laughs' As you can see, the bottles are interchangeable to suit your distillery.

Sizing
I hired these two goodlooking, mature, sophisticated professional models
to give you an idea of the size of the diorama.

Para Handy on display inside the window of the Seagull Gallery in Gourock. Me on display outside the window of the Seagull Gallery in Gourock.

One of my favorite Scottish characters is Para Handy. Para is the fictional captain of the Vital Spark, a west coast puffer. Puffers were, in some cases, the only mode of supply and transportation to and from the Hebridean Islands on the west coast of Scotland.
 The Vital Spark had a crew of four. Captain  Peter Macfarlane, (Para Handy), first mate Dougie, Dan MacPhail the engineer and deckhand Sunny Jim. The author, Inveraray boy Neil Munro brought the characters to life. His gentle humour, devoid of profanity made Tales of Para Handy a best seller.

Scottish author Stuart Donald has ,with the blessing of Neil Munro's grand-daughter Lesley Lendrum revived the tales and written two books,In The Wake of the Vital Spark and Para Handy Sails Again. In his books, Stuart Donald supplies
'factnotes' at the end of every chapter.These 'factnotes' are full of historic and geographic insights which enlighten the reader
enormously.It is from Para Handy Sails Again, that I drew my inspiration for this carving.The diorama is loosely, very loosely based on the story 'A Spirited Performance'.BBC in turn has made a number of television series based on Para Handy. One of the episodes is called A drop of the real stuff and it too is loosely based on this story.

If you are lucky enough to visit Inveraray one day, make sure to visit the Vital Spark, one of the only puffers still operating on the Clyde.Also, visit Loch Fyne Whiskies, one of the best specialty stores in all of Scotland.Pop into the Inveraray Castle, seat of Clan Campbell and climb to the watchtower on Duniquaich Hill behind the castle.

I really enjoyed carving this scene. The research and planning has been wonderful.
I trust the scene will bring a smile to your face.

 

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