Arts
Inventive By Andrea Louise Thomas Photos Gary Sissons
W
hat 94 year-old Alec Hose of Rosebud can make out of cardboard, aluminium cans, wire and other recycled materials boggles the mind. Working with truly exacting measure, he crafts large-scale models of fighter jets, biplanes, paddle steamers, airships, ocean liners and airplanes. The detail in his work is incredible.
He remembers the market horse and cart, the cobblestone streets, the cable car on Sydney Road and the invention of the ‘wireless’ radio and all the technology that came after it from television to the Internet. Not many people had cars when he was young, but his father was an engineer and he could afford a family car – a 1922 Dodge.
He chooses to make models of historical interest and they are big! His Hindenburg and Titanic models both measure 10 feet long. His models depict some of the most famous air and sea craft ever made, such as the Concorde, the Red Baron, the Enola Gay and the RMS Queen Mary.
Engineering interested young Alec so he decided to get his training and education in the Air Training Corps of the RAAF at the age of 16. He spent his Saturdays drilling, marching and learning unarmed combat. He also took night classes at Essendon Tech studying flight rigging.
Tools to make the pieces of his models don’t exist. He makes his own jigs, presses and other machinery in his purpose-built workshop at home. He can cut timber down to half a millimetre thick. Invention and reinvention best describe his life and career. Born in Brunswick in 1925, Alec has seen remarkable change in his lifetime and he likes to tell tales of times gone by.
Originally he wanted to do a fitting course, but missed out and instead got close up and personal with aircraft when he was tasked as a sign writer on planes such as the four engine B-24 Liberator Bomber. There he honed his attention to the detail required for his model making.
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Pictured top Douglas DC-3. Bottom left to right: The Hindenburg airship, Queen Mary with the Titanic in background and the Red Barons tri plane from WW1. January 2020
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