As of: March 13, 2024, 11:15 a.m
By: Volker Camehn
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It's not just children's eyes that light up here: visitors to the cultural center are amazed at the model ships, which were built with great attention to detail and a lot of patience and time.
© Volker Camehn
At the Parkseeskipper meeting of model ship builders in Taufkirchen it becomes clear: This hobby is only possible with teamwork and attention to detail.
Taufkirchen
– Building boats is always teamwork.
And sometimes a cross-generational project.
“My daughter built her first model when she was eight years old,” says Helmut Schmidbauer.
Not without pride.
“And my granddaughter too!” Schmidbauer, 77 years old, lives in Solln, discovered his love for scale models like maritime 45 years ago; before that, model railways were his world.
Now the former freight forwarder is standing in the anteroom of the Taufkirchner Cultural Center at the meeting of the “Parkseeskippers” behind his 17 kilogram polyester cruise ship.
The over two meter long colossus, fully seaworthy and equipped with an electric motor, is also a kind of life's work for Schmidbauer and a not insignificant part of his biography.
“I started building it with a friend.
I discovered the blueprint by chance on a slide.
We then had it developed to a size of two meters,” says Schmidbauer, remembering the beginnings.
Over two meters long and fully seaworthy: Helmut Schmidbauer's pride and joy is his cruise ship.
© Volker Camehn
At some point they parted ways, construction paused for 35 years, and Schmidbauer only completed his “France” in the last three years.
“During this time alone, I invested a good 2,000 euros in the project,” he says.
And a lot of workshop time.
“My wife tolerates it,” smiles Schmidbauer.
It sounds grateful.
She also packed him food for this day, basically galley food, including the liver casserole, which he chews with relish every now and then.
Attention to detail is part of it
The appeal of tinkering?
“Once you start a project, you can't just stop.” The jetty as a goal.
This also includes attention to detail: the figures on the “France” are not placed randomly; rather, Schmidbauer depicted scenes, encounters, and processes: conversations on deck chairs, conversations at the railing.
Each character has a specific role.
16 park sea skippers are exhibiting
Helmut Schmidbauer is one of 16 park sea skippers, ten of whom are exhibiting their ship models in Taufkirchen on this day.
The Parkseeskippers are not an association, but a “community of interests,” emphasizes Oskar Achatz.
It has been around since 2011 and connects model ship building.
They usually have their boats sailing at the Parksee in Unterhaching on weekends.
However, visitor interest in the exhibition seems to be manageable; for a short time a group of children marvel at the ships, and then it gets really crowded.
But they're only there for a short time and are actually there because of the children's musical "Bibi Blocksberg", which is being performed next door that afternoon.
The park sea skippers are mostly among themselves: talking shop, exchanging ideas.
Shared passion: Elvira and Oskar Achatz work together on their ship models.
© Volker Camehn
Shared hobby thanks to a birthday surprise
Oskar Achatz exhibits his ship models together with his wife Elvira; the couple from Neuperlach tinkers together in their basement at home, for example on the motor yacht “Najade” and the shrimp cutter “Sirius”.
The latter, on a scale of 1:16, is her particular pride.
“It took two years until it was finally finished,” says Oskar Achatz.
The couple also started building model trains.
Since 1992, the two have also been enthusiastic about model ships, a rather accidental passion: for her 50th birthday, Elvira Achatz gave her husband a night trip on a police boat near Bremen.
She worked for the police at the time and her contacts made the unusual event possible.
“I’ve been a fan ever since,” enthuses Oskar Achatz to this day.
And Elvira Achatz too.
They make a good team.