It seems all liners are made abroad these days.

But one dining room in Southampton has become a mini shipyard where an exact replica of the Titanic is being painstakingly constructed by Ron Woodward.

Ron, 77, has been working on the model for two years and two months-almost as long as it took Harland and Woolff to build the real thing.

The 1:250 scale model, measuring 3ft 6ins in length, has tens of thousands of tiny parts and has required a great deal patience and skill to build.

Just like its full-sized predecessor, this ship has 1,183 brass portholes-the trouble is these are little bigger than a pinhead.

Fixing each in place was a big job on a tiny scale but, said Ron, making the hull, out of 4mm thick lengths of Russian birch, was the trickiest part of the project.

This is the first model Ron has made but he is no stranger to precision work having worked over 35 years as a toolmaker.

During his career he helped make parts for another British transport legend-Concord-and the less glamorous, but ultimately more useful, Bic disposable razor.

He is also familiar with the world of liners having worked in the galleys aboard Union Castle, Cunard and Royal Mail ships in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Ron was inspired to make the model when his young grandson, Toby, took an interest in liners.

At the same time Hatchette launched their Titanic kit, sent out in instalments.

So far Ron has collected over 100-and there's still more to come.

Obviously a lot of people don't stay the course and Ron is aware of just one other person in the Southampton area still building the Titanic.

But, even if the model is not unique, Ron is hopeful it will become a collector's item when it is complete.

- Originally published April 2004.