Skipper a model performer

Gary Douglas sails his 2.7m model of the USS Comstock, a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, at the Otago Model Engineering Society 75th anniversary celebrations on Saturday.

Society secretary Heather Wilson said yesterday "a few thousand" people attended the event, the society's biggest in the last decade, and the Comstock had been a popular attraction.

The anniversary runs until next Sunday, and Ms Wilson said there should be even more models on display next weekend when out-of-town modellers traditionally attended.