The story of the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545 and her raising from the Solent in 1982 is well known. I remember watching her raising on TV at school at the time.

I was recently in Portsmouth and visited her as she is today in the Historic Dockyard. It is a spectacular presentation, considering how long it was sunk in a busy shipping lane:

Anyway, I picked up the Airfix kit to serve as a memento. Of course, it has many simplifications and omissions – most notably the rigging – but still… I enjoyed putting it together and finishing it with the items shown in the pictures. It sits well on my shelf now!