I have had some really sad news today. Gerard Methorst has died.
He was a prolific paper model designer and I have corresponded with Gerard a lot in the past couple of years. He really was such a kind and lively man with a passion for life and a broad interest, always happy to talk to us 'youngsters'.
Gerard was a land surveyor by profession, but he always had a big interest in aircraft. He wrote me that when he was young, he would have loved to become a fighter pilot in the Dutch Air Force after he finished school. But he was bad at maths, so that was out of the question. His other passion, drawing, also wasn't really appreciated, his father decided he had to go to technical university (HTS). That is what he reluctantly did, although he learnt to appreciate it later on in life.
I really enjoyed corresponding with him about different approaches on paper modeling. He told me about the techniques he used to build his planes and I liked to show him comparisons with his models and how other designers solved issues in getting shape and scale right. Our discussions often had scale and (line)drawing and CAD software as subjects. Strange to never even have had the slightest notion of how Gerard looked. But I will remember him as an enthusiastic and kind man who seemed to always have a sparkle in his eyes, the way he wrote things.
Gerard helped me a lot when I asked him I wanted to redo his model of the Westland Whirlwind fighter and he (unasked) designed a new, much better nose for the plane. He only built his own designed models, the only models he made that were designed by others were when he was around 11 years old. His first self-published models were created digitally in the early 2000's. Gerard was 81 years old.
Clear skies, you magnificent man. Thanks for all the models and your enthusiasm. I will keep you in my thoughts.
Goeie reis, ouwe reus.
--Jasper
