Jump to content
 

Railway & Modelling Obituaries

Mick Bonwick


Gilbert
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

I was very shocked to see a reference to this in another thread, completely taken by surprise on it. I met Mick only the once at the gold member's Pendon day and sat in on his weathering session. Watching him tutor people was a joy, he was patient and encouraging and think it safe to say everyone walked away from his sessions a satisfied "customer". His posts here always seemed to be in the same vein, guiding people in to the art of weathering.

Condolences to his family and friends. RIP Mick, you will be missed.

  • Like 3
  • Agree 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I have been out all day and only just leant of this shockingly sad sad news. 
Mick will be sadly missed for his friendship, skills and generosity of his time to pass his knowledge to anyone willing to learn from such a master. 
He will be sorely missed but will live on in the hearts and minds of all he touched.
RIP Mick and condolences to all his friends and family.

I’ve always thought heaven had too bright a factory finish, so that will soon be sorted! 
 

Edited by Graham_Muz
  • Like 2
  • Agree 8
  • Friendly/supportive 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

I met Mick at a SWAG where we discussed the railways of Portland at some length. I have also followed a lot of his work on here, as others have said truly inspirational stuff. A real tragedy and he will be sorely missed.

 

Martyn

  • Like 1
  • Agree 6
  • Friendly/supportive 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

 I was very surprised to see this, I'd spoken with him a month or so back on a future project, which he was looking forward to having a go at. I didn't know him well but we always took the time to chat when we saw each other at shows, and his demonstrations ( and postings) were rightly popular, and informative and excellent quality. Departed far too soon.

RiP Mick.

  • Like 4
  • Agree 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
3 hours ago, AY Mod said:

Oh my, that's awful to hear and a shock.

 

I had a lot of time for Mick, as do many others, a wonderful modeller and generous in sharing his skills and talents.

Absolutely. 
 

I had the good fortune to meet Mick on several occasions and found him to be the definition of a gentleman, approachable, knowledgeable and more than willing to pass on his skills. 
 

He was also extremely generous with his praise for my own efforts, both the Penhayle Bay layout and my humble attempts at weathering which he described as “among the best”. High praise indeed. 
 

RIP Mick. Condolences to family, friends and modelling colleagues alike. 

  • Friendly/supportive 9
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
24 minutes ago, Graham_Muz said:

I’ve always thought heaven had too bright a factory finish, so that will soon be sorted! 

Graham - a marvellous comment...

Chris

  • Like 3
  • Agree 10
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Like many others I am deeply shocked about the very sad news that Mick Bonwick has passed away.


I can’t say  I knew him, but I had chatted with him most recently at the 2019 Hornby exhibition at MK.

 

Also watched all the zoom videos he was involved in last year during lockdown.

 

He will be sadly missed by us all

 

RIP 

 

  • Agree 5
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I too had to read the thread title twice and, even now, can hardly believe it!

 

We only had on-line communication, but a more generous, helpful and thoroughly decent bloke I never came across.

 

Why do the 'good 'uns' always go before their time? I'd love to have met him in person.

 

A real tragedy!

 

John Isherwood.

  • Agree 10
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
4 hours ago, Gilbert said:

I was lucky enough to see Easton in the flesh last week (its even better in real life) when I spent a very pleasant morning drinking coffee with Mick in his garden to discuss changes in the way we would run the weathering courses at Missenden once he finished after this Autumn. He had already decided to stop his tutoring and demonstration activities and we were planning a transition.

Easton is very much fixed in place in his workshop and while I agree withe sentiment I feel we should now wait until his widow decides how she wants to deal with his workshop, layout, model collection, books etc. Like many of us Mick had a large collection of "stuff" accumulated over many years...I'm just very glad I had that morning with him just before he was taken ill.

Chris

Thanks for the update I had forgotten it wasn't portable as an exhibition layout. As I said above such very sad news RIP.

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Still trying to digest this. I was only just getting to know Mick, and admired his rare combination of skill, modesty and humour on here.  Generosity too, I was curious about some materials and before I knew it he had sent me some of his own.  His weathering work was brilliant, the techniques were not complicated yet with his special touch things came to life in magical ways. Only wizards can do that.

 

Rest in peace Mick.

  • Like 2
  • Agree 2
  • Round of applause 1
  • Friendly/supportive 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

I only had a few chats with Mick, but as others have mentioned, he was so very forthcoming with information, Friendly and witty to no end. 

He was, and still is a huge weathering inspiration, having given his expert touch to many Southern models. I had hoped to meet him when we were able to get to the UK.

 

Rest easy Mick. 

  • Like 2
  • Friendly/supportive 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

This is very sad news. Mick struck up conversation with me only recently on here via DMs and was really encouraging, complementary  and helpful which meant a lot to me as a newbie, coming from such a skilled chap. My thoughts go out to his friends on here and of course his family. 

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

I had the pleasure of working alongside Mick mostly on Much Murkle, operating together at exhibitions. His dry and quirky humour got me through many a Sunday afternoon. I will miss him immensely, I am honoured to have known him.

 

RIP Mick

  • Like 3
  • Friendly/supportive 12
Link to post
Share on other sites

I am so sad!  I had only just begun to know Mick personally, revered for many years as the master of weathering in our hobby and honoured by his regular attendance at my monthly modelling meets.

Ironically, the first time he joined me was on a weathering session but rather than judge, he offered constructive guidance and when not speaking directly, gave me many visual clues in order to keep me on track.

He will be sadly missed and my condolences are sent to his family and friends. 

 

RIP Mick.

 

  • Like 2
  • Friendly/supportive 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Ive just woken up to this absolutely tragic news. I had been in phone and email conversation with Mick over the last few months regarding the resumption of the Missenden weekends in October and was looking forward to meeting up again.

 

A great modeller and a really lovely man, he will be greatly missed.

 

Jerry

  • Like 1
  • Agree 5
  • Friendly/supportive 12
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Heard the news yesterday and feel so sad that one of the 'good guys' has been taken from us far too early.

His humour, coupled with patience and tutoring skills in the art of weathering will have touched so many. We are all more confident at weathering those pristine models, but even more so we are better for knowing him.

My first event at Missenden was for a week at one of the Summer retreats. I spent the whole week under the guidance of Mick and step by step he set me on the road to the different aspects of weathering. I have to say I felt rather nervous beforehand but was soon put at ease by him and have not looked back since. A few more Missenden visits later and a couple more courses from Mick, Tim and Stuart on weathering and tree making changed my whole perspective on the art and fun of railway modelling. I owe Mick so much but then he would help anyone out at any time. A true gentleman and I will miss him.

Dave

 

  • Like 2
  • Friendly/supportive 11
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Very sad news. Like others above, I never met Mick in real life, but greatly enjoyed his sense of humour and excellent craftsmanship shown on this forum. 

 

My condolences to all his friends and family. 

 

Nick

  • Like 3
  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I first learned this awful news on @Graham_Muz Twitter. I came on here and the amount of posts on this thread are of no surprise. Mick was hugely admired and one of the friendliest people I've met in the hobby.

 

Like @nickwood, I first met Mick through Tim Shackleton's weathering workshops at Pendon. Our paths would cross frequently at exhibitions and it was always nice to be recognised and enjoy a friendly chat with an absolute gentleman. 

 

On a day when I've also learned of the sudden passing of my cousin, it's been a grim day. 

 

RIP Mick.

  • Like 1
  • Friendly/supportive 13
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...