"Warship" built by villager sets sail in S China's Guangxi

The warship model built by Lu Qizhong sails smoothly in the river. (Photo/Wei Yan)

A warship model built by a villager in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has made a successful maiden voyage, during which it was seen moving forward and backward, making turns, and picking up speed easily.

It took the builder Lu Qizhong, a plasterer from Longping village, Maling town, Hengxian county, about two months to complete the job.

The warship model is about 2.7 meters in length, 36 centimeters in width, and 50 centimeters in height. Made of iron, it weighs over 25 kilograms. The hull of the model is painted in silver grey, except for the underwater section, which is red. Equipped with a dynamic system and a steering system, it has a maximum speed of about 20 km/h.

Equipment that is commonly seen on a warship, including navigation lights, naval artillery, radar, decoy launching device, and flight deck, could also be found on the model.

Lu's passion for warships led him to successfully completing the vessel. After longing for a battleship model for years, Lu decided to build his own three years ago.

Lu began to learn how to build a warship by going online, but quickly encountered difficulties in choosing the ideal material for the vessel. After trying several types of materials such as resin and clay, he ended up with iron. Although he met many other challenges on his way, he managed to solve all the problems, and also taught himself arc welding in the process.

"The vessel has an irregular shape. Every detail had to be handled very carefully," Lu explained.

Lu was warmly congratulated by his fellow villagers when his hand-made vessel completed its maiden voyage. Lu himself was quite satisfied, too, saying that its performance met his expectations.

Encouraged by the success, he plans to build more models to form a fleet, as a way of paying tribute to the Chinese navy.