AN award-winning model of a Great War flying boat is to go on display at Pembroke Dock.

The large scale model of the Felixstowe F3 biplane has been made by leading modelmaker Martin Hale, of Poole, Dorset.

Martin - a regular visitor to Pembrokeshire - has loaned the model for display at the new Flying Boat Interpretation Centre which will open at Pembroke Dock later this year.

"I made it for an International Plastic Model Club competition," said Martin. "It took me 18 months to complete and it won a silver medal. I am delighted that it is being displayed at the new centre."

The 1:48 scale model - with a wingspan of 24 inches - was 'scratch built'. Martin made the parts by hand using plastic and metal. He cast the hull from hand-made moulds and it looks uncannily like the original mahogany wood.

Felixstowe flying boats were operated during and after World War I and were among the first successful flying boat types used by the Royal Navy and the RAF.

Another of Martin's exquisite First World War models - of a Sopwith Baby seaplane as used at Fishguard Harbour - will also be displayed.

The new Flying Boat Interpretation Centre and workshop are funded through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). It is administered locally by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Currently being converted for this new role is a former Royal Dockyard locomotive workshop. It is owned by Milford Haven Port Authority which is hosting the Flying Boat Interpretation Centre project for the Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.