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Raymond's own account of building the Royal Barge:

My wife and I have been to Egypt several times. On our last visit to Luxor, I bought a book from Aboudi's on Ancient Egyptian model ships. From this I chose to build the Royal Ceremonial Barge of Queen Hatshepsut, who reigned over Egypt as a King between 1479 and 1458 BC.

Having been a modelmaker for over 60 years, I could see many mistakes in the plans, but I still wanted to build this ship, so I asked my wife for help. She has lectured on Egyptology for many years and has a large library of books on Ancient Egypt.

During my many visits, I have learnt much about the ships and boats built and used for over 3000 years in Ancient Egypt. My first impression of the book I bought proved to be right. The spoon-shaped hull and the timbers used were correct, but the rigging and rudders and how they operated were totally wrong

Most members of the different royal dynasties, as well as the nobles, had their ships decorated, including the hull. The plans also showed a carved lotus flower on the stern, which looked nothing like a real one, nor any other plant I could trace in my research.

At Deir el-Bahri, Queen Hatshepsut's incredibly beautiful funerary temple on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor, there are carvings and paintings showing ships being used for religious purposes, as well as for pleasure, trading and war, all of which I studied as carefully as I could.

I have, however, used a bit of artistic licence here and there, especially in the decoration of the Royal Barge.