Born in 1932, the son of Vera Ross, a painter and engraver, and Montague Richthofen Weekley, curator of Bethnal Green Museum. He was head of the Graphics Department at Great Yarmouth College and from 1975-77 worked as Studio Manager in the design department of Saudi Arabian Airlines in Jeddah.

While in the Middle East he was enrolled into the Military & Hospitallar Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem, of which he became a Commander.

On his return to England he set up a Craft Business to produce model buildings and castles for collectors. These were an instant success and established Ian as the leading exponent of the craft in the modeling world. He called his business “Battlements” and his work was extensively discussed in modeling magazines and books on miniature collecting.

His most famous structures included Glamis Castle, a present from Harrods to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; Cawdor  Castle  for the Earl of Cawdor; Scone Palace for the Countess of Mansfield & Warwick Castle for Madame Tussauds.

At Houghton Hall, Norfolk he created the sets for over thirty dioramas for the Marquis of Cholmondeley.

He was as famous across the Atlantic as he became in his own country and his name is now synonymous throughout the world with the very finest work in miniature structures ever produced.

A man of immense charm and great wit, he will be missed by all who knew him and his craft work will stand as a monument to his name.