Backgrounds (or why do you build model ships)

The sea has always been apart of my life. I learned how to swim about the same time I learned how to walk. I just love the sea. Anytime there is a show on the Discovery Channel that has to do with open water I'll stop and watch it. One of my favorite shows is the Deadliest Catch. And I've been a Clive Cussler fan for well over a decade. I built model cars for most of my childhood. I didn't really know that there was model ships until a couple of year ago. but even then I didn't have much of a love for large powered ships or speed boats. I've always prefered a conoe over an outboard. So natuarly when I found kits for tall ships I started building them. At the moment i'm currently shopping around for a nice small sail boat for fun on the weekends.

   Dear Grem56: I'll give you an answer why models like to build ships. For some of us, salt water is in our blood. My father and I both served in the U.S. Navy. Before that, my ancestors were fishermen from the Portuguese Island of Madeira. Like the Dutch, the Portuguese have been drawn to the sea, either for commerce or fishing.

Montani semper liberi ! Happy New Year and happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                                Crackers

I have been to Madeira twice on holiday crackers; beautiful island but what fascinated me was the whaling museum at the eastern end of the island (forgotten the name of the village where it is situated). They have a great selection of black and white photos of the time when they caught whales on a regular basis. Tiny whale boats and very big whales and the crews sometimes spent more than three days at sea during a whale hunt ( I went on a zodiac safari to look for whales and had a "concrete butt" after sitting on a sort of a motorcycle saddle for three hours. Lord knows how the sailors felt after three days on a wooden seat ). The slipway where the whales were winched ashore is still in place as well. Makes a great day trip from Funchal.

Julian

For me, it began when I was a child. I built plastic kit models from the age of 6, but at age 10, I saw OPSAIL 76 on tv. They showed the procession of the ships and I saw the Constitution being towed up the Hudson. I listened to all of the history about the ship and it was then that I was bitten by the bug. I developed an interest in the ship, but also in history in general.

In college I went to grad school and earned my Master's in History. Now, in my early 40s, I teach college history and build ship models. The two go hand in hand. I enjoy the research on a modeling subject almost as much as building the model.

Russ

For me, serving in one navy or another is a long family tradition.  I retired after 24 years as a Senior Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Submarine Service; my Dad retired as a Chief, both uncles served for 8 years, my Grandfather retired as a Chief, as did my Great Grandfather.  The eldest sons of my Scottish and English ancestors served in the Royal Navy (at least as far back as we can trace, 1750's)and one ancestor on my paternal Grandmother's side served as an officer in Germany's U-Boat service in WWII and one in WWI. One of the uncles mentioned above died three years ago while serving as a long-time volunteer onboard the battleship USS Texas in San Jacinto, TX.  My family has long loved ships and the sea.

I got started building ship models when I was 6 years old (in 1960), when I would take my 50 cents weekly allowance to the local Dime Store and buy one of Pyro's Table Top Navy series or one of their sailing ships.  Then, I heard Johnny Horton's "Sink The Bismarck" and I have been hooked ever since then.

While serving in the USN, and while working on my MA in History at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, I had the opportunity to take the Maritime History and Maritime Studies program at the Munson Institute in the Mystic Seaport Museum.  I also focused all of my research on Naval History, doing my Master's thesis on the Confederate States Navy.

Bill Morrison

And here I sit on dry land.  I have been on only two ships.  WhenI was a kid my father took me to New York and we visited a friend of his on a Cunard ship and then I got a chance to visit Mystic Connecticut and went on the whaler Charles W. Morgan.

I had been building models of ships on and off since I started building when I was five.  In 1970 I joined the Air Force and mostly built aircraft that I was around and armored vehicles and police vehicles that I drove when the kits of them could be found.

Those two trips to New York and Connecticut are the closest I have been to the ocean until I was stationed at Okinawa.  I don't go near the water.  Not the ocean, lakes, rivers, ponds, or pools.  But there has always been somehting about a rigged ship or the power of a battleship and carrier.  A couple years ago I built my last sailing ship, my 5th or 6th Constitution.  I gave it to my wife's brother who was in the navy.

 

 

 

 

Well, mine's not as good as the rest of you guys.  I just got started in ships.  I did serve in the Marines as helicopter crew.  Only landed on ships a few times.  My uncle, and great uncle were both US Navy.  Another Great Uncle was a Coastie.  And another was a Marine at Iwo Jima. Ive done a couple classic kits, but my first real SHIP model was the USS Pennsylvania, which is the ship my Great Uncle served on from Pearl through Operation Crossroads.  So for me, it had personal meaning. 

Also, one of my best friends is frm Navy and an avid builder of anything Naval.  He has influenced me quite a bit. lol

Dear Grem56: Yes, Madeira is a lovely island. I had the pleasure of visiting there on my honeymoon with my second wife. The rich volcanic soil is a garden for all sorts of exotic plants, but not for ambitious people, who, like my late father, emigrated to America at the age of 17 to find a better life. My aunts or uncles went to Portuguese speaking Brazil for the same reason. My Dad once labeled Madeira,"poverty with flowers," due to the lack of opportunity for those who wanted to improve themselves. Beautiful scenery does not put food in one's stomach.

       Madeira is a extinct volcano that does not lend itself to much agriculture, because of the steep mountainous flanks. With the Atlantic Ocean on all sides, natives there naturally took to the sea for sustenance. It was either fishing like my ancestors, or whaling. Like the Azores Islands farther north, the natives would station themselves on high locations during the sperm whaling migratory season, and when whales were spotted, they would dash out in their long boats, harpoon them and tow them back to shore. The whalers were so skillful, that during the 19th century, American whaling ships from ports like New Bedford, MA would stop there to employ the locals.

  Montani semper liberi !   Happy New Year and happy modeling to all and every one of you.

                                              crackers  

My father was an officer in the Navy and I was brought up on the lore of the sea. He built wooden models of tall ships and I used to watch him work and as soon as I was old enough (about 6) I started in on my own model building. My brothers followed my father to Annapolis ('59 Dad, '82 and '85) and one enlisted. I went into the seminary and became a priest but the salt water never left and I was on the crew of the Susan Constant out of Jamestown for a few years. Sailing a real tall ship is an unforgettable experience. I find the history and the development of the technology fascinating so I build ships of all kinds from canoes to tall ships to the latest carriers. Anything that floats fascinates me.

Happy and Blessed New Year to all

Fair winds and following seas.

Fr. Paul

For me, the sea has held a long standing fascination. I was born and raised on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y.. I learned to swim in the surf on the south shore. The street I lived on ended at a boatyard, and one of my best friends lived there. My connection with the sea took me to a twentyone year career in the Navy. One of the very first models I ever built was a plastic kit, sailing ship model. Two tours of duty at NAS Brunswick, Me. gave me access to the Maine coast, and I developed a keen interest, there, in all things maratime. I spent a Saturday afternoon at the helm of the Stephen Taber, in Penobscot bay. A 68' two mast coastal schooner,built in Glen Head, N.Y in 1871, she was a joy to sail.  I need to get back east again, to get back in the surf, and replenish my "salt".

For me it started when I was about four years old, seeing the movie 'Moby Dick' at our local Summer film theater for kids.  At the age of five, my parents took me to Mystic Seaport, and the New Bedford Whaling Museum (they have a 1/2 scale whaling ship, that is perfectly full scale if you happen to be just about 3' tall!).  I had my first 'real' boat by the age of six, that I could paddle about in the local pond (and I rigged it about four different ways in order to get it to sail...but not very well!).  At the age of eleven, I taught myself to sail properly at the Community Yacht Club in Boston, which cost $1 per season to be a member, and you could use all of their boats on the Charles River (Cape Cod Mercurys, Finns and 420's).  I talked my way into a scholarship at Tabor Academy when I was 14, sailed on their 420 racing team, and crewed on two different schooners ('Tabor Boy,' and 'Serendipity'), sailing from Booth Bay Maine to Bermuda, all over Buzzard's Bay, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and then went off to college in Wyoming (of all places!).  I missed the sea a lot out there, and started to build ship models seriously at that time (I had slapped together a number of ship models before then, but was more interested in WW1 aircraft until I went West).  After I joined the Army, I managed to mostly get myself stationed near the ocean or lakes, continuing to sail in Chiemsee in Germany, Monterey in California, and finally ended up in the UK, where I bought my first proper boat, a 16' gaff cutter with a small cabin.  I joined the Old Gaffers Association, and sailed and raced with the old salts on the Essex and Suffolk coasts of the UK (real 'Arthur Ransome' country!), eventually getting a larger gaff cutter (24') for offshore work.  After I got out of the Army, I moved back to the States (Rhode Island), where I set up a yacht brokerage (specializing in classic sailing yachts), bought myself a house on the water and a 40' ketch, and continue to sail to this day. 

Obviously, with all that time on the water and being in and around boats, boatyards, ships, museums, etc, etc, I kept building ship models, partly as a way of connecting with other times, other traditions, as well as the historical aspects of ship design, maritime history, and the craft of seamanship, but also as a way of figuring out how and why ship designers built their ships the way they did (and do!).  A lot can be learned from a set of plans, but I find I get a lot more out of handling a ship model.  Must be something about the '3D' and tactile experience really gives me a lot of insight into what the designer was trying to accomplish within the specifications he was given....

I started out in the children's corner of the library, reading about history and ships and airplanes.  I remember books like "Ships of our Fleet" (or such) and an author named C.B Colby who put out lots of books with lots of photos.  Then there was "Guadalcanal Diary", "Marine at War" and "Decision at Midway" and "Brave Ships of World War Two".  (I bought one of those a few years back for my son out of nostalgia.)  Got started on Hornblower in the third grade.  Building models of ships since my eighth birthday, planes and ships,whenever I could find those 29 cent kits or save up for the bigger ones.

Having the Navy ships to visit in Seattle while I was young didn't hurt, either.  Used to be that there were big ships here every summer and the lines weren't bad.  (Later on, when I was in the Navy, I tried to give good tours when we held Visit Ship)

Enlisted in the Navy at age 20 after a year of college as an Aviation Electronics Technician.  Seven years later, was commissioned  as a surface line officer and drove a few different ships for several more years.  Managed to aways have model projects in my stateroom, on my desk, as 1/1200 sailing ships don't take up much space.

Haven't ever quit ship models, and don't expect I ever will.

Rick Heinbaugh

We boated a lot when I was a kid and I've got salt water in my soul. Always read a lot of WWII books so my interest lies in that era, so it's no surprise my first ship kit was Revell's Arizona.

I like to pretend I am a destroyer Captain in search of U-boats...

I was born and raised in middle America no where near any ocean but very close to lake Michigan which is one of the largest deep water, fresh water lakes in America. Moved to Florida and then joined the US Navy, retired as a Radioman in 1991 and have always been a modeler. I'm kind of indiscrimanent (sp) in my modeling as I do aircraft, armor, ships etc. most of my modeling is on the darkside (armor etc) but like it all. Been modeling since about the age of  10 and I'm 62 now so been doing it for a while. Even crawling around on the floor looking for a dropped part is relaxing in its own way. You wouldn't know it from the language though. By the way has anyone here played the naval sim "Jutland" I've got it in my computer here but having a few problems getting used to it.    Note: my Avatar is a pic of my first ship. USS Affray (MSO-511) an oceangoing minesweeper. Served aboard from 1968-70   Rick M

'Jutland,' the one from 'Storm Eagle?'  I downloaded the tes version, but haven't had much luck with it myself.  It uses a LOT of computer memory, and I need to keep a lot for things other than gaming!  What do kids do with these fancy-pants new computer games?  Have a computer JUST devoted to games?

...today I sank 2 U-boats...one with depth-charges; the other with a hedgehog...Admiral says I might command my own destroyer division some day...

My dad was a very good model airplane builder. He got me into modeling in the fifties. I just had this thing for boats. Living not to far from Lake Michigan helped. Built my first USS Arizona in 57' or 58' (Revell). I joined the U.S. Navy  right out of high school in the sixties. I took my family on vacation to Maine in the late eighties.Saw these beautiful sailing ship models.we didn't have enough money to buy one at that time. My wife suggested I build one of my own. I had given up model building for several years because of girls,sports,girls,cars,and girls. I then built my 1st USS Constitution and I was hooked. Hopefully my modeling is getting better.Our summer vacations are planned around some spot on the east coast with sea history and great museums.I love sailing ships.But will also do  WWI plane and a antigue auto along the way. Boring as it is.

Rod

For searat12, yes its the one from Storm Eagle. I had the earlier trial version of Distant Guns (Russo-Japanese war) and thought I'd give this one a try. Just now learning how to maneuver the single ships. Having to handle an entire navy is quite a job. I do much better with Silent Hunter III and SH IV. Once ya fire a torpedo from your sub all you have to do is evade the angry escorts.  Rick Martin

I've built models since I was a kid.  I took a....oh....18 year break from it, when life slapped me in the face.  Now that the military is behind me and I've settled down I got back into painting resin figures.   A few years ago my then 11 year old and I started playing this game called "Pirates", which was a fun little ship-to-ship combat game.  That christmas my wife got us a small model of Constitution to build and that was all it took to get me back in.  I hit the web and found the various Heller and Revell large-scale kits and fell in love with the detail and beauty.  I'm in the middle of rigging Soleil Royale right now and have Heller's Victory and Revell's 1/96 United States waiting in the wings....

It's not so much about the sea, or the Navy, or anything like that, though my time spent in the Philippines (I was Air Force) gave me a respect for the sea and all its beauty.  For me, it's about the art...about textures and colors.    That's as far as my nautical background goes....

Grymm

Rick Martin wrote:

For searat12, yes its the one from Storm Eagle. I had the earlier trial version of Distant Guns (Russo-Japanese war) and thought I'd give this one a try. Just now learning how to maneuver the single ships. Having to handle an entire navy is quite a job. I do much better with Silent Hunter III and SH IV. Once ya fire a torpedo from your sub all you have to do is evade the angry escorts.  Rick Martin

I did the trial for 'Distant Guns' and it was quite enjoyable, but the Jutland game seems to be a lot more complicated, and eats up my computer memory something awful... I might try it again sometime, but as i don't really have a lot of time to fool around with such things, will probably give it a miss......