My wife and I have been trying for several summers to set up a short trip to New England. Last week it finally happened. Since we're both retired teachers, this was the first time we've ever been able to take a vacation in the fall. And the fall colors in Maine are just as spectacular as you've heard.
We stayed in a little motel called the Yankee Clipper, in Belfast, ME, a few miles down the road from Bluejacket's home in Searsport. Highly recommended. And right across the street is a noble establishment known as Young's Lobster Pound. Anne and I are agreed that our new favorite food is the Maine lobster roll, a heavenly mass of diced lobster meat served on a buttered roll. Not cheap, but truly memorable.
It's hard to miss Bluejacket, with its little (if phony) lighthouse right on U.S.1. I was received by two first-rate gentleman, Nic Damuck (the owner) and Al Ross (draftsman extraordinaire and fine model builder). They spent a couple of hours giving me a royal tour of the whole place. To see what goes into those kits is utterly fascinating. There's a wall full of round shapes that at first glance look like film cannisters; in fact they're hard rubber molds for making britannia metal castings. There's a big copy machine that produces plans from the originals, and all sorts of tools for making the machine-carved hulls. And a good selection of books and tools. And the real center of attraction: the gallery, containing built-up examples of almost all the kits Bluejacket makes. I added several models to my bucket list (which is now longer than I'll complete if I live to a hundred).
Among my favorites: the lovely two-stacked tug Lackawanna, the clipper Red Jacket, the yacht Atlantic (partly because I have a piece of her deck planking), the Maine coaster Fannie A. Gorham....
Nic and Al share my belief that the best way to break into ship modeling is to pick a relatively small ship on a relatively large scale. Bluejacket has an "Ensign Series" of kits designed for serious beginners, who want to build genuine, scale models of historic vessels, and pick up the basic modeling skills, without committing months or years of time to them. These kits are genuine, detailed scale models, but they're pretty fabricated (with lots of laser-cut basswood parts - made in-house - and good quality britannia castings. I've got quite a queue of models waiting in my stash, but I think I'm going to add BJ's little American Revenue Cutter to it. Al did a superb job of engraving the planking lines and other details on the basswood deck, and there are enough fittings to keep a modeler busy for several weeks. And what a handsome finished product, worthy of anybody's mantel.
The latest beginner kit is a Maine sardine carrier. Those who aren't from Down East - don't laugh. These are handsome little freighters, and Al has done an equally fine job with this one. The roof lifts off the tiny superstructure to reveal the interior of the bridge and the captain's cabin. Unfortunately, I've been informed that the Raquel Welch poster on the cabin bulkhead of the prototype model will not be included in the production version. Something about royalties....
Folks, this is one of the best companies in the ship model business. The folks in charge of it are real modelers, and they know how to think like modelers. Bluejacket kits aren't exactly cheap (though cheaper than those awful HECEPOBs), but the firm deserves our support. If you can find it in you to buy a Bluejacket kit - do it.