Donald McNarry's USS Kearsarge

We tracked this one down some time back, in another thread.  Mr. McNarry contributed a brief article about that model to the British magazine Model Shipwright, No. 63, March 1988, pp. 68-70.  It contains five photos - all in black and white.

Mr. McNarry sells virtually all of is models, and normally doesn't divulge the names of his clients.  I have no idea where that particular models is now.  I believe the website with the photos of his models on it has an e-mail address; if you can get in touch with him maybe he can send you some more pictures.

I had quite a bit of correspondence with Mr. McNarry back in the early '80s, when I was working at the Mariners' Museum (and doing everything I could to get one of his models into its collection).  I found him to be an extremely courteous and agreeable gentleman.  That was about 25 years ago, though; I have no idea what the state of Mr. McNarry's health may be now, or how involved he still is in making and selling models.  Mr. McNarry - if by some remarkable chance you happen to read this, please accept my very best wishes.

Beautiful build of the Kearsarge. I would have loved a couple more of these photos before I started on mine. First thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is that the centerline aft Dalgren gun is pointed towards the stern instead of the bows so would entail major surgery to the iron rails cast onto the main deck to correct that.The davits on the stern are easier to fix. It might be interesting to cannibalize a Kearsarge and an Alabama to make the Kearsarge with focsle and quarter decks and also fit in the bridge from the Alabama.To late for me at the moment, with my Kearsarge nearly finished (and much to my satisfaction) and several 1/96th Revell ships waiting patiently for my attention.Maybe a project for one of the other inhabitants of this forum......................

Julian (ps thanks for the tip about the Cutty Sark drawings John, I recieved them in the mail from London today and magnificent they are ! )

The aft Dahlgren stowed facing astern in the McNarry model is consistent with the plans drawn by Dr Roberts for his model in the four-part Nautical Research Journal series.   Several other visible details, however, are not, including the location of the ship's wheel.   Roberts places the wheel right aft, almost over the rudderpost, based on photos taken aboard the Kearsarge in Cherbourg, immediately after the battle with the Alabama.   His plans also show a much smaller hatch above the liftable propeller and other variations in hatch sizes and placements.  Roberts also states that the Kearsarge's shrouds were fitted with iron screw-type turnbuckle assemblies at this time, not deadeyes, and that the evidence is that there were no stern davits until later in the ship's life (I'm assuming the McNarry model is meant to show the ship in 1864).   The point is not that McNarry's model is wrong and Robert's is right (although that may be the case), but that finding a "definitive" model or set of plans for the ship at this period is probably not possible.   Robert's model and plans, based on research and photographic evidence where possible, appear to be the best available at this time.

I was privileged to see a MacNarry model in person several years ago when its owner came as a guest to our ship model club.   I forget exactly what ship it was ( a paddle steamer I think), but it was truly a work of art.   Photographs do not do them justice.

EPinniger - The scale of Mr. McNarry's model is 1/16"=1' (1/192).  It is, in other words half as big as the Revell kit.  Mind-blowing, isn't it?

That's the largest scale on which the man works.  Many of his models are on 1/32"=1' scale (1/384), and in photos it's virtually impossible to distinguish them from the bigger ones.  And he's built hundreds of them. 

When I look at a McNarry model I'm alternatedly inspired and depressed.

When I look at a McNarry model I'm alternatedly inspired and depressed.

  1/192......not many scale deadeyes in that scale ! "inspired"?...it can be done! "depressed"? It's going to take me a long time to get that good!......if ever, but still, a goal not without merit.

I'm pretty sure that Mr. McNarry doesn't rig deadeyes and lanyards in the usual way - at least on this scale.  He's amazingly skilled at making rigging out of copper wire; he describes it as "glued up."  I guess the deadeyes are, in effect, disks (wood or metal; I don't know), with the "lanyards" taking the form of short pieces of wire (seven per pair of deadeyes) glued to their faces.

I confess I've never had much inclination to rig a ship model that way; I take too much pleasure in the old-fashioned thread approach.  But there's not much room for argument about the results.  McNarry models are simply amazing.

He's also built a CSS Alabama in 1/384.

     Donald McNarry had two books published - "Shipbuilding in Miniature", published by Conway Maritime, ISBN 0 85177 249 8, in 1955 and 1982 in which he describes Tools and Accessories, mentions materials, emphasises the importance of research (and its pitfalls) and elucidates his methods.  His second book "Ship Models in Miniature", a gallery of some of his models, was published by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, ISBN 0 7153 6844 3 in 1975.  I have no information about their reprinting or availability; you might have trouble locating a copy, but  you could be lucky!  He describes his "simple" method of making deadeyes which, I presume, he used on his models of "Ariel" or "Taeping" in 1/384th and 768th scale!  Due to the date of publication "Shipbuilding in Miniature" contains references which are no longer valid.  For the  Underhill drawings try Brown, Son and Ferguson, Glasgow, Scotland.  Norman Ough is, alas no longer with us but his drawings appear (or used to) in the magazine "Model Boats" which publishers (I believe) also market the Clive Millward drawings.  Hope this helps.  

     Donald McNarry had two books published - "Shipbuilding in Miniature", published by Conway Maritime, ISBN 0 85177 249 8, in 1955 and 1982, in which he describes Tools and Accessories, mentions materials, emphasises the importance of research (and the pitfalls) and elucidates his methods. His second book "Ship Models in Miniature" is a gallery of some of his models and was published by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, ISBN 0 7153 6844 3 in 1975.  I have no information about their reprinting: you might have problems locating a copy, but you may be lucky!  He describes his "simple" method of making deadeyes which, I presume, he used on his models of "Ariel" or "Taeping" in 1/384th and 768th scale!  Enjoy. 

None of the McNarry books is currently in print, and used copies from the usual web sources tend to be pretty expensive.  (In addition to the two books mentioned by Flitch, Mr. McNarry wrote one on Stuart yacht models.  I believe that one was printed in an extremely small edition, primarily for distribution to friends and patrons.  I've never seen a copy of it.)  If you can get hole of a copy of any McNarry book - hang onto it!

In the U.S. a relatively convenient source for Underhill and Ough plans is Taubman Plans Service (www.taubmansonline.com).  Abraham Taubman was for many years a legend among American ship modelers.  He ran his own dealership, specializing in ship plans from just about any conceivable source, until he was well into his eighties.  A few years ago he sold the business to some younger folks who incorporated into their ship model supply firm.  Their online catalog contains literally thousands of plans.  How many of them they actually have in stock, and how many they order from their suppliers when customers ask for them, I have no idea. 

The prices of Underhill plans in the U.S. shot up drastically a few years ago.  To my notion, those prices are now pretty outrageous.  A high percentage of Underhill's drawings are reproduced in his books - notably Deep Water Sail, which has somewhere near a hundred fold-out drawings in the back.  I'm a big fan of Underhill, but if I wanted to build a model on the basis of his drawings my first step would be to see whether that particular set appears in any of his books.

Taubman's Online also lists Norman Ough's wonderful warship drawings.  Again, though, the prices are pretty high - and I don't know how many of them are actually in stock and how many have to be ordered by the dealers from England.  I should emphasize, I guess, that I've never had occasion to order plans from the new owners of Taubman's.  I did have a couple of e-mail exchanges with them a few years back; they seem like courteous, conscientious, and knowledgeable people.  But I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the quality or speed of service they provide.

jtilley wrote:

Taubman's Online also lists Norman Ough's wonderful warship drawings.

A while back someone from Loyalhanna Dockyard, the model supply company that bought Taubman's plans, wrote in one of the modern warship sites that all of the plans which used to be sold throgh David MacGregor, which included Ough's plans, had passed to the SS Great Britain Trust and become virtually impossible to obtain.   Whether the situation has changed recently I don't know.

I guess Steve's right.  I just took a look at the Loyalhanna/Taubman website and looked up a couple of ships for which I know Ough drew plans; they weren't there.  That's an unfortunate development.  Some of the Ough drawings leave something to be desired in terms of accuracy (mainly because, when he drew them, much of the data and the builders' drawings of the ships were still classified).  But they're magnificent pieces of draftsmanship - and a fine memorial to one of the most influential ship modelers ever.  Let's hope they become conveniently available again.

Incidentally - the Loyalhanna/Taubman cataloging system also leaves something to be desired.  All the British warships apparently are listed under H (for H.M.S.), and most of the French vessels are under L (for Le).

It's hard to tell from the one photo, but I think it's a temporary canvas ventilator, rigged to funnel fresh air into the lower deck spaces when the ship is at anchor.  It would, in other words, be perfectly legitimate to leave it off.

I'll try to remember to did out that old Model Shipwright issue that has additional photos of the model in it.  Maybe one of them is a little clearer.

I have Mc Narry' book Shipmodels in miniature.A geat little companion book shows a lot of his ships  not alot of detail.No kearsarge but  a nice CSS Alabama.I also liked his Sir Winston Churchill

Rod