Chapter 2 - The Changing Scene

The present revolutionary trend in Model Shipbuilding is more than a renaissance. New sources of information have been provided by research workers: new emphasise has been placed on the value of a rewarding hobby; an entirely new concept of craftsmanship has emerged during the past fifteen years. Marine archaeology, employing new technology, has enriched the knowledge of the craftsman. Historical significance and beauty have, in many cases, replaced popularity and sentiment. Consequently, the quality and artistic status of the finished model has been greatly enhanced. Models that hitherto were merely symbols of a particular ship have moved up into a higher plane of objects d'art and collectors' pieces.

Many factors have contributed to these changed conditions. Perhaps the most astonishing is the advent of massed production of packaged kits and parts, developed to entice the novice. The craftsmen's misgivings that quantity production would create conditions of competition have not been borne out. Machine made parts of well-known ships which the model engineers and draftsmen have produced and the supply houses have offered to the novice, have enriched every phase of model ship building, because in the process of enticing thousands to take up modelling as a hobby, many fine craftsmen who, hitherto, were too timid to have anything to do with ships, have been enlisted. Few experienced craftsmen will dispute the fact that these innovations provided the much needed surgery that model shipbuilding required to make the profession healthy. We older modelers have reaped many benefits from the new conditions. Machine made parts, more uniform and accurate, have taken the place of the heart-rending tasks of whittling out our blocks, deadeyes, capstans and other small wares that plagued us in earlier days.

Contentment At Eventide

Mass production has also contributed much to public welfare. Teachers, parents, psychiatrists and sociologists concede that boyhood is fraught with many perplexing and emotional problems that a healthy, rewarding hobby could mitigate and perhaps correct. Elderly men who have been active all their business lives are like fish out of water after retirement unless they possess some sort of compensating occupation. This simplification of assembly has dispelled the fallacy that nautical experience is essential to model ship building.

I agree entirely with this latter concept, because the loveliest and most accurate model ship in England was made by a country doctor and the ugliest that I have ever seen was made by an old sea captain. Doctor Anderson's model is exhibited in a Maritime Museum as a national treasure, while the Sea Captain's model is discarded in the Yacht Club store room.

The Primary Course in modelling that I have outlined herein is meant to supplement the assistance that the Supply Houses have rendered to the beginner. It would be folly and confusion to offer advice on how to do it in this first step in Modelling. The assembly of package kits and parts is a straightforward job. AU the instructions are supplied with the parts. The only service that we can render to the novice is to help him to make a proper selection and advise him to confine his efforts to models of simple, worthwhile ships that will be treasured upon completion. Preaching sermons on modelling to the beginner often confuses him with too many technicalities which he doesn't require in the elementary course of assembly. A short prefatory note with illustrations of four famous fore and aft rigged schooners is provided with this course from which he can pick the one he likes best.

If our novice is only a hobbiest, he will probably be content with assembling package kits and stay within the boundaries of the Primary Course. If, however, he aspires to be a craftsman, there are two other courses provided for him. The Intermediate Course which deals with Clipper Ships, Windjammers and Historical Warships; and the Associated Course which deals with old time ships and Galleons. If he has the ambition to tackle and master the higher grades of modelling that are outlined for him, he will inherit great satisfaction and rewards. If he lacks ambition, then tuition is defeated.

There is a magic world beyond the orbit of model building which belongs to the modeler alone. Nautical Research during the past few years has provided an amazing new field of endeavour and enjoyment. All the old time models illustrated herein were brought to life by research, resurrected sometimes from a single clue, like a detective story. Three separate searches made for details of old time ships since 1945, have opened up new avenues of information whereby any historical old ship or wreck can be reconstructed by the modeler.

The search made by Griffith Baily Coale for details of the three ships that brought the first settlers to Virginia in 1607, established many contacts with sources of information that ultimately brought the ships to life again. Replicas of them were built in 1957 and were of great value during the Tercentennial. The replicas are now at Jamestown and the details of the search may be obtained from the Mariners Museum of Newport News.

Also, the major search made by Wm. (Bill) Baker for the Plymouth Plantation and the Mayflower Foundation, on the Tudor ship Mayflower, resulted in the building of the replica of her in England, which crossed the Atlantic under her own canvas. Mr. Baker's book on Mayflower contains a wealth of information and guidance to the Modeler who undertakes the building of any pre-Armada ships.

However, the most important discovery from a modeler's and the historical standpoint is the four year search and reconstruction of Sea Venture, the first and perhaps the only full rigged galleon of the Royal Stuart age ever to have sailed into the Western Ocean. No other ship of her grandeur and quality had to do with early American history. Some say that the reason why she is unknown to Americans is because Virginian records from 1607 to 1623 were lost for centuries. Be that as it may, her historical significance and elegance have now been established by documentary proof, and modelers for the first time in history may go all out in craftsmanship, building their own Shippe of Destiny.

Undoubtedly the reconstruction of the Sea Venture, and the discovery of the wreck of her off Bermuda in 1958, is one of the most amazing stories in maritime history. The long search for details of the ship and the construction of the model of her enabled us to estimate with an accuracy of 70% which is the limit that Nautical Research allows for old time ships for which no plans exist. However, we were dumbfounded when the physical survey of her wreck was made, to learn that both the information collected during the search and my model of her varied only ¾ of 1% with that of the wreck itself.

In this book sources of information are mentioned which will enable the modeler to conduct surveys and searches on old ships whose details are unknown. Many states and communities cherish the memory of some old time ship that is part and parcel of their history, and which would be honored and treasured if it were possible to obtain a symbol of her. Artists cannot paint her without knowledge of her. Naval architects cannot build a replica without plans; but the senior modelers who have studied the pattern of research work during the past few years, and are familiar with the structure and history of old time ships, can bring her to life by searching through the archives of the world and then building a model of her that would be priceless. This new-found phase of modelling is both fascinating and rewarding. Once the hunt for details is on, there is no turning back. It leads one into the study of local history; to the pages of old shipping records; to libraries, museums and learned institutions in many countries. It also provides contact with great scholars of the world, and the study of many books on the subject.

Along the Atlantic Seaboard are many old wrecks, some of which are of national importance. With today's new technology in deep sea diving and underwater survey, it is likely that some of them will be discovered. A single clue may prove its identity. A section of a timber can unfold its age and size. Timber fastening can pinpoint its nationality, and a part of the keel can reveal information on dimensions, tonnage and rig.

There are other changes taking shape in the pattern of modelling which are mentioned in the context where they are most applicable, viz: The importance of symbolic rigged yachts as shown in the illustration of Cotton Blossom IV; the advantages of sail outlined square riggers which are shown clearly in both views of Sea Venture; the greater beauty of waterline models, and the total eclipse of that horrendous creature, the ship out of water showing her bilge and keel with all her sails set.

All these changing patterns, added to the importance of research work and the innovations provided by the supply houses, are bringing prestige to the profession and more rewards to the craftsman.

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