Hand crafted boat/ship models

[knottybuoyz]

http://www.captainsmodels.com/special_projects.htm#Noah's%20Ark

Have a look around that site. The craftmanship that goes into these lil' beauties is inspiring. Amazing attention to detail. A few yrs ago I had to have all our (Cdn Coast Guard) models apraised for the assets group. Some of the older hand crafted ones came out at almost $10K per foot! I'll try to grab some pics tomorrow. All the modern models that we have from about 1985 and newer are all laser cut plastic. Impressive but nowhere near the beauty of the hand crafted models.

[Sandero]

There's a shop up in Newport, I recall, which also does amazing models. Go Google and find it.

jef
sh shiva

[rtbates]

here's a fellow that can make an exact model of YOUR boat. It can be 1/2 hull, detailed 1/2 hull or even a full RC version...

He made a detailed 1/2 model of Seraph, our Cape Dory 25D, and it is stunning.

=
Todd Dunn MicroYachts

[Jolly Roger]

Here is a picture of a gaffer I built and fitted with eight channel radio control. She is 48" long and 55" high with the topsail rigged, and weighs 40lbs.
All sails are independently controlled, including the tacking jib. The decks were individually planked and caulked. She has a motor, working navigation lights, a crew of four and two cats. She took a year to build and is quite a handful to sail, but great fun.

[David M]

Absolutely beautiful boats but how frustrating would it be to build a boat you can never step foot on? What a great art. Hopefully it will never become a lost art.

[Jolly Roger]

Actually I find it a release from my real frustration of not yet being able to get the sailboat I really want - a Hudson Venice. When she’s on the lake I'm totally absorbed in watching the wind and sails, (you have to be), through the same binoculars I used on my last boat. It was also a great pleasure building it, (15 months), as a scale model of a real boat. Even the sails are authentically stitched. Once I get my new boat I will never have time to make another model—too busy maintaining the real thing.
Here's another picture of the skipper checking his headsails. If I had a few more channels I could have had smoke come out of his pipe.

[Sandero]

Jolly,

What a stunning job! You are a craftsman. How did you manage to get her to float on the exact waterline? Did it require ballast or what?

[Jolly Roger]

Ah, Ah! That's a question from somebody thinking full size, not modelmaker. I balasted her with 15lbs of lead then sailed her to test her stiffness. Then I put her in a bath full of water and marked the waterline - piece of cake.
Here's another one, in the equivalent of about a six with the topsail lowered. As you see, the crew are lazy dogs, still sitting in the same place.

[David_Old_Jersey]

That's awesome.

I wish I had the patiance! (and the skill!!)

[Sandero]

Look - a bow wave!

[Alan Wheeler]

I have a friend here that builds models. Husband and Wife team actually. These are not the simple models. They are genuine replicas of the real thing. The detail is simply awesome. In a photo, you can not tell the difference between the real one and the model. They can spend a year or more on a model. They can take up to three months just doing the measuring of the parts for scale. They make everything. Right down to making a miniature nut. I am not kidding when I say, these models will sell from $10K and up to $30K each. They will be commissioned to make a model for someone that may have some rare machine. And they make a run of 10 models. One for the person that commissioned them, one for themselves and the other 8 for sale. That is it. Only a total of 10 in existence, so they become a high price collectable.
To get an idea of the detail, check this site out. This is not their work, but it is the same level of detail they do. They specialise in Cars and Bikes.
Fine Art Models - Welcome

[Sandero]

Alan,
Incredible. I think I "know" someone who would buy some of the autos.

[imagine2frolic]

Alan,

Advise your friends to build AC Cobras, or at least go to.........clubcobra.com

It is possible they will have someone commission a car. If you think people who sail are fanatics about detail. With Cobra people it is a sickness......LOL

[Alan Wheeler]

What I can't believe is they have no shortage of customers wanting to buy their models. They have people from all over the world. Right at the moment they are half way through replicas of the original Indian motor cycle. Absolutely stunning detail.