About the service
Every commission starts the same way. We agree on the subject — a three-masted barque, a topsail schooner, a brig — choose a scale that suits the room the model will live in, and then look at what drawings actually exist for it. That last part is the honest bit of the conversation. The accuracy of a scale copy is limited by the plans I can get hold of, and where sources disagree about a deck fitting, the run of a stay or the shape of a stern gallery, I bring the options to you before I cut any wood. Debatable details are agreed in advance rather than quietly invented at the bench. The finished piece is a display model: it is built to be looked at, not to be put in the water.
The hull goes up on frames over a keel, then is planked strip by strip, every plank soaked and bent to shape instead of being forced into place. Filling and long, patient sanding follow, until the topsides are smooth under the palm and the sheer reads as one clean line from bow to stern. The deck is laid plank by plank with visible caulking seams, so it looks like timber rather than a printed sheet. Masts and spars are turned and tapered from close-grained wood. The standing rigging is set up first and tensioned evenly, then the running rigging is led the way it truly runs — through blocks, down to the pinrails and belaying pins, with no shortcuts hidden behind a sail. Sails are cut from fine cloth, the hems sewn, the edges bolt-roped, and left with a natural belly rather than ironed flat.
After that come the small things that make a model look alive: boats on their skids, anchors with cables, railings and manropes, brass castings, a crisp painted waterline. Work here is measured in months, not weeks, and you see it happen — I send stage photos as the hull closes up, as the deck goes down, as the masts go in, so nothing about the result is a surprise.
What the work includes:
— agreeing the subject, the scale and the drawings we will follow, with the doubtful points listed openly;
— frame-and-keel hull, planked, filled and sanded to a smooth topside;
— deck planking with caulking lines, hatches, gratings and deck furniture;
— turned masts, yards and booms, correctly proportioned;
— standing and running rigging with working-looking leads, blocks and belaying points;
— sails of fine cloth with sewn hems and bolt-roped edges, set with a natural curve;
— fittings: ship's boats, anchors, railings, brass castings, painted waterline;
— a stand with brass keel blocks and a glass display case against dust;
— staged photographs through the build and careful packing for delivery.
The hull goes up on frames over a keel, then is planked strip by strip, every plank soaked and bent to shape instead of being forced into place. Filling and long, patient sanding follow, until the topsides are smooth under the palm and the sheer reads as one clean line from bow to stern. The deck is laid plank by plank with visible caulking seams, so it looks like timber rather than a printed sheet. Masts and spars are turned and tapered from close-grained wood. The standing rigging is set up first and tensioned evenly, then the running rigging is led the way it truly runs — through blocks, down to the pinrails and belaying pins, with no shortcuts hidden behind a sail. Sails are cut from fine cloth, the hems sewn, the edges bolt-roped, and left with a natural belly rather than ironed flat.
After that come the small things that make a model look alive: boats on their skids, anchors with cables, railings and manropes, brass castings, a crisp painted waterline. Work here is measured in months, not weeks, and you see it happen — I send stage photos as the hull closes up, as the deck goes down, as the masts go in, so nothing about the result is a surprise.
What the work includes:
— agreeing the subject, the scale and the drawings we will follow, with the doubtful points listed openly;
— frame-and-keel hull, planked, filled and sanded to a smooth topside;
— deck planking with caulking lines, hatches, gratings and deck furniture;
— turned masts, yards and booms, correctly proportioned;
— standing and running rigging with working-looking leads, blocks and belaying points;
— sails of fine cloth with sewn hems and bolt-roped edges, set with a natural curve;
— fittings: ship's boats, anchors, railings, brass castings, painted waterline;
— a stand with brass keel blocks and a glass display case against dust;
— staged photographs through the build and careful packing for delivery.
