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Lowestoft trawler.625 viewsThe Lowestoft sailing trawlers were large, powerful vessels. They illustrate the ultimate development of the offshore fishing vessel before the coming of steam. At least one survives today, and you can still go sailing on her, getting a taste of working life at sea in the days of sail. If you love working sailing vessels, as I do, this fine model will be a worthy embellishment to your home.
(model by John Davies)
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Lowestoft trawler.571 views
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Thames Barge670 viewsThis is a typical "heirloom model". The client's father had built about the first half of it, before he passed on. He had done a nice job, too. We completed it, so it can take an honoured place in the family home. We always treat a job like this with especial respect.
(model by private builder, completed by John Davies)
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Muirneag.589 viewsHere is something really special. This highly detailed model of the Zulu type fishing vessel "Muirneag" is truly exqusite. There is no other word for it. From one side, she is a fully rigged model. From the other, she is cut away to expose every last tiny detail of the internal structure. Construction methods faithfully follow the original, to the use of wooden treenails in appropriate places. Timber from sustainable sources was used throughout. There is of course absolutely no plastic anywhere in the model.
Such perfection cannot come cheap. The hours and the effort which went into this model were enormous. But if you want something truly unique and beautiful, we can build it for you.
(model by Gordon Williams)
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Muirneag.578 views
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Muirneag.582 views
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Muirneag.583 views
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Nobby691 viewsNot all display models are large and expensive. Here is a Manx Nobby. These little fishing boats were close cousins of the Morecambe Bay Prawners. Their lines are graceful and slippery, almost more like a yacht than a working fishing boat. Indeed, amny of them were converted to yachts, although the lack of headroom in that slim shallow hull could be a problem. While many working craft were tarred a utilitarian black, the nobbies were usually colourfully painted. This model captures the essence of these pretty little boats. It will make a lovely ornament, it is not at all demanding of display space, and it can be built to a very attractive price.
(model by Frank Hasted)
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Nobby (detail)595 views
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Nobby622 views
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Paragon.677 viewsOccasionally I get asked to work on something really special. This west-country schooner model, "Paragon", was over one hundred and fifty years old, when I was asked to carry out a light restoration. As you can see, she is a big model. The topmasts had to be housed, to fit her into her display space. Imagine her with her full spread of sail set, including two big topsails to give her that bit of extra drive in light airs.
She is historically fascinating, and poses some really interesting questions. She was built to take part in a seven-mile offshore model sailing race, which was a local tradition on the coast of Cornwall in the nineteenth century. She won, comprehensively.
Before the year of her building, most coastal trading vessels had broad, blunt, apple-bowed lines. Afterwards, the sharper clipper lines began to develop, especially in Cornwall, which always had a name for fast clipper schooners. Did this model perhaps influence the design of the full-sized vessels? Or does she simply represent a design change which was happening at the time in any case? Dr Basil Greenhill, who wrote the standard work on the Merchant Schooners, has said he finds the model very interesting, but as a cautious researcher, felt unable to commit himself without more evidence. Probably we will never know exactly what happened in St Ives all those years ago, but I treasure the memory of working on her as one of the finest models ever to pass though my hands.
(model by local nineteenth-century builder, light restoration by John Davies)
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Clinker Punt.682 viewsHere is something a bit unusual. This little rowing boat faithfully reproduces the construction of a full-sized clinker dinghy. She is only twelve inches long, but she is faithfully planked up with individual strakes, and where there is a rib or a knee in the real boat, there is in the model too.
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