Building grand ships

June Casagrande

Tall ships, warships, privateers, even World War II fighting vessels

-- the members of the Ship Modelers Assn. build them all. But there’s

one thing you won’t likely see them doing.

“None of us really do model ships in the bottle -- that’s really

kind of a cliche,” said Clyde Emerson, president of the Ship Modelers

Assn. “Our goal is to do things as highly detailed that look as much

like the original as possible, so there’s no interest in building

them in the bottle.”

Members of the Ship Modelers Assn. will be showing off their

passion for miniature perfection today and for the next two Saturdays

at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. And what attendees learn might

surprise them.

For example, despite their romantic obsession with the past,

modelers are no strangers to technology. Today’s demonstration will

be on computer-aided design of model ship parts -- everything from

tiny masts to the most finely detailed hulls.

“Basically, what you do is you draw into the computer the

specifics of the part you want, then you put it in something called a

mill, which builds the part for you based on the information you put

into the computer,” Emerson said.

The technology is rarely used, he said, but makes for a cool

demonstration that gives some 3-D insight into the craft.

With about 140 members, the association is one of the largest in

the country. It’s most famous for the annual ship model exhibition on

the Queen Mary in Long Beach, the largest model show in the nation,

which will take place April 29 to May 2 this year.

Newport Harbor Nautical Museum Director Glenn Zagoren said that

the modeling demonstrations are part of his goal to ensure that

there’s always something fun and new at the museum.

“There’s always something going on here,” Zagoren said. “We want

people to know that there’s always something interesting going on

besides our exhibits -- always something new to see or do.”