A model sea business

Luis Pena

Some people make model planes, cars or battleships when they’re

young, but they tend to give it up as they grow older.

Ken Gardiner of Ken Gardiner Modelmaker is one of those men who

hasn’t given it up. But the ones he makes aren’t the run-of-the-mill,

snap-on kits sold at hobby shops.

Gardiner makes custom-made model boats for a variety of clientele.

His career began in 1969 when working at the Chart House restaurant

and was asked to make models for the different restaurant locations.

Also a sailor who competed in races around the world, Gardiner

then began to make models for his fellow sailors. Word of mouth got

around about his replicas, and his shop soon outgrew his father’s

garage in Redondo Beach. He then moved its location to Newport Beach.

“They’re models of your boat as it sits in the dock, and we make

every part here of every piece of detail that is on the real boat,”

Gardiner said.

He learned the craft of model-making from his father, who had made

models while working for Douglas aircraft, Gardiner said. The

construction time can vary from as little as 100 to as much as 1,000

hours on individual ships.

Gardiner’s most famous project was for America’s Cup champion

Dennis Connor. Gardiner crafted 64 models of America’s Cup

challengers and defenders from 1851 to 2004.

“I think the models speak for themselves.” Gardiner said.

His highly detailed models aren’t cheap, costing anywhere from

$200 to more than $2,500. His most expensive price tag to date is

more than $100,000 for a couple of detailed boats. Gardiner says it

averages out to $100 per square foot of the actual owner’s ship.

Gardiner used to hand-carve the models himself, but three carpal

tunnel syndrome operations led him to abandon that technique and go

high-tech. A computerized machine now does all of the carving for

him.

Gardiner, a member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, doesn’t

advertise and lets his company’s creations speak for themselves.

“They’re not actually toys, they’re art pieces,” said Roy

Reineman, a marine artisan who’s been with Gardiner since 1985.

While recently working on a 30-inch model of a 150-foot boat,

Reineman used miniature clothes hangers to hold down a piece of

railing that was 1/16 of an inch thick before it was glued on.

The models are combinations of wood, plastic and stainless steel

parts, which the company casts.

“It’s an artistic expression to figure out where to stop and where

to start ... do you show every screw head? No, if you do that you’d

go nuts,” Reineman said of the challenge of creating the models.