Nautical Research Journal Model Review


T e New Shipwright’s Series kits: A new teaching series from David Antscherl and Model Shipways By Kurt Van Dahm


For many years, Midwest Model Products of Hobart, Indiana manufactured a great series of kits that were designated as Level 1 through Level 4 in their Success Series of wooden boat kits. T ese kits were designed to teach the beginner wood boat modeler the basic skills a wooden boat modeler needs to learn.


When new modelers said they wanted to build HMS Victory or USS Constitution as their fi rst kit, more experienced modelers would quickly tell them not to start with such a complex subject but to start with a simple kit that would teach them about building wooden boats. I always told them to build a Level 1


Midwest Products kit, then to build at least one of each of the four levels, and when they had acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to have a good chance to complete their dream kit, to then purchase the kit that inspired them to get into the hobby.


Unfortunately, the Midwest Products kits were discontinued a few years ago, leaving a void in the hobby. T e void has now been fi lled by the Model Shipways division of Model Expo with a new series of kits called the Shipwright’s Series.


Model Expo’s owner Marc Mosko enlisted expert professional model builder and author David Antscherl to design and develop the new series of kits. David Antscherl is well known to Guild members for his models, books, Journal articles and as a speaker at NRG Conferences. T e new kit series has benefi tted from David’s knowledge and expertise in that the kits are historically accurate and follow the construction methods used for the real boats—a big improvement over the old Midwest kits. T e fi rst in the series is a


373


Figure 1.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100