32nd Annual Ship Model Show

Held at the USS Constitution Museum in Boston, MA which is where "Old Ironsides", now the worlds oldest commissioned warship is docked as well as several other retired vessels. Of course the USS Constitution is the most famous of them. On this trip we did not go aboard but we plan to come back in the near future. I did however get a good shot of the exterior of one of our most famous national treasures.

USS Constitution

Gun ports midship

elegant scroll work on the bow

They also had another ship which was in dry dock at the time the USS Cassin Young DD-793. You can see the Campaign Ribbons and Commendations which show this ships distinguished career going back as far as WWII. I'd like to take a moment to just mention that both these pieces of our history are a reminder of  the generations of young men who were willing to give their lives to ensure that we taste the freedom that our forefathers fought to give us. So in honor of that I would like to tell all our servicemen and servicewomen past and present thank you, for the willingness to serve our country and face dangers known and unknown to safeguard our freedoms.

Finally having admired the view outside the museum we wanted in. The Museum, Model Show and USS Constitution were all free. They of course accept donations and my Father and I both put some money in to help keep these treasures around as long as possible.

We then came into the show room. All the ships were of course under protective Plexiglas except the ones they were taking photographs of. It was a professional photographer so I'm guessing it was for the website or some literature they were planning. So, the following are the just some of the many ships (I think I got about half of them). All of the models had informational cards next to them which told you about the models subject as well as the modeler. It was good stuff. We really had a good time and anyone that appreciates models will really enjoy this show. Afterward we wandered around the rest of the museum learning about the USS Constitution and let me tell you. Wow, just wow! If you don't know anything about this ships storied history you really should read more about it. They did not allow pictures in the museum itself so I don't have anything to share there but I got lots from the show. Here they are...

Fair America; Scratch Built by Bob Laslocky

The Atlantic; Modified Kit by Bruce Howe

H.L. Hunley; Kit Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Dunderberg; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

CSS Shenandoah; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Vindicator; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Germantown; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Miami; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Haven (AH-12); Scratch Built by Timothy J. Mahoney

George Washington Parke Custis; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Calhoun; Kit Built by Edward D. Parent

USS Niagara; Scratch Built by Edward D. Parent

HIJMS Yamato; Kit Built by Jerry Morkeski

Auguste Victoria; Card Model Kit by Ray Crean

The Duel - USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere; Scratch Built by Alex Bellinger. This was by far my favorite model, great looking models and they were scratch bult... and in a bottle!!!

Earl Sigund; Scratch Built by Carlo M. DiPersio

USS Constitution the day before her launch; Kit Built by John Churchill

USS Constitution; Kit Built by Jesse Viola (His first entry and he's nine!!! Amazing!)

HMS Beagle; Scratch Built by Tony Mallia (The ship Charles Darwin sailed on)

Bluenose II; Kit Built by Bernard J. Fournier

HMS Illustrious and Escorts; Kit Built by Ray Crean

Istalena; Scratch Built by Thomas H. Nash

IJNS Akizuki; Kit Built by Ray Crean

Modeler Ray Crean holding his ship for the photographer

USS Constitution; this was a much larger scale model about 5ft long and over 6ft tall. Wow!