News and Announcements

On June 5th, 2021 the Guild will be hosting the next in our series of workshops: "Photography for Ship Models".  Kurt Van Dahm, who is a retired professional forensic photographer as well as a Director of the Guild, will show us how to photograph our models.

Sharing photographs of our models is one of the most common ways we show off our work.  Whether you're taking photos for build log on Model Ship World or trying to capture the perfect photo for the Model Photo Competition, getting a great photo doesn't have to be hard.

He has presented variations of this talk at NRG Conferences and Seminars.  Use these newly found photo skills to photograph your completed models and enter them in the 2021 Photographic Model Competition.  

This will be a Zoom presentation.  The event is for NRG MEMBERS ONLY – cost is FREE.  Preregistration is required.  No need to call or email the office – we have automated the registration process.  

If you plan to attend you must register no later than 5:00 PM CST on June 1, 2021.  Early registration is urged as this event is expected to be heavily attended and seats are limited.  All registrants will get an emailed invitation with the required link to attend on or about June 3.  Please join the event with your camera off and your microphone muted.

Registration for this event has closed.

The Board of Directors of the Nautical Research Guild is pleased to announce the 2021 Photographic Ship Model Review & Juried Competition. The last NRG model photo competition was in 2015 (click here to view the winners). 

Please note that the entry deadline for this competition has passed.

The competition has been updated to make it easier to submit your photographs. All files will be submitted on-line…no more downloading the files to a DVD or driving to the post office. Entrants will also receive a written review of their model. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded for the First, Second and Third place models in three categories: Apprentice, Journeyman and Master. A Best of Show medal will be awarded to the best Gold medal winner and ribbons will be awarded to models with qualifying points.

The competition is open to Regular Members in good standing of the Nautical Research Guild. If you are not currently a member, join the Guild for as low as $40 and enter the Competition. The fee is only $30 per model entered. Winners will be announced at the Annual Member’s Meeting in the Fall. To view the complete rules click here. The forms are in PDF format and can be read with Adobe Reader. Click here for help with viewing PDF files.

It has been a long time between competitions. You have had plenty of time to build some great models. 

Click here to learn more about the competition.

Colonel John Glover’s Marblehead schooner Hannah (1765 - 1775): Fishing for the truth by Randle McLean Biddle is an in-depth research monograph that first appeared with an introduction in the Winter 2020 issue of the Nautical Research Journal.  The monograph was continued with 5 additional parts made available here on the Nautical Research Guild website.

Now, this in-depth research monograph is available as a downloadable PDF for NRG members. Available as a single download or as individual PDFs by clicking here.

With these PDFs, one for each Part of the monograph, you can:

NRG members can download the PDFs and additional drawings by clicking here.

Not an NRG member yet?  Click here to learn more about membership and get access to this monograph!

The Board has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Conference. 

Many of our previous attendees are senior citizens or have high risk factors for contracting COVID-19. Therefore, the Board has concluded that many members will still be reluctant to travel to attend the event this Fall.

We have been in contact with the Channel Islands Maritime Museum and are hopeful that we will be able to hold the 2022 Conference there. 

Our Annual Meeting will be a virtual event later in the year.  Details will be announced in the Secretary’s News Letter when the date is determined.

The Spring 2021 edition of the Nautical Research Journal is now available!  

Digital subscribers can access the digital edition here. Print subscribers will be receiving their copies by mail soon!

Features

Columns and Editorials

The Winter 2020 edition of the Nautical Research Journal is now available!  

Digital subscribers can access the digital edition here. Print subscribers will be receiving their copies by mail soon!

Features

Columns and Editorials

The Nautical Research Guild is pleased to announce that select back issues of the Nautical Research Journal are now available in our online store.

From time to time, the NRG has a few extra printed copies of the journal, and we're now making these available to members and non-members through our online store.  Quantities are limited, and once they're gone, they're gone forever!

If you're missing an issue, this is your chance to pick up a copy.  Currently available issues include:

The Autumn 2020 edition of the Nautical Research Journal is now available!

Digital subscribers can access the digital edition here. Print subscribers will be receiving their copies by mail soon!

Features

• Notes on California voyages from ports in the East, 1848 to 1860 by Ron Gove
• Building and modeling a C.D. Mower Snow Bird dinghy: Fifty years, building a boat and two models by David E. Martin and Charles K. Kroell
• The Continental galley Washington 1776 by Kevin Hudson
• The 1559 Emanuel Point Shipwreck I model by Steve Harris
• Neptunia No. 298 
• Whaling bark Charles W.Morgan: Outbound in the rain to hunt the whale by Richard Bohlman

Columns and Editorials

• Editorial -  Moving Forward by Paul E. Fontenoy, NRJ Editor
• Shop Notes, featuring Scalpels by William E. Sproul
• Tips and Techniques, featuring Polished brass by Kurt Van Dahm and Embossing dimples in thin metal by Steve Wheeler
• Book Reviews
• Letters

The Summer 2020 edition of the Nautical Research Journal is now available!

Digital subscribers can access the digital edition here. Print subscribers will be receiving their copies by mail soon!

Features

• A 16x30 decked canoe from 1895, Part 2 by Steve Wheeler
  
• Twenty-first-century alchemy: Turning pot metal and brass into wood by Ron Neilson
• The fake Lexington and the Enterprise mystery—an unusual coincidence? by Ian McLaughlan
  
• La Galera Real: A model of the flagship of Don Juan de Austria at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Part 2 by D. Roger Moore
  
• Paper ship models by David Sakrison
  
• Neptunia No. 297
  
• Restoration of a model Santa Maria by Larry L. Koehler
  

Columns and Editorials

• Editoral - Strange Days by Paul E. Fontenoy, NRJ Editor
  
• Tips and Techniques, featuring Blackening metals by Kurt Van Dahm and Keeping things straight by Steve Wheeler
  
• Book Reviews
  

THE 2020 CONFERENCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED – RESCHEDULED FOR 2021

The Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to reschedule the 2020 Conference to be held at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum in Oxnard, CA in October. We have rescheduled it for October 2021 at the same venue.

The Board felt that attendance would be much less than normal because of the uncertainty of safe travel secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PLEASE HELP US DURING THE STAY AT HOME PERIOD

We are asking our members who are renewing their membership during this time to stay at home and complete their renewals online through the NRG store or by phone to the NRG Office. Renewing with a credit card is secure and avoids the transfer of the COVID-19 virus with checks and envelopes. Please do your part to help avoid transmitting the virus to our office manager, Mary, and her family.

To renew online, see our Help page on memberships for details on the renewal process. 

To renew by phone please call between 9 AM to 3 PM CDT, M-F at 585-968-8111. If it is difficult for you to call during our regular business hours, send an email to the office and we can schedule a mutually convenient time for you to call.

IF YOU ORDER PRODUCTS FROM THE NRG

For the duration of the stay at home orders in Illinois, we will be shipping products only once per week in order to minimize our exposure. Orders for countries other than US and Canada are being held by the postal service due to limited international flights so tracking may show packages sitting in Chicago for considerable times. Depending on what we see with tracking of prior orders, we may temporarily suspend shipping some overseas orders rather than have the completed orders sit at the airport for extended periods of time risking loss or damage. You will be contacted if this is necessary and you will be given the option of cancelling the order. Thanks for understanding during these difficult times.

ANNUAL WI MARITIME MUSEUM CONTEST (aka - MANITOWOC) IS CANCELLED FOR 2020.

The contest and show scheduled for May 15-17 has been canceled due to the COVID-19 situation. The show/contest will be held as usual next year. The dates will be May 14-16, 2021.

ANNUAL NORTHEAST SHIP MODEL CONFERENCE CANCELLED FOR 2020

The Conference scheduled for April 25 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. The Conference will be held as usual in 2021.

PHIL ROACH – RESIGNATION

Phil Roach resigned as a Director in February. Phil served as a director for just under six years. The Board wishes to thank him for his service.