The Society of Model Shipwrights

Background

The Society of Model Shipwrights was founded in 1975 by John Bowen, at the time, editor of the internationally renowned quarterly publication Model Shipwright. As many of the early members were involved with the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London, UK, monthly meetings and exhibitions were held close to southeast London. Time and the Covid pandemic have since reduced the membership at this location and the Society has morphed into an international group with members spread throughout England, the USA, Canada, the Caribbean and elsewhere. Members meet monthly at a virtual meeting using the Zoom facility on the second Friday of each month and biennially at Portsmouth for those in UK. 

What we now offer.

• A monthly newsletter distributed on line : “The Log”.
• A website with a gallery of members’ models, a short history of the Society, a searchable archive stretching back to 2000, the annual programme of Zoom meetings, a contact-us system and more.
• Access to our YouTube channels both public and private through the “more” button on the website. This platform contains all the video recordings of the presentations given at our monthly Zoom meetings, which are attracting an increasingly large volume of subscribers Worldwide.
• For those in the UK, a biennial exhibition held at the Royal Maritime Club, adjacent to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, as well as informal meetings when opportunities arise.
• A monthly Zoom based meeting where a mixture of formal, illustrated  presentations covering research and model making topics and informal discussions of members’ models at all stages of construction, is offered.

Our approach to ship model construction:

• It is a requirement that all models must be scale representations of real craft (pond yachts for example would not be an acceptable category).
• Working and static display models are welcome in all scales.
• Models can be made out of metal, wood, plastic and card.
• Both scratch built and kit based models are accepted.
• Marine painting is seen as an important adjunct to the work of the membership.

Membership.

The current membership of the Society stands at 67. Annual subscription for all members is the equivalent of £10.00.

Contact and application for membership is normally made through the website.

In the UK, the Society enjoys working links to the Northwest Model Shipwrights based in Lancashire, the Society for Nautical Research (South) based at Portsmouth and Boathouse 4, a working museum for the restoration, maintenance and repair of wooden open boats in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Overseas there are links to the Model Shipwrights of Niagara in Canada and the Rope, a society of model shipwrights in Japan.  The Society is also a Chapter of the Nautical Research Guild, an international group with the majority of their membership in North America.