June 23, 2022 - Blue Water Majesty Ship Model Museum

After the Pro Football Hall of Fame I drove over to the Blue Water Majesty Museum, which I had read was petty good on Trip Advisor.

The museum consists of wooden ship models made by a single person -- Larry Pulka.  Larry builds model ships for hire, but displays some of his work at this museum.  His shop is at the museum.

You go in, talk to Larry for a few minutes, tour the one room museum, then you can ask Larry any questions you may have in the little gift store.  Larry's an interesting guy, and his work is world-class.  The U.S. Naval Academy Museum near where I live has one of the better ship model collections you will find anywhere, and Larry's models are as good or better than anything the USNA Museum has.

He builds his models from scratch, not kits, based on the original design drawings.  He uses many varities of wood, all from logs that he has cut and milled.  Or bone.  The models have thousands of pieces.  The bigger ships might have 100,000 pieces.  The biggest one he has done had 150,000 pieces!  I can't even imagine.  He doesn't get rich making models; in fact, he says he probably earns $1/hour for his time.  But he's making a living doing what he loves.
   
A display of the 100 or so different species of wood Larry uses.  One wood that was not present was spruce, which I used in building my Fokker Triplane.  Spruce is too light, Larry said.  But light is good in airplanes which is why it is used for them.
   
A beautiful model of the Cutty Shark, a clipper ship built in 1869.  Larry used 20 wood types on this model.  The hull is covered with 1/4" wide by 8" long planks.  The model is not painted; the color is from the natural wood.
   
A "Prisoner of War" bone model of the 1700 French Frigate "La Licorne" (Unicorn).  Much of this model is made from beef bone.  The model took six months to build.
   
An American privateer during the Revolutionary War.  The model contains 26 different types of wood.  The little dots on the planking are wooden nails to hold the planking to framing.  Larry builds the model ships just like the real things were built.
   

A bone model of "The Confederacy", a 36-gun sailing frigate of the Continental Navy in the American Revolutionary War.  Almost everything in this magnificent model is made of beef bone.  It took three years to build this model.

From 1 May to 24 August 1779 she cruised on the Atlantic coast under the command of Captain Seth Harding. While convoying a fleet of merchantmen, on 6 June, she and Deane captured three prizes, drove off two British frigates and brought the convoy safely into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  On 17 September 1779 Confederacy was ordered to carry the French Minister and his family back to France. Later John Jay, the first American Minister to Spain, his secretary, and family were added to the passenger list. During the passage on 7 November 1779 Confederacy was completely dismasted and almost lost, but managed through the skillful seamanship of Captain Harding to reach Martinique early in December. After repairs, she returned to convoy duty.  Captain Nicholson replaced Harding in on 20 October 1780.  Confederacy was homeward bound from Cape Francois in the West Indies in 1781 with military stores and other supplies and escorting a fleet of 37 merchantmen, when on 14 April she encountered HMS Roebuck (44) and HMS Orpheus (32) off the Delaware Capes. The British ships forced Confederacy to strike her flag.  Most of the merchantmen she was escorting escaped. Many of her crew were sent to the old prison hulk Jersey, though some ended up in Mill and Forton prisons.  The Royal Navy took her into service as HMS Confederate, under the command of Captain James Cumming. He paid her off in September 1781. She was broken up at Woolwich in March 1782.
   
A beautiful model of Old Ironsides, USS Constitution, which Lynnette and I visited last October:  Link.
   
The Italian Cadet Training Ship "Amerigo Vespucci", built in 1931.
   

A model of the USS Oregon (BB-3).  Oregon was one of Americas first modern battleships.  Oregon carried a main battery of four 13-inch guns in a pair of gun turrets.  Oregon's combined speed -- 17 knots -- and firepower gave Oregon the nickname "bulldog of the Navy."  She performed well at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba in the Spanish-American war.

The wood decks of this model are made from the original teakwood decks of USS Oregon, which was broken up for scrap in 1956.

 
   
A 1/4 scale Frigate of the Continental Navy in the Revolutionary War.  This model uses 42 different kinds of wood and has 158,326 pieces!
   
A shipyard diorama.
   
This canoe is the only full-scale ship Larry has every built.  As he says, "it floats".
   
Larry builds his ship models the say way, the same order, as the real ships were.  This unfinished model shows how the hull is put together.
   

Larry's shop.  Nothing fancy.  A few tools like a bandsaw, miniature table saw, probably a sander of some sort in there somewhere.

All in all, I highly recommend stopping in to see Larry and the Blue Water Majesty Ship Museum if you are ever in the Canton area.
   
 
   
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