ORIGINS
Small scale ship modeling began in the late 19th century when evolving naval technology demonstrated a need for new tactics in naval warfare as well as a quick and easy way to identify individual ships. To test new tactics, service academies turned to war games, which were popularized around the turn of the century by British naval journalist FRED T. JANE in his annual publication All the World’s Fighting Ships. Along with a set of rules, Jane marketed a series of crude scale models to lend added realism to the games. When the British firm of BASSET-LOWKE began producing much improved models at a consistent scale of 1:1200 (1 inch = 1 foot) in the early 1900’s, the hobby of small scale ship model collecting was born. The wooden Basset-Lowke models set such a high standard in quality and accuracy that they were utilized officially for ship identification purposes by the British Admiralty in World War I.
After World War I, Basset-Lowke successfully transitioned their models to the civilian market, continuing to produce them in wood. In Germany, however, two hobbyists, Friedrich Pelzer and Henning Cortsen, began experimenting with metal castings, and by the early 1930’s were producing spin-cast lead models under the WIKING and PILOT labels. The scale was eventually standardized to 1:1250, the closest metric equivalent to Basset-Lowke’s popular 1:1200. Spin-cast models were introduced to Britain by German expatriate F.L. Winkler, who began producing his TREMO (Treforest Mouldings, Ltd) models as an offshoot of the Wiking line in the late 1930’s. In the USA, H.F.Boucher’s BMC models were used in Fletcher Pratt’s popular naval war game, and Martha Vineyard artist CHARLES VAN RYPER began turning out a series of wooden liner models in 1933 that he continued until 1960.
WORLD WAR II
World War II turned small scale ship modeling from a civilian hobby to a military necessity. Accurate identification of friendly and enemy ships and aircraft was necessary to avoid costly mistakes on the battlefield. Basset-Lowke and Wiking retooled for war, meeting the demand in Britain and Germany for standardized sets of identification models that covered nearly every warship class of the major naval powers.
In the USA, demand for ID models was greater than anywhere else following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Responding to this demand, new firms such as BESSARABIS, FRAMBURG, SOUTH SALEM STUDIOS and COMET utilized spin-casting to mass produce model sets in vast numbers that were packaged in rugged wood cases and sent to U.S. naval ships and bases all over the world. Ship identification handbooks issued by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) also featured photographs of the models taken at various angles from the air and on the surface.
The end of World War II also saw the end of the wartime ship model production effort. Of the US firms, only Comet continued production for the civilian market under the name AUTHENTICAST. Basset-Lowke survived in Britain and the Wiking line was revived in Germany after a brief postwar hiatus. It was these three firms that would carry the hobby through to its eventual transformation beginning in the late 1950’s.
POST WORLD WAR II
The 1950’s saw the introduction of plastics into the mass market. It revolutionized the hobby industry. Model kits of ships, planes, tanks, cars, rockets and other subjects suddenly became available in great quantities and variety. It was a golden age never to be forgotten by those lucky enough to grow up in it.
Plastic ship model kits generally focused on larger scales, but several lines of small scale ships appeared in the late 1950’s-1960’s. The British firm Eaglewall Plastics introduced the EAGLE line of World War II era British ships that were later marketed in the US (with American and Japanese ships added) under the PYRO label as the “Table Top Navy”. Other plastic model firms such as REVELL, AIRFIX and HELLER also had their own lines of 1:1200 scale ships.
Of the older small scale producers, only Wiking experimented with plastics. Several newer classes of ships and aircraft were produced, but the new product never completely replaced lead as the material of choice. Indeed, new British model lines of the 1950’s-60’s (TRI-ANG, OCEANIC, ENSIGN, CLYDESIDE) still relied on time-honored spin-casting rather than plastics, as did the new American line SUPERIOR, which took over from Comet/Authenticast after that line ceased operations in 1962, and is still produced in the US by ALNAVCO.
But it was in Germany that a revolution in casting and production techniques began that would transform the hobby from this time forward.
1960’s – 1970’s
Though Wiking continued to dominate ship model production in Germany throughout the 1950’s, the early ‘60’s saw new firms such as HANSA and DELPHIN turning out models with a higher level of detail and accuracy, to the degree that Wiking ceased production in the early 1970’s. From Austria, they were joined by STAR, ANKER, TRIDENT and HL (Hermann), all utilizing traditional spin-casting techniques and lead as the base metal.
But in Munich, modelers were experimenting with flexible latex molds in place of the hard Vulcanized rubber then in use. Latex molds supported by a plaster jacket allowed models to be cast in one piece, eliminating joint lines and permitting a far greater level of detail to be achieved. This technique eliminated the need for machined brass master models from which the molds were formed. Masters could now be executed in greater detail with plastic, a much easier and less expensive material to work.
Spearheading this revolution were Gerald Schweizer, whose MERCATOR line set a new standard of detail and quality, Rudi Kraus, who pioneered the use of latex molds, replaced toxic lead with new metal alloys, and improved production techniques to produce the NAVIS/NEPTUN line that raised the Mercator standard even higher, and Peter Wiedling, whose support of these early breakthroughs from his well-known hobby shop in Munich provided the financial backing that allowed their efforts, as well as the efforts of the next generation of modelers, to flourish.
1980’s – 1990’s
The 1960’s breakthrough in casting techniques opened the production of metal ship models to anyone with the urge and the ability to try it. No longer was it necessary to capitalize a production plant. A line of models could now be produced out of one’s basement or garage. Consequently, the 1980’s and 1990’s saw the number of model producers, especially in Germany, soar.
Navis/Neptun remained at the forefront, continuing to blaze new trails in casting, metallurgy and production, but a new generation was rapidly rising. Peter Krtina began producing his HAI models in the mid-1970’s, focusing on unusual ships with a strong “niche market” appeal, Toni Preis and Hermann Stock started the ARGONAUT line of World War II ships in 1974 in direct competition with Neptun, Holger Lange’s ALBATROS line complemented Mercator’s selection of classic liners, Carlo Marquardt’s CM began offering even more liner and merchant ship choices, Norbert Br?cher refined modeling and casting techniques to an even higher level in his RHENANIA line, serving as both inspiration and mentor to a third generation of model builders (including his son Matti), and none less than Graf von Stauffenberg (nephew of Claus, of Operation Valkyrie fame) introduced his own superb line of 19th century steamers and ironclads complete with rigging and sails.
Supporting this thriving hobby were the toy shops and collectors clubs, chiefly in larger cities like Munich, Hamburg and Bremen. Here, collectors and producers would mingle over dinner and drinks, often long into the night, lending a hearty social dimension to what was still a highly localized hobby. And once every other year collectors from throughout Germany, and occasionally beyond, would (and still) gather at the big “Sammlertreffen” (collector’s meeting) at Kassel.
2000 – PRESENT
At the turn of this century, the small ship modeling world was again shaken by a revolution, this one brought about by the computer and its various applications.
By the late 1990’s, several of the newer producers such as CARAT and SEAVEE, began introducing applied photo-etched brass components to their models in the form of deck railings, lattice masts and radar sets, raising the level of detail far above that achievable in cast metal. New developments in plastic resin formulation and casting made it an acceptable substitute for metal, and several producers, notably LEN JORDAN and QUADRANT, raised resin casting to new levels of perfection. By 2005, the science of rapid prototyping allowed computerized laser cut masters to replace the more laborious hand-crafted master models in the production process. The net result has been an astounding leap in accuracy and detail fidelity, achieved, some would say, at the cost of the human touch.
But the most significant impact of the computer on the hobby has been the advent of the Internet. Collectors around the world are now in instant touch with one another by e-mail and the 1250 page of steelnavy.com. Models are now readily available through internet mail order and web auction sites. Payment transactions and currency conversions are effortless and models shipped overseas often arrive within a week. A revival of interest in the hobby in the US and Britain has resulted in a greatly expanded market and has stimulated new production lines, many of them outside of Germany: SARATOGA, MOUNTFORD, MBM, YSM, USA, 1250, CALIFORNIA, PIERHEAD, NORTH HEAD, HOBBY BOSS, SCHERBAK, ATLAS, GWYLLAM and LANGTON among others. Collectors meetings are now regularly held in Britain and the United States, and the SMSC has passed its first year. The future looks bright!
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