Out of all the catagories of models to build, my favorite is mostly model ships.
But when I go to a contest to compete or I see other people’s photo galleries from shows or some other modeling event, the ships are very minimal. To the point of being disappointing. 
Why is there a decline of model ships being built and shown? Did model ship building suddenly become the “black sheep” of the modeling community? Or is what I am seeing merely just a “phase” and model ship building will rise again?
Whenever I go to a contest, the most total I ever see on tables is maybe 25+/- at best.
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I can tell you one of the reasons is transportation. Ship builds are either extremely long or too big with numerous ‘fiddly’ parts, especially sailing ships.
There’s a post about a recent ship contest and the builds are amazing!
Manitowoc Model Ships & Boats Contest, May 15-17, 2026 - General Discussion / Scale Model Events - Finescale Modeler Forum
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I do like to build ships also and have built many world war ll battleships and aircraft carriers like the Bismarck, Terpitz , New Jersey , Yamamoto and the Enterprise to name some. These have been 1/350 they have been some of my most enjoyable builds and taken 6 to 8 week each to build.
The problem that I had with them is they average about 80 cm long with the longest build was about 1.2 meters and they take up a lot of space and we don’t have a large home , this is a issue because you know what they say , happy wife happy life 
.fortunately these are in my fathers war room so she doesn’t have to complain about them but in saying that I do have 2 large wooden ships that I don’t have the room to display at home . So this is the reason I have stopped doing ships and gone back to smaller scales in military and airforce
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Not sure if my opinion holds any weight here but from someone who has never built a ship, maybe it will offer some different opinions.
I have only recently been back into the hobby the last 4 years, after a very long break. But I see no change in the amount of ship builds I have seen. From as far back as 2003 when I joined multiple forums, or judged contests at my old job (HobbyTownUSA) I see no change in the popularity of that genre. Its always been, in my short time in the hobby the less popular genre.
My only thought is could it be related to options? I mean how many ships are there? And how can they be made any different? Take autos for example.. A single car can have multiple generations, each of those generations can be made in several ways. Stock, Modified, Race, Rally etc. Maybe there is just a lack of options when it comes to ship building? I know the one and only ship I want to build, no one offeres it. So I have never built it. Just my thoughts.
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The old sailing ships are a bear to transport, and you risk significant damage during transportation. BUT … There are multitude of ways to build one of these. Admiralty models, dry-docked, standing rigging only, furled sails, or fully rigged and under way. Adding a crew is also an addition (a necessity if you are showing her under way). Weathering and dioramas add another layer of complexity. So lots of variety there.
At Nats 2 years ago in Madison, there were easily 50+ ships, covering every type and variety from old sailing ships to modern warfare vessels. So most likely just a blip in the cycle. Most ships take a considerable amount of time. If you are trying to save space, the 1/700 scale offers ample opportunity to build and display.
Just my 2 cents.
Bob
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I think that ships have always been more of a niche genre in contests compared to aircraft, armor, autos, figures, Sci Fi, etc. That being said, ships do tend to take more time to complete, need more AM to add to compete, and the kits tend to cost more compared to other genres. I know that folks argue costs vs time spent, but I then circle back to my first point of ships taking longer to build. A builder might complete at most a half dozen ships in a year compared to a dozen or more aircraft, armor, or auto builds in the same time frame, and for lesser cost. A 1/24 Formula 1 racer vs a 1/350 carrier or battleship…. Huge difference in cost from start to finish. But in the end, I think it also boils down to an interest in the basic subject area. Ship kit selection has always been fairly reasonable, but nowhere near as deep as most other subject areas, save for perhaps Sci Fi.
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I think it is undeniable ship modeling is on a downturn. I base it on the low amount of traffic on the two primary plastic ship model sites - Steelnavy and Model Warships. Not quite ghostowns yet, but posting is getting more and more infrequent there. I think sci-fi modeling is in an even more severe downturn. The main site at Starshipmodeler has its forums almost vacant, when there used to be dozens of posts in the general and genre forums. Now, largely crickets. It may be part of the trend away from topic forums in general, but I think some of it is an undeniable decline in interest, too.
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I’d say that modeling forums in general are on more of a downturn than any particular modeling genre… especially Sci Fi. Aside from several forums, I’m also active in Tik Tok and Instagram regarding modeling. I see plenty more work on those sites than I do on most forums. They are quite international, easy to post photos on, and are focused more on the work than the all of the banter of most forums. Not good for getting questions answered, but great for seeing all sorts of work.
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My friend took me to North Port in Kajigaya, Tokyo this morning. This is Pit Road’s showroom/flagship store. Their displays include the entire line of Pit Road/Skywave products, all built to good standards. They were all OOTB to give an accurate representation of their product line.
They also carry some aircraft, armor, autos and those dreaded anime kits. Prices are straight retail, but you don’t see some of these kits anywhere else.
To temper your expectations, they obviously don’t carry their entire product line since their inception. But the ship selection is pretty darned good, especially the 1/700 stuff. They carry accessories, but they were not eye-watering in quantity.
I would like to thank my friend Elias for taking me out to a 12 hour hobby shopping spree from Kajigaya to Ogikubo to Nakano to Akihabara. My feet are wasted.
So I don’t think steel navy ships are in decline. But yeah I don’t see many wooden sailing ship kits on the shelves these days. They require a true craftsman’s touch and more dedication than most can muster these days.
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I’m very interested in doing a ship model, I’d like to do something like the New Jersey or Yamato. But the problem is to get it looking good when they come with a zillion PE parts and alot of small parts. Which I feel are indeed necessary. I don’t like working with PE, as for me it’s hard to glue these tiny parts in the correct shape. I want the railings and the antennaes took look right but for me it seems impossible.
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Worth mentioning, it also could be due to the fact that the moddelers that focus on that genre could be aging out of the hobby. It seems that war time armor and planes fill up forums new posts, and the younger group of modelers is building race cars and gundam. At least, thats what I see. But that cold be because thats what I am building, so thats what I am looking for.
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We have a kid in middle school in our local IPMS club that is exclusively into 1/700 scale ship models, so all is not lost.
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I don’t have an answer, but I build almost exclusively 1/700 waterline ships, with the occasional 1/350 waterline model, or 1/25 race car or 1/72 aircraft or armor. I agree that at most contests I attend on the US East Coast there are generally a smaller number of ships as opposed to other categories. Only when you get to the IPMS Nationals do you see a lot of entries in ship categories.
Bob C.
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I have built most of the ships that were on my list over the years,and the common ones probably 12 or 13 I still have Soveremmy and Graf Zeppelin in the stash.I guess with ships I need to be more selective due to size,cost,and time,what I really want to see is a new SMS Emden and a Commerce Raider,Atlantis either in 1/350 or 1/200
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I would really like to build the USS Iwo Jima (LPH2) My uncle was on that ship when they picked up the astronauts from the Apollo 13 mission. But I cannot find it anywhere.
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In injection molded plastic, it’s simple - there aren’t any. I’d say it’s pretty unlikely there ever will be. There have been some resin kits of the Iwo Jimas that have come and gone. $$$s and modeling skill required. 3D Wild currently offers a resin 3D printed Iwo Jima in 1/350 and 1/700 scales. But the kits are $200 and up, and still require significant modeling skills. Also, they are modeled in a 1990s Gulf War I configuration, not 1960s.
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Aurora made a 1/600 kit of USS Guadalcanal, her sister ship. But that kit is long OOP, and Aurora as model company folded about 50 years ago. Your only chance will be to find one at a kit swear meet or collector show…
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I have no expertise or knowledge on the subject Carlos, does sister ship mean they are identical, with the exception to markings? Would I be able to build this kit (assuming I could find it) and just change a few things to make it the Iwo?
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They are the same size and blueprints,but usually have some differences,you would have to study prints of the two ships,find the differences,and scratch build the modifications.
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I have had a similar suspicion recently. If you look at the new releases (at least in FSM), it seems that ship model releases are definitely down vs. 10 years ago. Like many of the replies already state, space can be an issue for displaying the finished product, and I really am not prepared to drop to 1:700 scale with my declining eyesight and less steady hands. Having served as a surface warfare officer in the early 90s, we had so many more varieties of ships: the Belknap and Leahy class cruisers, Spruance and Kidd class destroyers, Perry and Knox class frigates, Ticonderoga class cruisers, etc. Now, most navies are standardizing on a design or two, which limits the variety of ships you can build (see: Arleigh Burke class). I personally would like to see more Cold War ships, but that is my personal bias. I’m building the USS Hornet for my dad, who served onboard in 1959. After that, I will build the USS Chandler and USS Enterprise, my two ships. Collectively, these three will probably take me the better part of the next half decade (if not longer). That too can be part of the problem–there’s not much in the way of instant gratification when it comes to shipbuilding–no Weekend Editions here! For that reason, I build aircraft and have at least 1-2 helos or planes going in parallel to keep things interesting. I would love to see more ship models, but my guess is that the model companies would build them if there was demand, so I would say that the decline is real, sadly.
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