Greetings!
I noticed that one of my models was shared here last month and I thought I’d share some more. All of my models are built from scratch using original plans or survey elevations. The hulls are almost all boxwood and the balance of the detail is brass. Rigging is many grades of tungsten wire.
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask!
Joseph:
Those are certainly Beautiful and Unique. Now,I do have to ask,What do you do, or what did you do for a living? Possibly an Eye Surgeon or Micro-Machinist? Tanker-Builder
Hello!
Those are really nice! I can’t help but wonder how you did all those riggings. Sure would be cool to see a WIP (work in progress) thread on one of your beauties. And I would like to see the scale put in more conventional terms (1:something).
Many years ago I used to build warships in 1:500, when we didn’t have any kits, just a book of drawings and some wood and wire.
Thanks for sharing and have a nice day
Paweł
Great work.
I am humbled, not in a lifetime could I manage rigging on model that small, let alone scratch building something so magnificent, thank you for sharing!
Thanks everyone! The reason I use the old imperial scale notation is because to the layman, 1/1500 doesn’t mean anything. They can wrap their heads around 1” equaling 125’. So the 125’ to the inch ships are 1/1500 scale and the 83’ to the inch are 1/1000 scale. I he some WIP photos of a few of the ships, I documented the construction of HMS Dreadnought pretty extensively and those photos can be seen on my website at www.josephlavender.com.
Here is a collage I did a while back showing a selection of WIP photos from some of the builds: 
You do very fine work. It must involve some serious magnification.
Is that a Bath schooner? I plan to build one, a little bit bigger, say 1" equals 16 feet.
Thanks for sharing, and Welcome!
Thanks! Yes, that’s the Bath-built Gaff Schooner Wyoming, the largest wooden ship ever built. Oh and to answer the question above, I’m an air traffic controller.
I love your work. This is a realm of the hobby I am interested in and I look forward to attempting to scratchbuild in this scale. Great tutorial.
Scott
Hey thanks! Give it a go, it’s not impossible. I can recommend some very good books from Reed and McNarry if you’re serious and they’ll set you on the right path.
My mom got me "Ship Models in Minature" when I was about 8. It was the one book that got me hooked on ship modeling.
Absolutely Outstanding! [t$t] [t$t] [t$t] [t$t] [t$t]
Jim [cptn]
PS - Do you give lessons?
I have that book as well, a very nice reference indeed. As for lessons, sure, I can answer any questions you might have. My inbox is always open.
Working on HMS Ramillies now, 
Truly amazing work. I am amazed how such detail can be accomplished at such a miniaturized scale. I am at the moment building my PELICAN model at 1/8th scale. Even with magnification attached to my glasses, I find it difficult to work in detail. I have to use a needle threader to thread lines to blocks.
Happy modeling Crackers [:|]
Thank you! It’s a lot of fun.
Amazing detail at that scale. Well done!
Thank you,
I usually go the other way on my scratchbuilt ships. Since materials costs are low I go larger scale. Never scratched anything smaller than a 1:700 scale laker.
Those models are outstanding. Maybe it is time for me to try something really small. I am a big believer in “use it or lose it.”
I find magnification no problem. Optical systems were my primary profession so I know what works and doesn’t. My biggest problem is manual dexterity is degrading in these 81 year old hands, especially the left, but I keep trying to do small stuff 'cause I feel if I didn’t it would get worse. Getting small PE rigging is nice when I can get it for those 1:600 early sail kits. I still have several in my stash.