I went to the USS North Carolina on Friday, October 18, to photograph the model ship builders who were displaying their work for an event this weekend. I always find it amazing what people can create. I can paint you a picture with words, but if you put a paint brush in my hand, I am lost. The same holds true with spatial concepts. I just don’t get them. In my mind, it takes a special person to be able to create a work of art for others to admire. If you feel the same way, run, not walk to the Battleship USS North Carolina this weekend to see the display, “The Fleet Is In.” Yes, it is in—in miniature.
On Saturday, October 19 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, October 20, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. various ship modeling guilds will be aboard the USS North Carolina showing their collection of made to scale model ships of the World War II era.
Mary Ames Booker, Curator, of the USS North Carolina explained, “Several years ago, we decided to host a show of ship models made by craftsmen from around the area. It was well received, and I decided to do it on a larger scale, getting model ship building guilds involved to increase the quality of what we were showing. We actually started working on this show in January, for it to be open to the public for August, but with the weather issues, we moved it to October.
I worked with Jim Gower, President of the New Bern Maritime Modelers Guild, and was fascinated by what I learned. Each guild, each person, takes so much pride in what they create. They have a love for history and want to share the stories of these incredible ships with others, especially young people. It can take years to build one of these models. The attention to detail is amazing and it has to be historically accurate.”
She continued, “This year the event will be held in the Ward Room, which was the old Officer’s Dining Room.” She said, “I have talked to so many people throughout the year that want to get copies of photos from our archives or get computer models for projects that they are completing. I have talked to these people for years and never met them. I’m happy to help them in whatever way I can, I just ask that they send us photos of what they have created. The modeling community is a very important part of our history. I want to make this a yearly event and expand what we are offering with every passing year.”
Jim Gower was busy on Friday. He was in charge of getting models from different guilds to the USS North Carolina and then setting them up for display. Said Jim, “We are so excited to put on this show. It’s such a good way to remember our past and celebrate what we as a country have achieved. It’s also a good way to showcase what we do to honor our military years and our country. The research that goes into making these models and accurate representation is incredible.”
Dale Hansen, a Marine who served from 1976 to 2014, said, you have to love history and technology to do this. You have to be dedicated to making sure the final product is as accurate as it can be. Modeling has come a long way from when I was a kid, attempting to make something out of my first modeling kit.”
Rodney Huyett, also a Marine, who served from 1969 to 1992, said, “This is something to keep me occupied in my retirement years. I’m fascinated with history, especially, the World War II era. The research is so involved. Dale Hanson has done so much with digging into the history of these vessels; I’m just blown away. It’s, a great way of discovering something bigger than you were at the time and to look back on your life and know you were part of something important.”
Mark Prechtel, from the Wilmington Plastic Modelers, who will be showing his model of the Battleship Arizona, agreed, he joked, “This is lots of fun for us. We enjoy building models and showing them off. It used to be, as young boys, we got into building models. Then we discovered girls. We focused on girls for a while, but now that we are retired, we went back to building models!! I’ve been doing this for about 3 years now and I love it.”
Hank Strub, who is a master of creating detailed parts of ships on which he works through 3D printing said, “Anyone interested in Navy Warships should come down and take a look at what we are doing. 3D printing adds a whole new aspect to modeling—it makes it more accurate and enables you to take your design to a whole new level.”
Watching these men carefully put history on display was an honor for me. Their work is impeccable, their mission is simple—understanding our history–celebrating our strength as a country, learning from the past—and most importantly, never underestimating the power of a united military force—ours or theirs.
If you do nothing else this year for an outing, make sure you go to “The Fleet Is In,” on October 19 and 20th. It’s an adventure in history and a salute to an artform that many more people should investigate.
