New 610' Great Lakes Bulk Freighter in Production

[peteski]

Wow Pete, you've been very prolific lately! 

I'm curious if these models are mostly labor of love or is there enough of a market for these to make these a worthwhile investment in your time?  These models are rather pricey (but the price seems more than fair, considering that they are basically scratch-built by you).

[pnolan48]

Peteski,

It's a little bit of both. I've sold every ship that I've finished, and have a backlog, but I could make a whole lot more money consulting in a number of technology areas, or even just writing for corporations. But I'm 65, newly retired, and this is my retirement venture. I have no idea of how it is going to turn out. If I still had house payments and a family to raise, it would not work out at all. After 52 years of work, this is my fun.

[peteski]

After 52 years of work, this is my fun.

Excellent!  I hope to me in that same situation someday (I still have few years to get there). 

[robert3985]

Pete,

WOW!!...having built ship models for a living for about a decade back in the 70's and 80's...gotta say I wish I could use your models on my layout, but no ships in Weber Canyon that I know, except prairie schooners trying to make it through the "straits" of Devils Gate in the 1850's.

I know what model ship builders charge for their models (having been one) and your prices don't seem at all "pricey" to me...in fact...they seem low to me. 

Got people willing to pay thousands for a rare brass Pennsy steam engine, and around a grand for other N-scale brass models...your ship dwarfs these models, and are much more "limited"...so your prices are definitely not anywhere near "pricey".

I wish you success, and please...keep up the good work!

[peteski]

Pete,

WOW!!...having built ship models for a living for about a decade back in the 70's and 80's...gotta say I wish I could use your models on my layout, but no ships in Weber Canyon that I know, except prairie schooners trying to make it through the "straits" of Devils Gate in the 1850's.

I know what model ship builders charge for their models (having been one) and your prices don't seem at all "pricey" to me...in fact...they seem low to me. 

Got people willing to pay thousands for a rare brass Pennsy steam engine, and around a grand for other N-scale brass models...your ship dwarfs these models, and are much more "limited"...so your prices are definitely not anywhere near "pricey".

I wish you success, and please...keep up the good work!

Pricey as far as general population of N scales goes.  Sure, I might spend $1200 on a brass model of a Big Boy but that doesn't mean that most N scale modelers would.  That was my point. I also clearly stated that I didn't think the price was high, considering that these models are scratch built.

I suspect that majority of people who own N scale layouts do not have either a $1200 brass loco or a $600 model ship on them.  But obviously, there are enough people lined up to keep Pete busy.  I wonder how many of those ships are destined for a layout and how many will be strictly on non-model-train-related display.

[robert3985]

Petski...I knew what you meant.  Pete is not building these for the majority of N-scalers out there...but for the select few who are willing to pay for models like these.  I don't think I'd pay high prices nowadays for brass engines either, especially since there's such good plastic, mass-produced ones out there.

Pete's ships are only "scratch-built" insofar as he's created the kits, then assembles them...and does it well.  Truly scratchbuilt (one off) models on this scale would go for 20 grand or more...last ship model I totally scratchbuilt went for 36 grand...and that was in the 1980's when I finally got it done and off to the customer in Orlando.  It wasn't a modern vessel, but a 1/8" scale 1850's single tops'l New York Clipper, The Comet (42" long)...and I scratch built EVERYTHING...not a commercial part on it, and it took me seven years of after-work labor to get it, it's base and case, done.  Drove me crazy...so it was both the best and last ship model I built...with about 2500 separate bronze plates on the hull...each embossed with about a dozen rivets...and I won't even get into all the scratchbuilt boxwood blocks and the hundreds of individually turned brass belaying pins.

I suspect you're entirely correct that the majority of N-scale layouts don't have either an expensive brass loco or ship model on them.  Pete knows that, as I said before, he's building for just a few who want a really spectacular centerpiece and who've got deep enough pockets to ante up the greenbacks.

It would be really interesting to see one (or more) of Pete's ships in a well-detailed model railroad LDE...I bet Pete would like to see that too!  I'm sure that some of them will end up as maritime models also.  Pete's dipping into both model railroading and model ships at the same time, and the era is right too. 

Pretty smart and talented guy I'd say!!

[peteski]

Pretty smart and talented guy I'd say!!

That sure is glaringly obvious! 

[pnolan48]

Equivalent ships have been on my railroad for a decade. While the layout is down in pieces right now, I will put it back up--once we decide between Ohio and Alabama. Here's a few from my Albuquerque days.

A break bulk freighter about 40 feet shorter than the one I'll be offering.


The same 450' freighter from the bow. This is the second ship I ever built, so the hull is a little bumpy, but not unprototypically so. Those things on the top of masts are eye protectors.


An old C-2 freighter.


Two smaller ships. The smaller one was my first attempt at the 125' Active-class, before I had the hull plans. The other is the Achusnet, a 210' cutter retired just a few years ago, and the same size as the Reliance-class cutter I am producing.


An assortment of Naval vessels.


Did I mention I do bridges too?

[pnolan48]

Some additional thoughts:

Bob's correct in that true museum-class ship models run in the $30K and up range, even for modern ships. The materials and methods are very restricted. It's been a decade since I looked into the specs, but I remember that the materials had to be proven to last at least 100 years, and perhaps longer. I think I can say my ships have details that approach museum-level, but are not museum-class. I'm not sure styrene has been accepted yet, nor acetate instead of glass.

I have built one museum-class piece: a 1:192 scale 4-story building that was perhaps 2" x 3" in plan. I got that job solely because the architect who had the contract was falling behind, and this was a small piece on a much larger project. This was in the early 1990s, and he paid me $1800 for it--perhaps $7/hour in the end. Making and applying individual spanish roof tiles will drive you mad. As a sideline, I built many quick architectural studies for large residences in communities that demanded a model (on the terrain, no less) before building.

My buyers have been split between model railroads and model ships, with collectors buying the most right now. Until now, I've made very few marketing efforts, because I had to prove to myself that this was viable.

I chose styrene and cast resin because making a series of hull out of solid wood would have driven me mad. I have the workshop to do it--obviously, since most of my own models are solid wood. But, when you get up to Laker-sized boats, you are near the limit for solid wood hulls without starting multiple laminations. And good quality aged hardwood is getting prohibitively expensive.

I like the method that I have chosen. While it may seem to take more effort to draw a part on the computer and then cut it, in the end it is more efficient, as the part is true and of the correct dimensions, and can be cut again. I could not make multiple ships without the complex parts like sections and hull sides defined in digital form.