The new issue of Ships in Scale is here, and it’s one of the most varied crews we’ve assembled — traditional Irish workboats, Napoleonic ships of the line at wargaming scale, a century-old America’s Cup model brought back from the brink, and a nail-salon technique that solved a waterproofing problem no one else could crack.

On the cover: Building a 1/32 Scale Galway Hooker by James Norton. What began as a suggestion from his brother turned into a journey back to the Connemara coast, where Norton’s own grandparents emigrated from. Part 1 follows the scratch-build from hard-to-find plans through plank-on-bulkhead construction, hand-fashioned ribs, a tapered “telephone-pole” mast, and a simulated cargo of turf — some of it modeled on a real peat log carried home from the family cottage in Inverin. It’s the kind of story we love running: not just the build, but the why behind it.

Continue reading “Inside the July/August 2026 Issue of Ships in Scale” →