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.
The rest of the feature lineup:
- At the Limit of the Hands: Napoleonic Warships in 1/700, Part 2 — Linus Spjutsberg returns with brass mast-making, the Nelson Chequer paint scheme, and rigging in wire at diameters most of us have never attempted.
- Restoring the Sailing Yacht Puritan — Ron Neilson takes on a nearly five-foot, century-old model of the 1885 America’s Cup defender that arrived caked in grime and broken, and left looking like it belonged in a museum (which it now does).
- The Paper Fleet: Russia’s Armored Cruiser Rossia at 1:200 — JP Cusati introduces paper modeling with his Silver Medal–winning build, a medium we suspect more of you will want to try.
- Darwin’s Beagle, Part 2: Planking the Deck — George Athanasiou continues his Mamoli build with scale plank sizing, staggered joints, simulated caulking, and a clean shellac finish.
- Tools and Techniques: A Modeler’s Wife POV — a first for these pages: Monika Cybulska on how a UV gel nail technique solved a below-the-waterline waterproofing problem her husband couldn’t beat.
- Cracking the Code: The NRG Masting and Rigging Project — Dan Cicero’s deep dive into the Nautical Research Guild’s intermediate-to-advanced learning tool, from carved masts to silver soldering.
- The Minor Warships, Part 4 — Ian McLaughlan’s series presses into the early 1700s, tracing British and French small-warship development from single-masted Caribbean sloops to Richard Stacey’s influential Cruizer class.
- How to Create a Model Ship Diorama — Bob Hunt builds an entire HO-scale working waterfront around a ship on the stocks: foam terrain, cast-resin water, and a shipyard full of purposeful clutter.
In the departments, David Antscherl kicks off a two-part Silver Soldering how-to manual, Chuck Passaro shows how AI image tools can produce convincingly worn scale flags in Shipwright’s Apprentice, and Glynn Guest coaxes rudderless motor steering out of an ordinary transmitter in On the Water. My own Ships of the Frozen Trade traces the maritime history of Hudson Bay — from Hudson’s doomed Discovery to the little Nonsuch that launched an empire — as a gallery of subjects for modelers. And in Around the Horn, we cover the launch of Dry Dock Modeler, the new free forum from Chuck Passaro and Jim Hatch.
Two quick notes before you dive in:
- Last call on the 2026 Kit Manufacturer Survey. Five minutes, confidential, and you’re entered for one of three $50 gift certificates. We close it soon to compile results — take it at shipsinscale.com/2026-kit-survey.
- Our letters inbox is fixed. letters@shipsinscale.com is working again, so tell us what’s on your workbench.