Details, details! Model ship builder gets it right

Hulls, masts, mast rings, rudders, gaffs, shrouds, buckets, cannons and anchors are some of the many parts model ship builder Doug Dorner has crafted from raw materials in kits to build his own fleet that includes a whaling ship, schooner, steamer, yacht, warship and submarine.

Though Dorner said he was never especially drawn to ships, he had built some model airplanes and liked working with wood.

Impressed by a friend’s model ship work, he set sail on his own taking on a 25-year hobby building a variety of model ships that now fills a wall of his living room. It’s a showcase of his patience, perfectionism and handiwork.

Dorner, 80, said he wouldn’t have been able to afford a model ship kit in the 1930s when he was a young boy — even though a 1942 catalog shows kits for just $9.50. That was a lot of money back then, he said.

Browsing through his keepsake catalog, Dorner shows that it takes 22 parts merely to build a model of a ship’s cannon.

“My grandmother taught me to crochet and sew, so making the sails on the ships came easy. I made all the sails on the ships,” Dorner said.

Did other boys tease him when they saw him sewing and crocheting?

“Heck, no, I’d beat ’em up if they did,” he said.

Some ships have taken Dorner 800 hours to build. The ship that took the longest was about 1,000 hours and took a year to complete.

Sometimes he’d get bored and stop for a while, but he finished every ship he started.

“The most challenging to build was a ship named ‘The Rattlesnake.’ The Americans took it from the British or French and made it into a warship sometime between the mid 1700s and about 1812.”

The shrouds, which are the vertical web-like rope assemblies used by sailors to climb and reach the tops of sails, are all handmade with cord and illustrate Dorner’s attention to detail and accuracy.

Ever so carefully he hand-stitched the fabric sails to horizontal rods called “yards.”

“I liked the intensity of the work and the pressure... I’m repairing one ship now but am not into building as much. I’m less agile and my vision isn’t what it used to be,” Dorner said.

The focal wall of his living room displays 10 model ships. Each is a different type and varies in size and kind of woods used.

Dorner takes down the first one he made, a fishing ship he made for his father. He’s named the ship “Cal” in honor of his father.

His favorite model is the largest of his fleet — a French trading ship. A whaling ship is also becoming a favorite, he said.

One unusual and complex model is the smallest of his work. It is a cross section of a ship.

With such a detailed hobby, it’s natural to think Dorner had a complete workshop, or shipyard, to do his model shipbuilding, but he didn’t.

“I never had a workshop anyplace. Sometimes I worked on the kitchen table,” he said, never mentioning how his wife, Margaret, handled a hobby with hundreds of minuscule pieces and parts in the kitchen.

Rounding out Dorner’s fine craftsmanship are two framed prints of clippers purchased at the Mystic, Conn., seaport.

They provide a perfect accent to this nautical Green Valley living room.

Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.