Th e greatly extended f oredecks of the knocka/Jouts replaced the dangerous bowsprits of earlier schooners and prol'ided more room j i1r gear and safe r conditions f or working the headsails. At right , Cava lier'sji1re riggingj'ea111res 14 " hlocks ,an iron cranefor thefore throat halyard, and other 111assi1•e hardware . concomitants of the 1¡as1 sail plans carried hy these.fast and ahle schooners.
sailing fishermen, with a model of an early steel hulled steam trawler in progress. Working with my father, we produced several other models to smaller scales, none of them offering the challenges posed by 3/8" scale. Some may rightfully maintain that miniature-scale m odels are the most dem anding of a modelm aker' s skill (and eyesight) , but I have found that large scale makes its own unique demands, particularly with fine detail and quantities of it required. One must not only replicate detail, but also deal with its nuances-the styling of the ironwork and wood moldings, proper splices and other rope and wire work, the visual effects of weathering and wear. A "slick" fini sh just won ' t do, and the model maker has to deal seriously with the contention that a ship model approac hes (but never attains!) perfection by understanding and simulating the ship ' s imperfections. In the rarefied atmosphere of this modelmaki ng philosophy , the measure of a modelmake r's sanity is knowing when to stop. The creation of a collection of models embodying this much detail is as dependent on accurate source materi al as on skill , and I have people and institutions to thank for ass istance in thi s task. Among them are Edward S. Bosley, the late Willi am A. Baker, the late M.Y. Brewington, the late Howard I. Chapelle, Charles F. Sayle, D ana A. Story, John S. Carter, and the late Erik A.R. Ronnberg, Sr. Helpful institutions include the Cape Ann Historical Association, Peabody Museum of Salem, Essex Shipbuilding Museum , New Bedford Whaling Museum, Mystic Seaport Museum , Smithsonian Institution , The Mariners' Museum, and the Hart Nautical .i. Collections of the MIT Museum.
Mr. Ronnberg, a mode/maker by trade , was curator at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and is currently Vice President of the Cape Ann Historical Society and on the Board ofDirectors of the Nautica l Research Guild. SEA HISTORY , SPRING 1989
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