Model Ship Case Success Stories

Here it is. Played at building it for 20 years and finally finished it in one year after I retired. The glass guys loved it. They said it was much more interesting than cutting glass for windows.

I built Constructo’s HMS Victory 1:98 scale next in 5 years. I bought a bunch of books and extra supplies to improve the model and now I’m almost ready to encase it. Dusting off your plans because they worked so well the first time.

After all that rigging, I’m going to take it a little easier on next one. Probably going to be Nantucket from Blue Jacket Ship Crafters in Maine. Anyway, you’re welcome to use the case on your webpage if you want and I’ll send you another pic when I finish the Victory case. Excellent case design!!!!

Robert Evans

The project was a success and I went with the 5 mil glass. There was a bit of tweaking along the way and I am very happy with your design. I had the brass corners for the top frame but in the end decided not to use them. The corner cuts on the oak were precise and sufficient after gluing. I thought the brass was nice but I got overruled by my wife, the artist in the family.

After placing the case in the initial spot it became evident that it would have to be a stand alone so I built a matching base. I did not spare the cost on materials and the case and stand cost twice as much as the boat kit. The glass was half the cost. Only 5% of the time of construction however.

Thanks,
Ted Laurentius
St. John's, Newfoundland

I should have done this quite a while ago. I’ve built one case (so far) using your instructions. Here are some pictures of the case / ship it houses. The model is Niagara / Lawrence from a Model Shipways kit. It was my first entry in a contest – at the Manitowoc Maritime Museum and received a gold award! The case / ship currently resides in my office on the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay campus. Feel free to use any or all of the images and thank you for the easy to follow instructions.

Gregory J.
Green Bay, WI

Here are two pictures of the case I built from your e-book. I’m very pleased with it and I’m happy to give you permission to use my photos in any publicity, web sites, or future editions of the book. Thanks for all the thought that went into your book. I think your concept of building the strong, base first and using it as the form for the frames was very, very clever and really contributed to the success of the project.

I did not ask a glass shop to do the glass fitting, but did that all myself. I routed all the glass channels to 3/16 width rather than the exact 1/8 inch width of the glass and this gave just enough play to allow for the inevitable irregularities and twists in the wooden strips. My local glass shop are great folks and they gave me a small sample of glass to take home BEFORE I built the case to help in setting up the router depth/width. I did not use a table saw, but cut all the channels and rabbets with my router.

Thanks for your ebook.

Grace and peace,
Doug
South Dartmouth, MA