Williams is a member of the Sun City Model Builders Club and has completed 17 ships, nearly all of them old sailing ships with tall masts and plenty of rigging. They can take months to complete.

The flags on the ship were ordered from a specialist in Germany. And while Laney is meticulous in following the plans for each model — the intricate rigging on most of the ships would be enough ...

She admitted it's no small task. "I think you’ve sensed a bit of what goes into a ship model, which has rigging, it has delicate decking and it has an unusual kind of a balance," Davis said.

"We manufacture ship model kits for all levels of competency ... Each wooden board on the ship, each metal cleat on the rail, each piece of rigging is created right in the shop by nine on ...

“For this one, I plated the hull with copper because all the ships were copper-plated to stop sea growth. I am busy with the running rigging, and I have to attach the sails. And that is the difficult ...

Last year, Lou Husser was handed a heap of wood, thread and canvas and asked to make a sailing ship from it. This was both easier than it sounds and more difficult. Easier because the materials ...