Enjoy this exhibit of more than 20 models from members of the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild. The ship models range from mid-sixteenth century to the present. There will be fully rigged sailing vessels such as clipper ships and whalers. There will also be small pleasure boats like Cape Cod cat boats and mahogany runabouts. Working boats that served such mundane tasks as fishing, carrying freight and tug boats will be on display. Another model that has some celebrity will be Larry Ward’s USS Constitution. That model was on display in the White House from 2014 to 2016. While there, it resided in the West Wing just outside the Situation Room.

About the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild: The Guild started late 1970s and became affiliated with the USS Constitution Museum shortly thereafter. Its purpose, as defined in its bylaws, is to further the study, art, and craft of model ship building and nautical research through regular meetings, lectures, exhibits, workshops, and other related activities.

Founded by four guys with a common passion for ship modeling, forty years later the Guild currently has nearly a hundred members. Our membership has waxed and waned over the years but through it all we still maintain a steady group of people who love the craft.

The people in our Guild come from every point on the spectrum of ship model building experience. On one end we have beginners who are just starting out in the hobby. At the other end we also have a couple of fellows for whom ship modeling has been a life-long career. Most of the guys fall somewhere in between.

At one of our monthly meetings, it would be accurate to say that – among the thirty plus members that typically attend – there is a cumulative total of over a thousand years of ship modeling experience in the room. The Guild exists to share that knowledge. Regardless of the question any of our members might have on a current project, the answer is almost certainly in that room every month.