Throughout history ships have played a huge role for humanity wether it involved transporting important goods or fighting battles out at sea. We can see the importance of certain ships by the drawings or paintings of them. The historical importance of ships is what lead to the creation of model ships.

In this guide we’ve included information regarding model ships from the history behind them, how their scaled, popular model ships and model ship kits that you can build yourself. So let’s get started.

History Behind Model Ships – 

Humans have always had a fascination for model ships. The very first “model ships” were actually built almost 4000 years ago by Egyptians. These model ships were made out of clay and were found in Egyptian tombs. Of course these are nothing like the ones we have today in terms of detail but it just shows us the significance behind them.

Sailors themselves were the very first who started building model ships that tend to look like the ones we have today. Perhaps not as detailed and crafty as today but with the limited materials available to them they created these first few detailed models. Others quickly started noticing how popular they were among sailors and companies quickly caught on.

They we’re then advertised by large companies and quickly became popular. They brought nostalgia to some and they we’re interesting display items that got attention. Most of the popular model ships or kits you see today have an important historical significance whether they played a key role in a battle or we’re captained by a famous historical figure.

Fun fact: One of our presidents, FDR had a great interest in model ships. 

Material used – The most popular materials used are wood, plastic and plaster.

Scaling in Model Ships – A lot of questions are always asked in regards into how scaling works. To give you an example, if a scale is 1:24 then that means that 1 inch on the model ship is equal to 24 inches on the real ship. Depending on where you’re buying it from you might also see something like this: 1/2″ which generally means that half of an inch is equal to one foot on the real ship.

Different Types of Model Ships – You might encounter a wide variety of different types of model ships, since after all they do represent ships from all over the world. Some might be easier to build than others. Some examples are Amati, Euromodel, Corel, Mantua and many more.

Should you get a fully assembled model ship or a model ship kit? – The answer really depends on what you’re goals are. If you want to learn more about model ships, how they’re created, how the parts connect together and perhaps one day build you’re own then definitely go with the kit. Otherwise if you just like the history behind them and don’t want to bother with the creation of them and just want a nice cool thing to display then go with the fully assembled.