The skipjack was the last type of sailing vessel developed on Chesapeake Bay for commercial operation. Evolved during the 1880 s from various local types of flat and V-bottom skiffs and boats, the skipjack is still used today to harvest the Bay oyster.
The Willie L. Bennett was built in 1899 at Inverness, Maryland. Her lines were recorded at Cambridge, Maryland by naval historian Howard Chapelle in 1942. Her whereabouts were unknown from 1942 until 1954, when she was discovered sunken in Harris Creek, Tilghman Island off Maryland s Eastern Shore. After she was raised and surveyed, it was determined that the damage was too expensive to repair. She was then returned to her resting place, where traces of her remains may still be found.
Model Expo Willie L. Bennett kit is based on the craft discovered in 1954. You'll build your model the way the real Willie L. Bennett was built, following the plank-on-bulkhead techniques used on life-sized skip-jacks. To make building easy, we've supplied laser cut wooden molds, keelson and transom. Basswood is used throughout. Outfit your craft with cast Britannia metal anchor, ship's wheel and deck machinery. Deadeyes and blocks are wood, and there's plenty of brass for eyes, hoops, rings and chain. Sail cloth and rigging line complete your model.
The 56 page instruction book by Ben Lankford gives you a wealth of detail with lots of photographs and drawings. Model Expo provides three sheets of plans that are so accurate that you could almost build a real skipjack using them! (Display base and pedestals not included.)
Model Expo Kit No. MS2032
Length 24" / Height 16" / Scale 3/8" = 1 ft (1:32)
