Philadelphia Ship Model Society
between Terminals C and D
Founded in 1931, the Philadelphia Ship
Model Society is one of the oldest ship modeling clubs in the United States.
Building model ships takes great skill, precision, patience, and ingenuity. It
is an ancient craft as old as shipbuilding itself. Model ships are scale
replicas of full-scale boats and can range in size from 1/6000 scale miniatures
to large, manned models used for research, for honing a ship’s engineering, and
The mission of
the Philadelphia Ship Model Society is to preserve, enhance, and research nautical
traditions through the art of ship modeling. Members of the Philadelphia Ship Model
Society build both radio-controlled and static models from kits to scratch building
where the modeler does the historical research, chooses the scale, materials,
and completely hand builds the boat. In model ship building, the larger the
scale, the more detailed the final model. Common materials used to make models
include wood, plastic, metal, and paper. For some of the finer, detailed work, materials
include thread for rigging, wire for the mast, toothpicks for pillars, beads to
replicate parrels, and pin heads for rivets. Scratch builders use any material
necessary to replicate the original ship in miniature.
This exhibition includes models ships
that represent a variety of eras and types of ships from sailing vessels, paddle
wheeled boats, commercial ships, and recreational boats, to naval watercraft such
as gunboats, aircraft carriers, and battleships.