November 2, 2024

Yavniel

Obey Your Travel

Displaying Your Wooden Ship Model

At our ship model company, we believe that after spending 300 hours building a ship model, the model itself should be the star of the show and the display material used should take a back seat unless it’s to be displayed in a diorama like a dry dock.

The display base could be made of wood or acrylic. If you choose wood, it should be a solid piece of real wood versus MDF nicely routered but not ornate and finished in a muted sheen. Another option would be a clear acrylic block.

Mounting the model on the display base can be done a number of ways. Our company does not believe in invading the keel and hull of a ship model with a screw or bolt.

Non evasive display supports could be cradles, supports or magnets.

Cradles can be made of wood, acrylic or wire armatures. Cradle design should be as minimal as possible and placed as low on the hull as practical.

Supports can be made of clear acrylic rod, bendable wire or wood dowels.

For clear acrylic rods, the end that touches the hull should be mitred. Display supports to present your work of art without drilling a hole through the ship model keel. We have developed this product so that it does not compromise your model nor take away from your ship model when someone is admiring it. The product is mitred, paintable and can be glued to the base if required.

Rare earth magnets are interesting and used in museum displays as much as possible. Installing a properly sized SmCo or NdFeB magnet in the hull of the model ship and insetting one in the wood base will hold the model in place. Once the magnet has been inset and epoxied into the wood base, a thin veneer of wood can be glued over it so it essentially disappears.

Of course if you don’t mind drilling a hole in the keel of your model ship, there are a number of types of pedestals you can use. A turned brass or wood slotted bass is the most common. If using this type of pedestal, they should be of different heights to give your model a more realistic setting.

Like with many variables when building a model ship, before you start the build, you should determine how you will be display it so that the method you use can be incorporated into the build as you go along.