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NANTUCKET LIGHTSHIP LV-112 Hand Crafted by the master model builder George Beckwith.
This unit is exquisite in every detail. It was originally purchased from Frank F. Sylvia JR Fine Art & Antiques on Washington Street in Nantucket Massachusetts in 2000. This model comes with a brass framed glass case.
Measurements: Case 26x10x20 high Boat 23x5x18
The 1/4-inch to the foot model had its start when Frank F. Sylvia Jr., a Nantucket antiques dealer, commissioned Mr. Beckford to build the model for a client who was redecorating his home.
Through a friend and fellow modeler, Mr. Beckford was able to get Coast Guard plans which he had enlarged. The friend, who has forsaken model ships for model trains, also gave Mr. Beckford three boxes of ships' fittings for the lightship model.
In building the model's 2-foot-long hull, Mr. Beckford used what he called the bread and butter method, tracing the plans on 5/16-inch thick sheets of basswood to be glued together horizontally and shaped to form the hull. He also made railings, portholes, doors, anchors, a windlass, small boats et al.
"Research was the biggest problem," Mr. Beckford said. "The original drawings weren't that detailed."
He used tweezers, fine sandpaper and very small tools to complete the model, he said. He estimates the model took him three months of working nights and weekends -- 400 hours in all -- to complete.
By John H. Ackerman, Standard-Times correspondent
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