This highly detailed, superbly illustrated manual introduces serious model builders to the hand crafting of ship models from the bottom up, exactly as real ships were traditionally built in shipyards. Clearly, and with painstaking care, every step of construction is explained, from laying the keel to the last details of masting and rigging.

For this book, the author chose as a model the 16 gun United States Brig Lexington, a merchant vessel converted to military use in 1775, and a veteran of two years of active service in the revolution. To ensure complete accuracy and to alert readers to possible problems and pitfalls along the way, the author, a naval architect and master model builder, constructed the model as he wrote the book.

Photographs illustrate the day-to-day work in progress, so that ship model builders can check their work against Davis' own replica. In addition, over 100 drawings show in detail correct implementation of the more complex instructions. In his introduction, Charles Davis chronicles the exciting career of the Lexington, and the role it played in America's fight for freedom.

A classic in its field, The Built-Up Ship Model is not a book for beginners; rather, it is an expert guide aimed at model builders with experience, patience, and a passion for building "the real thing." The reward: an heirloom-quality ship model as beautiful as it is authentic in every detail.