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From 1720
to 1920 nearly 60,000 whaleboats were consumed by the American
whaling industry. With a useful life of no more than three
years, whaleboats were discarded on the spot throughout the
coastal U.S. and around the world. Remarkably, only a dozen or
two have survived to become part of today's museum collections.
In 1916,
the Dartmouth Historical Society commissioned the building of a
half sized model of the bark LAGODA. Local whaleboat
builder Joshua Delano was retained to build the seven half-sized
model whaleboats needed for the project. Delano built these
models according to the design of the full-sized boats he had
built for the whaling industry for more than forty years.
Whaling
historian Erik A.R. Ronnberg, Jr. made a thorough study of
Delanos half-sized boats in order to produce this kit of a
uniquely American working craft.
You'll
follow the original plank-on-frame method of construction in
building your Model Shipways kit. Hull planks, oar and paddle
blades, tubs, casks and rudder are accurately laser cut
basswood. Authentic scale whaling gear gives this kit remarkable
detail. Photo-etched copper fittings include harpoon, lance and
cutting spade heads, knife blades, oarlocks and mast hinge
hardware.
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