enlarge Doug Jones / Staff Photographer

Model building is a popular endeavor for many, but few go to the lengths of researching for accuracy as Paul Redlon of Gray, whose current project is an exact replica of the famous sidewheeler steamer "Mount Washington", in a 1/2 inch scale. The vessel plied the waters of New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee in the 1900's.

enlarge Doug Jones / Staff Photographer

Boat model builder, Thurl Allen of Gorham, rigs the foresails of his radio controlled Friendship sloop in his home workshop. Like many model builders he makes everything including inventive chain sprocket drives and radio controlled servo motors that tack the mainsail and head sails and a rudder that steers by radio control.

The retired construction engineer from Gray has built dozens of boats including a submarine and a reproduction of a World War II cargo ship. His most recent undertaking is replicating a 19th century steam-driven side-wheeler that ferried passengers across Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

The submarine passed its sea trials in Little Sebago Lake off the end of Redlon's lawn, diving to the sandy bottom and resurfacing. When the side-wheeler is complete, a steam engine that Redlon fabricated in his cellar will allow it to chug around the lake.

Redlon's prolific output as a boatbuilder owes something to the fact that his craft rarely exceed 5 feet in length. He is one of many amateur boatbuilders in Maine who work in miniature.

Model boatbuilding involves many of the same skills, attention to detail, and ingenuity required to build a full-size craft. Builders may spend hundreds and even thousands of hours to complete these boats that will never carry them to far-off shores. A small number of people do make a living at this highly specialized craft in Maine, with some selling their custom models for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But most people approach these projects as boatbuilding for its own sake, pure exercises in imagination and creativity.

"It's nothing but enjoyment," Redlon said of his hobby.

Thurl Allen, an 81-year-old retired television cameraman from Gorham, has built about 15 miniature boats, often spending up to a year on a single model. Like many accomplished builders, he creates his miniature boats from scratch, fabricating every piece of metal hardware and cutting each tapered plank.

The self-taught machinist said one of his more challenging projects was a 13-inch skiff he built containing two carved figures, one of which rows the boat with a pair of oars. Allen created the radio-controlled boat so that the figure can lean over and row with a single oar to turn the boat, a design that he said his brother, a machinist, doubted was possible. "I sat down in my cellar and I played with it till I got what I finally wanted," he said. "It will turn around just as nice as can be."

In the Portland area, about two dozen model boat enthusiasts make up the Greater Portland R/C Boat Club, which holds several yearly regattas and a weekly get-togethers at a pond in Scarborough. At the regattas, boats of various types compete just as they do on the open ocean. The toy tug boats hold a towing contest, the toy lobster boats try to outdo one another with speed, as do the toy sail boats.

"Everybody just shows up and plays with their boats," said Mike Fasulo, co-owner of Ray and Robin's Hobby Shop in Falmouth where the club is based.

The model boat club roster is entirely male and skews toward people near retirement age who have ample free time. Women are welcome to join the club, but so far none has been interested, Fasulo said.

Al Ross of Bangor assembles models professionally for the oldest ship modeling company in the United States, BlueJacket Shipcrafters Inc. of Searsport. He said his company's models, some of which contain more than 1,000 parts, tend to attract a certain type of customer.

"The demographic is white, male, 55 (years old)," he said.

Ross said some of these builders may find that small boats can help satisfy large dreams. "Maybe it's just a vicarious attempt at building the big one in their mind," he said.

There are other advantages to building small. If a storm blows in during a model boat regatta, for instance, no one has to scramble to reach a safe harbor.

"You just pick it up and put it back in the car," Fasulo said.

Staff Writer Seth Harkness can be contacted at 282-8225 or at:

sharkness@pressherald.com