1/32 Model Shipways Willie Bennett Skipjack - 2032

The skipjack was the last type of sailing vessel developed on Chesapeake Bay for commercial operation. Evolved during the 1880 s from various local types of flat and V-bottom skiffs and boats, the skipjack is still used today to harvest the Bay oyster. The Willie L. Bennett was built in 1899 at Inverness, Maryland. Her lines were recorded at Cambridge, Maryland by naval historian Howard Chapelle in 1942. Her whereabouts were unknown from 1942 until 1954, when she was discovered sunken in Harris Creek, Tilghman Island off Maryland's Eastern Shore. After she was raised and surveyed, it was determined that the damage was too expensive to repair. She was then returned to her resting place, where traces of her remains may still be found. Model Expo Willie L. Bennett kit is based on the craft discovered in 1954. You'll build your model the way the real Willie L. Bennett was built, following the plank-on-bulkhead techniques used on life-sized skip-jacks. To make building easy, we've supplied