Ship Models and Half Models
The maritime collections at Mystic Seaport include more than a thousand full-rigged models, eight hundred ship builders half models, and seventy "models in bottles." Also included are forty shadowbox models and thirty tow tank models.
Follow this link to see and learn more about the collection, Highlights of the Full Model Collection
Many of the museum's attractive, three-dimensional wooden half-models hang in various exhibit spaces. They range in size from six inches to as much as twelve feet in length, and often appear to be simple nautical wall decorations. However, the models represent much more than that. Locked within their shapes is the history of American ship design as it developed during the past two hundred years. (from Mark Starr, Measuring Mystic Seaport's Half-Model Collection the Electronic Way, The Log of Mystic Seaport, Volume 48, No. 3, pp. 69-72).
When you visit Mystic Seaport, be sure to see the ship models in the Mallory Buildings, the Benjamin F. Packard Building, and Mystic Seaport's exhibit, "Voyages: Stories of America and the Sea," in the Stillman Building. All four exhibits are near the Clifford D. Mallory, Jr. Anchor Circle at the North end of Mystic Seaport.
If you have questions about the model collection, please contact the Collections Access Team at collections@mysticseaport.org.