How Do You Know the Model of a Boat

Final installment!

Have y'all ever watched the show Pawn Stars on the History Channel? In this show, clients bring their treasures to the Aureate & Silvery Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. The viewers so learn about the history of the particular brought in and, ultimately, how much the item is worth. Most of the time, the owner hears that their treasure is not worth every bit much as they thought. Every once in a blue moon, though, some lucky possessor discovers that their item is really worth more than what they had estimated -- occasionally far more. But these instances are rare.

Such is the case with model ships. There are lots of model ships out in that location in the world, only only a relative few of them are worth some serious scratch. A large number are essentially worthless, at least in monetary terms. In this episode, nosotros'll expect further into the question of what makes a model valuable.

Let'due south suppose you take a model and that you took my advice in my previous mail to have a hard look at it. Yous've decided that your model looks similar a real scale model and non a slice of mass-produced decor or a Lego pirate ship. You tin can easily envision Russell Crowe at the captain. Now you're hoping that since it's a real scale model, it must surely accept value.

Not so fast! There are models, and so there are models that people actually want and will pay expert money for. To illustrate this point, I'm going to show you ii real scale models. Ane is worth some money, and the other, sadly, is not.

First accept a look at this model. Information technology'south a model of a real ship, the English revenue cutter Sherbourne, built in 1763 (the real send, that is -- not the model).

At present, y'all're probably thinking, "Hey, that's a nice model. I can see why it's worth something."

Except this is the cheap model. If you or I were to take my model -- I mean, ahem, this model -- to a gallery thinking we've got a treasure, we'd be headed for disappointment. To you, this model might look great, just to the not bad center of a discriminating collector or knowledgeable gallery owner, it's got some problems. First, information technology'southward made from a kit. You, the novice, probably couldn't tell that by looking at information technology, just savvy modelers, collectors, and gallery owners know. Because it's built from a kit, that means it'south not unique -- there'south dozens of Sherbournes out there. Likewise being made from a kit, it's fabricated by a modeler with middling talent. Again, you might think the model is done very nicely, but experts will encounter correct away those aspects of the model that were not built true to the original and the techniques that were used to make the model easier to build at the expense of scale fidelity. All of these things are knocks against the monetary value of the model.

But at that place'southward an fifty-fifty worse matter well-nigh this model: it's simply not what about buyers want.

There are exceptions, of course, but the really pricey models out there, the ones that collectors are willing to shell out several k dollars for, more often than not have three things: 1) lots of guns, 2) lots of rigging (sails and cordage), and 3) lots of fancy decoration. Oh, and did I mention lots of guns? My model -- I mean, ahem, the previous model -- has none of these things. It has few guns, little rigging, and essentially no ornamentation. What should a seller await  someone to pay for a model like this? If the seller is lucky (really lucky) and can find an actual buyer for the model, he might be able to squeeze a couple hundred dollars out of information technology, barely enough to cover the cost of the kit and certainly non plenty to make modeling a lucrative or even assisting enterprise.

Guns, rigging, fancy stuff. That's what collectors want. Something like this model of HMS Thunderer:

Why is this model worth some dough? Consider the following: 1) It'southward got lots of guns (well, at least the ports for guns), lots of rigging, and lots of fancy ornament. 2) It's scratch congenital, non from a kit. That means it's a unique piece of art, not one of dozens of built-up kits. 3) It'due south congenital to a high standard of workmanship. Someone who builds models similar this has spent a lot of time honing their skills.

Model ships are similar most any other commodity. The prices they fetch are based on ii factors, need and availability. Well-heeled collectors demand fancy models congenital to high standards. The number of builders who can build that kind of model is low, and information technology takes a lot of time to build such models, so the builder's output is low as well. For a model similar Thunderer, it's a instance of loftier need (considering everyone would similar to have a model like Thunderer) + depression availability = high prices. For a model like Sherbourne the equation is low demand + high availability = low prices.

And so, that basically it in a nutshell. Similar the folks hoping to strike information technology rich at the pawn store, near model ship owners are going to experience a letdown when they hear what their 'treasure' is worth. Simply cheer up - that unwanted model volition still look skillful on your mantel, which can't be said for a Trabant.

Cheers!

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Source: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/13573-new-and-need-help-to-identify-a-mystery-model-read-here-first/

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