Model Wood Shipwright shares his hobby
Joe Caligiuri's model shipwright skills on display
During the 25th Anniversary of Penn Central Mall, I noticed these extremely well done model ships on display. Maybe they caught my eye because of my past interest in similar things, but more than likely it was just how well done they were that ultimately got my attention.
Later on during the day, I was lucky enough to have meet the maker of those ships, Joe Caligiuri.
Curious about them I asked Joe what got him interested in that type of model building. “I have always been interested in ships from the 16-18th century. What interested me the most I guess it how these were built. I’ve been to Chatham dockyard museum in the United Kingdom. At the museum you can see how these type of ships were built. It was amazing how they would select certain types of tress to be used for different sections of the ship.”
“The HMS Endeavor was originally a merchant collier named Earl of Pembroke, launched in June 1764 from the coal and whaling port of Whitby in North Yorkshire.”
Once you see these models for yourself, naturally one of the first questions anyone is going to ask, how long does it take to build? “I used to scratch build these ships but now I purchase the kits. I just save time in purchasing the wood and other parts individually. The kits have almost everything you need. You have to make the wooden parts from the woods provided. Also you have to bend the wood by the use of steam. The woods in these kits are Walnut, African walnut, mahogany, cheery, and basswood. The canons are brass. Other metals used are Britannia and brass. The rigging is rope like and come in different sizes. Chains are brass. On the back side of the Bounty the windows and all the brass trim was all made. All wood parts on the ship where made from strips of wood. Rigging was cut to length and most of the knots are done as if this was a real ship, All the mass are movable by pulling on the rigging as you would on a real ship.”
Caligiuri told me that the ships are for sale and would look great in an office, restaurant or even a home. But if you have a special request, Caligiuri informed me “I can do recreation but it takes a lot of time and research depending on the ship. I also can restore old wooden ships.”
Caligiuri also enjoys gardening, trains and repairing old clocks. He and his wife Ellize and daughter Melissa moved here in 1995, and their son Brandon was born here in Oskaloosa. Employment opportunities brought them to Oskaloosa from Florida.
If you would like to see his work, the 2 ships will be on display until November 21st in front of Wood n’ Stuff in Penn Central Mall.
