A view of the showroom at BlueJacket Shipcrafters in Searsport.
SEARSPORT – One of my favourite places to stop along the coast is at BlueJacket Shipcrafters in Searsport. Their showroom is a candy-store for many of us who love models. It is incredible to look at these models and see how they are developed and built. A couple of years ago the rumour surfaced that owners Nic and Trisha Damuck had announced in Nic’s newsletter that the company was for sale. Some worried about who might come in and buy it and whether changes would be made that took away from the high-quality products they are producing. Well, we did not have to worry. On 17 October Nic sold the company to Ages of Sail from the West Coast and he made sure that the company was in good hands.
Nic said, “After almost 10 years of running BlueJacket, and getting into my mid-70s, I decided I wanted to stop working, 50 and 60 hours a week. I want to spend more time doing what I like, which is modeling. I put a notice in my newsletter that I was interested in selling BlueJacket and I got a couple of responses. One guy, we had a three hour zoom meeting, and as it turned out he lives in New Jersey and wanted to know if he could run this business from home. This would be absolutely impossible. In October/November (2022) I get a call from the man that owns Ages of Sail which is a brick-and-mortar hobby store in the San Francisco Bay Area with a huge website and he said he was interested. We started talking, and talking, and months go by and we are still talking. Finally, he and his wife came out to visit us and after that visit, he said ‘We’re going to do it so let’s get down to numbers.’ We went back and forth on numbers for about three months and finally on October 17 we signed the papers.”
The new owner was a plastic model builder, mostly airplanes, but he understands modelers, which was especially important to Nic. Once the papers were signed the new owner added three other manufacturers’ model kits and another company’s modeling tools from England. Nic added, “Those are the big changes so far, but there are going to be more. He is interested in promoting BlueJacket models over in Europe. He has connections both incoming and outgoing that I never had real good access to and that is good for the growth of this business.”
Over the last several decades there have been a lot of changes in the technological world and some of these have influenced how model kits are made. Most of the early model kits were roughly carved hulls, an assortment of wood, blocks and dowels, and a set of plans. First, photo etched metal pieces were added, then lasers were used to replace the bandsaw, and now they have cast resin parts. Remember, when the baby boomers were growing up, they put together plastic models and today’s wooden models, which were difficult to build back in the day, are now more like building a plastic model. The kits still have a rough hull, but the parts and pieces in the kit are very refined, as are the highly detailed plans. Yes, there is still some cutting, shaping, and painting and you still have to have patience to create a fine finish model.
BlueJackets has about 75 different model kits available. Some are for the beginner, a number for the hobbyist, and others for the expert builders. Now most will build the kit as offered with what is supplied in the kit. Others will create a few of their own parts and pieces making the model more precise. The experts are on a whole different level. They will research the model they are building to find out all about her design, construction, and history. Just read through a good modelling magazine and see the detail they are looking for. I remember talking with a modeler who discovered that the plans for the Arctic vessel ROOSEVELT, built on Verona Island, Maine for Robert Peary in 1905, were different than the boat when finished. Her stern had been dramatically changed because she was to be frozen in the ice and they wanted her to rise as the ice pushed on her sides.
Then Nic schooled me on ‘museum quality.’ I was led to believe that it came down to the level of detail, which in this case would be extreme. Nic said, “There is a real misnomer ‘museum quality.’ It does not have anything to do with perfection. Museum quality is a specific set of rules for model making and it covers adhesives, paints, and level of detail at certain scales. For example, at quarter inch to the foot scale, a ‘museum quality’ model shows everything 6 inches or larger. It is based on longevity too. They do not allow CA glues. They do not allow acrylic paint. That is the definition of museum quality.”
In the 10 years that Nic owned the company they have added 15 kits. When asked which was his favourite, Nic said, “Well, the one that I like the best, is not the best seller. It is the CHARLES W. MORGAN cross-section. I mean it is an exact miniaturization, right down to the number of rivets on the copper plates on her hull.”
The models they have built under his reign are: USS KEARSARGE, CSS ALABAMA, picnic and lobster boat half-hull for dummies, one-design Atlantic half-hull for dummies, J-24, revenue cutter, CHARLES W. MORGAN cross-section, the miniature America’s Cup J-boats ENDEAVOUR and RAINBOW, the sardine carrier PAULINE, the ironclad CAIRO, PERRY, the six-master WYOMING, the battleship OREGON, ELLIE MARA and the yacht AMERICA half-hull. Al Ross, the developer of the model kits for BlueJackets, is presently working on a new kit, the 82-foot Coast Guard Point class patrol boat. This kit will be followed by a re-issue of a model produced back more than 50 years ago, the nuclear-powered SAVANNAH.
BlueJacket has a fine reputation in the modelling world. The company was started by Horace Boucher, who made model ships for the U. S. Navy, back in 1905. He realized that what he was doing for the Navy, creating a carved hull with castings, assorted pieces of wood and plans, could easily be marketed to the general public as model kits. As the company grew it became Boucher & Lewis, who Nic thought was Horace’s son-in-law. It later became Boucher Playthings, which added miniature steam engines, pond yachts and all kinds of other items. In the early 1970s the Boucher family sold the company, with the stipulation that the new owner change the name. Art Montgomery of Norwalk, Connecticut purchased the company and changed the name to BlueJacket Shipcrafters and moved it to South Norwalk. It was then purchased by Fred Nichols and Rick Holt in 1982. They moved the company to Shelton, Connecticut and then to Stockton Springs. At Stockton Springs Rick Holt was operating out of the old schoolhouse where he lived. Fred Nichols had a store in Castine, where he showed the models kits. They continued selling the kits but added ice creepers and yard furniture. They then sold it to Bob Hammer and Sue Crowe in 1992, but they were only interested in the model kits. They stayed in the schoolhouse for a few years and then purchased the company’s present home at 165 East Main Street in Searsport. This building housed an ice cream store, tattoo parlor, gift shop and a bar. BlueJacket moved into the front and the bar remained in the back for several years. They also purchased the Laughing Whale, which was another model company operating in Wiscasset in the mid-1990s. The company was sold again in 2000 to Jeff and Suzie Marger. They owned it for 13 years and sold it to Nic and Trisha.
With the sale, Nic is staying on and hopes to go down to about 10 hours per week. Josh Ramsey, who has been casting parts for the company for 25 years, has become the General Manager. Nic is going to help Josh as needed, staff the help line and do repair and custom model work. He also said that he will continue doing his once-a-year week-long rigging class in mid-spring. Presently, he is working on HARRIET LANE for a customer, the tri-works of the CHARLES W. MORGAN kit and building a plastic model of the SANTA MARIA, which will be shown at a Scarborough show in April.
Nic explained, “It was a lot of fun. It is my passion.” When asked would he do it again, he said, “In a heartbeat.”
