The Harbor Master's Office

For almost 41 years I had a part time lobster business on the coast of Massachusetts just north of Boston. During that period I owned four lobster boats. My last boat was custom-built for me by General Marine in Biddeford, Maine.

In my travels looking at other boats and builders I spent several weeks in Nova Scotia. I took this photo of a Harbor Master's Office about 1979. I don't remember where. The picture was placed in a box of other waterfront photos until I discovered it again last October when I showed it to Hal Reynolds of Atlantic Scale Modelers .

He liked the photo, so I drew the "plans" on graph paper. The plans were really just a sketch showing the length and width. The size and proportions were determined by using a know window size, and by counting the rows of 5" by 5" cedar shingles on the building sides. This was the system we used very effectively when we built the Nantucket Railroad display for the Nantucket Historical Association at the Whaling Museum in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Hal took my sketches and laser-cut the office in O scale. He used the windows we created for the Nantucket structures. They were a bit large but looked good.

Hal sent me the first cutting for comment. The photo, with my hand in it, was the first trial run of the kit. Hal cut a second kit, built it, and put it on a waterfront display as seen in the next photo. I put a light in the Harbor Master's office as you can see in the close-up photo. I used printed nautical maps to decorate in interior walls.

Hal decided to go ahead and produce a kit of this structure. It's cut from Northeastern Scale basswood and has a footprint of 5.5” x 3.5” and is 5” tall. The shingles on the sides and roof are laser cut into the bass wood. The look real! All you have to do is paint them. The doors and windows are laser cut and have window glazing included. The chimney and life saving rings are included, and there's illustrated instructions.

Hal says he expects to have the kits ready to ship by early January 2010. The price is $79.95 plus postage - a bargain and a fine addition to your O scale waterfront!