1. The Mercedes

This model was produced from a kit manufactured by the Pocher company formerly of Como, Italy. It is an exact replica of a special prototype vehicle assembled by Daimler-Benz in 1935. Only two of these cars were built. The only surviving vehicle is still in running order and is owned by an Italian businessman who gave the Pocher Company the opportunity to examine, measure and partly dismantle the vehicle in order to prepare the kit.

The model is protected by a display case made of walnut and plexiglass. The dimensions of the display case are 30 inches long, 13 inches high and 13 inches wide. According to the builder, it appears that the Mercedes model is something of a rarity that might be sought after by collectors. When he bought the kit, car-model professionals sold completed models for $3,500, but that was in 1980 and there appear to be collectors out there who migh be eager to add this model to their collection simply because of limited supply. The kit for this model is no longer available. The builder believes this model might bring $10,000 or more if advertised on EBay.

2. Danish Sailing Ship - DANMARK
Dimensions of display case: 43” long x 28” high x 15” wide. The model was constructed from a kit produced by Billing Boats company of Denmark.

The DANMARK is a steel-hulled three masted, full-rigged ship. It was built in 1933 at Nakskov Shipyard in Denmark. It is used to provide training for young men and women who have entered a program to qualify for a career in the merchant navy. The ship is capable of sailing all over the world and frequently participates in the Tall Ships Regattas that take place in Europe and the US. It is capable of carrying 26 sails amounting to a total of 1632 square meters.

3. The Golden Hind
Dimensions of the display case: 37” long x 32” high x 17 “ wide. The display case is made of walnut alder and plexiglass. This model was constructed using materials and plans included in a kit manufactured by the Aeropiccola Company of Turin, Italy. This model was built over a period of several years and probably has a couple of thousand hours of effort that went into the final product. (All reconstructions of the Golden Hind are based on a certain amount of conjecture since no accurate measurements of the actual vessel were made).

The Golden Hind was an English galleon that circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580 captained by Francis Drake. The ship was built to Drake’s specifications for a voyage that was ostensibly for the purpose of exploration but was actually intended, with Queen Elizabeth’s blessing, to raid Spanish ships and ports in various parts of the world. During the voyage the ship had to be repaired in various ways with the most extensive work being carried out at Drake’s Bay on the Point Reyes peninsula.

4. "Mud Wagon" Stagecoach
The plans for this model were acquired from Popular Science magazine around 1940 when the builder, Bob Biehler, was a junior in high school. It took 50 years for him to acquire the necessary skills to build this model.

This model represents the most common type of stage coach used on the west coast up until about 1910. The “luxury model’ Concord coaches depicted in Wells Fargo advertising were used on some routes, but few coach companies could afford the high cost of these premium vehicles. Less expensive, stripped-down coaches such as this one were much more common. They were referred to as “Mud Wagons” because of their utilitarian ruggedness and simplicity.

The North Coast Stage Line – From around 1880 – 1910 the North Coast State Line coach left Duncan’s Mill headed toward Point Arena 55 miles away. Stops included Fort Ross, Timber Cove, Plantation House, Fisk’s Mill and Gualala. The entire trip took over 12 ½ hours.

Born in 1927 in Summit, N.J. In the absence of television, video games, computers and similar prepackaged forms of entertainment, boys growing up in the 1930s had to find ways to amuse themselves. When not engaging in pick-up sports activities most of us tried model-building, and were able to choose from a wide variety of inexpensive kits of planes and ships. Craft skills were also encouraged when we reached junior high school and were able to take shop courses in wood and metal working. As a result of these influences, I acquired a habit of making things and asked for, and usually received, inexpensive power tools as Christmas and birthday presents. By the time I got to high school I had a modest workshop area in the basement and a bedroom filled with completed models and craft projects.

I graduated from high school in 1944 and spent the next three years in the Army, ending up in the Counter Intelligence Corps in Japan. After being discharged, the GI Bill made it possible for me to embark on an academic career that culminated in a PhD from the University of Minnesota and a position in the Psychology department at Chico State.

As soon as I rented an apartment in Chico, I wrote to my father and asked him to pack up my tools and send them to me. A few months later my kitchen contained more equipment for woodworking than for cooking. I set up a card table next to my desk in the living room and got back to work on a clipper ship model I had started before entering the Army. When I wasn’t preparing lecture notes or grading papers I turned to model building, and a bit later to wood carving, for relaxation. After getting married, my wife, Judy, and I did much of the interior finishing work in our home in Chico. That gave me an excuse to acquire a workshop full of sophisticated power tools.

I wasn’t able to find a satisfactory text for the Psychology course I was assigned to in the teaching credential program at Chico State so over a period of ten years I developed my own teaching materials. I converted these into the form of a text which, after three rejections, was eventually accepted by a publisher. It turned out to be quite successful and the publisher persuaded me to write another text for a course in developmental psychology. Both texts merited revisions and after a few years of working as an author while carrying a full teaching load I took early retirement from Chico State and concentrated on the books. By the time I decided to let others take care of future revisions around 1987, the first book was in its fifth edition, the second book in its third edition. Royalties from the books made it possible for us to have the shell of a second home built at the Sea Ranch in 1972. It took us ten years of week-end and vacation work sessions to complete the interior.

Retirement from the drudgery of text preparation made it possible for me to spend more time on craft activities. I completed several ship models, three of which were sold by a ship model gallery in San Francisco. I also tried my hand at designing and constructing furniture and completed four violins. At the present time my main interests are models of ships built on the Pacific Coast and replicas of stage coaches that were the chief form of ground transportation on California roads before the turn of the century.