“My Dog Made Me Do It”- Paul Berglund and his Ships

by Joni Johnson

Paul with ship #2

Paul Berglund has been building model ships for a long time.  Each ship takes years to create. Born in Oregon but raised in California, Paul graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Industrial Engineering.  Those of you who know the field, know the exacting nature of that profession.  He spent many years in engineering but eventually moved to writing software for naval institutions, primarily working with submarines.

So how did Paul start building his ships?  It was serendipity.  In his own words, “ My dog made me do it.  My wife, Pat, saw a kit for a plastic model of one of Christopher Columbus’ ships.  She asked me to put it together for a display to promote library books about American history.  I did build it for her to display, and after that I decided that I wanted to try building a model out of wood.  I bought a hobbyist’s kit, but when I opened the kit, I decided that it was way too complicated for me to tackle and that I would return it to the store.  I put the wooden hull from the kit on the floor beside my chair.  My dog thought I was putting something down for him to play with, and he picked the hull up and carried it off, leaving doggie tooth marks on it.  That made it impossible to return for a refund, so I thought, “Oh well, I’ll try to build it.”  I sanded out the tooth marks and did build it successfully.  This was the white ship.  It was so much fun that I then wanted to build a bigger ship.”

He says he is normally not that patient or that neat. But he is detail oriented, and when he is working on a ship, he is all patience and meticulousness.  His workstation is spotless, and each item has its own place in a little plastic box.  Most of his work is done with hand tools, although he does have a 3.5 inch table saw.  He makes most of the pieces himself.

This canon is made with 13 separate pieces

His first ship, the white one, is a replica of a seventeenth century vessel.  He spent five years building the ship out of a solid block of wood.  Then, he took a hiatus of 11 years before he started work on the second ship. He started the ship while he was still in El Cerrito, California, and sent it partially built in a box for his move to Ashland where it lay dormant until he and his wife, Pat, moved to RVM 16 years ago.  He finally finished it here at the Manor.  It took almost 20 years to complete.

Paul’s second ship

He is currently working on a new ship that is one of the most intricately decorated ships of all time, made for King George II. The current in-progress ship is built on a scale of ¼-inch to a foot. He says this may be his last.  I was in awe when I saw what he accomplished and his willingness to persevere over the course of many years.  His workmanship is flawless.  The thing he loves most is the challenge and that people appreciate his work. I know you will too.  Please check out the video to hear some of the process.

Touch the picture for the video

If people are interested in seeing more about model ships, check out the following site: https://modelshipworld.com