Discover the preservation of this monumental ship model
A Collections Chronicles Blog
By Martina Caruso, Director of Collections and Exhibitions
January 30, 2025
At long last, the builder model of RMS Queen Mary has been restored and installed in its specially-designed case for the Maritime City exhibition in the Museum’s newly-restored A.A. Thomson & Co. building.
In the past few days, fabricators at South Side Design & Building applied the finishing touches to the model’s new display case, and it is wonderful to see how the model has come together in its new home. Now that the model is fully restored and placed in a first-class display case, I am even more mesmerized by the sumptuousness of this object—from the shine of its propellers, to the detail of its mother of pearl windows and the fittings of the upper decks.
While witnessing the conservation treatment of each and every layer of the model and its base, I gained an entirely new sense of depth and appreciation for the art of ship modeling, and the many craftsmen who made this object almost 100 years ago. But what does it take to move, preserve, and display a centenarian, 22-foot-long ship model?
Cross-Country Voyages
This builder model was commissioned by Cunard White Star Line, Ltd. in the Summer of 1935. Model makers Bassett-Lowke, Ltd. took approximately three months to complete it, which was considered a record since models of this size and detail usually required at least six months. The data and plans necessary to build the Bassett-Lowke model had been supplied by draftsmen in the shipyard at Clydebank, Scotland, who were the builders of the actual liner.
Builder model of RMS Queen Mary being built and fitted in by model makers Bassett-Lowke, Ltd. Gift of Joanne and Ivor Wilde, 2025.001
The completed model was displayed for the British public at the Shipping Exhibition, a maritime trade show held at Olympia Hall in London in October 1935. Afterwards, it was shipped to New York on board the liner MV Britannic, to be the centerpiece of the Cunard Line offices at 25 Broadway. RMS Queen Mary made her maiden voyage to New York in May 1936, but the model arrived before the actual ship, so it would have caused quite a sensation.
Builder model of RMS Queen Mary inside the Cunard Line Building. South Street Seaport Museum Archives.
The model stayed on display in Cunard’s Broadway offices for over 30 years, before being donated to the Seaport Museum by the Line in 1970. Shortly after receiving the model, the Seaport Museum loaned the impressive piece to the Queen Mary Museum in Long Beach, California, to be included in their newly-formed attraction “Museum of the Sea.” In return, the Seaport Museum received a gift of teak wood and ladders from Queen Mary, which had been removed from the ship during her late-1960s conversion to a hotel and convention center. The pieces were intended to be used in the restoration of the Museum’s tall ship Wavertree.
The model was on board Queen Mary for 22 years, installed on the promenade deck, and documented as part of the many attractions on board the ship.
In 1992, the model returned to New York and it was loaned to the Seamen’s Church Institute for a long-term display in their 241 Water Street location until 2008.
Afterwards, for seven years, the model was back at the Seaport Museum, placed inside an ocean liner-themed gallery on the ground floor of 209 Water Street (today the Bowne & Co. Printing Offices). The length of the stately model—22 feet—allows it to fit in very few galleries of the Museum.
In 2015 and in 2021, the model made her last cross-country voyages for what would be its most recent outgoing loan, again on board the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The most recent move involved a larger team—and a variety of additional logistical plans—due to the fact that it happened during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and with the ship in Long Beach being partially closed. Additionally, back in New York, the safest and most secure location for the model was the A.A. Thomson & Co. warehouse—which at the time was under construction.
The 2021 return of the builder model to New York ended up being a really fortunate event.
The impressive size of the artifact to de-install became quickly apparent. This became especially clear when the crates arrived by the ship, in pieces, for the first time. There was total silence, followed by a collective sigh of relief when crates, and later the model, passed through the doors of the Queen Mary’s gallery to the outdoor deck for final securing and to be craned off the ship.
Art handlers from ACLA Fine Art Services de-installing and moving the model off The Queen Mary.
As it turns out, although the ship model can just squeeze through the actual ship’s various doors and passageways, the original case would have been too large to pass through any of these points of entry. However, before even getting to that, the California-based conservators, Irena Calinescu and Cara Varnell, first needed to test the stability of the model for its cross-country transport. Damage and serious deterioration occurred while the model was on view for the seven years. But, luckily, the dry run couldn’t have gone better: the conservators were relieved not only that the condition assessment they conducted through the glass panels of the display case was correct once the model was freed from its case, but also that the model overall was as stable as one could have dreamed. The model’s base and case didn’t have the same luck, and serious thought and updates needed to be made.
I was in Long Beach when all this happened, so I was afforded the special anxiety and pleasure of seeing the ship model appear out of its case for the first time.
Conservation Treatment
Back in New York, in order to fully understand what work needed to be done, the ship model underwent a new technical examination by the Museum’s object conservator Christina Krumrine and her two assistants Jessica Polk and Katie Leard. The three documented the model’s condition and took photographs.
Before any repair and retouching work could begin, the model’s surfaces were cleaned to remove the superficial dirt that had built up over time. This was followed by an initial phase of consolidation to re-adhere the worst areas of lifted paint and make sure that the paint layer was secure enough to withstand the work that would come later. This involved inserting a 5% solution of Aquazol 200:500 (1:1) in ethanol using small brushes under the lifted edges of the paint, before gently heating the edges with a spatula to lay them back down and let them dry overnight.
Many elements of the model had been originally attached to the ship deck with water-soluble animal glue. These include vents, handrails, and machine parts, some of which became detached during transport or during the cleaning of the model. Deformed white metal fences and tennis court nets were also gently manipulated by hand back into their original location. Loose fence supports were re-secured to the winch deck using original found hardware and new bent stainless steel pins.
Three detached lifeboats were surface-cleaned with a citrate cleaning solution, and the dents they left in the wood were filled with Flugger gesso. Loose and detached rudders were reattached and the three lifeboats were then secured to the model with old and new cotton thread that was knotted to the metal gravity davits.
The four descriptive plaques were removed from the previous base frame; then, the underside of the stern plaque and its surrounding wooden frame were cleaned.
A new felt covering for the base deck was prepared, starting with a paper template with two seams and holes, which was cut out to make another identical template of heat-activated Beva 371 adhesive film. The Beva film was then ironed onto one side of a new piece of light-blue acrylic felt. Strips of Beva film were secured to the perimeter of the base deck and circles of Beva film were attached to the wood surrounding the model’s feet. The two halves of the prepared felt pieces were then placed adhesive-side down on the wooden surface and irons were used to activate the adhesive and adhere the felt in place.
During the conservation, a big part of the job was the retouching process, which is one of the last and most visually important parts of the conservation process. Retouching involves painstakingly applying tiny amounts of reversible paint in order to visually suppress damages and abrasions, and allow visitors to fully appreciate the artist’s work.
Conservators were careful to only apply retouching paint to areas of the painting that were damaged or missing. This requires a high level of precision and dexterity —plus the use of very small brushes! Retouching is so that viewers can see and appreciate as much as possible of the original artist’s work, without being distracted by the damage that exists in surrounding areas.
Once the conservation was complete, the ship model was photographed, and additional photos were added to the Museum’s Collections Online Portal. The object looks fantastic online, where visitors can zoom in and out, see details and archival images, and study it alongside the other posted images and other artifacts tied to Queen Mary.
It was then time to see the model in its new case. As you may remember, because of the model condition back in California, the Museum commissioned the exhibition designers at Marvel to conceptualize and design a new case in the spirit of the previous case that meets modern museum standards additions for environmental and aesthetics reasons. Fabricators and designers at South Side Design & Building, together with lighting designers at Renfro Design Group, made it happen. The new case is able to, first and foremost, allow future conservation assessments in a much easier way, thanks to its glass openings on the case length, compared to the old one that allowed opening only on the two shorter sides. Additionally, the case was built to allow further appreciation of the ship model construction thanks to a top mirror allowing anyone, no matter their height, to enjoy its delicate construction and details.
When the time came, moving the model into the new case went off without a hitch. We began by taking the model off its temporary protection under the supervision of our conservator. Afterwards, art handlers from UOVO planned the sliding of the model inside its new case, similarly to how it had worked with the old case. The pulling and pushing was much easier and safer than back in Long Beach, and within four hours the installation was completed.
Since this project started in 2021—and maybe before then, when I arrived at the Seaport Museum nine years ago—I have thought a lot about how the Museum would add such a monumental ship model on display and present it. Would it be illuminating to see the model in the company of other ocean liner objects and ephemera? Would it be interesting to assess it with other ship models? Or perhaps in a display that deals with mirrors and reflections? The possibilities seemed endless. In the end, what has struck me the most is that this remarkable piece of history has been finally added on display back home in Lower Manhattan, where it was first sent by Cunard Line as an exemplary ship building project.
Ultimately, the most fitting way to introduce the model was to present it in a gallery devoted to maritime heritage, and allow viewers to assess it on their own terms in the context of an array of material culture and archival materials dedicated to navigation and safety at sea, to the history of cargo transportation, and all the operations of arriving into a port.
It is also wonderful to see the model in proximity to a large wall reproduction of a Fairchild Aerial Survey Inc. aerial photograph, which the Museum acquired in 2021. The photograph depicts RMS Queen Mary heading away from New York City with smoke coming out of her stacks in June of 1936, after her maiden voyage. Several additional vessels are visible in the harbor, together with the New York skyline at the time of her first arrival and departure.
Additional reading and resources
“New Cunard Building” The New York Times, May 1, 1921.
“Wonders of the Queen Mary”, Newnes Practical Mechanics, May 1936, pp. 455-456.
“The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-Builder”, June 1936.
“South Street Reporter”, July 1970.
“It’s Not Easy to Steer the Queen Mary, Even a Model of It”, The New York Times, January 21, 2015.
“The Queen Mary Hit Rough Waters. So Did Its Little Copy.” The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2020.