Mastering the medium
Noted model ship builder from Ocala will speak in Dunnellon on March 7.
Vic Lehner of Ocala shows a blueprint of part of the French Navy ship, Le Gros Ventre. [Photo by Margo Wilson]
Like some novelists, historians, filmmakers and composers, Vic Lehner, 83, of Ocala can take three to four years to create his art.
His to-scale models of such historic ships as the HMS Bounty, Le Gros Ventre and Cutty Sark are considered museum quality because of their detail, historical accuracy, materials and success in staying true to scale. When for sale, they can command prices in the five-figure range.
Lehner will bring some of his model ships to the Rainbow Springs Art in Dunnellon gallery on March 7, when he speaks at noon on “Model Shipbuilding: Art for Those Who Love a Challenge.”
French Navy ship that was ordered in 1766.
[Photo by Margo Wilson]
At the same time, the gallery is sponsoring a “Wonders of Wood” exhibit that also opens March 7 and runs through April 3. Area wood artists are invited to participate in the show by dropping off wood pieces at the gallery from March 4-6. Applications are at the gallery and on its website. The entry fee is $20 for one piece or $30 for two. A $150 People’s Choice Award will be given.
Lehner is an old salt at building model ships, although he’s not a sailor but a former MP in the U.S. Army. He grew up in Chicago and had experience with model trains and planes. Then, one day, he visited the Chicago Maritime Museum, saw some model ships and told himself, “I can do that.”
He was hooked. He started out with a simple kit model and his skills and interests evolved from there. Today, he says his specialty is 18th century ship models and he builds ships from scratch with some modifications. For example, he doesn’t build the rigging’s pulley system, nor does he turn brass. He buys the rigging, although he blackens it himself.
He explained that a ship’s standing rigging supports such things as the mast and is tarred to protect it from the weather. Other rigging, the running rigging, raises and lowers the yardarm and sails and is left natural so the rope can move smoothly.
To get started building a model from scratch, Lehner researches the original ship, trying to locate blueprints. For the ship he’s building now, the Royal Yacht Caroline from 1749, he couldn’t find a cutaway image, showing the interior of the ship. So, he’s free to use his imagination, as well as his research, to design the ship’s innards. He’s building the ship from boxwood, pear, ebony and probably ash wood. It will be about 55-to-56 inches long when finished. It will include cannons, water barrels and its own service boats.
Lehner has built model ships since his youth, but as an adult, he also started crafting wooden jewelry and other boxes. He uses a technique in which the inset wood that makes patterns is not just inlaid but extends the full depth of the surrounding wood.
War ship, built in 1778-’79 and captured by the British in
1782. Vic Lehner of Ocala built this model. [Photo by Margo Wilson]
Before he retired, Lehner oversaw the Southeast food service territory for the W.K. Kellogg Co., a region that included Georgia, Florida and as far west as Texas. Lehner’s team sold Kellogg’s products to everything from submarines to prisons to school districts. And during this time, he started creating his intricate boxes.
One year, an acquaintance bought many of Lehner’s boxes as Christmas gifts for customers and Lehner decided that when he retired, he’d sell the boxes at art shows.
He said Florida hosts many of the nation’s art shows, so he and his late wife, Mary, decided to move here and join the art show circuit. From 2000 to 2005, they exhibited their work until one dark morning, as the Lehners set up their tent in Jupiter while it drizzled, Vic said to Mary, “This isn’t fun anymore.” And she agreed.
wooden boxes. [Photo by Margo Wilson]
Today, Lehner exhibits his boxes at the Raiford Gallery in Roswell, Ga. He said he’s built more than 500 boxes.
And he continues working on his ships. He also is a hospice volunteer
For those who might be interested in pursuing model shipbuilding, he recommends starting with a small and easy project from a kit.
“Start with something simple, and that you really like,” he said.
It’s important to like the project because, even though it’s built from a kit, it may take up to a year to complete, he said. If a model ship is built from scratch, the project can take three-to-four years, with an additional six months or more for research.
Why does Lehner find it worthwhile to put in all this time?
“It’s the most challenging thing I can think of doing,” he said. “It keeps off Alzheimer’s. It gives me a purpose. It’s a reason to get up in the morning. And I get exercise doing it.”
Rainbow Springs Art in Dunnellon gallery is at 20826 Walnut St. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays and Mondays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
To learn more, visit rainbowspringsart.com or call (352) 763-4048.
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