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BaD Ship Models began about 11 years ago when Lou, also a model ship builder and collector,
began making his own molds for his own ships. Some of his friends wanted a
ship for themselves, so Lou, already having the materials to make a "quick" kit for them, put
together a kit for them to build.
More to the point, Lou had recently (at the time) built a gunship that cost $75 to buy - and
ended up costing over $500 before he had added all of the parts and components that were
missing. Then he was about to purchase another ship kit, the Missouri, and his wife stopped him
and said that he was skilled enough to do it all himself.
It was after he finished that one that his wife, her brother and Lou decided to start building
kits that others could buy - and those kits would have most of what was needed to finish the
model. The first kits were rough. In fact, Lou will tell you that those kits - the Knox, Brooke,
Garcia, and Glover Class Frigates - are his "Junk Kits" as Lou so eloquently puts it.
Those four are rough. There's a lot of shaping and fitting involved in building those 4.
But they were the first four that started BaD Ship Models. With the continued development of
other model ship kits, Lou has no time to go back and fiddle with those to get them more
polished.
Back to the ships, Lou Durso, whose friends call him Woody, makes his own molds for the parts for the
models. The craftsmanship of the Models that Lou has built
has been described by Captain Cummings (Executive Director of Battleship Cove in
Fall River, MA) and Debbie Collins (Previous Curator of Battleship Cove), as
"Museum Quality Models."
His goal for each kit is to make it so that there's as little
trimming required as possible for the builder. Which is one reason the Commander of the
NATO forces purchased
a model kit of his in 1996! That's also a reason why many professional model builders
prefer BaD Ship Models.
Certain professional model builders purchase BaD Ship Models for the "Main
Ship", but will purchase more detailed weapons or fittings as they deem
necessary.
He doesn't do it for the money. He truly loves to make new ships and pass along to
other model builders a less expensive means to creating similar models. The time that goes
into making the molds for the
molds, the molds themselves, rescaling the ship's dimensions, the prototype and the
instruction manuals is between 376 and 857 hours, depending on the detail of the ship.
And the prices for the ships are still as low as they are! No, he definitely doesn't do it
for the money: it's the pride of doing great work and being able pass it along to others.
That's what it's all about.
What it boils down to is a high level of quality and craftsmanship at a low price.
That's what BaD Ship Models is all about.
Lou and Mary delight in being able to donate some ships every year to different naval
institutions. In the picture above you can see them donating their USS Stark to Battleship Cove. Read the Bay Stater article about BaD Model Ships
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