Category Archives: John McGann

Models that John McGann has built.

Obelisk Barge of Queen Hatshepsuit

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This model was scratch-built by John McGann and he travelled to Egypt to bring back the pink granite.

Description of model

This model was scratch–built by John McGann. He produced the drawings from Bjorn Liandstrom’s book, Ships of the Pharaohs. The obelisks are pink granite from the  quarry in Aswan from which the original obelisks were fashioned. The model is constructed of sycamore just as the original barge was.

History of the ship

The barge was used to transport two 98-feet long granite obelisks from Aswan to Karnak. The ship is depicted on the wall of Hatshepsuit’s funerary temple, Deir El Bahri.

Scale: 1/8” 34” x 14” x 15

Royal Barge of Pharaoh Khufu

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The model was scratch-built by John McGann using western red cedar.

Description of the model

The model was scratch-built by John McGann using western red cedar. The case is a copy of a travelling case found by Howard Carter in the tomb of King Tut in 1922.

History of the ship

The Royal Barge was buried in a pit alongside the Great Pyramid in 1209BC. It was discovered in 1954 while clearing debris from the base of the Great Pyramid. The barge was disassembled into 1,200 pieces and reassembled. It took 17 years to do this. The boat is built of cedar and entirely sewn together. It’s 142 feet long and weighs 42 tons.

Scale: 1/8”=1” (1/96)

21” x 11” x 12”

Die Kogge von Bremen

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John McGann built this model from scratch using drawings produced by the shipwright responsible for recovering and restoring the sunken ship.

Description of the model

John McGann built this model from scratch using drawings produced by the shipwright responsible for recovering and restoring the sunken ship. He used apple wood. John  reproduced every piece that was recovered from the wreckage, but did not attempt to “add” pieces not found.

History of the ship

The Cog replaced Viking style vessels around 900 AD. They were used throughout Europe until the 1450’s. The Cog of Bremen was being built in Bremen Germany in 1380 when a flood swept it from the yard and into the River Wesser. She capsized and was lost until the dredging of the river in 1962. It is the only known Cog existing and is now preserved and displayed at the Maritime Museum at Bremerhaven, Germany.

Scale: 1-40

30” x 16” x 17”

Christopher Columbus

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John McGann’s scratch built model of the Christopher Columbus, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan. It sailed from Chicago during the 1903 World’s Fair. The model won a Silver at the Manitowac Show last month.

Period: 1883-1933
Scale: 3/32″ = 1′
Type of Model: scratch build from original plans
Build Time: 500 hrs.

Build Materials:
Scratch built from original plans of wood, styrene, and paper.

Ship’s Story:
The only passenger ship built to the whaleback design. Built at West Superior, Wisconsin in eighty one days. She served as an excursion liner on the Great Lakes from 1883 until 1933. Scrapped at Manitowoc, Wisconsin 1936. Length 363′ Beam 42′ Tonnage 1,511 tons. Carried more passengers than any other vessels on the Great Lakes.

Modeler’s Bio:
Retired construction supt. Model builder for 75 years

HMS Bounty

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This is the first John McCann ever built – 67 years ago.

John McGann built this model from a kit in 1944 when he was 16.
It was his first. Since then, John has lost count of the number of
models he has built, but it has been a continuous avocation for 67 years.

The Bounty was a collier purchased by the British Royal Navy and converted to an armed transport. It’s mission was to collect bread fruit seedlings in Tahiti and transport them to Jamaica to feed the slaves on the sugar plantations there. The crew mutinied and cast Captain Bligh and 18 loyal crew members adrift in a small launch. After an epic voyage of 3,618 miles, Bligh landed at Timor, while the Bounty sailed to Pitcairn Island with a partially native crew where their descendents live to this day.

Period: 1789
Model length: 24”, height: 22”
Scale: 1=48

Navis Lusoria – Roman Troop Ship

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John McGann is building this model of a Roman troop ship, Navis Lusoria, from scratch

Modeler’s Name: John R. McGann
Period: circa 300 AD
Scale: 3/8”=1”
Type of Model: Scratch built
Build Time: 200 hours so far

Build Materials:
The Model is entirely scratch built and under construction using beech wood to replicate oak. The photograph is of a full sized reproduction of a “Navis Lusoria” displayed in the Mainz Museum

Ship’s Story:
The Navis Lusoria (Dancing Ship) was a riverine troop ship that was used by the Roman Legions to patrol the Northern Border of the Empire. The Rhine, Moselle, Main, and Danube marked this Northern Boundary. In 1981 during the excavation for an extension of the Hilton Hotel at Mainz, Germany the remains of five of the vessels were discovered. The wrecks have been salvaged and are displayed at The Museum of Antique Shipping, Mainz.

Modeler’s Bio:
Retired commercial construction general superintendent. First ship model completed 1944