A model builder in Nahant

NAHANT – Frank Clements lives within sight of the ocean, but he rarely ventures on the sea, preferring to celebrate it by building intricate ship models.?The last time I was really on a boat was when the Constitution went to Marblehead,” said the 85-year-old Nahant resident.Clements has built more than 45 detailed ship models and won more than 20 awards honoring his skill and attention to historical detail. The USS Constitution – “the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world,” according to the ship?s museum website – lies at the center of Clements? interesting in ship modeling. He has volunteered at the Charlestown museum for more than 30 years, spending three days a week answering questions asked by visitors from around the world. He is a charter member of the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild and enjoyed the honor of being aboard the ship when it sailed from Boston Harbor to Marblehead in 1997.Clements? detailed, pen-and-ink Constitution drawing is a centerpiece for past museum Christmas cards. His wife, Helen, said the tough winter has kept Clements from logging his typical, 15-hour week in Charlestown.?He hasn?t been in a couple of weeks. He loves it because he talks to people,” she said.Clements? models fill corners and occupy prominent spots in the Colby Way home he has lived in for 57 years. Frank and Helen Clements married 63 years ago and raised five boys and three girls in the little house. They have 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.The kids love the ship models, but Clements said he has no favorite among his replications. His re-creation of the USS Essex, an early American warship that defied, then defeated the British in the War of 1812, ranks high among his projects, and his USS Olympia model won “master gold” in model judging last year.His re-creation of the USS Massachusetts is one of Clements? largest models, measuring 42 inches. As with all of his projects, he extensively researched the ship?s history and – in the World War II battleship?s case – photographed the ship at its dockside home in Fall River.?It took about two years to build,” he said.It is the “Vasa” that Clements spends the most time talking about when he discusses modeling. The supership of its time when Sweden built it almost 400 years ago, the “Vasa” sailed barely a mile on its maiden voyage before sinking.Clements not only researched and built the ship in detail, he accepted an invitation to send his model to Sweden for display in an exhibit commemorating the “Vasa.” Clements built the large packing case the model traveled in and spent a week in Sweden with his wife viewing the “Vasa” models of the world” exhibit and traveling.He builds display cases for all of his models, and Helen Clements credits her husband with refinishing their kitchen with his carpentry skills. She said his advice to novice modelers is “take your time, enjoy yourself,” and she said Clements always signals to her when he is nearing the finish on a modeling project.?He says he knows his ships are done when he sees all the little men running around on the deck,” she said.