This article is based on information contained in the PDF attachments.
The information relates to June/July 2026.
The text below serves merely as a reading guide and may be skipped.

THEME AND CRITERIA
The topic covered is that of the NAVAL MODELING COMPANIES

The inclusion criterion refers to the naval modeler, whether novice or experienced.
His needs and point of view were therefore taken into consideration.
For this reason, modeling companies have been identified that produce:
1) complete assembly kits;
2) plans and drawings for creating scale naval models;
3) materials and detail elements.
4) two or three topics above.
The assembly kit is a product that is mostly of interest to the novice modeler while the construction plans and raw material are mostly of interest to the experienced modeler. All with due middle ground and exceptions.
These firms have also been joined (at the request of forum participants) by niche firms that produce only some parts of the naval models, or very small companies.

Instead, two categories were excluded (which could be revisited with other separate treatments) because they met completely different criteria and needs:
1) ship modeling companies that produce already complete exhibition models;
2) companies that market other people's products but do not produce independently.
The first category was excluded because the modeler wants to build and therefore, as a rule, will not look for models already made. Typically, the customers of those who produce ready-made naval models are companies and associations that want to beautify their state rooms or wealthy people who like ships but have no intention, desire, or ability to create them.
This type of firm does not even satisfy that category of ship modelers who prefer restoration, since the models produced are new, almost perfect and do not require any restoration work.
The second category, however important, does not represent a characteristic or a peculiarity as it does not produce anything of its own. Furthermore, the list would expand dramatically, causing the focus to lose on real manufacturing companies and confusing the initial objective.

This list includes both companies that deal exclusively with boats and ships and those that also deal exclusively with boats and ships.



SUBDIVISION

The division was made by nation.
The order of nations is alphabetical or reverse alphabetical.
Within each nation, companies are randomly arranged, but those that only deal with plastic models are specified and placed together at the end. Even companies that produce only partial elements and not integer models have a specification in parentheses.


CONTENTS

For each nation, the characteristics and peculiarities of the national companies are summarized.
Please note, the characteristics do not refer to individual model makers but to modeling companies.

For each modeling company, it is explained whether it deals with complete kits, drawings and projects, materials and detailed elements, or the combinations of these targets, highlighting specific characteristics and objective characteristics.
It is immediately clear whether their products are made of wood or plastic and whether they are more oriented towards producing static models for exposure or dynamic RC models.
Furthermore, there is a reference to the scales adopted for their models.


DETAIL’

Some produce only upgrade components and not complete kits, but they are leaders in this area.
Some companies produce very small-scale models to build entire fleets.

Some companies were about to close their doors and were instead absorbed by others.

Many companies opened just a few years ago.

The China phenomenon is impressive. From pirated copies of mediocre or very poor quality, they have gone from being taken seriously into consideration in static plastic modeling with companies that have well-stocked catalogues and quality products.

It is interesting to note how many companies integrate what others do not produce. Overall, there is a very broad (if not complete) representation of the major ships of all eras.

It's also interesting to note how there are differences in construction procedures and materials; in short, there's something for everyone.


POINTS OF ANALYSIS

+Many naval modeling firms are concentrated in Europe, where many naval traditions, both merchant and military, coexist, as well as traditions specific to naval modeling.

Representing the new world (North and South America) are perhaps only the USA but with an important and quality presence.

In the East, the reality of naval modeling is mainly represented by Japan, China and South Korea.

Finally Oceania is represented by Australia and New Zealand which have some very interesting realities.

Logically, we repeat, we are not talking about individual model makers, spread more or less throughout the world even in nations that do not have naval model companies, but rather model companies.

We can make a first consideration, analyzing the macro areas: The Far Eastern world is more oriented, and also excels, in “plastic” modeling, mostly static (even if many models can be easily reconfigured as RC navigators).
There are also companies that process kits and design in wood but their strong point is definitely plastic.
In this plastics sector, Japan's historic dominance with renowned companies has been joined by the giants of China and Korea.
However, while Europe is quite “strong” in the entire modeling sector, the Far East does not have many companies capable of providing wooden kits for vintage sailing ships. We will be watching China's evolution in this field as well. So far it has had a bad reputation in the wood sector with a “grey” market made up of bad copies at very low prices but of very poor quality but it is changing rapidly.
There is much more variety in Europe and we can try to divide some areas.

The reference that will be made to the divisions by areas according to the linguistic strain is only functional and for convenience but does not mean that there is any connection.

It is clear that naval modeling companies in the Neo-Latin area (therefore Italy, France and Spain) are more oriented towards producing kits, materials and designs for static wooden models for display, especially sailing.
The tradition is strong in this regard and reflects the tastes of naval modelers in this area. This is not to say that models for RC navigation or easily adaptable to RC navigation are not produced but that there is a clear prevalence of assembly kits, materials and designs of antique wooden, sailing, models for static display.

The Germanic area (I am referring to the linguistic strains) in which I would include Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom has ship modeling companies more oriented towards dynamic RC ship modeling and there is no strict dependence on wood for RC models, in fact they do not disdain the use of other materials such as resins and plastics even in combination with wood. This trend seems to suit the tastes of modeling enthusiasts in this area.
Here too, a clarification must be made: this is a prevailing trend and not an exclusivity. If it were not for the United Kingdom's contribution, however, this propensity, thanks to Denmark and Germany, would be even more marked.
The Slavic linguistic strain represented by Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Poland has a preference for static model kits, thus approaching the Neo-Latin area in this trend.
Even with characteristics and peculiarities that everyone can grasp by reading the texts in detail, there is therefore this point in common.
Please note that, however, the preference for static display models in Ukraine is limited to plastic kits only, while in Poland it is limited to paper kits only. The latter is an original excellence (indeed unique from what I understand).
In fact, therefore, we can say that, despite differences in layout, materials, choice of models and scales, construction methods, the Neo-Latin area and the Slavic area, with the addition of the Netherlands (with the exception of the Germanic linguistic area) have naval modeling companies more oriented towards static exhibition modeling.


Over the years I have noticed that static naval modelers (especially in admiralty or arsenal), that is, those who like to build scale models, especially galleons and display vessels, love attention to detail but disdain dynamic activity.
There are certainly exceptions but as a rule it is difficult to find a modeler who built a Spanish galleon from the 17th century, an English vessel from the 19th century and the Vespucci, just to give an example and then builds dynamic models.
It is even more difficult to find a dynamic modeler accustomed to building warships from plastic kits or tugboats and fishing vessels from mixed-material kits, who tries his hand at building a 74-gun French vessel.
I have noticed that there is almost a mental separation, always with due exceptions.



+