July 3: Antique Shop

I have lived in Newport Beach my whole life and there is one building I pass everyday when I go to work. I decided that I need to check this place out, it's called Vallejo Maritime Antique Gallery. I happened to walk in during closing time, I explained that I'm an intern at the Nautical Museum. They turned the lights back on and I was able to take a look around.

I have never seen so many model ships of different scales in one location and they all have a price tag. More importantly in the back (I mean way back in the corner) they had two prisoner of war ships for sale. The two ships had excellent craftsmanship and in excellent condition, just like the one we have on display HMS Kent. The two ships were for sale for $16k and $21k. That's a lot of money for bones! 

The shop owner told me that making these ships was common for prisoners (nothing better to do). One of my biggest questions about these bone ships is how do they give it color? Especially a bright blue and red. He explained to me that they used berries to give it some coloring. 

Overall, a very interesting experience to see these ships when I believed they were extremely rare.