About Ted Stinson
Wiscasset, Maine -- For more than 25 years, Ted Stinson led Northeast Model Products, a family owned business, and proudly manufactured model train kits, plane kits, and model boat kits made from Maine lumber when many businesses have switched to plastic. The authentic design and superior lumber and craftsmanship are the reason why so many families invest in Stinson’s designs.
He says, "When choosing to design and manufacture my kits, I choose subject matter that interests me as a long-time builder and what I think will interest other builders like me."
The authentic design and superior lumber and craftsmanship are the reason why so many families invest in Stinson’s kits.
Stinson began building models at the age of 3-years-old.
"I started building when I was three. Of course, I didn't finish my first model until I was 5-years-old. It was a model airplane of an Apache, also known as a Mustang," said Stinson.
His interest in models drove his passion to learn. Stinson basically learned to read because of his young passion for models -- He had to learn to read so that he could follow instructions.
A neighbor observed that Stinson was building model airplanes. The neighbor, an engineer, came by with plans to an oil rig. He had inquired professional builders about building the rig model and they wanted thousands of dollars. Stinson said he would do it for less. At the age of 12-years-old, Stinson built a working model of an oil rig. He used pumps from a fish tank to act as ballast pumps that raised and lowered the rig, like the real thing.
As the Lincoln County News reported, this passion would later turn into a vocation. Stinson became an educator and a draftsman. Over the years he continued to design and build his own models. His first commercial model boat kit, for a radio controlled model sailboat, was introduced in 1972 while Stinson was teaching in Connecticut.
After many years as an educator, Stinson decided to follow his life-long passion exclusively, opening a small arts and crafts business in Wiscasset, Maine. The business, The Laughing Whale, was an art gallery and small Maine-based ship model kit manufacturer that specialized in local small craft and historic ships with a New England connection. All of the boat kits utilized traditional boat building techniques such as plank on frame or plank on bulkhead construction.
"The original Laughing Whale was meant to be an art gallery, but as we son learned it sold model kits hand over fist," he said.
As the business expanded, Stinson opened two store fronts, one in Wiscasset and a second in Bath, Maine. Stinson also produced several designs for Midwest Model Products under the Laughing Whale trade name. In the interest of making his boats more accessible to the average builder, Stinson sold the Laughing Whale in 1992 and turned his attention to Northeast Model Products.
Ted Stinson has had been cultivating Northeast Model Products since 1981. NMP featured simpler and more modern designs for model boat kits, as well as trains, cars and airplanes. Today, NORTHEAST MODEL PRODUCTS INC. manufactures over one hundred different kits which are offered to the public under the following trade names:
The kits include all the necessary parts, stainless & brass wire, cast fittings, full size plans and simple instructions. Complete listings of all kits under each of the trade names is available from NORTHEAST MODEL PRODUCTS INC. which can be accessed by mail, phone, fax, and e-mail.
