Larry Pulka is one of only about a dozen craftsmen in the world who build model ships exclusively from exotic woods. Pulka uses a variety of tropical woods such as ebony, African mahogany and jatoba, as well as domestic woods, like cypress, apple, and butternut to create the intricately detailed ships on display in Down to the Sea in Ships: The Models of Larry Pulka, an exhibition on display now through March 23, 2008.

Each ship is crafted using the natural colors of the woods instead of paint or stain. Pulka uses the wood like an artist uses the paint of a palette. A creamy-white color is old American holly, or bloodwood is used for reds, and English yew for orange. Careful preparation and planning occurs before Pulka picks up a saw or a knife. He researches the original ships and utilizes blueprints when available in order to make each ship as realistic as possible. Each ship is built in what is known as dockyard style or admiralty class style, which involves construction just as the original full size ship was built.

A centerpiece of the exhibit features a ship Pulka has designated simply “The Frigate.” Frigates were a common warship used by the Americans to fight the British during the Revolutionary War. Details of the ship include a figurehead whose body is made of Loatian boxwood, a sword blade of holly, and the hilt and handle of ebony. The figure is done in 1/4 scale and stands approximately 1 3/8ths inches high.

The Frigate's lower planking is made from holly. The dark planking, in the center of the model, is ebony and the light yellow planking is pau amerilo. The detail is so exacting that Pulka creates actual tiny nails made from lignum vitae which hold the planking on the frames of the model, just as they did on the original full size ship. “The Frigate” has won numerous awards in the last few years and has been featured on FOX 8 News and was on the cover of the international magazine, World of Wood, in August 2001.

Another ship in the exhibition is the famed U.S.S. Constitution,  the U.S. Navy’s “Old Ironsides,” the oldest working war ship in the world. Originally built in 1797 to fight the British, it holds the distinction of being in over forty battles and never losing one of them. It is still a commissioned Naval vessel docked in Boston.

Like the original Master shipbuilders of history, Pulka prides himself on paying attention to details like the Constitution’s double wheel. It wheel consists of ninty-one pieces of wood.  Each piece is hand-carved and is about the size of a U.S. quarter (approximately 23m.m). The woods used in making the ship's wheel are Laotian boxwood, (used on the wheels themselves, spokes, and nails on the wheels), pink ivory and ebony (used on the sides and base of the ships wheel), and Honduras rosewood (used on the center spindle). As in all his work, the wheel on this model actually turns the rudder of the model with the same mechanism as was used in the original ship.