Gallery 4

We invite you to browse our Gallery Pages to see examples of the Ship Modeler's Art. Please note that Steffke has been model-making for many years, but has rarely bothered to photograph his work, until recently. Some photos show models in different stages of construction, completion and finish. Further, many photos are of varying quality due to the age and capabilities of the camera at that time. Each model is described as to its intended quality, based on what was commissioned, style represented, price range and other client requirements. We have tried to include our most recent works as the first models shown, on the first page. Steffke's habit is to make his models in pairs, one for the commissioning client and another for future sale or display. Some of the better known and famous vessels may be available for immediate sale. Please contact him with your specific requests. Older works and those of a different nature, such as machinery or dioramas, are to be found in the last gallery.

rope motif

"Angeline"

Text coming soon about the "Angeline" and model

Top view of bow

More Text about Model

rope motif

"USS Michigan"

The Ship - USS "Michigan" Stackhouse and Tomlinson, Builders in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1843. She was the First Iron War Ship of the United States Navy. The USS "Michigan" has the distinction of being the first vessel built of iron for the U.S. Navy and was constructed as a response to a treaty agreement with Canada which limited one armed vessel to each nation, on the Great Lakes. Because the iron shipbuilding technology in America was still in its infancy, the "Michigan" was considered highly experimental and controversial when she was launched in the winter of 1843. Most of her was forged in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the plates taken to Erie by teams of oxen, for individual shaping and riveting. She would figure in many interesting incidents in Great Lake�s Lore; from daring rescues of damaged vessels during storms, to the capture of "King Strang" of Beaver Island, to the failed plot of Confederate capture during the Civil War. She would regularly "show the flag" all around the major cities of the lakes, to try and gain recruits for the Navy. The vessel was renamed "Wolverine" in 1905 and would continue to serve as a gunboat and training vessel on the Great Lakes through the 1920's. After blowing the cylinder head off one of her paddlewheel engines, the crippled ship limped back to the site of her launch and was allowed to rot away. She managed to survive the World War II scrap drives and even held the interest of President Franklin Roosevelt to be preserved as a monument. Despite these numerous efforts to save the historic vessel she was eventually scrapped in 1949 with only her paddlewheel eagle ornaments, and part of her bow with bowsprit and figurehead being saved by the City of Erie, her erstwhile homeport.