# Philip Warren

Philip Warren (born 1930 or 1931) is an English ship model maker best known for building a matchstick Maritime Fleet. His collection includes models of over 500 vessels and 1,000 aircraft, as well as of all the Royal Navy ships since 1945.

## Life and work

Philip Warren was born in Dorset, England, and was a director of a stationery wholesale company before his retirement. He started building models of naval boats at the age of 17 due to a fascination with ships. Like many children of his era, his interest in warships came about due to going through childhood during World War 2.
When he first began model making, he used balsa wood to make models. He switched to matchsticks because he found that material more suitable for static waterline warship models, and because matches were common. His models are hand-built and are made in 1/300th of the scale, using only a few building materials, including matchboxes, matchsticks, a razor blade, and glue. Completing his models requires him looking at photographs, drawings, and plans of real ships. His largest model is 1m (3ft) long.
When Warren began matchstick model making, matchboxes were easy to get a hold of, but in recent years, he has relied on donations to keep up with his work. He has continued model making into his 90s.

## Models

Philip Warren's earliest model was the Royal Navy's HMS Scorpion, which was less detailed compared to later models. Following its completion, he built a different destroyer, a battleship, a cruiser, and later an aircraft carrier. As the years passed, his attention to detail and accuracy improved, making models with many moving parts, including missile launchers, radars, gun turrets, swing wings, and helicopter rotors. His collection of models includes 500 vessels and 1000 aircraft from the very last World War 2 battleships to nuclear-powered submarines and modern aircraft carriers.
In his over 70 years of model making, he built one or more of each class of Royal Navy ships from 1945 to the present day, including 7 Leander class frigates. In addition, he has also built Commonwealth ships. Also, Warren has constructed 60 US ships so far, including four giant supercarriers, two battleships, and various cruisers, demonstrating the evolution of vessels that contained guns to those with missiles. Additionally, he built around 50 ships from various Navies of other nations.
His aircraft models span from older aircraft, such as the Swordfish, to modern supersonic jets. Warren's model of the HMS Queen Elizabeth was completed before the original.
It can take Warren over a year to finish a model. He very rarely gets rid of models and has never made money from his hobby, despite being told by numerous museum curators that his models have considerable value. His models have not been built in historical sequence but preserved so well that it's difficult to tell which models are older. Warren’s ships take him approximately 1,500 matches to build. Adam Aspinall from The Mirror states, “Each vessel is correct to the tiniest detail.” In 1989, Philip gave the United Kingdom's Prince Andrew a model of the frigate Campbeltown. Trend Hunter named Warren the “Hobby King of Hobbydom” due to having built models of all of Britain's warships since the end of the Second World War.

## Exhibits and Recognition

Various museums and charities have displayed Philip Warren's work, including the Fleet Air Arm Museum and Nothe Fort. The Duke of Gloucester honored him with a glass trophy for his service to the Northe Fort community for his yearly display of his matchstick fleet.

## Personal life

Philip Warren was married to his wife Anita for 47 years until her death.