You need materials for constructing model ships and boats. The most common materials that are used for ship and boat model building are wood, plastic,metal, and paper.

Two pieces of solid wood with a vertical seam or slabs of wood placed on top of each other are used for construction of wooden model ships. When plastic is used, they are ordinarily of two types. The first is the injected styrene and the second is the cast resin model. Fiberglass is also used for hull shells. Metal models are constructed using cast lead or such other alloys. For hull construction however, tin, aluminum, brass and steel are not used ordinarily. When you use paper, it is normally the preprinted papers or a set of papers used as a kit for such model constructions. The common trend is to construct these models in the 1/700 or 1/720 scales.

Gradually with the increased use of plastic in all spheres of life, the plastic models became more popular. The injection molded polystyrene plastic model ships became extremely popular. These models contained preformed plastic part that could be bonded together with plastic cement and are simple to construct. In comparison the wooden models require more efforts and more labor driven. The prices of plastic kits and their making costs are also comparatively much less than their wooden counterparts.