Scale 1:32. A full hull plank on frame model of the 'Little Mystery' (1887), a cargo topsail schooner. Model is decked, fully equipped and rigged, with sails set. The hull has sheathed in copper and ‘Little Mystery Fowey’ is inscribed on the transom.

Built for John Stephens of Par by W. Date, Kingsbridge, Devon, ‘Little Mystery’ measured 84 feet in length by 32 feet in the beam with a tonnage of 114 gross. It was one of a fleet of schooners that regularly crossed the North Atlantic with a variety of cargoes, trading to and from Newfoundland for over 30 years. Many of the sailing merchantmen suffered heavy losses during the First World War including the ‘Little Mystery’, which was sunk by enemy gunfire off the Isle of Wight in June 1917. To give an idea of scale, the model is fitted with a number of crew on deck.