A model of patriotism on a grand scale Sunday, May 27, 2007 • BY MIKE FRASSINELLI • Star-Ledger Staff There was a scene in the classic heavy metal spoof documentary "This is Spinal Tap" in which band members ordered what they expected to be an 18-foot Stonehenge replica for their stage, but instead got an 18-inch version nearly trampled by dancing elves. Viewers of one part of the annual Memorial Day ceremony in Phillipsburg could relate. In Warren County's biggest town, a moving commemoration would be held in which a small plane flew low and dropped a memorial wreath near the Phillipsburg Free Bridge before residents who stood solemnly in Phillipsburg and neighboring Easton, Pa. But then there was always that one part where viewers strained their eyes to see a 3-foot model boat that, in the vastness of the Delaware, looked like something out of Lilliput. "It needed to be improved," said Ray Rush. Event organizers asked retired Phillipsburg High teacher Rush and two current Phillipsburg industrial technology teachers, who also specialize in building scale models, if they could make them something more substantial for the Memorial Day events. Spending close to 900 hours of work in Rush's Pennsylvania barn, the trio of educators built a 12-foot-long model of the famed USS New Jersey battleship that they will break out tomorrow. It was in November 2005 that teacher Bill Noble got the e-mail from Bill Nixon, assistant principal at Phillipsburg High, asking him to report to the office. Nixon is an advocate for local veterans, organizing trips for fellow veterans to Washington, D.C. "Take a look at that boat," Nixon told Noble, breaking out the 3-foot model. "That's what they've been using. If you can do anything better than that ..." The replica USS New Jersey was built Wednesday nights in Rush's barn near Easton, over conversations about motorcycles and amid the sounds of a radio and cats, dogs and horses. Noble and Rush are history enthusiasts and war re-enactors who previously built scale models of the Phillipsburg Free Bridge and of a grist mill. Joining the boat people was Troy Shuman, a former student of Rush's who now teaches at Phillipsburg. They were compensated only for materials. After using sandpaper and shapers and foam, glued and stacked like scoops of an ice cream cone, the men turned over the model, laid fiberglass on it and filled it before shaping it again. They added a coat of fiberglass, sealed it and painted the plywood deck siding. They test-floated it in Rush's pond. The model USS New Jersey will be launched near the Free Bridge. "I hope it brings some awareness to the younger group that Memorial Day is to honor dead veterans, and not just to go out and have a picnic," Rush said. "Maybe the sight of a battleship going down the river, even though it is just a model, might instill some patriotism and a little sense of what it is all about." Noble had mixed emotions over the months of work finally ended. "You are always proud when you are done," he said. "But you are also relieved." Mike Frassinelli may be reached at mfrassinelli@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.