OWLS HEAD — Sometimes Eliot Scott turns up the Grateful Dead as he patiently glues barely-visible fibers and microscopic parts to models of military vessels. Other times, he listens to the sounds of the television in the next room. But never does he allow himself to become so focused on his craft as to miss the emergency tone of his scanner.

Scott is a firefighter for Owls Head, responds for Rockland fire emergencies through the department’s call division, and is an EMT for South Thomaston. In those departments he acts as engineer, pump operator, and training instructor; in the past he filled the role of medical officer, keeping tabs on employee medical records, immunizations, and fit test requirements.

But this past weekend, for the second year in a row, Scott displayed his Coast Guard background and continued interest in military history at the Owls Head Transportation Museum’s model weekend. 

On the table were 15 years worth of work, each creation representing three to four months of patience, determination, and very small parts being glued to his tweezers instead of the vessels.

Upon finishing each model in his home sunroom in Owls Head, Scott will study his handiwork with satisfaction and say, ’that’s pretty nice.’

“I'll put it in the living room and look at it for a few days, then I'll put it up in the cabinet so it doesn’t get all dusty,” he said of each piece residing in three upstairs cabinets, and a fourth cabinet soon to be purchased.

Unlike model cars and airplanes, military ship models come with more detail, such as rigging, armaments, and planes, along with the relevancy of American history, according to Scott.

Often visitors see his ships and recount their own anecdotes of sleeping overnight on the Massachusetts as boy scouts, touring the Missouri, serving on the Intrepid, or tell of a family connection. Scott’s grandfather was on the New York.

Scott served his four years of active Coast Guard duty in Alameda and Portsmouth, Va., aboard the Rush, which is also represented in his collection. He then served 12 years in the drug task force division through the reserves.

“I think I saw more time in the reserves than I did active,” he said. 

After a bit of a “midlife crisis, I joined the fire department. I was 47 when I joined,” Scott said of his post-military career.

Now he’s managed to combine two polar-opposite roles of patient model maker and high-drama first responder in an oddly acceptable way.... Until, of course, he accidently glues his fingers to each other instead of the parts to the model — a very rare occasion, according to him. Instead of waiting the 20 minutes for his fingers to separate naturally, Scott simply uses a razor blade.

“It’s just the outer skin,” he said.