Back in 1993, Jim Cleveland started the business that would become Frenchman River Model Works. Originally, the first kits were produced under the name of JD Innovations. In 2003 the name was changed to Frenchman River Model Works. At the time, our shop was located near the picturesque Frenchman River Valley in Southwest Nebraska. From the very beginning, we have been focused on producing boat kits and nautical details for the model railroad industry. For quite a few years, we have wanted to branch out into producing high quality, detailed building kits and have produced several under the Frenchman River label.
Recently, we acquired a line of Thomas Yorke building kits and are reintroducing and producing those as well as our previously produced Frenchman River products. Going forward, we are anticipating developing our original line of building kits by Jim and Anna Cleveland under the Stinkwater Crik label. These building kits will have built in character and details that make them great for that backwoods, decrepit look and flavor that can best be reproduced by the hand cast resin method that we use. So, you might ask why Stinkwater Crik? Well, Stink Water Creek is an actual tributary of the Frenchman River. The locals relate the story of how in the 1800’s a meat processing plant was built along the creek bank. This processor would dump the entrails of the cattle and hogs into the creek, creating quite the stench, thus the name Stinkwater Crik was born. (True story)
Through our Frenchman River Model Works website, we will continue offering the Frenchman River Model Works products that we are known for (we do plan to continue offering new boat kits in the future) as well as our new building kits under the Stinkwater Crik label along with the Thomas Yorke building kits and detail parts that we have enjoyed putting back into production.