Models of ships, airplanes and buildings of all shapes and sizes, from the U.S. Capitol Building to the Eiffel Tower cover nearly every available surface in Alton Swett’s room at Chase Point Assisted Living.

Part workshop, Swett’s apartment is testament to an active mind and a long and busy life.

Some of the models hark back to Swett’s career as an engineer and traveling trouble shooter for Ingersoll Rand, which manufactures industrial compressors and other equipment. That work brought him to Paris, where he had dinner in the Eiffel Tower, and to Dallas, Texas, where he was working when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Others, especially the models of boats, are reminiscent of Swett’s childhood in Boothbay Harbor where he grew up in a family of fishermen. His dad was a caretaker in a large estate and was also town manager of Boothbay Harbor for many years. His grandfather and several uncles fished the Grand Banks for cod.

At 87 years old, Swett said he builds the models to stay busy, focusing on projects that catch his interest: a European castle or an intricate model of the Bluenose, a famous Canadian fishing schooner.

It is painstaking work. The models don’t always come with clear directions and it often takes some trial and error to figure out how the parts fit together. It helps to have a lifetime of experience putting things together.

Growing up, Swett built models of airplanes and ships. He also played basketball. It was the sort of place where everybody knew everybody else.

“It was a great place to grow up. There isn’t any place like it today. It was sort of isolated on the peninsula. Damariscotta was a long ways from Boothbay Harbor,” said Swett.

After high school, he attended the University of Maine at Orono and studied mechanical engineering, paying his way with a succession of jobs, from working at a grocery store to working summers for Central Maine Power.

Upon graduation, he and his wife moved to Painted Post, New York, the headquarters of Ingersoll Rand. His job was interesting. He was often sent to places where the company’s huge industrial compressors weren’t working.

The best part was meeting interesting people and seeing different parts of the world. During a visit to East Germany, then behind the iron curtain, he watched the lights go out at night while West Germany, on the other side of the wall, remained alight.

In all, he went to 38 different states and 10 different countries. But when it came time to retire, he and his wife, who was originally from Bath, chose to come home to Maine.

Today, his apartment at Chase Point features lots of photos of family on the walls, including two recently engaged granddaughters. Most of the horizontal surfaces however, are covered with models, intricate, carefully assembled models. Alton Swett likes to stay busy.