Ship model

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Model of a 19th-century vessel in the Bishop Museum, Hawaii

Ship models (or "model ships") are  scale representations of sea-going vessels.

Ship models have  traditionally been built of wood, though today many amateur kits are  mostly or  totally styrene plastic. A smaller number of model ships are  constructed out of alternative materials, including sheet metal, cardboard, various resins (notably fiberglass) and  even bone.

The level of detail and  craftsmanship can range from crude "primitives" to more  detailed models that achieve museum quality. Notable collections include the Norwegian Seafaring Museum (Norsk Sjøfartsmuseum) in Oslo and  the Museu Marítim in Barcelona, which has a full-scale (1 meter = 1 meter) model of a galley.

[edit] History

[edit] Ancient Egypt

The Ancient Egyptians were first to carve detailed ship models. it  was a common aspect of the Egyptian funeral practice to include highly accurate and  detailed, painted, sycamore wood models of a ship and  crew, intended to transport the soul of the deceased to the afterlife. These models, which may be almost 5000 years old, are  truly remarkable in their state of preservation. Since the models usually show the crew in their respective places, these models have  been useful in understanding the actual duties of the crew members, what they wore, and  how the ship would have  been steered. Much of what we know today about ancient seafaring has come to us from these models. The British Museum, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and  many other museums worldwide, display extensive public collections of these ritual boats.

[ more  recent times">edit] Ship models created in more  recent times

 is  somewhat crude, but sufficient to identify as mid-19th-century"> is  somewhat crude, but sufficient to identify as mid-19th-century" width="250" height="188" longdesc="../../../k/a/p/Image%7EKapucijnenkerk.votief02.jpg_1b5b.html" />

Church votive hanging up in a church; the workmanship is  somewhat crude, but sufficient to identify as mid-19th-century

Model of a 19th-century English frigate

Closeup of the frigate's quarterdeck, showing quality of the detail.

Some of the oldest ship models, still surviving, have  been those of early craft such as Galleys, Galleons, and  possibly Carracks, dating from the 12th through the 15th centuries and  found occasionally mounted in churches, where they were used to bless the ships and  those who sailed in them. Other rare and  often very crudely built models of that time period have  found their way into collections at various museums around the world.

Despite the fact that some fine artists painted and  sculpted masterpieces of architecture and  the human and  animal form, it  seems that no truly representative drawings of ships seems to have  survived from this period. Most surviving pictures or  engravings are  apparently greatly out of scale, although like maps of that period, they were greatly decorated with drawings of real and  imagined sea monsters, leaving the nautical historian very little to work with.

Through the earlier centuries, and  even into the 18th century, virtually all small craft and  many of the larger ships were built without any formal plans being drawn. Shipwrights were apprenticed to their craft at an  early age and  the art was passed down from father to son. Ship models were being built by designers of large ships primarily to show their prospective customers how the full size ship would appear, and  also to introduce advanced building techniques. Few shipping merchants could read a construction draft, and  still fewer individuals were sufficiently advanced in the art of drafting or  the mathematics necessary to that art. Add to that the fairly primitive method of paper making, with its acidic product tending to discolor and  disintegrate, and  you will understand why so few ship's plans survived outside of the Royal Shipyard in England, which to this day is  a major source of information on ships of the earlier centuries.

Ship models often referred to as Admiralty or  Shipyard models were built either before or  during construction of many 18th and  19th century warships. Although many of these models did not illustrate the actual construction timbering or  framing, they did illustrate the form of the hull and  usually had great detail of the deck furnishings, masts, spars, and  general configuration. Some of these grand models were decorated with carvings of great beauty and  were evidently constructed by teams of artisans. The labor they represent would have  taken an  individual many years to complete, providing you could ever find a competent ship modeler who was also capable of such fine carving. They served to educate the non-seafaring types who were involved in the financing or  some other aspect of the ship, to avoid construction errors that might have  evolved as the ship itself took form, and  more importantly, to demonstrate what a thing of beauty the real ship would be.

During the several wars between France and  England, seamen who were taken prisoner were confined, sometimes for many years, and  in their boredom, sought relief by building ship models from scraps of wood and  bone. This evolved into an  art form and  the models were sold to the public, which responded by supplying the prisoners with ivory so that the models would be all the more  decorative. Rigging was made of human hair, horsehair, silk, or  whatever other fine material could be obtained. For the most part, the models had carved wooden hulls covered with thin veneers of bone or  ivory, and  other parts of the model such as masts and  spars were also carved from bone and  ivory. To this day they remain highly sought after, valuable collectibles.

Ship modeling got off to a rather slow start in the United States. Many of the older models, from the turn of the 20th century on, were models built by seamen who whiled away their off-duty hours whittling models of the ships they were serving on. Few home craftsmen of the time attempted ship models because of lack of information other than an  occasional sketch or  photogravure in the local paper. In the mid 1920s, ship model kits were introduced to the public and  cast lead parts such as anchors, deadeyes, and  rigging blocks became available. Magazines carried advertisements for these items, and  the home craftsmen of the U.S. began to respond.

The big modeling boost came early in the 1930s when Popular Science magazine began to publish a series of articles and  plans of famous ships by E. Armitage McCann. This was the true beginning of ship modeling as a popular hobby. it  was also the beginning of nautical research as we know it  today, an  attempt by model craftsman to upgrade their work by researching newly available documents to determine the historical correctness of the models they were building.

 and  radio controlled models since the 1960s. Here is  a 1/72 Revell kit positioned against a 1/400 Japanese destroyer model"> and  radio controlled models since the 1960s. Here is  a 1/72 Revell kit positioned against a 1/400 Japanese destroyer model" width="250" height="188" longdesc="../../../p/t/-/Image%7EPT-109Destroyer.jpg_8f2a.html" />

John F. Kennedy's PT-109 has been a popular a subject for plastic and  radio controlled models since the 1960s. Here is  a 1/72 Revell kit positioned against a 1/400 Japanese destroyer model

Today there exist national and  international sources of ship's plans, information as to dimensions, construction techniques, types of wood and  other materials to use in the building of models. There are  numerous books and  periodicals devoted to the craft, and  ship model clubs are  now found in many cities around the world.

[edit] Basic types of construction

There are  five basic types of construction used in building a wooden ship model hull:

• Solid wood hull sawn and  carved from a single block of wood.

• Gluing together two thinner blocks of wood so that a block is  formed with the seam vertical, so that the seam will show running down that surface of the block which is  to be the deck. No advantage is  gained by having the seam show along the sides of the hull.

• Cutting four or  five thinner slabs of wood to be glued later into a laminated block. In this case, the slabs will be oriented so that they sit one on top of the other and  the reason for this will be forthcoming in the explanation of this technique.

• Plank on bulkhead, a technique in which a series of shaped bulkheads are  placed along the keel to form a shaped stage which will be covered with planks to form the hull of the model.

• Plank on frame In this technique, the model is  built just as the full size wooden ship is  constructed. The keel is  laid down in a manner which keeps it  straight and  true.. The sternpost and  stem are  erected, deadwood and  strengthening pieces inserted, and  a series of shaped frames are  built and  erected along the keel to form the internal framework of the model. The planks are  then applied over the frame to form the external covering.

[edit] Miniature model ships

1:1250 scale die-cast models of ships

Model ships have  been used for war gaming since antiquity, but the introduction of elaborate rules made the practice more  popular in the early 20th Century. Small miniature ships, often in 1:1200 scale and  1:1250 scale were maneuvered on large playing surfaces to either recreate a historical battle, or  in the case of governments, plan for future encounters. These models were basic representations of ship types, with enough detail to make them recognizable. Firms such as Bassett-Lowke marketed these to the public in England, along with more  detailed versions that appealed to collectors. Prior to World War II, the German company Viking became a leader in the field, but the war ended its dominance.

After World War II, several manufacturers started business in Germany, which remains the center of production to this day. Other companies started in England and  the US as well, first centering on the war gamer, but as time went by and  models became more  detailed, and  costly, marketing to the collector. The advent of the Internet has enabled this hobby to grow tremendously as more  people became aware of it, and  manufacturers were able to market more  effectively, both directly and  through specialized distributors.

[edit] Engineering models

Model ships are  important in the field of engineering, where analytical modeling of a new design needs to be verified. Principals of similitude are  used to apply measured data from a scaled model to the full scale design.

[edit] Scale conversion factors

Instead of using plans made specifically for models, many model shipwrights use the actual blueprints for the original vessel. One can take drawings for the original ship to a blueprint service and  have them blown up, or  reduced to bring them to the new scale. For instance, if the drawings are  in 1/4" scale and  you intend to build in 3/16", tell the service to reduce them 25%. You can use the conversion table below to determine the percentage of change. You can easily work directly from the original drawings however, by changing scale each time you make a measurement.

The equation for converting a measurement in one scale to that of another scale is  D2 = D1 x F where:

• D1 = Dimension in the "from-scale"
• D2 = Dimension in the "to-scale"
• F = Conversion factor between scales

Example: A yardarm is  6" long in 3/16" scale. Find its length in 1/8" scale.

• F = .67 (from table)
• D2 = 6" X .67 = 4.02 = 4"

It is  easier to make measurements in the metric system and  then multiply them by the scale conversion factor. Scales are  expressed in fractional inches, but fractions themselves are  harder to work with than metric measurements. For example, a hatch measures 1" wide on the draft. You are  building in 3/16" scale. Measuring the hatch in metric, you measure 25 mm. T he conversion factor for 1/4" to 3/16', according to the conversion table is  .75. So 25 mm x .75 = 18.75 mm, or  about 19 mm. That is  the hatch size in 3/16" scale.

Conversion is  a fairly simple task once you start measuring in metric and  converting according to the scale.

There is  a simple conversion factor that allows you to determine the approximate size of a model by taking the actual measurements of the full-size ship and  arriving at a scale factor. it  is a rough way of deciding whether you want to build a model that is  about two feet long, three feet long, or  four feet long.

Here is  a ship model conversion example using a real ship, the Hancock. This is  a frigate appearing in Chappelle's "History of American Sailing Ships". In this example we want to estimate its size as a model. We find that the length is  given at 136 ft 7 in, which rounds off to 137 feet.

To convert feet (of the actual ship) to the number of inches long that the model will be, use the factors in the table on the right.

To find the principal dimensions (length, height, and  width) of a (square rigged) model in 1/8" scale, then:

1. Find scaled length by dividing 137 by 8 = 17.125"
2. Find 50% of 17.125 and  add it  to 17.125 (8.56 + 17.125 = 25.685, about 25.5)
3. Typically, the height of this model will be its length less  10% or  about 23.1/2"
4. Typically, the beam of this model will be its length divided by 4, or  about 6 1/2"

Although this technique allows you to judge the approximate length of a proposed model from its true footage, only square riggers will fit the approximate height and  beam by the above factors. To approximate these dimensions on other craft, scale the drawings from which you found the length and  arrive at her mast heights and  beam.

[edit] Model shipwright guilds

People who work on building model ships often join together to form guilds; these guilds are  intended to allow more  experienced members the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to new members; to allow members of all levels of expertise to exchange new ideas, as well as serving as social function.

The USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild, Boston, MA. This club meets on the first Tuesday of every month in the USS Constitution Museum at the Charlestown Navy Yard, just one hundred feet away from Old Ironsides.

• USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild
• Ship Modeler's Association of California

The Nautical Research Guild website states that "The Nautical Research Guild is  an international organization of ship modelers, maritime artists, nautical archaeologists and  historians who are  dedicated to enhancing the art and  experience of ship modeling."

• Nautical Research Guild

Guilds for those interested in building model ships are  found across the world.

• Worldwide list of model ship guilds

Prisoner-of-war model at the Rosenborg Slot in Copenhagen.	Model ship made with non-traditional materials: rolled-up tubes of paper, Express Mail labels, and  duct tape.	Model ships in a model town	Detail of a model that shows men operating a capstan
4-year-old boy painting a Revell plastic model of the South Goodwin Lightship

[edit] References

• Porter, Kent (1977). Building Model Ships from Scratch. New York, NY, U.S.A.: T A B Books. ISBN 0-8306-7907-3.

[edit] See also

• Hobby
• Model yacht
• Naval ship
• Radio-controlled boat
• Sailing
• Ship

[edit] External links

• Ship Modeling FAQ
• Model Boat Links
• The Ship Modeler's Association of California has an  extensive web site.
• The Maritime History Virtual Archives
• The Nautrical Research Guild
• Model Ship Builder A website devoted to the preservation of the art of model ship building through the sharing information and  ideas.
• 1250 Home Page devoted to 1/1200 and  1/1250 scale models