New Article: Bread and Butter Hull Construction

Waste Less Wood than Cutting a Solid Block

Using the Bread-and_Butter Technique for Solid Hull Model Ship Construction

Ship Plans Provide Everything You Need to Scratch-Build a Red Sea Dhow

Red Sea Dhow

 The most basic form of scratch-built ship modeling is the solid hull technique that we demonstrated on our page Creating a Solid Hull Ship Model. While the method demonstrated there - using a solid block of wood to create the hull for a 19th Century William Doughty-designed revenue cutter - works well for smaller models, a solid block of wood large enough to build a bigger model will be either hard to find, or prohibitively expensive.

In our series Scratch-building a Bread-and-Butter Solid Hull Ship Model we discuss the popular method of scratch-building a solid hull for larger ship models, called the bread-and-butter technique, that reduces the thickness (and expense) of wood needed as compared to the solid block method.

This method uses the waterlines from the ship plan to cut out several planks that will be layered like slices of bread to create the solid hull, and glued together (the butter).

A major advantage of this method - in addition to less cost for wood than a solid block - is that since each plank is cut to the breadth of the hull at a certain level, there is less filing and sanding to reach the final shape than a single block of wood, which must be cut to the widest breadth of the hull.

Building Midwest Products' Chesapeake Bay Flattie Model Ship Kit

Midwest Products' Chesapeake Bay Flattie

Plank-on-Bulkhead Model Ship Kit

Promises Ease of Construction

Midwest Products Chesapeake Bay Flattie kit.

While solid-hull ship models are generally considered the easiest to construct, Midwest Products has created a "Success Series" of ship model kits that offer plank-on-bulkhead models that promise to make model shipbuilding easy for the complete novice.

We decided to test this theory by making Midwest's Chesapeake Bay Flattie ship model kit our first on-line kit build. The simple lines of these boats that made them ideal for locals to build from locally-available lumber should also make this an ideal ship model kit or a person with no prior wood ship model building experience.

The biggest challenge of plank-on-bulkhead ship models is planking the hull, and because of the simple shape of these boats, this task is accomplished in this kit with a single plank on each of the sides, and two planks on the bottom.

The kit comes with well-executed die-cut and pre-cut parts, as well as fittings, rigging line, sail material, and a well-done set of instructions and building plans.

Click on the links below to visit each stage of construction:
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Introduction
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 1, Keel and Bulkhead assembly
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 2, Deck Assembly
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 3, Mast Steps and Bow Stiffeners

We have a lot more steps ahead of us, so keep checking back for updates!

Plates from Pâris Souvenirs de Marine Perfect Holiday Gift

Souvenirs de Marine by François-Edmond Pâris

One of Most Sought-after Source Books for Model Ship Builders and maritime history enthusiasts alike

Selected Plates from Souvenirs de Marine brings together 130 ship plans from Pâris's historic work.

Selected Plates from Souvenirs de Marine

Vice-Admiral François-Edmond Pâris was a French naval officer who is well known in his home country for his significant contributions to naval engineering during the transition from sail to steam and his leadership of the Musée national de la Marine, but now is mainly remembered outside of France for his detailed books on the subject of naval architecture.
Ship model builders and maritime history enthusiasts alike are constantly on the lookout for copies of his books, which can range into the thousands of dollars for vintage editions.
However, we have brought together Selected plates from Souvenirs de Marine, plates from "Souvenirs de Marine. Collection de plans ou dessins de navires et de bateaux anciens ou modernes existants ou disparus avec les éléments numériques nécessaores à leur construction" (A Record of Navy:  Collection of plans or drawings of vessels and of boats ancient or modern, existing or disappeared, with the numerical elements necessary for their construction.) for just $9.99 on Amazon.
Our edition features more than 90 plates from the first two volumes of this set, and feature more than 130 ship plans from vessels ranging from ancient triremes to late 19th Century warships. Vessels from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the U.S. are included.  The plates are indexed by plate number, type of vessel, name of vessel, and the country region of the vessel.
We've also included a biography of Vice-Admiral François-Edmond Pâris and a bibliography of his works, and an article "How to Read a Ship Plan" that explains how the lines on a two-dimensional plan picture the shape of a three-dimensional ship.
Selected Plates from Souvenirs de Marine is a sure hit with the model ship builder or maritime history enthusiast on your holiday gift list!

Photo Gallery of Historic Lumber Schooner Wawona

Once Lumber Schooners Plied the Pacific in the Scores

After Breakup of Wawona Just One Historic Lumber Schooner Exists

Documentary Photos of Schooner Wawona

Lumber Schooner Wawona

From the scores of wooden three-masted schooners built in the 19th and early 20th centuries for service in the West Coast lumber trade, the schooner Wawona was one of only two known to be preserved when she was surveyed in 1986. She was dismantled in 2009. She and the one surviving lumber schooner, C.A. Thayer (National Maritime Museum, San Francisco), were built by Hans D. Bendixsen, who was well known in his time for the superior construction of his vessels.

Wawona was designed for the Dolbeer & Carson Lumber Company of Eureka, California to transport more than 500,000 board feet of lumber per voyage from from the Pacific Northwest to ports further south on the coast. Like most ships in her day, Wawona’s hull was lofted from a carved wooden half model rather than a detailed set of engineering drawings.

Her official dimensions at launch were:
Length: 156.0 feet
Beam: 36.0 feet
Depth: 12.3 feet
Gross Tonnage: 468.42
Net Tonnage: 413.94
Wawona was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Our photo gallery offers documentary photos of Wawona taken during a survey for the Historic American Engineering Record.

Photo Gallery of Fishing Schooner Lettie G. Howard

Photos of Lettie G. Howard

Offer Insight to Model Ship Builders

Details abound in documentary photography of historic fishing schooner

Starboard bow view, Lettie G. Howard

Readers of our site have asked for photos in addition to the Lettie G. Howard Plans we used to illustrate our page The Hull: Heart of a Ship, so, we are now offering them in high resolution.
Our Lettie G. Howard Photo Gallery of the last existing clipper-bowed inshore Fredonia model fishing schooner come from the 1989 Historic American Engineering Record survey, which was completed when she was de-masted and undergoing restoration, but still offer the ship model builder tremendous detail. HAER documents historically significant engineering, industrial, and maritime works in the U.S. The project is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The drawings and photos from those survey are maintained by the Library of Congress.

Full-size Patterns to Scratchbuild a Revenue Cutter

Downloadable Patterns for 19th Century Revenue Cutter
And Instructions on Creating a Solid Hull Ship Model

19th Century Revenue Cutter

On our page Creating a Solid Hull Ship Model we have full size patterns for a 1/72 scale model of the 51 Ton revenue cutter illustrated in Howard I. Chapelle’s The History of American Sailing Ships.
We offer illustrated step-by-step instructions for using the patterns to cut the rough hull from a single block of basswood.
Finished model will be about 16 inches in length, and is a great starter project for scratch-built ship modeling.

New book on work of François-Edmond Pâris

Selected Plates from Souvenirs de Marine

New book available soon!

Update: Our book on the work of François-Edmond Pâris, "Selected Plates from Souvenirs de Marine" is now available! Our book contains more than 90 plates from Souvenirs de marine. Collection de plans ou dessins de navires et de bateaux anciens ou modernes existants ou disparus avec les éléments numériques nécessaores à leur construction.

More than 130 ship plans are included ranging from ancient vessels to late 19th Century. There are warships, merchant vessels, fishing vessels, and small craft from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the U.S. The plates are indexed by plate number, illustrated vessel type, named vessel, and by country/region.

The book also includes an appendix "How to Read a Ship Plan" to help the novice understand the lines used to illustrate in two dimensions the shape of a three-dimensional ship.

The book is available now on Kindle and should be available on Amazon sites worldwide within a week.

Free Plans of Historic Lumber Schooner Wawona

A Subject for a Historic Ship Model

Wawona one of only two lumber schooners still preserved

Lumber Schooner Wawona

Scores of wooden three-masted schooners once plied the Pacific Ocean off the U.S. West Coast, bringing lumber from the Pacific Northwest to the growing cities of California. Two of them are all that remain of this vast fleet. Built in the 1897 for Dolbeer & Carson Lumber Company of Eureka, California,   the schooner Wawona is one of the two known to be preserved. She and the other surviving lumber schooner, C.A. Thayer (National Maritime Museum, San Francisco), were built by Hans D. Bendixsen, who was well known in his time for the superior construction of his vessels.

Able to transport more than 500,000 board feet of lumber per voyage, like most ships in her day, Wawona’s hull was lofted from a carved wooden half model rather than a detailed set of engineering drawings. The free ships plans offered here are from a 1986 survey in preparation for a $2 million restoration.

Free Plans of 19th Century Italian Barquentine "Fidente"

Italian "Ship-Schooner" Fidente

From Italian archives come the plans of the “Ship-Schooner” Fidente (Trusting).

In English we would refer to her as a barquentine (alternatively barkentine), which wikipedia defines as "a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts."

I've found a few historical reference to European emigrants arriving in the U.S. aboard a "brig" named Fidente, which as sail-rig terminology can be somewhat loose depending on the person writing it, but nothing solid on her history. If you can track down any more info, please let us know via our contact page.

Even without further documentation, I think Fidente would make a handsome ship model, and would be a good subject if you're not quite ready for a full-rigged ship model.

Free Ship Plan: Algerian Xebec Two-fer

Xebec with lateen sails

Not much put more fear in the heart of a Mediterranean seafarer than the triangular sails of a Barbary corsair appearing on the horizon.
The favorite vessel of these North African pirates was the xebec, a long, narrow ship descended from the rowed galleys of the ancient world. Able to sail close to the wind with its lateen sails - or to use oars if the wind failed - and able to navigate shoal waters due to its shallow draft, the xebec was the perfect ship for a pirate. It could catch most merchant vessels, and run away from warships that could reduce its lightly-built hull to splinters with a single broadside.
We found in the French Ministry of Defense archives a highly-detailed plan of the Algerian xebec captured in 1830 and placed in service by the French Navy as Le Boberach. She was used mainly as a dispatch ship, where she had a well-documented, albeit fairly uneventful career.

Algerian xebec Le Boberach, captured by the French in 1830

Lack of exciting engagements aside, she still has the exotic lines that would make an eye-catching model for the enterprising modelshipwright looking for something beyond the typical bathtub-hulled square rigger. Thanks to the French proclivity for record keeping, we also have a great deal of information about her service, too.
As an extra treat, we threw in the plans of an 18th Century Algerian xebec documented in Fredrik Henrik af Chapman’s Architectura Navalis Mercatoria.

Free Ship Plan: Schooner Musquidobit (Lynx?)

American Schooner Plans from a French Military Archive

While searching for Medieval boats in the archives of a French library, I came across these plans for "American Schooner Musquidobit" and "Other American Schooner." 

By its lines, "Musquidobit" appears to be the Baltimore-built schooner Lynx, captured by the British and renamed when brought into the British navy. The French Ministry of Defense has a number of foreign craft documented in its archives - basically the work of spies keeping track of advances in naval architecture among France's colonial competitors.

The lower ship, just titled “Other American Schooner,” is very similar in lines, however it seems her lines are not as fine, the fullest point of beam carried further aft before she narrows to the transom. This should increase her displacement, and therefore, her cargo capacity.

I don't have time to research this further right now, so if anyone has info on these ships, feel free to contact us.

Free Ship Plan: Sultan's Caique

Ottoman Sultan's Caique

Haven't had much time to research this oar-powered Ottoman imperial vessel, but from Wikipedia, we get:

 ... imperial caïques used by the Ottoman sultans and his suite for ceremonial and daily excursion purposes. The size and grandeur of this type, adorned with imperial armorials and floral scrolls, was a reflection of his royal power. Another feature of imperial caiques was the deck pavilion, a partition or a small kiosk for the Sultan. By reason of this feature they were also called the pavilion caïques.

Free Ship Plan: French Warship Montebello

French warship Montebello in 1850

Launched in 1812, Montebello was an Océan type ship of the line of the French Navy. Plans list her as a 120-gun ship, but many historical references refer to her as a 118-gun ship. She had an impressive 77-year career in the French navy. 

We have a massive collection of 10 high resolution plans of Montebello on our website, including lines, inboard and outboard profile, deck, rigging, mast, and sail plans. We even have accommodations plans showing how stores were shipped aboard this historic warship.

For the model shipwright looking for a massive project, the French ship-of-the-line Montebello may be just what you are looking for.

Free Ship Plan: Lettie G. Howard

Lettie G. Howard  under sail, photo by Nelson Micheal Chin

Lettie G. Howard sail plan

The last existing clipper-bowed inshore Fredonia model fishing schooner,  Lettie G. Howard was surveyed in 1989 for the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), which documents historically significant engineering, industrial, and maritime works in the U.S. The project is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The drawings and photos from that survey are maintained by the Library of Congress, and we offer them at TheModelShipwright.com:
Lettie G. Howard Plan Page
Lettie G. Howard Photo Gallery

Free Ship Plan: New York Pilot Schooner

New York Pilot Schooner lines plan from Desmond's Wooden Ship Building

This New York Pilot Schooner is another plan from Desmond's Wooden Ship Building. These boats share a lot in common with the Baltimore Clipper Schooner in hull shape. Especially in the "drag" of the keel: The ship sits much deeper at the stern than at the bow. One way in which they differ from their ancestor is the bow is much more plumb. Baltimore Clippers tended to have the outward curving bow of a cutter.

This would work up into a nice ship model. Because of the fairly small size of the prototype New York Pilot Boats, model ships can be built to a fairly large scale without resulting in a model too big for display in the average home.

The fore-aft rig of the schooner also simplifies the task of rigging this model ship, but still provides a very salty-looking result. Scratch-building a model of this ship is a good way to develop model shipbuilding skills needed for a larger project, such as a tea clipper of ship of the line, and allows the model builder to see results much more quickly.

Free Ship Plan: 77-foot North River Schooner

Another interesting free ship plan from Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond is the North River Schooner.  The plans are a little rough, as the pages are yellowed and the ink faded, but the missing bulwark lines can be recreated using a coffee stir as a batten. Hold it on edge and bend it to match the existing lines on either side of the missing portion. The wood will give you an accurate curve to trace with a pencil to fill in where the lines are too faint to see.

Sail Plan for a 77 foot North River Schooner

Section, Sheer, and Waterline Plans of North River Schooner

This 77-footer is typical of the shoal draft centerboard sailboats used on the Hudson River to haul bulk cargo in the  19th Century. When it was extended, the centerboard acted as a keel, giving the boat stability when tacking to windward, keeping it from "crabbing" - moving sideways rather than forward. When retracted, it allowed the boat to get into shallow waters common along the river, or even be beached for unloading where a harbor wharf wasn't available.

From The Sloops of the Hudson, by By William E. Verplanck and Moses W. Collyer (The Knickerbocker Press 1908):

 The North River schooner was built on somewhat the same plan as the sloop, having a center board, and her bowsprit carried out almost horizontal, and one head-sail, the single jib, attached to a jib-boom, as with the sloop.* (A few of the later schooners carried a flying-jib.---W.E.V.)  She carried not foretopmast. The skippers contented themselves with a maintopsail only and set it like the sloop’s. The foresail was of good size compared with the mainsail and not a mere “ribbon” such as the racing schooner yacht now carries.  The quarter-deck was replaced in the later schooners by a trunk cabin, lighted from the side and end, affording smaller and less pleasant accommodations than those below the quarter-decks of the old packet sloops with their large windows for light and air at the stern.

The schooners were not as good in windward work as the sloop, but with a fair or beam wind they were faster.  The rig, however, soon commended itself for the sloop with her long boom, tall mast, and heavy mainsail was difficult to handle at all times and especially in a blow and required a crew of six men to the schooner’s four. The first of the schooners were converted sloops. From which many of the larger ones were changes to save expense of operation. Late, about 1865 there was built  a new type of schooner for the Hudson which though rigged the same was a wider and shallower boat thus giving her greater carrying capacity and permitting all the cargo to be placed on deck for expedition in loading and unloading. She was quite sharp forward, which—with other good points in her model—made her good sailer.

New Illustrations on the Shipbuilding Terms Pages

We've added some great illustrations of blocks and tackle from Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond to the Shipbuilding Terms pages:

Types of Sheaves and Blocks Illustration from Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond

Types of Tackle Illustration from Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond

Types of Tackle Illustration from Wooden Ship Building by Charles Desmond

Free Ship Plan 19th Century Steam Fishing Trawler

Steam-powered 19th Century fishing trawler designed by W.E. Redway

These plans, from the University of Washington Freshwater and Marine Image Bank, are of a late 19th Century steam-powered auxiliary fishing trawler of about 80 feet in length, designed by W.E. Redway.

Deck and inboard profile view of 19th Century Great Lakes
steam-powered fishing trawler designed by W.E. Redway

W. E. Redway was a Great Lakes shipbuilder in the late 1800s. 

Born in England, his father was also a shipbuilder. Redway served an apprenticeship in the Chatam dock yard in England, followed by positions in various shipyards "on the northeast coast of England and on the (River) Clyde," according to an 1897 profile in The Globe newspaper in Toronto. The River Clyde, flowing through Scotland's industrial city of Glasgow, was a major shipbuilding center during the Industrial Revolution.

Redway moved to Toronto, Canada in 1886.

Body, Sheer, and waterline plans of 19th Century Great Lakes
steam-powered fishing trawler designed by W.E. Redway

According to The Globe newspaper profile, Redway "up to June 1897, planned and constructed eleven steam vessels. These were the Imperial, the Mayflower, the Primrose, the Garden City, the Mascotte, the Mistassini, the Medora and others. He also framed the Gooderham yachts Cleopatra and Oriole. Hearing of some of his good work, the managers of the Union shipyards at Buffalo sent for Mr. Redway, and he was there second in charge of the building of the steamer Ramapo, being occupied for six months of the year of 1895 at that work."