Book Description
This book is the first comprehensive history of how the 1:1200 scale and its 1:1250 continental equivalent became accepted as the modern standard for miniature ship models. The origins can be traced back to the first years of the twentieth century and their use as identification aids by the military during the First World War, but when peace came the manufacturers aimed their increasingly sophisticated products at collectors, and acquiring, modifying or scratch-building miniature ship models has been an avidly pursued hobby ever since. This book charts the commercial rise and fall of the manufacturers, and the advancing technology that produces ever more detailed and accurate replicas. The author - himself a lifetime collector and builder of models - looks at the products of each manufacturer, past and present, rating their quality and suggesting why some are regarded as more collectible than others. But the book deals with more than off-the-shelf models, covering subsidiary issues like painting, modifying and diorama settings, and is illustrated throughout with many of the finest examples of the genre. The combination of fascinating background information with stunning visual presentation will make this book irresistible to any collector or enthusiast.
Book Description
From about the middle of the seventeenth century the Navys administrators began to commission models of their ships that were accurately detailed and, for the first time, systematically to scale. These developed a recognised style, which included features like the unplanked lower hull with a simplified pattern of framing that emphasised the shape of the underwater body. Exquisitely crafted, these were always rare and highly prized objects indeed, Samuel Pepys expressed a profound desire to own one and today they are widely regarded as the acme of the ship modellers art.Today examples form the highlights of collections across the world, valued both as art objects and as potential historical evidence on matters of ship design. However, it was only recently that researchers began to investigate the circumstances of their construction, their function, and the identities of those who made them. This book, by two curators who have worked on the worlds largest collection of these models at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, summarises the current state of knowledge, outlines important discoveries, and applies this new-found understanding to many of the finest models in the collection.As befits its subject, Navy Board Ship Models is visually striking, with numerous colour photographs that make it as attractive as it is informative to anyone with an interest in modelmaking or historic ships.
Book Description
This latest step-by-step volume from Phil Reed tackles what, for many, are regarded as the ultimate expression of the ship model maker's art, the Navy Board model. These beautiful early eighteenth-century works of art are well represented in the major maritime museums both here and in the States as well as in private collections and here the author deals with the construction of a miniature 1/192 scale model of the Royal George of 1715, in which all the conventions of Navy Board framing and planking are demonstrated .??He takes us through every stage of the work with the aid of nearly 400 photographs, each one accompanied by detailed text. Methods of hull and deck framing, internal and external planking, the construction of the complex stern with its array of galleries doors and windows, are all covered; the rendering of the multitude of decorative carvings on the figurehead, stern and broadside is also demonstrated. ??At the end of the book there is a short section showing his model of Syren, which demonstrates how the techniques used to frame Royal George could be adapted for ships of a later date, using single and double frames closer to full-size practice.
Book Description
The vast majority of period ship models are built from kits, usually primarily of wood with some ready-made fittings. Although these commercial offerings have improved significantly in recent years, all of them can be enhanced in accuracy or detail by an experienced modelmaker. This book, by an expert ship modeller, distils lessons gleaned from a lifetime practising the hobby to the highest standards, setting out methods of improving basic kits and gradually developing the skills and confidence to tackle the construction of a model from scratch. Using a variety of kits as the starting point, each chapter demonstrates a technique that can be readily improved or a feature that can be replaced to the advantage of the finished model. Topics include hull planking, representing copper sheathing, many aspects of more accurate masting and rigging, and how to replace kit parts and fittings from scratch. Ultimately, the impact of a period model depends on its accuracy, and the book also provides guidance on plans and references, where to find them and how they are best used. The plank-on-frame model, sometimes with exposed frames in the Navy Board style, has always been considered the crowning achievement of period ship modeling, and this book concludes with coverage of the very latest kits that put fully framed models within the reach of ordinary mortals. Offering advice, expertise and inspiration, Ship Models from the Age of Sail has something for anyone interested in building a period ship model, whatever their level of skill.