builders the how to knowledge I have gained over the years. There are
many different scratch building methods
to assemble a fighting ship. This
method that requires limited tools and modest modeling skills.
Model ship plans come in many styles, from simple line drawings to
full sets of inboard and outboard profiles complete with lines and offsets.
Obviously the more information you have the better. At a minimum you
must have a top view, profile and a body plan. Very seldom are the plans
drawn to the scale you intend to build. This in not a problem, for the most
part full size plans are too big and difficult to handle anyway.
Scaling is the process of converting a measurement taken off a plan
set to a dimension on the wood in the scale which we are building. With
the advent of modern copying machines ship plans come in all different
sizes. While there may be a scale stated on the drawing it could easily
have been reproduced at some size other than the original. First you must
figure out where this drawing fits in relation to your scale.
If we are building a 350 foot Destroyer in 1/72nd scale. We measure
the ship hull on the drawing and find it is 36 inches long. We know if you
divide theoverall length of a ship by the scale factor you will get the
scale length. In 1/72nd scale that number is 6, in 1/96th scale the number
is 8, and in 1/144th scale the number is 12.
350 divided by 6 equals 58.33 this is the length in inches of the
ship in 1/72nd scale.
Dividing the number by 12 would give us 29.16 inches or the length
in 1/144th scale.
Now we need to know the scale multiplier for converting our plans
to the desired scale.
Take the ship hull length of 350 feet and divide it by thedrawing
hull length of 36 inches. 350 divided by 36 equals 9.7222. This is the
multiplier used to convert this ship drawing.
So to convert any dimension from the drawingthe following formula
is used.
Simply substitute 8 for the 6 and get the dimension in 1/96th scale
or use 12 and get it in 1/144th scale.
Input this simple routine into a programmable calculator and the
rest is easy.
Here is where the quality of your ship starts. If you don’t have the
proper tools you are fighting an up hill battle. If you do not measure and
mark accurately you can’t cut accurately.
I work in decimals rather than fractions. I find it easier and more
accurate. My measuring tools are stainless steel, graduated in tenths and
hundreds. I use three lengths of machinists scales in 6, 12 and 24 inch
lengths. These are inexpensive and available at Sears . A small drafting
set with a six inch compass and dividers will be most helpful and an
assortment of circle templates and triangles completes the kit.
The body plan of the ship shows the port forward half of the ship and
the starboard aft half of the ship. Each frame is numbered usually starting
from the bow. These numbers correspond to a like number shown on the
profile drawing under the keel. This is the frames location which
determines hull form.
As each half of the body plan only shows half of the ship each frame
musthave the other side added. There are many ways using tracing paper,
carbon paper or computer imaging. I prefer to use CAD but a less technical
method exists. Remember the goal is to produce the ship frames of the
correct size to be used as wood cutting patterns.
The Xerox machine method is quick and very accurate. Place two
sheets of overhead transparency material in thepaper tray. Make two
