Jaager

Which just fortifies my compulsion that joints should be clamped as tightly as possible, but no crushing of wood fibers.
Planing and scraping produces a clean surface - good for gluing.  Sanding fills the pores, which is not all that good.
I think it was an old Sci Am, or the short lived popular edition of Science  article about either Stradivari or Guarneri that noted that their violins were probably scraped - the pores were free of wood flour under the clear finish.
Take home was that scraping was a good thing to do as a final step.
 

The situation is complicated.  As for tools, although enthusiasm often leads to wasted money as far as tools, even your father probably does not realize which tools
he needs until he needs that specific job done.
It may be wiser to get:
A gift certificate to a special tool vendor:
Lee Valey
Japan Woodworker
Lie-NielsenToolworks
 
or
A subject specific book:
The 100-Gun Ship Victory (Anatomy of the Ship)  by John McKay
The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships Hardcover   by C. Nepean Longridge
 
But for something unexpected but better than what he is likely to know about:
Japan Woodworker  #156382  1/8" double bevel Blue Steel knife
It also needs a piece of scrap leather and a fine honing compound like Flexcut Gold
Compared to Xacto type #11 blades - both will do the job,  but the knife it like having Lamborghini instead of a Ford
  
or from StewMac    
    Item       Price       Qty       Total
    Japanese Super Fine-Cut Saw
Item # 3617
    $39.48     1     $39.48
    Japanese Curved-edge Mini Saw
Item # 3612
    $28.30     1     $28.30
    StewMac Ultimate Scraper, Mini
Item # 0632
    $28.07     1     $28.07
 
The curved-edge saw works a trick in crosscutting

The situation is complicated.  As for tools, although enthusiasm often leads to wasted money as far as tools, even your father probably does not realize which tools
he needs until he needs that specific job done.
It may be wiser to get:
A gift certificate to a special tool vendor:
Lee Valey
Japan Woodworker
Lie-NielsenToolworks
 
or
A subject specific book:
The 100-Gun Ship Victory (Anatomy of the Ship)  by John McKay
The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships Hardcover   by C. Nepean Longridge
 
But for something unexpected but better than what he is likely to know about:
Japan Woodworker  #156382  1/8" double bevel Blue Steel knife
It also needs a piece of scrap leather and a fine honing compound like Flexcut Gold
Compared to Xacto type #11 blades - both will do the job,  but the knife it like having Lamborghini instead of a Ford
  
or from StewMac    
    Item       Price       Qty       Total
    Japanese Super Fine-Cut Saw
Item # 3617
    $39.48     1     $39.48
    Japanese Curved-edge Mini Saw
Item # 3612
    $28.30     1     $28.30
    StewMac Ultimate Scraper, Mini
Item # 0632
    $28.07     1     $28.07
 
The curved-edge saw works a trick in crosscutting

Which just fortifies my compulsion that joints should be clamped as tightly as possible, but no crushing of wood fibers.
Planing and scraping produces a clean surface - good for gluing.  Sanding fills the pores, which is not all that good.
I think it was an old Sci Am, or the short lived popular edition of Science  article about either Stradivari or Guarneri that noted that their violins were probably scraped - the pores were free of wood flour under the clear finish.
Take home was that scraping was a good thing to do as a final step.
 

The situation is complicated.  As for tools, although enthusiasm often leads to wasted money as far as tools, even your father probably does not realize which tools
he needs until he needs that specific job done.
It may be wiser to get:
A gift certificate to a special tool vendor:
Lee Valey
Japan Woodworker
Lie-NielsenToolworks
 
or
A subject specific book:
The 100-Gun Ship Victory (Anatomy of the Ship)  by John McKay
The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships Hardcover   by C. Nepean Longridge
 
But for something unexpected but better than what he is likely to know about:
Japan Woodworker  #156382  1/8" double bevel Blue Steel knife
It also needs a piece of scrap leather and a fine honing compound like Flexcut Gold
Compared to Xacto type #11 blades - both will do the job,  but the knife it like having Lamborghini instead of a Ford
  
or from StewMac    
    Item       Price       Qty       Total
    Japanese Super Fine-Cut Saw
Item # 3617
    $39.48     1     $39.48
    Japanese Curved-edge Mini Saw
Item # 3612
    $28.30     1     $28.30
    StewMac Ultimate Scraper, Mini
Item # 0632
    $28.07     1     $28.07
 
The curved-edge saw works a trick in crosscutting

The situation is complicated.  As for tools, although enthusiasm often leads to wasted money as far as tools, even your father probably does not realize which tools
he needs until he needs that specific job done.
It may be wiser to get:
A gift certificate to a special tool vendor:
Lee Valey
Japan Woodworker
Lie-NielsenToolworks
 
or
A subject specific book:
The 100-Gun Ship Victory (Anatomy of the Ship)  by John McKay
The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships Hardcover   by C. Nepean Longridge
 
But for something unexpected but better than what he is likely to know about:
Japan Woodworker  #156382  1/8" double bevel Blue Steel knife
It also needs a piece of scrap leather and a fine honing compound like Flexcut Gold
Compared to Xacto type #11 blades - both will do the job,  but the knife it like having Lamborghini instead of a Ford
  
or from StewMac    
    Item       Price       Qty       Total
    Japanese Super Fine-Cut Saw
Item # 3617
    $39.48     1     $39.48
    Japanese Curved-edge Mini Saw
Item # 3612
    $28.30     1     $28.30
    StewMac Ultimate Scraper, Mini
Item # 0632
    $28.07     1     $28.07
 
The curved-edge saw works a trick in crosscutting

Which just fortifies my compulsion that joints should be clamped as tightly as possible, but no crushing of wood fibers.
Planing and scraping produces a clean surface - good for gluing.  Sanding fills the pores, which is not all that good.
I think it was an old Sci Am, or the short lived popular edition of Science  article about either Stradivari or Guarneri that noted that their violins were probably scraped - the pores were free of wood flour under the clear finish.
Take home was that scraping was a good thing to do as a final step.
 

Which just fortifies my compulsion that joints should be clamped as tightly as possible, but no crushing of wood fibers.
Planing and scraping produces a clean surface - good for gluing.  Sanding fills the pores, which is not all that good.
I think it was an old Sci Am, or the short lived popular edition of Science  article about either Stradivari or Guarneri that noted that their violins were probably scraped - the pores were free of wood flour under the clear finish.
Take home was that scraping was a good thing to do as a final step.
 

Gregory,
An otherwise excellent planking job is somewhat marred by a species choice that could be replaced by a better one.
Walnut, especially Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is a much preferred wood for most any full size project.  But for scale work, I stay away from species that are open pore.  If the surface is magnified a bit, it resembles corduroy. The linear grooves do not show on closed pore wood - like Hard Maple, AYC, Black Cherry, Yellow Poplar, any fruitwood.   A dye can get many species having the Walnut shade.  It is to fill the grooves - that sanding sealer was developed.  It is a produce with no purpose if a closed pore species is used.

Allan,
I have read that 220 grit is about the limit for the surface smoothness for components that will be joined using PVA.  400 grit may leave a surface with not enough tooth for the polymers to attach to efficiently.  
Like you, I progress - bulk 80 grit,  dress the 80 scarring with 120-150 grit - 1-2 passes. Finish with 220 grit.  On my old 11" drum, I had all three.

Just brief status update.... not dead in the water but just slow going due to outside events and some stupidity on my part.  Discovered after putting on 4 strakes, getting the gunports squared away on that I blew it.  Stupid error... used the wrong width of planks. <sigh>  Had the saw setup for 1/4" cuts for the wales and somewhere in the mists of the last few weeks/months, forgot to change the cut width to 3/16".  <sigh>  Had to rip off the 4 strakes, clean up the hull and re-cut the cut wood for the correct size.  I think I'm going to take the day off, engage in some web browsing along with some strong drinks.  

Allan,
I have read that 220 grit is about the limit for the surface smoothness for components that will be joined using PVA.  400 grit may leave a surface with not enough tooth for the polymers to attach to efficiently.  
Like you, I progress - bulk 80 grit,  dress the 80 scarring with 120-150 grit - 1-2 passes. Finish with 220 grit.  On my old 11" drum, I had all three.

Allan,
I have read that 220 grit is about the limit for the surface smoothness for components that will be joined using PVA.  400 grit may leave a surface with not enough tooth for the polymers to attach to efficiently.  
Like you, I progress - bulk 80 grit,  dress the 80 scarring with 120-150 grit - 1-2 passes. Finish with 220 grit.  On my old 11" drum, I had all three.

Allan,
I have read that 220 grit is about the limit for the surface smoothness for components that will be joined using PVA.  400 grit may leave a surface with not enough tooth for the polymers to attach to efficiently.  
Like you, I progress - bulk 80 grit,  dress the 80 scarring with 120-150 grit - 1-2 passes. Finish with 220 grit.  On my old 11" drum, I had all three.

Roger,
Jim uses a 1/3 HP motor for many of his machines that is heavy enough that tipping over is an unlikely problem.
It is probably a good idea to set the distance between the table and the drum to remove a minimum layer of wood.
The force from the hand feeding the stock should be fairly low. Most of it is resisting kickback.  The push should not be enough
to tip over a much lighter unit.   The pull from the vac hose should be minimized.  A sky hook with a bungee or it being a horse shoe, with
down stream on the bench surface.
The only problem I have experienced is a weak spring holding the depth dial. It only wants the open, so I fit a 2" C-clamp to it and have it butt the table.
The media is easy to mount - not like me having to glue it to a Maple drum on my old NRJ plans homemade unit.
 
Get spare screws.  A plank fixed to the motor base floor with holes to hold the Allen wrenches and a contact lens type container with a lid to hold screws
will keep everything to hand and keep bits from going away while doing a media change has been good for me.

Roger,
Jim uses a 1/3 HP motor for many of his machines that is heavy enough that tipping over is an unlikely problem.
It is probably a good idea to set the distance between the table and the drum to remove a minimum layer of wood.
The force from the hand feeding the stock should be fairly low. Most of it is resisting kickback.  The push should not be enough
to tip over a much lighter unit.   The pull from the vac hose should be minimized.  A sky hook with a bungee or it being a horse shoe, with
down stream on the bench surface.
The only problem I have experienced is a weak spring holding the depth dial. It only wants the open, so I fit a 2" C-clamp to it and have it butt the table.
The media is easy to mount - not like me having to glue it to a Maple drum on my old NRJ plans homemade unit.
 
Get spare screws.  A plank fixed to the motor base floor with holes to hold the Allen wrenches and a contact lens type container with a lid to hold screws
will keep everything to hand and keep bits from going away while doing a media change has been good for me.

Roger,
Jim uses a 1/3 HP motor for many of his machines that is heavy enough that tipping over is an unlikely problem.
It is probably a good idea to set the distance between the table and the drum to remove a minimum layer of wood.
The force from the hand feeding the stock should be fairly low. Most of it is resisting kickback.  The push should not be enough
to tip over a much lighter unit.   The pull from the vac hose should be minimized.  A sky hook with a bungee or it being a horse shoe, with
down stream on the bench surface.
The only problem I have experienced is a weak spring holding the depth dial. It only wants the open, so I fit a 2" C-clamp to it and have it butt the table.
The media is easy to mount - not like me having to glue it to a Maple drum on my old NRJ plans homemade unit.
 
Get spare screws.  A plank fixed to the motor base floor with holes to hold the Allen wrenches and a contact lens type container with a lid to hold screws
will keep everything to hand and keep bits from going away while doing a media change has been good for me.

Roger,
Jim uses a 1/3 HP motor for many of his machines that is heavy enough that tipping over is an unlikely problem.
It is probably a good idea to set the distance between the table and the drum to remove a minimum layer of wood.
The force from the hand feeding the stock should be fairly low. Most of it is resisting kickback.  The push should not be enough
to tip over a much lighter unit.   The pull from the vac hose should be minimized.  A sky hook with a bungee or it being a horse shoe, with
down stream on the bench surface.
The only problem I have experienced is a weak spring holding the depth dial. It only wants the open, so I fit a 2" C-clamp to it and have it butt the table.
The media is easy to mount - not like me having to glue it to a Maple drum on my old NRJ plans homemade unit.
 
Get spare screws.  A plank fixed to the motor base floor with holes to hold the Allen wrenches and a contact lens type container with a lid to hold screws
will keep everything to hand and keep bits from going away while doing a media change has been good for me.

I completely agree.  The main problems are obtaining it in useful sizes and getting it dry before it checks or fungus gets to it.
When I see it cut into chunks to flavor meat, it is to cry.
 
If I had it to do over, I would make a effort to harvest as much Apple as I could.  I would also actively seek:  Hophornbeam and Washington Hawthorn.
And explore Honey Locust.

I completely agree.  The main problems are obtaining it in useful sizes and getting it dry before it checks or fungus gets to it.
When I see it cut into chunks to flavor meat, it is to cry.
 
If I had it to do over, I would make a effort to harvest as much Apple as I could.  I would also actively seek:  Hophornbeam and Washington Hawthorn.
And explore Honey Locust.

I second Jaager on Bradford pear aka Callery pear, a very commonly planted non-fruiting ornamental. It's a true pear, Pyrus sp. and the wood is nearly indistinguishable from true pearwood, in some ways better, much less knotty and twisty. It's disadvantages would be wide growth rings and sometimes curly grain, usually a plus for woodworkers. The limb wood is outstanding. They grow very vertically so there's no reaction wood to them. The grain is tighter. It carves amazingly. Dries easily without degrading. Can be subject to worm damage, so best to remove all bark early on.  But the best wood all around for ship modeling would probably be apple. It's slightly harder than cherry, carves better, and doesn't show as much ray fleck on quartered surfaces. It's tan to brown, and oxides to a amazing color. Think of an old North American handsaw handle. They were usually apple wood. Disadvantages are: different heart wood and sapwood color, apple trees are not known for straightness and worms love it. It's also sort of hard to dry, but so is black cherry. They will check rapidly if left out in the sun. Most anything ship model wise could be made from apple, except maybe the smallest details where boxwood would be the choice. Even very small boxwood twigs can be used for turned stanchions, blocks, stern details, figureheads etc. Another advantage of apple would be the numerous bends and crazy branch structure can yield just the right shapes for knees and other parts of the ship that were historically made from such crooked lumber.

The reduced plans in the book were drawn for Mystic.  The originals are 1/2":1'
Mystic sells plans.  It may be worth the effort to check them out.  I have tried to order plans for the clipper David Crockett which is in their inventory, but I cannot determine how many sheets are involved or if they are lines plans complete enough for my lofting method from their web site and I can get no information from them 1:1 email on what is needed to place an order.
The data in Howe and Matthews pointed to David Crockett as being a significant vessel, but listed any plans as having been lost in a fire at the yard of the builder.  It seemed fortunate that Mystic has them, but I guess it is an illusion.

to add to what Wayne has provided, the book has:
 
94 pages  with two fold out plans  
plans by T.W.Dunn & R.C.Callyn  original 1/2" to foot
in the book ~ 3/32":1'  Lines    Profile and Sail plan
 
There are almost as many drawings as pages - close up detail for many
As for knees, iron or otherwise, this component seems to be altogether absent.
 
I checked SM - I found no listing for this vessel there.

There may be some information in the following which documents the restoration of the ECB in 1969
 
Ansel, Willits Dyer. 1973. Restoration of the Smack Emma C. Berry at Mystic Seaport, 1969-1971. Mystic, Conn: Marine Historical Association. ISBN 978-0-913372-08-1    

This appears to be a snapshot of the major vessels of the French Navy from 1775-1793.  It is a compilation of the official plans with the addition of a few plans from the RN archives of captured vessels.  I suspect that there are more vessels that could have been included if their plans had survived.  This volume is similar to ANM in how useful its direct application is for a ship modeler.
I think this volume is a drafting of plans from the French Navy archives to a standard 1:72 format.  These are a bit different from the plans in the RN archives in the NNM.  There is less detail.  They seem to focus  on the interests of the naval architects. The swimming body and the run of the lines are complete.  The overall appearance of the vessels for historical preservation does not seem to be of much interest.  The construction details are not present.  
The following is my evaluation of each from the perspective of a POF scratch builder.
Plan 1  -  
La Bretagne 1762  110 guns
1:72  Body Plan, Waterlines Plan,  Profile
The wales, rails, gunports, headrails , mast locations at toprail.
Nothing on the stern, quarter galleries, figurehead or carvings.
There is enough information to frame and plank the hull. Everything else would be generic or spec.
Plan 2  -
Generic 3 decker and 74
1:144
Spars, sails, rigging  side view
quarter galleries and side view of figurehead
Plan 3  -
64 gun ship (Artsien) and 12lb frigate (Hermione)
1:144  
Spars, sails, rigging
both are smaller scale copies of what is in their respective individual monographs available from ANCRE
Plan 4  -
Le Ville de Paris  1757 100 guns
Body Plan only
This is the same as the information that I received from G. Delacroix when I asked about what was available for this ship.  It was the flagship of  Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse.  
Not enough information to model except to get the correct hull shape.
Plan 5  -
Le Duc de Bourhogne  1748  80 guns  
1:72  
Body Plan, Waterlines, Profile has rails, gunports, deck locations,  no wales, stern, or bow
Plan 6  -
Le Languedoc 1762  80 guns
Waterlines, Profile Plans same data as Plan 1, but no Body Plan  
The hull could be built using current methods.  I could not frame using just this information.
Plan 7  -
Le Tonnant 1742  80 guns  
Body Plan, Waterlines, Profile Plan
Same data as Plan 1 with some carving detail
Plan 8  -
Le Bien Aime  1767 - La Victoire 1768   74 guns
Body Plan, Waterlines,  Profile Plan
Same data as Plan 1
Plan 9  -
Le Bourgogne 1762  74 guns
Body Plan, Waterlines,  Profile Plan
Same data as Plan 1