Book recommendations

[gulfmedic1]

Can anyone recommend a book for:

Explaining all the parts of a wood sailing vessel

Explaining hull shaping and planking

Explaining ropes and riggin

Thanks

[mtaylor]

The best general reference I've found is zu Mondfeld's Historic Ship Models.  It concerns mostly warships of English, French, and American ships.  It has some errors but it's good starting point.  

 

As for hull planking and shaping on model, you would probably want a different book if practical advice (how-to) is needed.

[Jaager]

It takes a library.  It helps if you specialize as to era and ship type i.e. wood vs steel   sail vs steam

 

To dip your toe in:

Historic Ship Models
by Wolfram zu Mondfeld

 

Neophyte Shipmodeller's Jackstay
by George F. Campbell

 

The CD sold here covering the back issues of three journals  have much information.

 

 

 

[barkeater]

I also would recommend Monfelds as your first book purchase. I have a dozen or so books and more often than not I find what I'm looking for in his book.

Richard

[kljang]

I’ve written a new book entitled “ship Models from the Age of Sail: Building. And Enhancing Commercial Kits” that might be helpful to you.  It was just published by Seaforth Publishing in the UK and Naval Institute Press in the USA.

 

it’s more about kit building so describe planking and rigging, and name kit parts.  For the names of actual ship timbers in detail, then Peter Godwin’s books are best. 
 

cheers,

 

Kerry Jang

[Roger Pellett]

As Jaager points out, it does take a library.

 

If like many forum members, you are interested in Nelson era sailing warships, an oldie but goodie is Longridge’s The Anatomy of Nelson’s Ships.  The book is greatly enhanced with George Campbell’s excellent drawings.  The book describes construction of a model of HMS Victory so it blends modelmaking techniques with Victory’s anatomy.

 

Roger

 

 

[Bob Cleek]

6 hours ago, gulfmedic1 said:

Can anyone recommend a book for:

Explaining all the parts of a wood sailing vessel

Explaining hull shaping and planking

Explaining ropes and rigging

 

As Jaager said, "It takes a library." The subjects you've listed are extremely broad and vary over the centuries and from geographic area to geographic area. There really isn't any single book, or even several books, that cover it all. Each model you build, if you are serious about it, will require some degree of research. I'd suggest you identify the specific vessel in which you are interested, or the era and type of vessel, and begin your research there. For example, if you are interested in American clipper ships, you'd want to obtain a copy of The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856: Characteristics, Construction, and Details by William L. Crothers, an excellent volume that covers the subject in great detail. https://www.amazon.com/American-Built-Clipper-Ship-1850-1856-Characteristics/dp/1635617332 It will not, however, be of much help if you are interested in mid- to late-18th Century British warships, you'd want to have a copy of David Anscherl's The Fully Framed Model, HMN Swan Class Sloops 1767-1780. https://www.amazon.com/Fully-Framed-Model-Sloops-1767-1780/dp/0975577212/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1659827783&refinements=p_27%3ADavid+Antscherl&s=books&sr=1-1 If you stay with the hobby any length of time, you can find yourself with a library of hundreds of books, many out of print and hard to come by, and acquiring such a library can become "a hobby within a hobby." (And modelers, or their widows, sometimes offer entire libraries of this type for sale when the modeler no longer has a use for them.)

 

Fortunately, today "there's an app for that." Google is your friend. A tremendous amount of information is available on the internet, some as raw material, and some in forums such as MSW. Also, there are many of the old classic books, now in the public domain, which have been scanned and can be downloaded, such as George Biddlecombe's The Art of Rigging (1848) (https://thenrg.org/resources/Documents/articles/TheArtOfRigging-Biddlecomb.pdf) and David Steele's The Art of Rigging (1896)  https://thenrg.org/resources/Documents/articles/TheArtOfRigging-Steel.pdf , both of which are available in the "Articles and How Tos" section (https://thenrg.org/resource/articles) of the NRG's "Resources for Ship Modelers" on the "Resources" section of the MSW forum. (https://thenrg.org/resource) This section of the forum is full of materials that will likely go far in answering many of your present questions.

[gulfmedic1]

I do like the time line 1700 to 1800

[gulfmedic1]

Thank you all very much 

[allanyed]

42 minutes ago, gulfmedic1 said:

I do like the time line 1700 to 1800

As stated above it takes a library, albeit a small  one to get started.  Great advice has been given above.   I highly recommend Goodwin's The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War and Brian Lavery's The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1815.  For rigging, there are several, but the best by far, and I think many would agree, when it comes to explanations and accuracy, is David Lees' The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860. 

 

There are also free sources that are useful.

The formulas in Lees' book for sizing masts, spars and lines have been put into a spread sheet by the late Danny Vadas and available here at MSW in the Articles data base.  It is spot on except for the period from 1670 to 1711 where he did not use the right initial formula so everything is completely wrong for that time span and should not be used.

 

To learn how to properly plank ships of that era the 4 part You Tube Video by Chuck Passaro and the article Primer on Planking by professional ship modeler and author David Antscherl, both of who are members here,  which can be found here at MSW in the Articles data base are hard to beat.  

 

Even if you are kit building, these articles and books will help you immensely.  

 

And there are thousands of free low resolution contemporary plans and photos of models on the RMG Collections site as well as free high resolution versions of nearly 1000 of these (along with about 2000 low res) on the Wiki Commons site.   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich

 

It is all part of the journey and should be a most pleasurable one.

 

Allan

 

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by allanyed

[gulfmedic1]

Thanks Allan and everyone 

[Cathead]

If you're looking for something accessible that will give you a decent overview of the evolution of wooden ship design over time, I strongly recommend "The Evolution of the Wooden Ship" by Basil Greenhill. It's a simply and clearly written work heavily illustrated with really nice drawings, that reads more like a narrative than a reference work. I think it'd be particularly well-suited for beginners. Many of the reference works out there that experienced modelers use can be pretty difficult for those newer to the subject. I think it helped me more than anything else I've read to really understand the geometry and evolution of ship design. It mostly focuses on hulls, less so on rigging, so you'll have to look elsewhere for that.

 

Also, in terms of books on modeling, I'd be cautious about using older books. There are many old staples that are good in their way, but are also pretty out of date with respect to modern materials, methods, and kit design. Honestly I think there's better and more accessible information online than in most books, and I say that despite being the son of a librarian and a confirmed book lover.

[popeye2sea]

If you would like a pure reference volume, nothing beats Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine, 1815 edition.

 

Regards,

 

[Roger Pellett]

The Evolution of the Wooden Ship s a great book.  While beautifully illustrated and easy to read, it is also a sophisticated analysis.

 

Roger

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, popeye2sea said:

If you would like a pure reference volume, nothing beats Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine, 1815 edition.

 

Regards,

 

Here's the online link for the 1780 edition.  :  https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20110215215247/http://southseas.nla.gov.au/refs/falc/contents.html

[gulfmedic1]

23 hours ago, allanyed said:

As stated above it takes a library, albeit a small  one to get started.  Great advice has been given above.   I highly recommend Goodwin's The Construction and Fitting of the English Man of War and Brian Lavery's The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1815.  For rigging, there are several, but the best by far, and I think many would agree, when it comes to explanations and accuracy, is David Lees' The Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War 1625-1860. 

 

There are also free sources that are useful.

The formulas in Lees' book for sizing masts, spars and lines have been put into a spread sheet by the late Danny Vadas and available here at MSW in the Articles data base.  It is spot on except for the period from 1670 to 1711 where he did not use the right initial formula so everything is completely wrong for that time span and should not be used.

 

To learn how to properly plank ships of that era the 4 part You Tube Video by Chuck Passaro and the article Primer on Planking by professional ship modeler and author David Antscherl, both of who are members here,  which can be found here at MSW in the Articles data base are hard to beat.  

 

Even if you are kit building, these articles and books will help you immensely.  

 

And there are thousands of free low resolution contemporary plans and photos of models on the RMG Collections site as well as free high resolution versions of nearly 1000 of these (along with about 2000 low res) on the Wiki Commons site.   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ship_plans_of_the_Royal_Museums_Greenwich

 

It is all part of the journey and should be a most pleasurable one.

 

Allan

 

 

 

 

Where are Chucks videos on MSW?

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, gulfmedic1 said:

Where are Chucks videos on MSW?

For planking?  Go up to the top of page and click on "more".   In the drop down, you'll see "planking tutorials".  Chuck's are in there there.