trailboard materials

[sheepsail]

What materials were header boards typically made of?

 

Many models seem to make this from PE brass.   I notice in the Lumber ship photos, they all look identical.   

 

 

What makes the white part stick out even when these were in a derelict state? 

 

I also note that in one photo. of the Forester,  I got from the museum where the headier board is clear.  That the port side is upside down from the starboard side?

 

 

Were these stamped out of something?   It looks like they were mass produced and placed one way or the other depending on which side was needed.

 

-julie

 

 

 

[catopower]

Hi Julie,

 

I've never heard the term header board. I know these as trailboards. As far as I know, they are just wood, and usually have a slight upward curve to them, so I don't think they were interchangeable.

 

I'm guessing that in some shipyards, there's one person who regularly carves these things. So, among the lumber schooners, many of them may very well look the same, or at least very similar. 

Edited October 28, 2025 by catopower

[sheepsail]

I changed the topic title as I see the trailboard term used in the 3D AI thread.

 

The plans call this head board.  Looks like it is supposed to be made as two parts.

 

Still curious what makes the carving white, even when these ships were derelict.    I spent hours over the years studying the Endurance photos since the ice really made the design stand out.   That kit used PE brass.   Since my kit had no fittings I do not know if this was an included piece or not

 

Late photographs show the trailboard was removed when the fittings were stripped.   Possible that this item is still around somewhere.  Most likely the maritime museum, which I think is locked out at the time of this posting due to federal shutdown, what affects the NPS.   

 

 

[Kenchington]

I'm with @catopower: Trailboards and the like were typically carved wood, with master carvers either part of a yard's workforce or else moving from yard to yard as each had a vessel nearing completion and ready for her fancy work.

 

When in service, the carvings would typically be picked out in white, yellow, gold (paint) or even gold leaf for fancier vessels. (Gold leaf was still common for the lettering of names on yachts into the 1960s.) I'm not sure why they still show as pale in photos of derelicts. That might just be the angle of the light or could the carving be in a different kind of wood from the surface it was fastened to?

 

Trevor

[ccoyle]

Gotta remember that in the early 20th century, wood carvings were still common architectural features, so professional carvers would not have been so rare as they are in our modern age.

[thibaultron]

At least on Chesapeake Bay boats the Trailboard was in two pieces, as one piece was mounted on the hull and the other then angled out from it to the bowsprit. The joint was angled so the board met seamlessly between the two parts. This also accounts for the upward curve of this section.

 

As a side note typically the only blue on a boat in this area was on the trailboard, as a background to the stars and name, representing the blue background on the US flag. It was otherwise concidered bad luk to paint any part of the boat blue.

 

 

[thibaultron]

http://lastskipjacks.com/images/ladykatie_trailboard.jpg

 

 

Edited October 29, 2025 by thibaultron