Which is the oldest book on shipmodelling?

[wefalck]

In another thread we got a bit side-tracked and started talking about when books on shipmodelling came onto the market. The oldest I am currently aware of is this one:

 

Chapman, C. (1869): All About Ships and the Way to Make Models of Them.- 2 Vols.: 68+68 p., 3 pl., London (Wilson).

 

Vol. 1: https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafQYVIVxto10ATpCWcm3H87dEieZEqj9nbUmRVHXSIBrfcXvQx4GNaH5t1_3hHMYOMl3_XWvJWCfpEMzmdEwJLOSZjgpNKg_FbtZHlnd_hfxXRZGD8ybJ23859QgUQQBchREPQMkk39UUPsXVIYWMr-iM0wdmke3v0yXJe__ltCYBs7e8aOdRw4UpotZw5n5WHQzuNwY-S3aMxJRO8I0FrdjwL7_AreC8CTCjNIcTb3EkVIZNKf2KMm0yb-qa4-bgFwAQxwOqfQ82OkFpWRX8wutnEn0g

Vol. 2: https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qafw6gLcfJm9KhfH4itZesC_Yl6tANR0m_E8ZFGspk9DGOUe68Ck2tCvV7OyYRh9T_YnfPxTkrX045kW_l1EO7pbqd3onk5cC6XMB38zN4bfW8mHPfcg8EkePtBEOB_4uLJZs0Poa3nO9_EPnsdDhRGuw9xY3PkgdA7WRsXrw9r-zIf2zah_0aHFMj8XxOcLIGUTfen6SRH6gpXlR1Z2t8iaC0t2Vw9a2A9UACZjTpG6njr0dKHPG-Y2uGgitCpP7IvRzooXDFbOUQ7nKvxKwTt-Zkm8GxFg7FVqtpl6qKGk_pKUHrY

 

The scan of the 2nd volume contains the properly scanned plates!

 

Who can beat me ?

Edited December 28, 2025 by wefalck

[Harvey Golden]

That is quite an eclectic book-- it covers a lot of ground beyond models.  It seems on first glance only the first 3 pages cover models? Chapman lists a supplier of model fittings, and it's the same one advertised in Hasluck, 1905 (attached below)-- must've been a good supplier to have been in business that long; I wonder when they opened.  H-

[Kenchington]

Wikipedia says "Established 1843". Their 1934 catalogue is on-line at https://usvmyg.org/archives/a-catalog-of-model-yachts-model-ships-yacht-fittings-stevenss-model-dockyard-1934/ 

 

Looks like their variety of fittings 90 years ago would put to shame most modern suppliers. I wonder whether they expected to sell mainly to enthusiastic amateurs or the people who built large models for shipbuilding companies and passenger lines?

 

Trevor

[DARIVS ARCHITECTVS]

[druxey]

Chapman makes very entertaining reading on his advice to the neophyte hand on his first days on board. Try pages 12 to 16.

Edited December 29, 2025 by druxey

[Gregory]

I offer this from 1684.

 

From the post by @palmerit

 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Good to start a new thread than to load up another log ... and I'm wondering if the title of the new one should be tweaked a little - rather than to search for the 'oldest' ship modeling book, maybe it could be a review of any pre-1950 'how-to' book (just a thought).

 

  Regardless, I just received an original 1926 copy of Ship Model Making (vol. 2 on the clipper Sovereign of the Seas) - a famous McKay ship) by E. Armitage McCann (through Abe Books on Amazon).  I'm impressed at the amount of useful information in this book - not just for the 'scratch' builder it was intended for, but also for those getting into (or renewing) an interest in model shipbuilding today - with the advantages of the latest in ship kit technology.

 

  There a lot of 'nuts and bolts' talk about how to go about model ship making (for a clipper, at least, in this book - but transferrable as well) - including nautical terms and many illustrations/diagrams.  A weakness may be a shortage of 'detailed' wood modeling techniques to actually craft many of the features illustrated ... but this was in 1926 when many 'handyman' skills were common (and expected) of boys and men.  There are reasonable simplifications in the rigging, and a fairly clear layout (in comparison, the Cutty Sark rigging in the Airfix scale series of books can drive a modeler nuts, without a great deal of studying/interpretation and jumping around).  There is a concise history of the subject ship herself, and a pair (checked in advance on my copy) of large folded plans in a pocket in the back hard cover ... very nice.

 

  Due to the date of printing, the paper is increasingly fragile due to the acid content of early 20th century publications - so care in handling is needed.  There are Dover re-prints of this book (less the large plans ... 'not sure if they include reduced versions) ... but possibly subject to 'later' copyright of the Dover edition - an 'ah-ha' moment, as the 1926 book IS now in the public domain.  Thus it can be copied by any means and used at will !

  So I'll add just a few of the 1926 book illustrations as samples:  I LOVE the 'layer cake' method of roughing a solid hull - its one I have done successfully myself not long ago on Thermopylae, although I found carving easier with more layers - and the thickness of the layers becomes thinner towards the keel area.

 

 

 

 

 

[palmerit]

I don’t know, the first post was asking what the oldest book on ship modeling was. The one I saw in the Art Gallery of Ontario might be one of the oldest. The photo of the book was included in a post about their model ship collection, which included this book. 
 

The text of that book is available online if anyone is interested:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A50859.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, Gregory said:

this from 1684

Thank you for that pointer to a work I had not seen! Addresses spar, rigging and sail plans, not just the more-common hull designs.

 

However, in that era, "model" could mean a two-dimensional representation -- as in a draught. Miller's "Compleat Modellist" is available in the Internet Archive and my quick scan didn't notice anything dealing with 3D models. Maybe I missed it.

 

Trevor

[druxey]

Sorry, but Miller in his day had a different meaning in his title 'model' - it could mean 'ideal' here or plan, as well as, less usually then,  a model as we understand it now. (A 'platt' was also a plan.)

Edited 6 hours ago by druxey