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Brigantine LEON (1880) 1:48 - Harold A. Underhill books and plans

OlivierF

OlivierF

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Lake Tahoe
I may be biting off more than I can chew but I’m going to attempt building the Brigantine Leon in 1:48 scale. I have the plans and books from Mr. Underhill as seen below.
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The plans are in ⅛” (1:96) scale and I’ve asked a friend in a blueprinting shop to copy the lines drawing and details drawing in ¼” (1:48) scale
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The plans are not quite to scale so I may yet try and loft the frames using a proportional divider as described in Underhill’s book. I also found a used copy of “Lofting by Allan H.Vaitses” on EBay which should arrive soon. Hopefully, with the help of these texts you will see some level of success. Or, by contrast, the level of swearing around the shipyard will increase proportionally! We’ll see.

I have also been following along on the VERY technical discussion going on in @Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) blog about Harold Hahn’s model building methods. That particular discussion (much of which is way above my head) makes lofting sound like I will need a Master’s Degree in Naval Engineering to even attempt this task.

So, this may be a very short build log…
 
I started building this ship very long time ago, but family life came in between and the build was put on hold. I converted all drawings to scale 1:75 and started slowly with keel, stem, stern and a couple of frames. Keel, stem and stern is made from oak and the frames from beech wood (2mm popsickle sticks). At the moment I'm busy with the Billing Boats Norske Løve and Vasa, but after that I might pic it up again. I will follow your build log with great interest.

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OlivierF said:
I may be biting off more than I can chew but I’m going to attempt building the Brigantine Leon in 1:48 scale. I have the plans and books from Mr. Underhill as seen below.
View attachment 582474

The plans are in ⅛” (1:96) scale and I’ve asked a friend in a blueprinting shop to copy the lines drawing and details drawing in ¼” (1:48) scale
View attachment 582476
View attachment 582475

The plans are not quite to scale so I may yet try and loft the frames using a proportional divider as described in Underhill’s book. I also found a used copy of “Lofting by Allan H.Vaitses” on EBay which should arrive soon. Hopefully, with the help of these texts you will see some level of success. Or, by contrast, the level of swearing around the shipyard will increase proportionally! We’ll see.

I have also been following along on the VERY technical discussion going on in @Dave Stevens (Lumberyard) blog about Harold Hahn’s model building methods. That particular discussion (much of which is way above my head) makes lofting sound like I will need a Master’s Degree in Naval Engineering to even attempt this task.

So, this may be a very short build log…
Click to expand...
Hi OlivierF,

Those two books of Harold Underhill's are my go to books for guidance and instruction, I will pull up a chair if there is room.

Cheers,
Stephen.
 
Krister , as for scale I just took the plans from the book, decided on
the model to fit a certain size display case that I would make ,enlarged
the plans and went with it. Thus the finished model as you now see.
Winova
 
OlivierF said:
That particular discussion (much of which is way above my head) makes lofting sound like I will need a Master’s Degree in Naval Engineering to even attempt this task.
Click to expand...
Lofting is fairly simple geometry once you understand what the plans are showing. It is mostly a matter of measuring a distance, rotating it 90 degrees, and placing it on the proper line on a grid and then connecting the dots.
The difficult part is that it must be done over and over and over and over and over and.............

It is easier to write possible options and suggestions as orders and as something orthodox. The verbs etc. are easier to do.

Are you doing POF - for to display the frames?
If so: the plans show singleton frames. You don't want it! Either half the sided dimension of each frame and make a bend of it or slide two frames together to make a bend. If you build with each frame timber only held together by an end grain to end grain bond? It will be constant frustration and heartache when many or most of the bonds fail as you shape them.
An alternative to what Underhill shows is the consider all of the stylized framing options in use and choose one of them.

Are you going to plank the whole hull?
Go with WL lamination half hull hollow interior carved then joined P&S.
If you intend to paint the swimming body:
add planking thickness to the carve pattern and skip the whole planking part.
 
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Jaager,
Thanks for your insight, unfortunately you are university professor communicating with a 5th grader in this situation. About 70% of the terminology you’ve used is foreign to me. I am learning the “language” but nowhere near fluent. I will continue to follow Underhill’s manuscript as well as the recently purchased Vatses book (once it arrives) and make my best effort.
Again thanks for your input and sharing of your knowledge.
 
Oliver,
At least the plans are black on white and not the more ancient blue prints or worse blue with white lines.
Any adjustment CAN be done by you using a 3in1 home printer scanner. But it also requires a capable drawing program and you determining the scale adjustment to counter the built in inexact scale of the scanner.
I also hope that I blocked any "help" from the printer by defining my canvas as being the pixel dimensions of my printer paper shy a pixel or two less buffer. There is also that "Fit picture to frame" box to uncheck in Windows printer app.

The first question is: What sort of build do you intend?
 
I intend to build her as described in Underhill’s books. I’m only upsizing from ⅛ scale to ¼ scale.
Again thank you for your advice but I’m a retired Civil Engineer with 40 years of CAD and drafting experience. Just not in naval engineering or architecture.
Have a good evening and now I’m going back to watching the Indian Wells tennis tournament,
 
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