Lettering

[tonyvou13]

I don’t have a very steady hand so I’d like to know how y’all put the ships name on the bow and a rounded stern

 

[AllanKP69]

don’t have a very steady hand so I’d like to know how y’all put the ships name on the bow and a rounded stern

Hi Tony,
What nation and year is your model? For English Navy ships, names were not permitted on ships by order of the Admiralty except for one ten year period in the age of sail so if your project is an English ship, you may have no need.
Allan

 

[Rob444]

I don’t have a very steady hand so I’d like to know how y’all put the ships name on the bow and a rounded stern

One option is press on lettering. Available in many many fonts, sizes and colors. Just google press on lettering.

Rob

 

[tonyvou13]

Hi Tony,
What nation and year is your model? For English Navy ships, names were not permitted on ships by order of the Admiralty except for one ten year period in the age of sail so if your project is an English ship, you may have no need.
Allan

 

[tonyvou13]

The model is the fishing schooner Benjamin Latham. Hull is black and name goes on both port and starboard bow. Also on the rounded stern.

 

[AllanKP69]

The model is the fishing schooner Benjamin Latham. Hull is black and name goes on both port and starboard bow. Also on the rounded stern.

Rob has given you great advice. Be sure whatever you buy is compatible with the type of finish you will be using on the hull. An alternative is to print it in whatever color, size and font that you want. For the Effie M. Morrissey, I typed the name in a yellowish color with a black background then printed it. Then it was just cut out and glued on the hull. I have used this method printing on ordinary bond paper and silkspan and both work well in my experience.
Allan

 

[MisterCA]

I used press on with my Tug build. Dedicated to my wife. Not he best but it works somehow.

 

[johnv]

Hi Tony,
What nation and year is your model? For English Navy ships, names were not permitted on ships by order of the Admiralty except for one ten year period in the age of sail so if your project is an English ship, you may have no need.
Allan

I read your comment while searching for methods of attaching the transom name of my 1805 HMS Bellerophon. Then a search of paintings of Bellerophon and other 74 gun ships confirmed your statement. The only paintings of Bellerophon with names on the transom were late 19th century or later. So why do kit makers add such prominent names to their models? And if possible could you provide a reference to the Admiralty order please? And when was the 10 year window?

 

[AllanKP69]

And when was the 10 year window?

Admiralty orders to add the name was about 1771 and then cancelled it around 1780. Did every ship follow the rules? I doubt it. If a ship was around during that decade, it would likely have had the name on it. There were rules on the size of the lettering that changed during that period as well. Admiralty orders can usually be found at the National Archives at Kew or RMG in Greenwich. I do not have the orders to paint and to stop the name painting but I think it can be found at PRO Adm. 7/659. The first orders in 1771 were to have ship names painted on the stern in letters a foot high, and enclosed in a compartment but in 1772 the order was modified to paint the names without compartment in letters as large as the counter would admit. The practice was abandoned for tactical reasons during the French wars and admirals began removing names to prevent enemy identification. Even modern Royal Navy warships continue to exclude prominent painted names from their hulls.

Typical lettering can be seen below on Triton 1773


I went through the original contract for Bellerophon but could not find anything on the stern painting. Note that pages 12 and 19 are missing on the copy of the contract at RMG but looking at other contracts I have not found anything in them about name on the stern.

So why do kit makers add such prominent names to their models?

I do not know the answer but based on the other mistakes by many, not all, kit makers, it might be as simple as them not knowing how to do proper research or they do, but the cost to do the research is too high and would raise the price of their kits. Most of us are/were unaware of this kind of thing so in the end it is not a big deal for most. I was totally unaware of the names on the hulls rules for decades before learning otherwise from folks with a lot more knowledge than I could ever hope for.

 

[Roger Pellett]

I believe that romance drives kit sails, hence the popularity of kits related to highly publicized names; Nelson and Victory Golden Hinde and Drake, Old Ironsides, etc. Adding a name to a ship model adds romance and glamor.

How many kits of an unnamed British 74 Gun ship of 17XX would sell?

Roger

 

[AllanKP69]

How many kits of an unnamed British 74 Gun ship of 17XX would sell?

I really do get the point Roger and we'll never know. For the most part the kit manufacturers are marketing folks not researchers or historians. For those builders that want the model to be realistic I guess just do not put it on if it is not appropriate, but have a small brass name plate with the name of the model and the builder and date on the display board instead of on the model.
Allan

 

[johnv]

I really do get the point Roger and we'll never know. For the most part the kit manufacturers are marketing folks not researchers or historians. For those builders that want the model to be realistic I guess just do not put it on if it is not appropriate, but have a small brass name plate with the name of the model and the builder and date on the display board instead of on the model.
Allan

Yes Allan, that is what I will do for my Bellerophon. I certainly will NOT be installing the 8.6mm high brass name on the counter. That is equivalent to 620mm high at full scale. I am not obsessed with historic accuracy, but that kit plan modification is just beyond the pale IMO.