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Working vessel plans

Dreamcrusher

Dreamcrusher

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Jul 17, 2017
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Hello!

I am very new here and am also very new to maritime modeling. I am interested in working vessels, especially of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Can someone point me to a source of plans for these vessels? I've found a few examples in the National Maritime Museum's collection but nothing extensive.

Thanks much!
 
working vessels covers a wide range of ships

The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 to December 31, 1800. there wasn't much ship building going on in North America in the 18th century. however in the 19th century after the war of 1812 there was a surge of ship building.

there is a massive collection of plans at Bowling Green University starting around 1830 to 1900

www.bgsu.edu

Historical Collections of the Great Lakes

The main purpose of the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes (HCGL) is to collect, preserve, and make available historical materials documenting the Great Lakes
www.bgsu.edu www.bgsu.edu
 
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Thank you, Dave! I'll dig around.

I would like to start on fishing vessels. I've dug around a bit for herring busses. I might be terrible at searching the net but wasn't coming up with anything more than the single sheet the NMM has.
 
Dreamcrusher said:
Hello!

I am very new here and am also very new to maritime modeling. I am interested in working vessels, especially of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Can someone point me to a source of plans for these vessels? I've found a few examples in the National Maritime Museum's collection but nothing extensive.

Thanks much!
Click to expand...

Not many shipwrights used drawings or any sort of building plans in in the 18th to early 19th century. Most ships were build from a 1/2 hull or from offsets.
 
Appreciate all the information, Dave!

It's a good point that drafts and drawings weren't being used by the builders. I hadn't thought about that. Is there a place to search modern monographs?

The Nova Scotia reference seems like a great place to ask!

Thanks a bunch!
 
Dreamcrusher said:
Appreciate all the information, Dave!

It's a good point that drafts and drawings weren't being used by the builders. I hadn't thought about that. Is there a place to search modern monographs?

The Nova Scotia reference seems like a great place to ask!

Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...

try here

councilofamericanmaritimemuseums.org

Ship Plans Directory | Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM)

How to use the Directory If you are looking for plans for a particular vessel or type of vessel, check the Vessel Type Summary to see which institutions have holdings that might help your search. You can then click on the institution link to find out more about their specific holdings and whom...
councilofamericanmaritimemuseums.org councilofamericanmaritimemuseums.org
 
The Historic American Engineering Record at the Library of Congress has some boat and ship plans- I don't have a handy link. Wait, I do:
matthewsmodelmarine.wordpress.com

Ships’ Plans from the Historic American Engineering Record

HAER: A Program of the National Parks Service ©2007 Patrick Matthews Note: Also see my article on HAMMS ship plans. On a recent visit to the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, I boarded…
matthewsmodelmarine.wordpress.com matthewsmodelmarine.wordpress.com
A good source for monographs is

Academia.edu - Find Research Papers, Topics, Researchers

Academia.edu is the platform to share, find, and explore 50 Million research papers. Join us to accelerate your research needs & academic interests.
www.academia.edu www.academia.edu
Once you sign up-for free-it is searchable and they will let you know when a new paper in your area of interest is published.
 
The easiest solution is to move from the 18th century and early 19th century to the mid 19th century where there is a "bottomless pit" of plans of merchant ships, all of which were "working!" Loads of plans of them in books and old technical journals. I even produce my own from ancient and tattered originals, collected over the years, but very few ship modellers are interested in them, as they are too "modern" and commercial rather than warships - I even build models of them myself, but only collectors are generally interested in them. The fact that they are so rarely modelled makes them even more interesting!:D
Bob

Signality profile.jpgMargaret Wicks 2.jpg

Jigger mast complete (Large).JPG
 
Good looking stuff, Bob!

While pushing into a later period might bring more material, my passion lies with busses, schooners, luggers, whaling ships, pilot boats and cutters... these are the vessels that I could sustain enough interest to get me through a build.
 
Here is an ancient whaler, the Essex, that I built some time ago. I got the plan from the Book In The Heart of the Sea. I have no idea what a "bus" is (in the nautical sense). But I have done a number of small ships, that don't seem a great deal different from older types. Also, ancient colier brig Sicily. More modern ones, brig Admirable, and schooner Miss Morris. To me, just as attractive as earlier designs - Bob

Miss Morris in sea.jpgAdmirable (Large).JPG


Sicily Port bow 9th March (Medium).JPG


Essex (Medium).jpg
 
shipbuilder said:
Here is an ancient whaler, the Essex, that I built some time ago. I got the plan from the Book In The Heart of the Sea. I have no idea what a "bus" is (in the nautical sense). But I have done a number of small ships, that don't seem a great deal different from older types. Also, ancient colier brig Sicily. More modern ones, brig Admirable, and schooner Miss Morris. To me, just as attractive as earlier designs - Bob

View attachment 138823View attachment 138822


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Click to expand...
Good morning Bob. I am impressed by your outstanding display bases, especially the ones with rougher water and a wake. Is there a build log with info about how to do that?
Have a great day and thank you.
Steven
 
Morning Steven,
Thank you. I don't tend to do build logs any more, as my field of shipmodelling is very specialist, and really does not bring about much of a response anywhere. (Apart from viewing numbers) But all my knowledge gained over many years has been put into downloads. One or two are free, but most are only for the price of a cup of coffee, where the most comprehensive (150 plus pages) are more. Here is a link to the entire catalogue. Click any image front page and scroll down a bit after it opens to read the synopsis of each. Then, if you wish to get a download, a button is provided for paypal or cards - All my printed books on the subject are sold out now. I can answer simple questions here, but the downloads have taken years to write and constain many thosuands of words and hundreds and hundreds of "how to" illustrations. Sadly, most model shipbuilders just decide they can't build them at these convenient scales, and never even try. When I got married (1987) my wife asked if she might paint the seas, and from then on she has done just that, so I can't take any credit for the seas, but details of how everything is done, including how to make display cases, seas, and the models themselves is included. https://payhip.com/Shipbuilder/collection/miniature-merchant-ship-construction-history
Bob
 
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I know you asked about plan sets but you could also search for model kits of period working ships. Several online sources carry them. One such source is Bluejacket up in Maine.
 
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