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

[OlivierF]

Did you start with a copy of the original Underhill plans:
https://www.skipper.co.uk/catalogue....uk/catalogue/item/leon-lines-for-scale-model

There are a total of six sheets available from the site including detailed rigging.

Yes,I have the original plans.

 

[foretopman]

Krister and Olivier, I did Leon back in the 'eighties and that is just a guess. I am 92 now and forget things very easily. That said, you will have a lovely ship if you complete her and I wish you the very best. I sent my Leon to my brother in U.K. and she arrived in the case I built, with very little damage. SKAL' I will try to see if I still have photos.

 

[OlivierF]

Thanks Foretopman! I will finish this but I may be 92 when I do get there!
Currently I’m on a bit of a hiatus due to health issues but will get back to modeling soon.

 

[Fangorn]

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.

I like this reply.. in a way.
Liked his explanation of lofting.. and over and over... yep.. one for each frame(s). Patience one of the hardest things.

First, all Underhill ever did was POF (Plank on Frame). And he thought it was not something limited to "super-men" (Pg. 3 middle).
Some Questions are asked
" Are you doing POF - for to display the frames?" Underhill did not, but this could be done if desired.
"Singleton Frames" well for the cant frames yes.. for the rest they are made as square frames per the drawing. He does not speak of frustration..
"Are you going to plank the whole hull" Well yes, could be, or not.
"Go with WL (Water Line) lamination. THIS is a viable way to go and hollowing out the center and run carlings for the interior. A sturdy, accurate and tried way to go.
As to Planking... that is all part of the fun of doing this. One could scribe the planking on a smooth hull and this was done in the early modeling days.. including the painting of each of the frames in a styleized way.
I just received a book " Ship Models, Their purpose an development from 1650 to the present", Brian Lavery, Simon Stephens" A fascinating study of why models were made.. Using the laminated WL method is one of the oldest. The oldest being a carved block (not so accurate and painful to make..more so than a POF in my opinion".

I have been "thinking" of doing this for years.. now to get off my butt..

Guy

 

[foretopman]

Sorry guys but I feel like I was born yesterday on this site, except for one thing, the drafting of plans from the LINES of LEON as shown here. I must eplain first, that I became a professional draftsman, when I started my working life in an engineering company.The company made electric road vehicles for the railways, plus milk and bread vans for delivery to the poor housewives at that time. What you are looking at above is nothing more than three views of Leon , 1) a side view. 2) an end view and 3) a plan view . Now you see many lines drawn across both of these views. Think of them as a surgeon who cuts across a body lying motionless on a marble slab. These lines are picked at arbitrary distances from a CENTRE line, VERTICAL or KEEL line by the draftsman, because he wants to show something at that particular SECTION. That is all they represent, SECTIONS, nothing more. As drafting and engineering progessed, the lines were given Numerical or Letter names and if you were representing a large unit, several sheets of drawings would be required.

If you take measurements horizontally, from the centre line of ship out to a FRAME and make a dot, then do the same on another horizontal, higher or lower than the previous, you will finsh up with something which looks very much like a FRAME. KEEP GOING! you are just starting, HA,HA! Easy,isn't it but laborious