Hannah by DocBlake. 1:32 Scale - Scratch Built, Plank-on-Frame, Admiralty Style

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I have two other projects going, but....


This will be my build log for a scratch-built, 1:32 scale, plank-on-frame, admiralty style model of "Hannah", purportedly the first armed ship recruited into Washington's navy during the Revolutionary War.
I've wanted to do a full hull scratch build at this larger scale, but what ship? The choice was not completely arbitrary. Even a 5th or 6th rate frigate in the Royal Navy would be 4-1/2 feet long at this scale, not including the bowsprit! Obviously I had to look elsewhere. I settled on Hannah because it is significantly smaller (this model will be 24" long with a 6" beam) and there was a lot of documentation out there regarding the model. I have Hahn's book as well as his plans for "Hannah" to use as a reference. The actual building plans were drawn by Bob Hunt, based on Hahn's original drawings, and were done in 1:48 scale. I had them resized to 1:32. The drawings show each individual futtock and include detailed drawings of each frame, including bevel lines. The model will be built in an upright jig, as was my 1;32 Armed Virginia Sloop and my 1:32 "Blandford" cross section. The frames, stem, keel and stern will be boxwood. I'll decide on other woods as I move along with the build.
Thanks for looking in! Here are some shots of the plans and Bob Hunt's "Hannah" model along with a link to his website. https://www.lauckstreetshipyard.com/



IMG_1800.JPGIMG_2466.JPGplans1.jpgplans2.jpgplans3.jpgT
 
Thanks for looking in, guys!


I started working on the model by milling my wood. The frames are double frames, sistered together. each half-thickness frame is 9/64" thick, with a finished frame thickness of 9/32". almost all the billets are 9/64" thick. The stem and keel are supposed to be constructed of two thicknesses also, but I simply made them 9/32". The photos show some of the milled wood, my keel blank with the false keel attached , the stem and the template for the keel scarf rubber cemented to the keel blank.




han-boxwood.jpghan-keelblank.jpghan-keelscarf.jpghan-stem.jpg
 
You're convincing me Mike! I have a larger plate on order! :D

I question making the stem out of a single timber. Both Harold Hahn and Bob Hunt left the stem as a single timber. It's a large piece of wood with a pretty serious curve in it. I doubt that a large enough tree could be found with the natural curve in it to serve as the stem. If the stem were cut from a single straight timber , that piece of wood would have to be almost 6 feet wide! I doubt there were many trees that were more than 6 feet in diameter while being suitable for shipbuilding! My conclusion it that the stem would almost certainly be scarfed together. Here is a proposed scarf for the stem. I have no real plans that show this...it just makes sense to me. Thoughts? stemscarf.jpg
 
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