Harold Hahn

[AllanKP69]

The perfect storm Harold Hahn was a classical trained artist

Mr, Hahn contributed a LOT to the modeling community, and I did build one model (HMS Roebuck) using his information and methods, but not something I would likely do again. So much wood is wasted with his framing method and so many details are missing that it is easier and less expensive to use contemporary plans and scantlings. In the case of Roebuck (44) 1774 the plans and original contract with the 1785 and 1787 modifications are available for a free download at the RMG Collections site. Sample page is below

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

So much wood is wasted with his framing method and so many details are missing

this will be addressed in part 2

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

As we have seen Bob built hulls with floors and futtocks between the floor heads a type of admiralty style of building.



This was not a stylized framing it was an actual framing system shown in this model of the San Juan wreck in Red Bay.



Although this framing was used by Bob it was not going to work for what Harold had in mind.



one problem was the frame futtocks were not sistered together they were one solid independent timber placing them in the hull required precise building. This made building up a framed hull far more difficult, so Harold had to engineer another way for a model builder to accomplish a framed hull.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

There was a stylized framing of admiralty models of room and space where the frames and spaces were equal. Let's look at Bob's model of the Boston.



This is what Harold was looking for and a way to engineer a system of building models so anyone with the desire can accomplish a scratch-built framed model.

When you look at a fine art model you know it instantly there is something about it, design, balance, proportion skilled craftsmanship.

Equal room and spacing of frames was seen everywhere Bob Bruckshaw use it in his models as well as Crabtree use it and a number of other model builders even the builders of the Navy board models used it. Not only was it used in model building but also used in actual hull construction. There seems to be more to it than just a random method. Keeping in mind Harold Hahn was an engineer by trade and accomplished artist one thing all engineers and artists know is the golden mean. This is a ratio of geometric proportion that is used in architecture, art, engineering and even in the natural world. This proportion is said to produce the most aesthetically pleasing results. Equal room and space framing in ship models is the starting point of design the balance between art and engineering.
From the artistry of the early admiralty models to the contemporary works of builders like Bruckshaw and Hahn they knew darn well what they were doing within the arts, engineering, and historical accuracy.

“It is well known by artists and engineers and architects that the eyes take in information more efficiently when they scan side-to-side, as opposed to up and down.”
the first impression when seeing a fine art ship model is the foundation it sits on, the framing the architecture of the work then the details.

We often speak of the golden proportions of the Parthenon in artistic and aesthetic terms, forgetting that behind all architectural and art there must be a firm foundation in ultimate numbers. As Pythagoras had clearly said: first of all is numbers.

​

 

[BradNSW]

This is what Harold was looking for and a way to engineer a system of building models so anyone with the desire can accomplish a scratch-built framed model.

Dave,
Great thread. In 1987, I used Hahn's framing method to start scratch build HMS Serapis from Greenwich plans of HMS Roebuck. His book and method seemed aesthetically pleasing and feasible for a first-time scratch build!

Equal room and spacing of frames was seen everywhere...even the builders of the Navy board models used it. Not only was it used in model building but also used in actual hull construction.

Having just graduated from the USNA as a NArc, and spending time admiring the Navy Board models in the museum, the equal spacing seemed to work for me. Both structurally and aesthetically, and it was also familiar from admiring those models.

From the artistry of the early admiralty models to the contemporary works of builders like Bruckshaw and Hahn they knew darn well what they were doing within the arts, engineering, and historical accuracy.
“It is well known by artists and engineers and architects that the eyes take in information more efficiently when they scan side-to-side, as opposed to up and down.”
The first impression when seeing a fine art ship model is the foundation it sits on, the framing the architecture of the work then the details.

Placing flush mounted wall lights behind a model with this spacing draws attention to the framing. Then, after being drawn in, people begin to notice and comment on the details like carvings, gunports, seats of ease, etc. Seems to happen the same way every time, when a person unfamiliar with ship models sees it.

 

[AllanKP69]

Brad
Your display with the back lighting and the plans is an inspiration. Now to find the right place in the house....... THANKS FOR POSTING THIS
Allan

 

[manning16]

Great threads...I have inherited several Hahn plans and correspondence from him dating to the early 90's . I finished the Hahn Hannah recently.. I cannot take credit for the many cherry futtocks framed up by Karl Schenk..world class bird carver and shipbuilder and longtime member of our Naples ship modelers group. ..At 92 years young, he offered the jig and framed hull for sale to me. It was a two year project to finish her. I am building Admiralty/Arsenal style ships now for reasons aforementioned. Thank you Dave for your talent ,knowledge and contributions.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

going back to post 24 the stylized admiralty framing was what Harold was looking for. What he designed was to have the appearance of the stylized framing but not built like the stylized Admiralty framing. In order to follow the building technique, you would need solid frame timbers scarfed together at the ends. This system used in admiralty model construction is difficult, freehand and does not work in a ridged jig system.



The answer is to use actual framing practices of double sistered frames. Now you have a complete solid frame that can be set into a jig. The arm chain experts are totally confused because Harold used a mashup of North American frame construction to accomplish the appearance of an English admiralty model.

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

Harold Hahn had written 35 articles on ship modeling, 2 books, 16 sets of plans, 25 models and hundreds of figures, 16 etchings of nautical subjects and hundreds of prints, etchings and drawings each and everyone titled, numbered and signed and his work in three museums. He won awards at the Cleveland Museum of art as well as national competitions at the Library of Congress in Washington and the National Academy of Design in New York, at the Victory show at the New York Metropolitan Museum his was the first of five prints purchased for the Library of Congress collection.

Harold had stated his plans were for the more advanced scratch builders and they were just a starting point. A builder with knowledge of ship construction can alter the original drawings Like any artists work there is much more hidden within the plans. A quirk about Harold Hahn was he did not hold your hand or walk you through the process of fine art modeling. If you were truly interested in advancing in the hobby, improving your skills and knowledge it was up to you and only you. This is also why he had such a dislike of kits in his opinion they taught you nothing about scale model ship building, the art nor the need skills to master the medium.

The end of Harold the artist

 

[Dave Stevens (Lumberyard)]

To go from here it gets technical in drafting and building methods. Learning what the plans are really about, pros and cons with Hahn's system and how the timbering set was developed.

The question is on a forum with 99% kit builders is it something that should be pursued?

now open for comments and discussion