Research for L.O.1

This is the research i did for L.O.1:

E. Armitage McCann

What were they made of?
Wood – Wood has always been used to make models but is used less today because of the other materials available today and the time need to build the model.
Plastic – Plastic is used of today in ship models but only in smaller scale models. Larger scales (1/192 and larger), fiberglass is often used for hull shells. Plastic is used because it is cheaper than a lot of other materials and it reduces the time to build a model as it does not need to be carved or glued together.
Metal - usually cast lead or other alloys. Steel, sheet tin and aluminum brass are used less frequently for hull construction, but are used in larger models for adding details. Another reason metal is not used often is because it is hard to put on because unless it comes ready to put on it is very hard to make a piece of metal to use and is more expensive than plastic/wood.
Paper - preprinted paper construction kits are common in Europe, and are available in a variety of scales.
Bone/ ivory – used for masts and to put a thin layer over the hull. Not used very much today because other materials can be used.
Bronze/lead – lead was used for anchors in early modern ship models.
Clay – early models were made of clay, lead, bronze and wood. Clay is difficult to use for anything other that the hull because it is hard to make detailed things with it.
When and why?
The first model boats were made by Greek and Egyptian people.
The development of tinplate and improvements in machine tools enabled significant advances in ship modeling from 1900 onwards.
People who make model ships are called shipwrights.
In ancient Greek and Egypt they were built for house hold articles, art, and toys. They were also built for religious reasons by Egyptians because they thought that they were needed to cross the Nile In the afterlife. They were also made because they were one of the Egyptians most technologically complex mechanisms that they could built. In Egypt some models were made using papyrus
Early European model ships were sometimes used in ceremonies to bless ships and the people who sailed on them. They were also made as a sign of wealth because of the way that they would have been made it would have been expensive to make and need a lot of time to build. They were also made to show people who were thinking of buying a ship what they were getting and to show any advanced building techniques that were being used on the ship.
During the Napoleonic wars prisoners of war would make models of the ships that they were serving on. They would make these to remember their ship and also to sell to people so they could but food and clothes. They would be made of anything they could find e.g. Wood.
Since plastic was invented it has became a lot easier to build model ships because they have became cheaper and more available. People today build them because they served on or sailed it, they have a hobby of making models, to play war games, remote control boats and larger scale manned boats for training. Model ships today are also made by people to sell. In model shops the models are not made by the shopkeeper instead they are sold as parts and the person who buys them will make them. In the shop they might have one ship that has been made to show the buyer what the ship will look like when it is finished. If it is being sold it a shop it would be to make money.

What other things are they used for?
Some model ships today are also used for model warship combat where models that can fire small projectiles are made. These model ships would be very hard to make. They would have to be very detailed, have working parts (a motor, working guns and a way to control it). They would also have to be water tight so what they build the model out of is important. Wood could be used if it was sealed but plastic would not be used because of the scale of the model.
Model ships are static and not made to be moved very much. Most do not move but some do like radio controlled model ships. Some very expensive models have scaled working models of the engines that the full scale ship would have used however these types of model ships were mostly built around the start of the 20th century and are not very common today.

How big are they?
They are made to look like the ship they represent to as much detail as possible. The larger the scale the more detail that can be used in the model. The scale of a model ship means how big it is compared to the real ship. A scale of 1/400, the most common in Europe, means 1 meter of the model represents 400 meters of the actual ship. The largest scales that would be used as models and not for training is about 1/48. Models of this size would be very big and would take thousands of hours to build. Only one would be made and it would usually be for an institution/club that had something to do with the model that was being built.



How were they made?
Early model ships were made with wood using a number of different methods. The simplest but most difficult to make was to get a block of wood and to shave and carve it into the shape of the hull.
Another way the were built was using a technique called “bread and butter”. Where the hull is built layer by layer by gluing together bits of wood to make the shape of the hull.
From 1900 onwards the use of improved machine tools and the development of tinplate meant that the iron used to make the models could be covered in tin and prevent rusting. This combined with the ability to mass produce things meant that they could be made into ship model kits and sold a lot cheaper that they would have been before.
After world war two another materials that started to be used more for model shipbuilding was plastic. Using the plastic and some glue it became much easier to make the models compared to wooden models. Time and cost was also reduced. A wooden model of a ship could take a week or two because of the time that needed to be spent making the hull and the detail on the ship but with the new plastic kits the model could be finished in an afternoon.