Ships' Boats

[Sygrod]

To the master modellers out there:


There are several different ways that ships' boats have been designed. Trying to model the compound curve is very difficult, so I wonder what you think has been the best design, with the main considerations:



1. Ease of build;
2. Appearane of end product.
3. Scale 1:200 and smaller. (As the bigger scale affords more detailed design)


(Not sure if this has been discussed before. I looked)

[Michael Mash]

Hello Sygrod,
Small auxiliary boats are always challenging. There are as many methods as there are modelers. I recommend practice, practice and more practice until you develop a technique you like. One lesson that has remained with me is the use of 1/32” plywood to strengthen the thwarts. I usually crush or damage the thwarts during assembly. To fix that, I glue the thwarts on the left (made of paper or card) onto a frame (made of 1/32” plywood) on the right. No matter what kind of difficulties you encounter with those "compound curves", the thwarts will stand up to a lot of abuse.
Note about 1/32” plywood: It is quite strong, but can be cut with scissors.
Hope that is helpful.
Mike

[bob neill]

As was mentioned there are many ways REAL boats were built. The desired use of boats dictated differences. Compare a boat used in a fishing fleet to a passenger ship life boat, then the boats used on military ships. As was said, "Hold your nose and jump in!"


Bob Neill

[Sygrod]

4. Boats for Naval vessels.

[Sygrod]

To narrow things down even further:


5. Standard Cutters. 30 ft or 9m, for example.