Building a Solid Hull Model of Sussex - SeaWatch Books · 2011. 3. 21. · SeaWatch Books have edited and published my book, Building a Navy Board Model of the Sussex. This details

NAUTICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 195

Building a Solid Hull Model of Sussex. . . . .

by Gilbert McArdle, M. D.

Figure 1. The completed solid-hull model of Sussex. All images by the author.

Introduction

Bob Friedman and Cathy Dupont ofSeaWatch Books have edited and publishedmy book, Building a Navy Board Model ofthe Sussex. This details the construction ofa model of Sussex at a scale of 1:48 (¼-inchto 1 foot). Sussex was built in 1693 atChatham (length: 157 feet 2 inches, beam:41 feet 4 inches) and, in 1694, led a fleettransporting a large amount of specie withwhich William III hoped to bribe the Duke

of Savoy to join the League of Augsburg inthe war against Louis XIV. Unfortunately,Sussex foundered off Gibraltar in aMediterranean hurricane, usually referred toas a “Levanter.” The wreck of this vesselapparently was found off the coast ofGibraltar by Odyssey Marine Explorationsome years ago but has not been thoroughlyinvestigated because of disputes with theSpanish government. (The preliminaryarchaeological report is available on line:http://shipwreck.net/pdf/OMEPapers1-SussexShipwreckProject.pdf)

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vessel and appreciate its intricate construc-tion. Apparently, the shipwrights of theseventeenth century routinely employedmodels as “marketing tools” when theywere attempting to sell a particular shipdesign to the Navy Board. Bids for con-struction were made in pounds sterling perton of ship. It is obvious, therefore, thatthe shipwright would have gone to greatlengths to hire a model maker with appro-priate consummate skills to represent hisdesign in the most attractive manner pos-sible, thus increasing his chances of sway-

This article is intended to assistthose modelers who might wish to con-struct a solid (or hollowed out) model ofSussex, which would take less time to buildthan a Navy Board model. A Navy Boardmodel (also referred to as an Admiraltymodel) was constructed like the originalvessel, including the keel, all the frames,deck beams, and so on, with the exceptionthat the hull’s planking below the lowestmajor wale, and approximately half of thedeck planking was not installed so that aviewer could visualize the interstices of the

Figure 2. The author’s Navy Board model of Sussex.



ing the Board’s opinion in favor of his shipdesign, and having his construction bidaccepted for the vessel (or numerous ves-sels of the same design).

These models usually were con-structed at a scale of 1:48 and, therefore,were relatively large (between four and fivefeet long). For this reason, and to ensureportability, they generally were not rigged.Additionally, they were not rigged becausethe Admiralty was slow to adopt innova-tions to methods of rigging, as any alter-ations had to be proven over many years ofuse. The Royal Navy, therefore, set outstandardized rigging “establishments” towhich riggers rigidly adhered. Some modelslater were rigged at the behest of promi-nent individuals who acquired them fordisplay.

In my opinion, the solid hull modelmay well be as attractive as the Navy Boardstyle—particularly as the solid-hull methodwould also release more time for thebuilder to devote to the production of themultiple carvings of the model; in reality,the major foundation for the aestheticbeauty of an essentially baroque shipmodel.

I created plans forSussex from lines takenfrom the original model inthe Roger ’s Collection atthe United States NavalAcademy Museum inAnnapolis, Maryland, asdetailed in my article inNRJ 48:3 (and reprinted inthe new Ship Modeler’sShop Notes II). Theseplans, and the details con-cerning complete con-struction of the planking,decks, deck fittings, andmultiple carvings, areavailable in my book,Building a Navy BoardModel of the Sussex.

Hull Construction

The majority of ship modelers whohave constructed ship models utilizing var-ious building techniques are aware thatsolid-hull construction is much simplerand, therefore, much less time-consumingthan other methods involving the fabrica-tion of full framing. A comparison of Figure 1(a solid-hull model of Sussex) and Figure 2(a Navy Board model of the same ship)readily demonstrates the difference inappearance between the two model types.

The modeler ’s first decision is todetermine the scale at which the modelerwishes to choose to fabricate the model ofSussex. This article describes a model con-structed at the typical “museum” scale of1/4-inch to 1 foot (1:48) so that the actualoverall length is about four feet. If onewishes to make a model at 1:96 scale (1/8-inch to 1 foot), the completed model wouldbe slightly less than two feet in length. Itmay be easier to fabricate the hull itself atthe smaller scale but this advantage evapo-rates when one realizes that the carvingsmust be executed to a smaller scale and,

Figure 3. Diagram showing the vertical lifts for the hull.


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therefore, will be more difficult to accom-plish in equivalent detail.

The 1:48 scale model described inthis article is not, in reality, a totally solid-hull model in that it was hollowed out andthe decks fabricated separately. The “hol-lowing-out” process was merely to reducesignificantly the weight of the model andrender working on it less cumbersome. Ifone should decide to build the model at1:96 scale (or even smaller), its weightwould not be a particular problem. Thehollowing-out process, therefore, need notbe employed and the hull and each sepa-rate deck could be fashioned from one sin-gle piece of wood or laminates of the woodof choice.

Unlike the construction of a NavyBoard model, when it is necessary first tofabricate the keel, fore and aft deadwoods,stem piece, and sternpost in order to deter-mine frame position and begin framing,

when constructing a solid hull model,making up and installing the keel, stempiece, and sternpost may be postponeduntil after building the hull.

I utilized 8/4 (eight-quarter or 2-inch thick) basswood to construct themodel, as this wood is reasonably sturdy,carves easily, is not prone to warp, and fin-ishes well. Obviously the modeler may useany wood of his or her choice. Althoughpine is light and easy to carve, it would bethe least preferable because it does not fin-ish well and is difficult to seal. Hard maplewould produce an excellent model; thiswood, however, is very heavy and themodel would be cumbersome and morelaborious to carve. Soft maple or tupelowould also be ideal woods to use. Becausethe beam of the model at 1:48 scale isslightly over ten inches, I glued four piecesof 8/4 bass wood together, supplemented bya 4/4 piece of basswood glued to each outer

Figure 4. Laying out the middle lifts. Figure 5. The middle two lifts assembled.

Figure 7. All the lifts glued together to form the basic hullblock.

Figure 6. The middle two lifts glued together.



surface (see Figure 3). Instead of laminat-ing these pieces in the usual method (witheach individual layer parallel to the waterline), I glued them together vertically, atright angles to the water lines, coincidentwith the buttock lines. This method wasemployed so that the insides of the twocentral laminates could readily be cut outwith a band saw, thus significantly reducethe amount of inboard area which had tobe hollowed-out later. Figure 4 demon-strates laying out the primary 8/4 bass-wood sections to facilitate tracing theirshapes from the plans. Figure 5 shows thecentral innermost sections of the hullbeing glued and clamped together, with thecompleted assembly illustrated in Figure 6.Figure 7 is a view of all the hull sectionscompleted and glued together.

The positions of the stations (everyother frame junction), taken from thesheer and body plans, were transferred and

marked on the center line of the hull(where the keel would be placed later).Letters denoted station lines forward of themidships of the vessel and numbers aft ofit. Thick cardboard templates were thencut out for each station, using the bodyplan for reference. The rough outboardshape of the hull was completed using aband saw and large carving gouges. Thetemplates were then utilized to derive thecorrect cross section at each station (Figure8), and the outer surface of the hull fairedto shape. I then used 2-inch diameterForstner bits and large curved carvinggouges for the preliminary stages of hol-lowing out the interior of the hull (Figure9), and completed the interior shapingwith smaller tools. (Figure 10)

The bulwarks and the deck bulk-heads (including the main deck, forecastledeck, quarter deck, poop deck, and pooproyale or topgallant deck) were added after

Figure 8. The hull block roughed out and carved to fit thetemplates at the stations.

Figure 10. Shaping the basic hull block completed.

Figure 9. The preliminary stages of hollowing out the interior.

Figure 11. The blocks for the aft section of the upper hull.


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the major portion of the hull had beencompleted. This was in an attempt tolessen the amount of hollowing-outrequired and had the added advantage ofconserving a considerable amount of bass-wood. Figure 9 also illustrates the combi-nation of a cabinet-maker ’s vice and aclamping jig utilized to hold the hull inplace while shaping it, both inboard andoutboard.

A very useful tool for shaping theoutboard contours of solid hulls is a largeflat tang rasp—or horse tang—which iscommonly used in shaping horse’s hooveswhen fitting or replacing horseshoes. Itcuts down basswood very quickly and easi-ly, as the cutting ridges are longitudinalinstead of the pointed excrescences of anordinary wood rasp. The interchangeable“slicing” rasps, manufactured by Lee ValleyTools, are also very effective in thisprocess, causing even less tearing of the

grain than with the horse tang. I tend touse these rasps after initially roughing-outwith the horse tang. These “slicing” raspsare very sharp and have cutting edges notunlike those of vegetable or cheese shred-ders.

The bulwarks of the hull were cutout to shape from 3/4-inch thick basswood,referring to the sheer profile plan. The aftupper hull bulwarks are as noted in Figure11. Figure 12 shows the sections of thequarter, poop, and poop royale deck bul-warks in place. Figure 13 shows the hullwith all of the upper hull bulwarks glued inplace, including the midships and forecas-tle segments. With both the upper and thelower hull assembled, the final inboard andoutboard fairing process can be completed.I selected a thickness of approximately 3/8-inch for the lower hull, tapering 3/16-inchand 1/8-inch for the upper bulwarks.

After completing the deck bulwarks,

Figure 12. The after section blocks glued in place. Figure 13. All the upper hull blocks fitted to the lower hull.

Figure 14. Blocks of basswood forming the stern. Figure 15. Keel, stem, and sternpost added to the shapedhull.



a piece of basswood was fashioned as anoverlay to finish the stern of the hull, withthe various contours faired in accordancewith the ship’s drafts. The curve of thetransom board and stern is identical to thecamber of the deck. The camber of thedecks of Sussex was approximately 6 inch-es per 10 feet of deck, or approximately 2feet amidships on the main deck, whichhas a beam of forty feet. Figure 14 illus-trates the faired stern piece, including thetapered areas of the upper and lower coun-ters.

The keel pieces, including the sternpost and stem piece, were constructedfrom 5/16-inch thick South American box-wood to dimensions traced directly fromthe sheer plan. They were glued and nailedin place with 1-inch brass brads throughholes pre-drilled and countersunk in the

keel elements prior to their attachment tothe hull. The completed segments of thekeel attached to the hull are shown inFigures 15 and 16.

Wales

The model’s major wales were madefrom table-sawn American Beech, 3/16-inch thick and 5/16-inch wide. AmericanBeech is very compressible and bends easilywith heat or steam; in this case, the woodwas heat-bent over a soldering iron tomatch the contours of the hull. Thesewales were pre-drilled and counter-sunk toaccept flat-head stainless steel Phillips-head screws, which were ½-inch long and3/32-inch in diameter. The inner surfacesof the wales were shaped with a slight con-cavity to match the contour of the hull’s

Figure 16. Detail of the after section of the keel and

sternpost, showing also the counter.

Figure 17. The after section of the main wale after

installation.

Figure 18. The complete main wale installed. Figure 19. Constructing the forecastle deck.


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surface. They were painted black and thenglued and screwed in place. It is alwaysadvisable to paint such planking and otherfittings prior to attaching them to themodel as it makes a cleaner job, and alsosaves time in the long run. Figure 17shows the aft lower wales positioned, alongwith the interspersed standard boxwoodplanking. Figure 18 illustrates the complet-ed lower wales in place. Note that, even

though the screw holes need to be filled(with wood filler) and sanded, it is easy tptouch up these areas with flat black paint,thus avoiding the necessity of painting theentire wale in situ and preserving a cleanjunction between the black wale and theplanking.

At this point the construction of thesolid portion of the hull is completed. Ielected to plank the model above the lowerwales to give a more realistic appearance tothe model, and to imitate the usual NavyBoard style The planking was fashionedfrom South American boxwood cut on atable saw to 1/16-inch thick and 5/16-inchwide, smoothed on the exterior surface ini-tially with a thickness sander and thenwith a scraper to obtain a very smooth sur-face. I elected not to plank the vessel belowthe lowest wale, as this section would bepainted white thereby obscuring any plank-ing. Those modelers wishing to plank themodel below the lowest major wale to thekeel, including the garboard strake, obvi-Figure 21. The shaped forecastle deck and bulkhead.

Figure 20. The forecastle deck installed.



ously may do so at their discretion. It wascommon in the seventeenth and early eigh-teenth centuries to bottom paint hulls with“white stuff,” consisting of whale oil, bitu-minous sulfur, and boiled pitch, to combatsea worms. Subsequently, ship’s bottomswere coated with “black stuff,” made of oiland tar, for the same purpose. Personally, Ibelieve that the white hull below the lowestwale makes for an attractive model.

Figures 19, 20, and 21 demonstratevarious stages in the construction of thesolid forecastle deck and early constructionof the forecastle bulkhead. I decided toemploy solid decks with faux treenailedholly wood planking for this model ofSussex, but other modelers may wish toinstall individual deck beams andtreenailed planking. Figure 22 shows someof the outboard boxwood planking in place

Figure 22. Boxwood planking installation.

Figure 23. Early stages of installing the head assembly. Figure 24. The completed stern and its carvings.


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with nailed pledgets on one of the minorwales to hold the planks in position untilthe white glue hardened. Afterwards, thenails were removed and the holes filledwith inserted boxwood or basswoodtreenails. Figure 23 shows early construc-tion of the bow; while Figure 24 is a photo-graph of a segment of the completed stern

Extensive coverage of the details ofthe construction of the remainder ofSussex—its decks, fittings, and other itemsincluding the many carvings—are present-ed in my book, Building a Navy BoardModel of the Sussex. Figures 1, 25, and thefront cover illustrate the completed solidhull model.

Figure 25. The stern of the finished solid-hull model.


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Building a Solid Hull Model of Sussex - SeaWatch Books · 2011. 3. 21. · SeaWatch Books have edited and published my book, Building a Navy Board Model of the Sussex. This details