Half-hull Models

Comments

Glasgow Museums has 286 half-hull models as part of the ship model collection. The models range in date from the early nineteenth to 1959, and represent many different types of vessels, from small cargo ships built for local owners to large warships built for foreign navies. Half-hull models were made as part of the shipyard design process and usually pre-date the build of the real vessel. Most of them show the starboard side of the ship and are built to a scale of 1:48, where one inch on the model represents four feet (48 inches) on the vessel. Half-hull models are constructed from shaped layers of wood, which are glued or screwed together with the grain running in opposite directions in each layer - this was known as ‘bread and butter’ construction and gave a strong structure which would not split or warp. Most models have the hull above the waterline modelled in two or three layers, with up to nine thinner sections used below the waterline. The joins between the layers represent imaginary lines on the hull that run parallel to the surface of the water, and some models even have thin veneer sections between the layers to enhance this effect. These lines are part of the theory of ship design and are intended to show how water moves round the shape of the hull at different depths. Designers used six or more of these lines in their preliminary drawings, and this is reflected in the six to eight sections found on most of the half-hull models. Half-hull models were used to finalise design concepts, tender for shipbuilding contracts and were also used in the shipyard for measuring materials as part of the laying-off process as the building the ship commenced and progressed. Half-hull models could also be used to plan the plating of an iron or steel-hulled ship, and half-hull models of this type are known as plating models. Once the ship was complete, the half-hull model was usually kept as part of the shipbuilder’s design archive. Sometimes these models were displayed within the shipyard, particularly if they were subsequently decorated and mounted on descriptive backing boards.

Broader term

Ship Models

Staff Contact

Emily Malcolm