Nautical Research Journal 105
6. Architect’s scale.
T e drawings of Gardner’s Maine river-driving bateau give the boat an overall length of thirty- two feet. (Figure 4) Plans at a scale of 1 inch to a foot (1:12) would be well within the arm span of the average person but that scale is appropriate for a number of other reasons, since miniaturists in general commonly use it for doll houses, car models, and outdoor trains as well as architectural and other models. Consequently, accurately milled scale lumber is available closely approximating what is available at lumberyards in full size. T is is the median scale suggested by Howard Chapelle for models of small craſt built for the Smithsonian. Later in discussing the construction of model hulls he speaks of “margins of tolerance” or “scale tolerance” to specify a certain level of accuracy in the model as compared to line drawings. A 1:12-scale model is expected to be accurate to within a full-size ½-inch (0.041666-inch), between 1/32-inch and 3/64-inch. While this may sound very small, it indicates that building to a larger scale is generally less demanding of the modeler’s skill. Details are easier to manage. Magnifi cation is not required. T e width of a pencil mark or glue line is less signifi cant. T e grain of the wood is less of a problem.
Plans
Plans are nothing more than the rendition of a three-dimensional object on a fl at plane. (Roth 1988,
61) Plans available from museums or commercial sources usually show the traditional hull views of profi le or sheer plan, body plan and half-breadth plan. T e lines on these plans form intersecting grids of waterlines, buttock lines, section lines and perhaps diagonals. T e computer-generated plans for a modern vessel may be composed of hundreds or even thousands of sheets. (Roth 1988, 59)
Gardner’s plan is on a single page of his book. T e simplicity of this bateau’s shape and construction is refl ected in the fact that there are no waterlines, buttock lines or diagonals. Instead we are off ered a profi le of the boat as seen from the starboard side with hidden lines showing the stem and stern timbers, inside of the bottom and nine frames, riser, and four thwarts. A base line indicates the spacing of the frames, ends of the bottom, and lengths from there to the ends of the boat at the sheer at bow and stern. A simplifi ed body plan is constructed of lines showing the outside of the bottom, sections at each frame location, the ends of the bottom, and the top of the three planks on each side. T e half breadth has no lines and is more of a construction drawing showing the details of the interior such as frames, risers, thwarts and fl oor boards. Another construction drawing shows a cross section of the whole hull at
frame #5, basically the center and
widest part of the hull. From it one gets a sense of how the frames are tapered and shaped.
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