The Period Ship Handbook 3 [Paperback]

Keith Julier (Author)

Book Description

Series: Period Ship Handbooks | Publication Date: August 2000

From the simple to the sophisticated, this third volume of the successful Period Ship Handbook series looks at the making of ten model sailing ship projects. For modelers who are just beginning the transition from kits to scratch building or the highly skilled craftsman, the chapters provide detailed instructions on the various phases of exhibition-standard construction. Projects range in size from the HMS Bounty's Jolly Boat to the Bounty itself. Other ships in this volume include the great seventeenth-century Spanish warship San Felipe and the early twentieth-century American whaling ship Viola, as well as the Bellona, Unicorn, Portsmouth, See Ewer Elbe, Baltimore, and a section on the Victory. For those unsure of the sometimes daunting details of the craft, the author provides information on rigging terminology, modeling techniques, and step-by-step instructions in a fully illustrated large-format layout designed to bridge any knowledge gaps and encourage participation in this fascinating hobby.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155750427X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557504272
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,889,247 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Period Ship Series, September 12, 2003

By 

Don Evans (Lafayette, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Period Ship Handbook 3 (Paperback)

When starting to build the San Felipe, I cast around for any books or manuals that included that ship. I found the Period Ship Handbook-3 and was delighted. I purchased it and several other lesser handbooks that I thought might be handy. The Period Ship book was of no particular value in the process of building the model. The book is very visual and has some great pictures, but they essentially provided me with an image of what my ship would look like tomorrow! The miscellaneous handbooks at much lower cost were far more valuable. As nice as the series looks, I honestly believe that they are more like coffee table books than working manuals.

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wooden model ship kits built straight from the box., April 14, 2002

By 

D. Simpkin (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Period Ship Handbook 3 (Paperback)

This book should have been entitled "Wooden model ship kits built straight from the box (imagination not included)."

This is Julier's third installment of his "Period Ship Handbooks." These "handbooks" do not deal with the historic "period" ships, nor are they general handbooks for model ship builders. Rather, they are simply photo-diaries of how he built particular commercially available wooden model ship kits.

This time we get to watch over his shoulder as he constructs nine kits, straight out-of-the-box, with little research or imagination. The kits covered are Corel's 74-gun "H.M.S. Bellona," the 24-gun frigate "H.M.S. Unicorn" of unstated manufacture, Mamoli's brig "Portsmouth," Constructo's Baltic coasting vessel "Elbe," Panart's 104-gun Spanish "San Felipe," Artesania Latina's "H.M.S. Bounty's" jolly boat, Corel's "H.M.S. Victory" cross section, Model Shipway's "Pride of Baltimore II," and Euro Model's "Bounty." The construction of each subject is covered by an average of 16 pages and 23 large, nicely reproduced b/w photographs, and 1 small color photo of the completed model.

Julier constructs his models with only the parts and instructions in the kit box, a few hand tools, and very little initiative. Decent kits (e.g. "Bellona," "Pride of Baltimore") come out pretty well. The construction of other kits is pure fiction. Particularly galling are the head construction of the "Portsmouth," "Unicorn," and "San Felipe," and the planking job on the "San Felipe" and "Bounty." Coppered hulls are simulated with painted tiles. Brass work is left bright. With a little more effort (and research) much better models can be produced from these kits. There are some horrendous editing failures here, too. How can a full 22 page chapter on the construction of the "Unicorn" fail to mention the kit manufacturer?

It's interesting that Julier finishes his book with a chapter on scratch-building the whaler "Viola." This shows some initiative and gumption, going from plans and raw materials to a finished product. This chapter provides a reasonable transition from the mind-numbing sameness of a mass-produced kit to the unique product of the craftsmanship of the self-reliant scratch- builder. It also demonstrates that Julier has a long way to go in the craft of model ship building.

If you've never built a wooden model ship before, and perhaps received for Christmas a ship kit of European manufacture (with their abysmal multilingual instructions), and can't make heads nor tails of what to do, these large format soft cover books are for you. If, on the other hand, you've built a model previously, have some confidence in your craftsmanship, or are building a kit with a decent set of instructions (e.g. a Model Shipways kit), don't waste your money.