The Ship Model Builder's Assistant [Paperback]

Charles G. Davis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Woodworking | Publication Date: February 1, 1988

Invaluable guide offers detailed descriptions, drawings of masting, rigging and major fittings of American clippers and packets of the Great Age of Sail. Also includes a wealth of details on deck furniture of various types of vessels from different periods. Nearly 280 line drawings give the model builder a deep understanding of the workings of a fully rigged and appointed ship.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 1st edition (February 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486255840
• ISBN-13: 978-0486255842
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Ships > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Second Book Of The Ship Modeling Foundation, January 4, 2001

By 

Mark A. Savage - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ship Model Builder's Assistant (Paperback)

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is due to the dated writing, which is sometimes distracting. If not for that, it's 5 stars!!

A must for you if you're just beginning, like me. The author explains everything very well. Not only how things work, but why they work. His specifics about construction are excellent, if only for those who are curious about sailing vessels. His charts are wonderful for answering questions about construction and cutting before the cut is made. He really gets down to the nuts and bolts.

I don't agree that this book is not for the beginner. I'm a beginner, and I have learned much from this book, and continue to reinforce that knowledge with the book. If you be a beginning builder, a student of sailing vessels, or just plain curious about the subject, get this book. Remember, it reads a bit differently then more current books, but you'll smile at that fact, and get the benefit of the knowledge imparted within.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Work, April 17, 2001

By 

B. Falk "eoi" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ship Model Builder's Assistant (Paperback)

After initial chapters on varying types of ship models, including the built-up model and wooden-sail models, the author devotes individual chapters to the masting of ships, mastheads, the standing rigging, the running rigging, foot-ropes, the blocks, steering wheels, the ship's galley, pumps, ship ironwork, copper sheathing, the ground tackle, gun ports, boats and davits. He includes as well invaluable tables and lists of data that offer opportunities to compare vital statistics on rigging, masting and more.

Charles C. Davis was a well-known naval architect, shipbuilder, master seaman, racing yachtsman and nautical chronicler. His lifelong love affair with the great ships of the past resulted in several classic works on ships and ship model building. The present volume is one of the latter, an extremely thorough, practical and readable guide to building ship models in authentic detail and in proper proportion. In all, The Ship Model Builder's Assistant offers a treasury of both descriptive and "how-to" information essential to model builders and highly enlightening for all fascinated by the great sailing ships of America's past.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating- Not "how to" but "why", April 24, 2000

By 

Robert Lester (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ship Model Builder's Assistant (Paperback)

If you ever want reference book that you can read, not just pretty pictures, this is it. It has extensive detail on all aspects of ship building and how it done before kits. It tells you the why and how of ship building.