Editing Ship model (section)

== History ==
[[File:Ship model E284 mg 8648-black.jpg|thumb|model ship from a tomb, [[Ancient Egypt]], c. 2000 BCE]]

=== Ancient Mediterranean ===

Ancient ship and boat models have been discovered throughout the Mediterranean, especially from ancient Greece, Egypt, and [[Phoenicia]]. These models provide archaeologists with valuable information regarding seafaring technology and the sociological and economic importance of seafaring. In spite of how helpful ancient boat and ship models are to archaeologists, they are not always easily or correctly interpreted due to artists’ mistakes, ambiguity in the model design, and wear and tear over the centuries.

Ships "were among the most technologically complex mechanisms of the ancient world."<ref>Johnston, P.F. 1985. ''Ship and Boat Models from Ancient Greece.'' Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press P129.</ref>  Ships made far-flung travel and trade more comfortable and economical, and they added a whole new facet to warfare. Thus, ships carried a great deal of significance to the people of the ancient world, and this is expressed partly through the creation of boat and ship models. Ancient boat and ship models are made of a variety of materials and are intended for different purposes. The most common purposes for boat and ship models include burial votives, house hold articles, art, and toys. While archaeologists have found ship and boat models from societies all around the Mediterranean, the three of the most prolific ship model building cultures were the Greeks, Phoenicians, and Egyptians.

Archaeologists have determined that Ancient Greek ship models were used as burial or votive offerings and as household articles such as lamps or drinking vessels.<ref>Johnston, P.F. 1985. ''Ship and Boat Models from Ancient Greece.'' Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press P.127.</ref>  The kinds of ships depicted in Ancient Greek models can be classified broadly as small craft, merchant vessels, and warships.<ref>Johnston, P.F. 1985. ''Ship and Boat Models from Ancient Greece.'' Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press P127.</ref>  Models were cast in different materials, including wood, bronze, lead, and clay.

Greek warships were popular subjects to be made in miniature. One particular model, acquired by the Staatliches Museum (engl.: ''[[States of Germany|Land museum]]'') in [[Kassel]], Germany, proves to be helpful to archaeologists and historians in understanding what a [[Hellenistic-era warships#Hemiolia|hemiolia warship]] was like. Archaeologists have tentatively dated the Kassel model to be from the 6th or 5th centuries BC through iconographic and literary sources.<ref>Gottlicher, A. 2004. "A Newly Acquired Ancient Ship-model in Kassel, Germany." ''IJNA''33.1:154.</ref>  This ship model is made of clay and features a distinctive prow shaped like a boar's head that is described by [[Herodotus]] in ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The History]]'', and depicted on pottery, coins seals and drinking cups.<ref>Gottlicher, A. 2004. "A Newly Acquired Ancient Ship-model in Kassel, Germany." ''IJNA''33.1:154-5.</ref>  The model is a miniature of a vessel that would have been too small to be a typical warship. The presence of holes bored into 8 thwarts in the ship suggests that the thwarts may have been seats for a pegged-in dummy crew.<ref name="Tilley, A 2007">Tilley, A. 2007. "Rowing Ancient Warships: Evidence from a Newly Published Ship Model. ''IJNA'' 4.2:293.</ref>  If the holes bored into the thwarts are indeed meant to accommodate a dummy crew, the crew seating would have been arranged with two men per bench amidships, and one man per bench fore and aft where the ship narrows so that there is only room for one man.<ref name="Tilley, A 2007" />  Alec Tilley (former ''[[Royal Navy]]'' and ''[[Royal Navy of Oman|Navy of Oman]]'' officer)<ref>[http://web-dev-csc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf34/eventdetails.php?wId=226/ Short Biography of Alec Tilly at ''4F Classical Maritime History''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029090513/http://web-dev-csc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf34/eventdetails.php?wId=226%2F |date=2015-10-29 }} at the ''5th International Congress of Maritime History'' 23. June 2008 – 27. June 2008 <sub>Retrieved 17. April 2013</sub></ref> suggests that a small ship with this type of seating arrangement would have been called a hemiolia, or a one-and-a-halfer. The name indicates that two oarsmen would have been seated on half of the benches and one on the others.<ref name="Tilley, A 2007" />  Until this ship model was discovered, archaeologists, classicists, and historians had only been able to hypothesize on what the seating arrangement might have been like on a hemiolia based on its name.

Not all ancient Greek ship models are of warships. One boat model from a house deposit in [[Mochlos]], Crete, dating to around 3000BC, is thought to be too small to be a war ship. Belgian maritime historian ''L.Basch'' postulates that the boat "cannot have been propelled by more than four oarsmen … so it can hardly be other than a fishing boat."<ref name="Basch, L 1975">Basch, L. 1975. "Another Punic Wreck in Sicily: its ram." ''IJNA''4.2:201.</ref>  As opposed to other Early Bronze Age ship and boat models, this model was not found in a burial context. This model is thought to be a child's toy or a piece of art, instead of a burial offering.<ref>Johnston, P.F. 1985. ''Ship and Boat Models in Ancient Greece.''Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press P. 12.</ref>  The model itself features a projection of the [[keel]] beyond the stem-post at both ends. Despite appearances, these projections are not rams. Because the model is depicting a fishing boat, there would be no need for rams.<ref name="Basch, L 1975" />  This model in particular has helped archaeologists understand that not all keel projections in depictions of boats during this time are necessarily rams. Instead, keel projections on depictions of Bronze Age ships are explained as cut-waters or as beaching protection.<ref name="Basch, L 1975" />

Phoenician ship models also provide archaeologists information regarding the technical aspects of seafaring, and the cultural importance of seafaring for the ancient Phoenicians. However, some models offer tantalizing pieces of information that are, however, difficult to interpret. Item number H-3134 at the Hecht Museum, a dark-brown clay model of a 5th-century BCE oared boat, is one such craft. The vessel has no provenance, save for the reported location of its discovery off the Phoenician coast, but scientists have been able to tentatively confirm the origin and authenticity of this model.<ref name="Raban, A 2003">Raban, A. and Y. Kahanow. 2003. "Clay Models of Phoenician Vessels in the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa, Israel." ''IJNA'' 32.1:61.</ref>  The model is of an oared boat manned by three pairs of oarsmen, who are rendered with "hands … raised to their chests, in the last instant of pulling the oar in the water, before lifting it for the recovery."<ref name="Raban, A 2003" />  The mystery of this model is the purpose of small holes- three on the starboard side, and four on port- that were made in the sides of the ship with a sharp tool before the clay dried.<ref name="Raban, A 2003" />  It is believed that the holes are too small to pass an oar through, and thus would not be used for rowing purposes. This is hard to prove, however, because the poorly preserved state of the model and the amount of fouling that is layered on the model makes it difficult to definitively rule out this possibility.<ref name="Raban, A 2003" />  Another theory regarding the purpose of these holes suggests that "ropes for holding oars were threaded through these holes."<ref name="Raban, A 2003" />

Ship models are helpful to archaeologists in that they allow archaeologists to make estimates regarding the size the vessel would be in real life. While this technique makes the assumption that artists scaled the models appropriately, it is useful to get some sense of how large these ships and boats may have been in real life. Archaeologists estimate the Phoenician vessel above (H-3134) to be about 6 meters long and the beam about 2 meters.<ref name="ReferenceA">Raban, A. and Y. Kahanow. 2003. "Clay Models of Phoenician Vessels in the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa, Israel." ''IJNA'' 32.1:62.</ref>  Archaeologists are able to calculate these estimates of size by employing a series of assumptions about the distance between benches, the lateral distance between rowers, and a maximum draft of the vessel.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Egyptian ship and boat models are perhaps some of the most well-preserved types of ship models available to archaeologists. Ancient Egyptian ship and boat models were most frequently placed in tombs of prominent people as "magical substitutes for the actual objects which the deceased has used in life and which he expected to use again in the next world."<ref>Jones, D. 1990. ''Model Boats from the Tomb of [[Tutankamun]].'' Oxford: Griffith Institute P 2.</ref> These boats have been categorised into two types: boat models that represent actual vessels used on the Nile, and boat models that represent boats that are considered necessary for religious purposes. The second type of model may or may not have been used in real life, but were purely magical boats.<ref name="Jones, D 1990. P 3">Jones, D. 1990. ''Model Boats from the Tomb of [[Tutankamun]].'' Oxford: Griffith Institute P 3.</ref>  The majority of boats found in tombs are carved from wood.<ref name="Jones, D 1990. P 3" />

Several boat and ship models were found in the tomb of [[Tutankhamen]], dating back to the [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixth Dynasty]],<ref>Jones, D. 1990. ''Model Boats from the Tomb of Tutankamun.'' Oxford: Griffith Institute P 1.</ref> and in the tomb of [[Meketre]] (2061–2010 BC).<ref name="Jones, D 1995. P 30">Jones, D. 1995. ''Boats.'' Austin: University of Texas Press P 30.</ref>  The wide variety of vessels depicted by the models in these two tombs has provided archaeologists new information on the types of boats that were used in Egypt.<ref name="Jones, D 1990. P 3" />  Moreover, the presence of boat and ship models in the tombs attests to the paramount importance of boats and ships to the Nile-going people of Egypt.

The boat models discovered at Meketre's tomb feature several different kinds of boats, including traveling boats, sporting boats, and several [[Papyrus|papyriform]] crafts.<ref name="Jones, D 1995. P 30" />  Two of the papyriform skiffs have a [[trawling]] net slung between them.<ref>Model fishing boats from the Tomb of Meketre (TT280), now found in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo (JE 46715).</ref> It is uncertain whether or not the net is meant to be depicted as being under the water or being pulled out of the water by the fishermen. In the event that the artist meant for the net to be in the water, it is upside down. Needless to say, the upside down net would not work for catching fish.<ref>Hirschfeld, N. 2009. "Egyptian Seafaring." Class Lecture, 23 January, San Antonio.</ref>  This ambiguity points up the question of artistic veracity of the craftsmen who make ship models. As is attested by the ambiguity of the holes in the sides of the Phoenician model, and the skiff from Meketre, archaeologists need to be aware of the possibility of artistic error while interpreting ancient ship models. While a mistake involving an inverted trawling net may seem trivial, the lesson is important. It is important for archaeologists to be aware of the possibility that ancient artists may not have been familiar with the finer details of ships and boats.

Despite some of the limitations of interpreting ancient Mediterranean ship models, archaeologists have been able to glean a great deal of information from these items. This information has been instrumental in filling in gaps in knowledge about ancient seafaring technology and culture.

=== Europe ===
{{See also|Votive ship}}
[[File:Kapucijnenkerk.votief02.jpg|thumb|Church [[ex-voto|votive]] hanging in a church; the workmanship is somewhat crude, but sufficient to identify it as mid-19th-century]]
[[File:Fregate-p1000585.jpg|thumb|Model of a 19th-century English frigate]]
[[File:Fregate-p1000587.jpg|thumb|Closeup of the frigate's quarterdeck, showing quality of the detail.]]
[[File:Prisoner of war model ship.JPG|thumb|Prisoner-of-war ship model at the [[Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery]] in Peterborough.]]
[[File:Scheepsmodel vissersboot vooruit 071 - NAVIGO Nationaal Visserijmuseum - 0790.jpg|thumb|Model ship fishing boat, NAVIGO National Fisheries Museum, Koksijde-[[Oostduinkerke]]]]
[[File:Scheepsmodel 17de eeuwse vishoeker - Gaston Desnerck - NAVIGO Nationaal Visserijmuseum - 0461 (2).jpg|thumb|A 17th century fish-hooker model, NAVIGO National Fisheries Museum, Koksijde-[[Oostduinkerke]]]]

Some of the oldest surviving European ship models have been those of early craft such as [[galley]]s, [[galleon]]s, and possibly [[carrack]]s, dating from the 12th through the 15th centuries and found occasionally mounted in churches, where they were used in ceremonies to bless ships and those who sailed in them,<ref>{{cite web| title=Church Ships| publisher=Henning Thalund| url=http://www.kirkeskibe.dk/en/index.htm| access-date=2007-12-05}}</ref> or as votive offerings for successful voyages or surviving peril at sea, a practice which remained common in Catholic countries until the 19th century.

Until the early 18th century, virtually all European small craft and many larger vessels were built without formal plans being drawn. [[Shipwright]]s would construct models to show prospective customers how the full size ship would appear and to illustrate advanced building techniques.<ref name="Lavery">{{cite book| title=Ship Models, Their Purpose and Development from 1650 to the Present| first=Brian & Stephens, Simon| last=Lavery | year=1995| publisher=Zwemmer| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oRP5AQAACAAJ&q=%27%27Ship+Models,+Their+Purpose+and+Development+From+1650+to+the+Present%27%27| isbn=0-302-00654-0}}</ref> These were also useful for [[marine artist]]s, and it is clear that from [[Dutch Golden Age Painting]] onwards extensive use of models was made by artists.

Ship models constructed for the [[Royal Navy]] were referred to as ''[[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] models'' and were principally constructed during the 18th and 19th centuries to depict proposed warship design.<ref name="Lavery" />  Although many of these models did not illustrate the actual timbering or framing, they did show the form of the hull and usually had great detail of the deck furnishings, masts, spars, and general configuration.  Some of these grand models were decorated with carvings of great beauty and were evidently constructed by teams of artisans.

Admiralty models served to educate civilians who were involved in the financing or some other aspect of the ship, to avoid construction errors that might have evolved as the ship itself took form.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

During the [[Napoleonic wars]] French and English seamen who were taken prisoner were confined, sometimes for many years, and in their boredom sought relief by building ship models from scraps of wood and bone.<ref name="Lavery" /> This evolved into something of an art form and the models were sold to the public,<ref>{{cite web| title=The Pilkington Collection of French Prisoner of War Miniature Models | publisher=Merseyside Maritime Museum|date=December 2007| url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/collections/artsea/models/pilkington.asp| access-date=2007-12-05}}</ref>
which responded by supplying the prisoners with ivory so that the models would be more decorative.  For the most part, the models had carved wooden hulls with rigging made from human hair, horsehair, silk, or whatever other fine material could be obtained. Bone or ivory would be used for masts and spars, and as a thin veneer over the hull.<ref>{{cite web| title=Ship Models – Prisoner of War Work | publisher=National Maritime Museum (United Kingdom)|date=December 2007| url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/search/listResults.cfm?name=Prisoner%20of%20war%20work%2C%20Full%20hull%20model&category=shipmodels&sortBy=title| access-date=2007-12-05}}</ref>

A consequence of Britain's naval supremacy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was wide public interest in ships and ship models. Numerous fairly crude models were built as children's toys leading to the creation of functional, as opposed to decorative, ship models. Britain also led the world in model ship sailing clubs – in 1838 the ''Serpentine Sailing Society'' was started in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], followed by the first ''London Model Yacht Club'' in 1845.<ref name="mysa">{{cite web| title=Club history: The Model Yacht Sailing Association | publisher=The Model Yacht Sailing Association|date=December 2003| url=http://www.mysa.org.uk/default.asp?PageNum=2| access-date=2007-12-05 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114131027/http://www.mysa.org.uk/default.asp?PageNum=2 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-11-14}}</ref> By the 1880s there were three model sailing clubs sharing the [[Kensington Gardens]] [[Round Pond (London)|Round Pond]] alone.<ref name="mysa" />

=== Modern era ===
[[File:ModelShipNHMDF.JPG|thumbnail|Model of a frigate at the Naval History Museum located in the [[Palacio de Correos de Mexico#Naval History Museum|Palacio de Correos de Mexico]].]]
In the early part of the 20th century, amateur ship model kits became available from companies such as [[Bassett-Lowke]] in Great Britain<ref>{{cite web| title=Brief History: Basset-Lowke and No. 78 | publisher=Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow| year=1999| url=http://www.78derngate.org.uk/old/docs/78lowke.htm| access-date=2007-12-05 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071114060607/http://www.78derngate.org.uk/old/docs/78lowke.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2007-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Bassett-Lowke Waterline Ship Models| first=Derek| last=Head | year=1997| publisher=New Cavendish Books| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QcWAAAACAAJ&q=bassett-lowke+waterline+ship+models| isbn=1-872727-72-7}}</ref> and [[Boucher Manufacturing Company|Boucher's]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wegner |first=Dana |date=March 2007 |title=Here Today, Maybe Gone Tomorrow? |journal=Nautical Research Journal |volume=45 |issue=1 |url=http://shipmodeling.net/vb_forum/articles-print3.html |access-date=2007-12-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306084345/http://shipmodeling.net/vb_forum/articles-print3.html |archive-date=2008-03-06 }}</ref> Early 20th century models comprised a combination of wooden hulls and cast lead for anchors, deadeyes, and rigging blocks. These materials gradually gave way to plastic precast sets.

The development of [[tinplate]] and improvements in machine tools enabled significant advances in ship modelling from 1900 onwards. Thin, workable sheets of iron could be coated with tin to prevent rusting, then mass-produced as parts of ship model kits. The process was pioneered by French ship model manufacturer [[Radiguet]], which produced a line of zinc boats with pressurised steam engines, wooden decking and brass fittings.<ref name="ANMM">{{cite journal | last =Macarthur | first =Antonia | title =Bateaux Jouets – Toy Boats from Paris 1850–1950| journal =Signals | volume = 82 | pages =11–15 | publisher =Australian National Maritime Museum | location =Sydney, Australia | date =2008-05-01}}</ref> The speed of production for tinplate vessels enabled one 1909 manufacturer to produce ship models of speedboats that had competed that year in [[Monaco]].<ref name="ANMM" />

Ship modelling in the United States experienced a boom in the late 1920s when ''[[Popular Science]]'' magazine published an extended series of articles and plans for famous ships by modeller and former Navy officer [[E. Armitage McCann]].<ref>[http://shipmodelersassociation.org/research/fam0702.htm/ ''Homage to Captain Armitage McCann (pt.2)''] at Ship Modellers Association.com <sub>Retrieved 17. April 2013</sub></ref> McCann, who, according to ''Popular Science'' was the "recognized leader of the ship model building hobby"  of his time founded the ''Ship Model Makers′ Club'' in 1929, with him as secretary and treasurer and marine artist and fellow ship model builder ''Gordon Grant'' as president.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TSoDAAAAMBAJ&q=popular+science++E.+Armitage+McCann%2F&pg=RA1-PA114 "McCann founds a Ship Model Makers′ Club"] at ''[[Popular Science]]'', March 1929, pg. 114 <sub>Retrieved 17. April 2013</sub></ref>

The world's leading magazine for this hobby, [[Model Boat]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.modelboats.co.uk/about/|title=Welcome to MODEL BOATS – Model Boats|website=www.modelboats.co.uk|access-date=21 April 2018}}</ref> is published from the UK by [[MyTime Media]] and has been in print continuously since 1950. In recent years, widespread internet access has played a major role in promoting ship modelling, offering enthusiasts the opportunity to show off their work and share techniques.  Internet sites such as [http://www.modelwarships.com/ Modelwarships.com], [http://www.steelnavy.com/ Steelnavy.com], or [http://www.modelshipwrights.com/ Model Shipwrights] are oriented to plastic model ship builders, while others such as [http://www.hyperscale.com/ Hyperscale] focus largely on aircraft or other subjects can regularly feature plastic ship models as well.