As titled above, I am new to the Readers’ Forum. Hopefully, this adventure will benefit us all, especially me. (I need all the benefitting I can get!) My area of interest is ships, particularly 1/96-1/100 scale sailing ships. Whether the subject is a native straddling a log and holding a rag up to the wind, to the most technological sailing vessel, makes little difference to me. They are all interesting and challenging subjects in their own right.
With that said, I need direction on where to find ship plans, The foremost one that springs to mind is Thermopylae. (Did I just hear a collective gasp/groan/sigh of exasperation?) There seems to be a dearth of information regarding the Thermopylae. I recall reading the original draughts do not exist. Nevertheless, I hope there is/are sets of plans that are reasonably definitive. Do ANY of you fine forum followers have knowledge of such plans and where I may purchase or purloin them? I am all ears, or “eyes” as in the written word. Cheerfully in advance, thank you.
You might want to check out the ShipsOfScale forum.
https://shipsofscale.com/sosforums/search/226436/?q=Thermopylae&o=date
Does Scalmates.com have a beginner fee?
Welcome to FsM
Never saw a fee on Scalemates
I would also try-BlueJacket Shipcrafters.
They do a lot of sailing vessels and they might have exactly what you are looking for.
Hey Jeggert,
Thanks for cycling me on this one. No, I don’t have those plans, but you reminded me to pull down a couple of old favorite books from my shelf to see if they had your answer. Not quite.
Looking at “Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier”, “Sailing Ships Rigs and Rigging”, and “Deep-Water Sail” all by Harold Underhill, written in the 30s, 40s and 50s, and reprinted in the early 1970s. Each of these has tons of the kind of material you are asking about, both generic detail and sail plans and specific ship drawings, but none exactly have the Thermopylae. However, there is a note inside the book jacket that “these and many more” ship drawings are available from Brown Son and Ferguson. I was shocked to see that they still exist and have a website, at https://www.skipper.co.uk/. I strongly suggest you visit that site and perhaps also look at Mr Underhill’s books.
I had forgotten how much I loved those books, and it has been a joy to bring them off the shelf and remember my big plans for sailing ship models, 50 years ago.
Good luck with your endeavors,
Rick
One thing to do is to scroll down and look at the whole list of forums. Too many people new to FSM forums find a single forum and stick with it. There is a whole section just below the forums by genre. It is a sction called Tools, Techniques and Reference Materials. The airbrushing and painting is a real gem, but all the forums in the section are of use for all genres of modeling. There is a section below that that has a forum called Forum Technical Assistance. Lots of help about using the forums.