Hull Plating Reference

For those who are interested in hull plating on models, let me set the record straight: I said my article on "Shell Plating" was in Nautical Research Journal vol. 40 and therefore on the Guild's CD set. Checking today, it's not. Time flies slower than I thought. The article is in NRJ Vol. 42, No. 2 (June 1997), pp.75-95. It includes my personal involvement with five plated models, and all other such models I was aware of at the time, in Museums from San Francisco to Greenwich, plus methods from award-winning plated models by several individuals I have known, including Eric Ronnberg and Mike Costagliola. Also excerpts and figures from many shipbuilding treatises in Mariners' Library. At the risk of sounding immodest, I believe this is, for modelers, the most comprehensive and extensively researched publication on the subject. And I have never received word of anything I may have gotten wrong. For naval modelers, I did no special research into differences that might occur there, with stuff like armor belts. There is one naval subject, Chris Evers' grand 1:96 model of USS Maury (DD-401), an award winner in Mariners' 1991 Model Competition. Other subjects range from tugs to liners.

The models covered had all aged very well and remained in good condition at the time I wrote. Some of the builders offered cautions, from experience, especially to watch out for different expansion rates between the hull material and the added "plating" strakes."