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The
Association of Model Barge Owners
(AMBO)
Incorporating
The Model Thames Sailing Barge
Championships
Plans
Updated February 2008
BARGE PLANS
As most Sailing Barges were
designed using a small half model of the hull that was shown to the prospective
owner, to show them what the finished hull would look like, and not from plans
as is usual today, there are few original plans in existence that can be used to
build a Barge model. Plans that are available however, have been taken from
measurements and surveys of the original vessel while it was still in use.
There were a few builders
however, that were exceptions to this rule, who mainly constructed in the
twilight years of Barge building. One of these was Fellows of Great Yarmouth who
built the steel Barges for the Everard fleet (WILL EVERARD, ETHEL EVERARD, FRED
EVERARD and ALF EVERARD) and other Barges, although unfortunately the plans were
recorded as being destroyed by fire in the
The Barge plans that follow are mainly of use to modellers who have the experience and ability to construct model vessels from line drawings. Beginners are recommended to ask advice from experienced modellers before sending for plans that are too complex, or where the information is too sparse.
There are several plans in
the list that have enough information to construct a model at 1/24 scale.
These are the semi-scale
CELIA JANE from the NEXUS Plans Service, WILL EVERARD from the same source (If
you enlarge the plans 2x) and JAMES PIPER from
The Association of Model Barge Owners (AMBO).
(Personal Opinion - CELIA JANE builds into a very heavy Barge and has
been seen to be slow, difficult to manoeuvre, unresponsive in even moderate
conditions and if racing – uncompetitive).
Having built a 1/24th WILL
EVERARD it was also slow and uncompetitive (especially as I built it ‘strong’)
although as a scale model it is somewhat better than CELIA JANE .
I would advise a Glass Fibre
Hull - either Kingston Mouldings VENTA or Waverley Models VALERIE ANNE [also a
larger Coastal Barge] or building in wood from either the
AMBO
plans or enlarge one of
the plans shown. KATHLEEN, GIRALDA or WESTMORELAND make good models)
The information about
KATHLEEN given in Edgar J March's book is excellent for building fittings etc.
Use 1/2" - ft for the large parts and 1mm - 1 inch for the smaller parts (1mm is
approx 1/25th inch) and you will not go far wrong. No two barges are the same
and invariably do not remain in the same condition or rig for ever.
You will find that most of
the plans use a scale that can be enlarged to suit 1/24 (½ - 1ft). This can be
done using a scale rule or by enlarging it on a photocopier (either in sections
on the normal office size A3 copier as I did for WILL EVERARD and WESTMORELAND
at a commercial print/copy shop - although this can be expensive.) Remember
though that copyright protects a document from being copied for any other
purpose than for study.
As you must appreciate this
list may not be a complete listing of all those plans that are available, so if
you have any knowledge of others please let me know.
And finally do not forget, as
with other scale models, it is important to do a lot of background research and
if possible take a lot of photographs, before setting out on the long and
sometimes fairly expensive task of Model Barge building.
SAILING BARGE PLANS
The
ASSOCIATION OF MODEL BARGE OWNERS (AMBO)
Available from R. Chesney
01784 450527
£20.00 plus post (as at January 2008)
JAMES PIPER
Richard Chesney (from
originals by G R Weddell 1959)
Plans
(re-drawn from the 1958 originals by Weddell) for the construction of JAMES
PIPER using plank on frame.
6 sheets
Approx size:
Length 42”
Beam 10”
-------------------------
PORTLIGHT
1/24th Scale
Drawn
for use with a GRP
Approx size:
Length 42”
Beam 10”
------------------------------------
JAMES PIPER
A 30”
version for the construction of a barge from Tony Williams 30” GRP hull
3 sheets
£10.50
-----------------------
WESTMORELAND
and
KATHLEEN
Scaled from proprietary sources to match the 30” hull made by Tony Williams
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SIRDAR
plans are in preparation – enquire as to the situation
WESTMORELAND
1/24th scale
Drawn to 1/24th scale on 6 sheets for plank on frame construction from the Thames Sailing Barge Trust small scale originals
Approx size:
Length 40” Beam
10”
----------------------------------
VERONICA
1/24th Scale
Richard Chesney (from the 1962
originals at 1/48th scale by Members of the Model Barge Association )
6 sheets
Approx size:
Length 43”
Beam 10”
-------------------------------------------
SAILING BARGE PLANS
DAVID MacGREGOR PLANS
SS Great
Great Western Dock
It is
understood there are some problems in obtaining plans from this source – so be
patient
D/37
SWIM HEADERS
Drawn by
Howard I Chapelle
1/
Redrawn from Chapmans 'Chalk Barge' dated 1768
2/
From model dated 1840
Lines,
General Arrangement, and Small Sail Plan of each.
-------------------------------
D/38
SWIM HEADERS
Drawn by
Howard I Chapelle
1/
Stumpy Barge from Model
2/
Topsail Barge with two square sails
Lines,
General Arrangement, Sail and Rigging Plan
---------------------------------
D/39
SWIM HEADER
Drawn by
Howard I Chapelle
In trade
c1840 - 90; unnamed; rigged with bowsprit and small mizzen.
Lines,
General Arrangement, Sail and Rigging Plan.
Scale 3/16" =
1ft
---------------------------------
D/40
BOWSPRIT CLASS
Drawn by
Howard I Chapelle
In trade
c1900; unnamed; 85ft x 20.3ft x 5ft.
Lines,
General Arrangement.
Scale 1/8" = 1ft
SAILING BARGE PLANS
David MacGregor Plans
M/W/6
H.K.D. (ex JEWISH)
Drawn by
Edgar J March
Bowsprit
Barge, 65 tons register, built in 1899 at Barking. 88ft x 21ft x 7ft
General
Arrangement, Sail and Rigging Plan, Aft Elevation, Numbered Key to Rigging
Scale 1/10" =
1ft
----------------------------
D/35A & B
VENTA
Wooden
Coastal Barge, 70 tons net, built in 1893 bt J T Howard at Maldon.
87.7ft x
20.5ft x 7.15ft
D/35A Lines,
General Arrangement and
D/35B Sail and
Rigging Plan
Scale ¼" =
1ft
SAILING
BARGE PLANS
Traplet
Plans Service
Traplet Publications Ltd
Traplet House, Pendragon Close,
Malvern,
Worcestershire WH14 1GA
01684 588500
Fax. 01684 578558
Email.
customerservices@traplet.com
VALERIE ANNE
Plans (semi-scale) for use
with the Waverley Models hull or for wood building of a 44 ¾” long 11” beam
Coastal Barge.
The plans and subsequent model are shown
built ‘left handed’ ie with the bow sprit, sprit and dinghy on the port side of
the barge and not the normally seen starboard side.
It is understood from the Society for Sailing Barge Research that a few (probably not more than ½ a dozen) barges were built this way and that a few were fully or partially reversed in some details during their career – but not enough for the production of a plan for a barge to be published as such without explanation.
SAILING BARGE PLANS
MODEL BOATS Plans Service
Berwick House, 8 – 10 Knoll
Rise, ORPINGTON, Kent BR6 0EL
MM89
WILL EVERARD
Steel Coastal
Barge built 1926 for F T Everard
96ft x 21ft
4 sheet plan
giving Lines, General Arrangement, Sail Plan, and Model Construction. Scrap
Sketches of Fittings. 16 page construction booklet.
Scale ¼" =
1ft
(Suitable for
2x enlargement to 1/24th Scale [½" = 1ft] as a sailing model)
---------------------------------
MM1365
CELIA JANE
Designed and
drawn by David Metcalf.
Fully
detailed plans for a (typical/Semi scale) Thames Coastal Sailing Barge at ½" =
1ft (1/24)
3 sheet plan
- half size General Arrangement and all Mast details, two full size Elevations,
Deck Details and Sections and Model Construction, Plans including Bow and Stern
Laminates and full Body Lines.
-----------------------------------
SY4
KATHLEEN
Drawn by
Edgar J March
5 sheet plans
- Complete Scale Drawings of the actual Barge, giving details of Hull Lines and
Construction, Deck Fittings, Sail Plan and all Rigging details.
(At various scales)
------------------------------------
SY5
GIRALDA
Drawn by
Edgar J March
Champion of
the
General
Arrangement and Sail Plans
SAILING BARGE PLANS
T O'Sullivan,
(Prices
quoted are as at 1995)
ASPHODEL of
Built by Gill
& Sons in 1900. Trading days ended as a Gunpowder Barge.
Drawn by J M
Russell from measurements taken in association with L E Zouch in 1963 when the
barge was in the ownership of the TBSC. Sail plan prepared by F S Cooper in
1964.
Sheet 1
Line plan and deck layout.
¼" - 1ft
Sheet 2
Spars, standing rigging and details of ironwork
¼" - 1ft & ½" - 1ft
Sheet 3
Sail Plan
¼" - 1ft
£6.50
---------------------------
ARROW of
Built in 1897
by Gill & Sons to a design by E A Gill and W L Wyllie.
Drawn by R S
Wood in 1957 while owned by TBSC
4 sheets A3
size copied at various scales
Sheet 1
Sheet 2
Sheet 3
Sail Plan
Sheet 4 Deck
Fittings
£5.00
-----------------------------
WESTMORELAND
of
Built by
Archie White of Conyer in 1900 for Eastwoods the Brickmakers. She built up a
reputation as a racing barge.
Drawn by R S
Wood in 1968/9 when owned by TBSC
Sheet 1
Sheet 2
Sail and Rigging Plan
Scale approx ¾ hull lines
£4.50
SAILING BARGE PLANS
JAMES PIPER of
Built at
Drawn by G R
Weddell in 1958
Sheet 1
Hull Lines and deck plan
¼" - 1ft
Sheet 2
Hull Lines containing body plan and details
¼" - 1ft
Sheet 3
Sail Plan and Standing Rigging
1/8" - 1ft
£5.50
-----------------------------------
LADY OF THE LEA
(Now of
Built at
Rotherhithe,
Redrawn by
Peter Ferguson in 1975 from the builders plans, and the Barge after conversion
to a housebarge.
Sheet 1
£3.50
-------------------------------------
Built in 1905
by Shrubshall at
A large
decorative sheet drawn by Ralph Erskine includes sail and rigging plans, deck
plan, interior sections of her conversion, details of rigging, barge bobs and
historical sketches.
£4.50
SAILING BARGE PLANS
Sources Unknown
or 1/24th scale
46” hull length
Several fine
models have been made from this plan so it would appear to have enough
construction information.
-------------------------
LADY DAPHNE
1/48th scale
or 1/24th scale
The plan is
very comprehensive and can be used to construct a very accurate model.
LADY DAPHNE
can usually be seen at St Katherines Dock near the
----------------------
NORTHDOWN
From an old
copy of Model Maker magazine. Very small scale drawing so of little practical
use.
----------------------
REDOUBTABLE
The plans
for this vessel were found in several old copies of a Newsletter from the
Wembley Model Ship Society. The information comprised plans and a series of
articles concerned with the construction of the vessel. Part of that information
was given to the Society by an ex Barge Builder, so that the detail of the