Model Yachts and Model Sailing - How to Build, Rig, and Sail a Self-Acting Model Yacht

MODEL YACHTS

AND MODEL YACHT SAILING.

HOW TO BUILD, RIG, AND SAIL

A SELF-ACTING MODEL YACHT.

BY

JAMES E. WALTON, V.M.Y.C.

ILLUSTRATED WITH FIFTY-EIGHT ENGRAVINGS.

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Model Building

Model building as a hobby involves the creation of models either from kits, or from materials and components acquired by the builder. The most common form of modelling is the ‘scale model’, produced with varying degrees of accuracy, dependent on the interests and intentions of the creator. This is most generally a physical representation of an object, which maintains accurate relationships between all important aspects of the model, although absolute values of the original properties need not be preserved. Scale models are used in many fields including engineering, architecture, film making, military command, salesmanship and most widely, for fun with hobby model building. While each field may use a scale model for a different purpose, all scale models are based on the same principles and must meet the same general requirements to be functional.

Perhaps the most common form of model building is model cars, or toy cars. This category can often include other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs as well. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aimed as children as playthings, there is no precise difference between a model car and a toy car, yet the word 'model' implies either assembly required or some attempt at accurate rendering of an actual vehicle at smaller scale. Regarding the former, the kit building hobby became popular through the 1950s, while the collecting of miniatures by adults started to pick up steam around 1970. Precision detailed miniatures made specifically for adults are a significant part of the market since perhaps the mid-1980s

Miniature models of automobiles first appeared about the time real automobiles did - first in Europe and then, shortly after, in the United States. These were initially duplicates made of lead and brass, and later in the twentieth century, made of slush cast plaster or iron. Tin and pressed steel cars, trucks, and military vehicles, like those made by Bing of Germany followed in the 1920s through the 1940s, but models rarely copied actual vehicles - it is unclear why, but likely had to do with the crudeness of early casting and metal shaping techniques which prevented precision rendering of an actual car's shape and detail. Casting vehicles in various alloys, usually zinc (called zamac or mazac), also started during these decades and came on stronger in the late 1930s, prominent particularly after World War II. Today, China, and other countries of Southeast Asia are the main producers of metal miniature vehicles from European, American, and Japanese companies. For the most part, only specialty models for collectors are still made in the Europe or the United States.

Another incredibly popular form of modelling is aircraft; be they models of existing or imaginary aeroplanes. Such models vary enormously in complexity, and can be flying or non-flying (static), and may or may not be an accurate scale model of a full-size design. Flying models range from simple toy gliders made of card stock or foam polystyrene to powered scale models made from materials such as balsa wood or fibreglass. Some can be very large, especially when used to research the flight properties of a proposed real design. The models intended for static display are usually made as highly accurate reproductions, requiring, in some cases hundreds, or even thousands of hours of work. Simpler models, for the amateur modeller are available in kit form however, typically made of injection-moulded polystyrene.

Most of the world's airlines allow their fleet aircraft to be modelled as a form of publicity, and in the early days of air travel, airlines would order large models of their aircraft and supply them to travel agencies as a promotional item. In a very similar way, the shipping industry was one of the first promoters of model ships; model building is