A half hull model ship is a wooden model ship featuring only one half of a boat's hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 without rigging

Rigging

Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...

 or other fixtures.

Background

Prior to the twentieth century, half hull model ships were constructed by shipwrights as a means of planning a ship's design and sheer

Sheer (ship)

The sheer is a measure of longitudinal main deck curvature, in naval architecture.The practice of building sheer into a ship dates back to the era of small sailing ships. These vessels were built with the decks curving upwards at the bow and stern in order to increase stability by preventing the...

 and ensuring that the ship would be symmetrical. The half hulls were mounted on a board and were exact scale

Scale model

A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...

 replicas of the actual ship's hull. With the advent of computer design, half hulls are now built as decorative nautical art and constructed after a ship is completed.

External links

• Half Hull Boat Modelling:An Old Art Turned Full Circle