ShipShape: solid modelling and visualisation of the Newport Medieval Ship from 3D digital record

The Newport Ship is the most substantial medieval ship found in Britain in modern times. Following its discovery in 2002, the ship was dismantled and the individual timbers recovered for detailed recording, analysis and eventual conservation. The recovery of the ship reflected strong local support for its rescue and display, mirrored by widespread academic interest. The ship is important at a number of levels: as a major archaeological find which has galvanised sustained community support for heritage, and as a rare survival of a clinker-built ship of the late medieval period, constructed on the Atlantic seaboard.
Since its recovery, the thousands of timbers making up the find have been recorded using 3-dimensional recording arms to produce a digital record of the ship's structural elements. The waterlogged timbers now need to undergo chemical treatments to remove contaminants such as iron and sulphur and then be actively conserved. These processes will take some time (of the order of 4-6 years) and in the meantime public interest (demonstrated by tens of thousands of visitors to the Newport Ship Centre) needs to be sustained whilst the timbers are less accessible. An interim exhibition which addresses some of the most common questions asked by the public (which also parallel key research objectives) such as 'What did the ship look like?', 'How big was the ship?', 'How much cargo could it carry?' will be based on a programme of research focused on reconstruction of the ship's original hull form.
The ship remains had been distorted over centuries of burial and the original size and shape of the vessel cannot be readily determined. Traditional approaches to such research questions have included the construction of scale research models in fragile materials such as card which are not suitable for display. This project will realise the potential of the 3-dimensional digital record of each timber by firstly building an accurate virtual solid model of each timber. A precise 1:10 scale physical copy of each piece will then be manufactured using a process called 'laser sintering'. This process has been developed to allow production of short runs of high precision models such as prototypes. Pieces are manufactured in a thermoplastic (Polyamide 12) which can be bent using tension and/or the application of moderate heat.
The dynamic exhibition will evolve over time as the scale model, which will act as the centrepiece, is built following the original construction order of the ship. Existing display panels will be updated to explain the research and its outcomes, redressing reduced access to the ship timbers during their conservation treatment. Research outputs will also include enhanced website information, journal articles and conference papers. Feedback from public audience responses to the exhibition will be used to help develop display concepts for the permanent display of the ship once all the timbers have been displayed.
The creation of the exhibition and the research underpinning it will be achieved through development of an existing relationship between Newport Museum and Heritage Service (keeper of the Newport Ship) and the University of Wales Lampeter which has provided archaeological consultancy support since the ship's discovery.