I've already downlaoded five ships. Going to get all I can before something happens again and the plans disappear for a couple more years. Heh.
I'm getting all of them... started last night, still in the A's... and that's just right clicking and 'save as' without looking at them lol.
I use http://www.httrack.com/ its ok. there are better ones out there, but this suits my needs fairly well
Thanks for the link, Nick... is there an easy filter that'll let me grab the whole thing in one shot? It grabs the top level, but all the images are still being sought from the original site, not my hard drive
I think the problem is how they structured the site, the front page is in a different subdirectory from the various ship pages. To prevent trying to download the internet in its entirety most site scrapers will by default only follow current directory and subdirectory links. Fortunately there is a solution: In 'scan rules' if you tell it to include links containing http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/02fonds-collections/banquedocuments/planbato/planbato/ I think it should scrape all the individual pages and their images correctly.
Other news. I read on Steelnavy.com that more plans have been digitized and will be added later this year when the archives are transferred to another department of the French Government. Amiral Senes please!!!
I wish OUR government would do this!!! We can blow billions on stupid stuff and not spend a little to get a team of grad students and scanners?
It is great to see this site back up. I am going to try to gather a few plans myself. See. Good things do come to those who wait. Mikey
Large format scanners are on the pricey side. We bought an 11x17 bookscanner when I was working at LSU and the price was equal to a small car. Still digitizing the NARA archives of ship plans is a worth task. If only the National Maritime Museum would do the same.
Yep, long document scanners outside of one-off special orders did not exist until 2003 or 2004. Would you believe that there was not a commercial scanner that could handle forms longer than 17 inches right in the middle of the paperless office revolution. Car dealerships, banks, etc... used to cut forms in half to get them archived electronically. BTW, the superstructure deck-by-deck plans are not always in the same scale as the rest of the sheet! Example: RICHELI1940PL3933.tif
The standard method for "scanning" large items is high resolution digital photography. The pdf fiche at the gives the various scales of the drawings.
Yes, but the same image or sheet listed in the pdf as 1/140 has deck cross-sections for the superstructure that are closer to 1/150. I will upload a low-res example later tonight if I get a chance--after I nail down the correct rescaling for the cross-sections. On the scanning, that works for low-volume, and is increasingly easier with today's technology. But the first high-volume batch scanner that could handle long-docs was a modified Cannon DR-5010c that is currently collecting dust at an undisclosed location in Jacksonville, FL. ACK! I'm talking about work, MAKE IT STOP!!!! [sanity recovered now, I think]
