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Showing results for tags 'Edmund Fitzgerald'.
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Pardon any formatting errors - My first build log, and first build. Trying to follow the conventions on this site. Quick blurb about me (if anyone cares...lol). I was 2 years old when this ship went down, so I obviously have no recollection of ever seeing it sail up/down the Detroit River on it's regular run carrying taconite (iron ore pellets) from Lake Superior ports to the steel mills in Detroit and Ohio regions. Born, raised, and still live only a couple blocks from the Detroit River on the Canadian side in Windsor, Ontario. Been a boatnerd my whole life, and still am. Have visited the museums near me (Dossin in Detroit, and the old one in Vermillion, OH which I believe is now located in Toledo, as well as multiple trips to the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre in St. Catharines, ON). I did consider a career on the lakes, but at time I decided I go another route. From the time I was a young boatwatcher I have always wanted to built a model freighter - sadly no mass market companies ever got into this sub-genre of models. Which brings me to 2020 and finally deciding at 47 years of age to finally tackle this on my own. Built by Great Lakes Engineering Works in River Rouge, MI (the history of GLEW is fascinating itself - I highly recommend anyone interested in it to read up on it's history - not sure how well known they were outside of the Great Lakes region). The Fitzgerald was launched the summer of 1958. Owned by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, and operated by the Columbia Transport division of Oglebay Norton Corp. At launch it was the largest ship on the lakes and set numerous records during her career. The launch is interesting in that it took 3 times for the champagne bottle to break during the christening. Also the sideways launch was not only delayed due to difficulties removing the keel blocks, but once it hit the water many of spectators were drenched and it even hit the pier before settling. On Nov 10, 1975 she was lost in a major storm on Lake Superior with wind gusts approaching hurricane force and large waves likely over 25ft tall. A ship (Arthur M Anderson) that was following the Fitzgerald recorded wind gusts of 81-86mph and waves up to 35ft. Keep in mind, she was fully loaded with over 26,000 tons of taconite, so was surely sitting very low in the water. Why I chose the Fitzgerald for my first build: Great Lakes freighters have always been a hobby and interest of mine (see above). Ironically, with the covid pandemic getting plans for any ship proved to be a challenge, as most sources for plans for this type of ship were/are shut down or severely restricted. I was able to get a set of plans from eBay for this ship. Method: I tossed around the idea of doing a bulkhead/frame with balsa sheeting, and then a combination of balsa and styrene for the hatches, pilot house, etc. I actually started this method but stopped. Again, with access to materials and shipping to me in Canada, I found a local specialty wood dealer who stocks basswood, so I made the decision to do a solid basswood hull. I started sometime in early July (I think). I will do some catch up photos and notes, and then post as I go. Here is a pic of how she looked in 1971 - so hopefully my model looks pretty darn close to this!.jpg.033ee41a601df551aa7f658c7385079e.jpg)
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I am developing an interest in Great Lakes shipping, and I wanted a model of a Great Lakes freighter. I don’t have the funds right now for a full-on build, so I figured I’d look for something simple in card. I came across this kit from Lake Freighter Minis and figured it was worth a shot… It’s only a water-line model, and I’m sure it’s not 100% accurate, but I’m ok with that. LFM doesn’t specify a scale, so I did some quick calculations based on the stated model length and the real thing and came up with about 1:550. What I received was a nice envelope with thorough instructions and nicely printed sheets of fairly heavy card stock. We will see how this turns out!
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- Edmund Fitzgerald
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SS Edmund Fitzgerald - profile of 3D computer model I made I'm starting this build log as a motivator to start some work on this kit that has been sitting around for a year and a half. I apologize in advance for long periods with no updates; I'm going to be juggling this build with my scratch build Doll Boat, which has a target deadline of my daughter's third birthday in May, 2016. That said, I've been itching to build this kit for a LONG time - years before I even bought it. It is a ship that is very familiar to me at this point. Allow me to explain: When I was 4 years old, a babysitter brought over a video documentary about the Titanic shipwreck, called 'Secrets of the Titanic' from National Geographic. I fell in love with that documentary, and subsequently the ship, for reasons not entirely clear. But, my entire childhood (and, to be honest, life thus far) began to revolve around ships and shipwrecks. When I was a bit older, probably between 8 and 10 years old, I was introduced to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (the event; I was introduced to the song shortly thereafter). The drama surrounding her final voyage, and the mystery of her sudden sinking, captured my attention just as much as the Titanic ever had. Those two ships soon became the two I knew most about. Edmund Fitzgerald - 3D Rendering I made Flash forward several more years, and my interest in ships and shipwrecks lead me to pursuing a degree in Naval Architecture. I attended a school called Webb Institute; part of the graduation requirements is to perform a senior thesis related to maritime engineering or industry. My initial goal was to do something involving the Titanic; specifically to try to validate a claim regarding her breakup that I had read in a book that was (at the time) recent and popular. I approached a technical research committee affiliated with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) that focused on marine accident forensic investigations, because I knew of several people that had done some extensive work on the Titanic sinking. However, when I pitched my idea to the chairmen (who was one of the individuals that had done Titanic work) he basically shot it down with a well argued case that my idea wouldn't really reveal anything new. But, he made me another offer: he had a couple people on his committee that were investigating the sinking of a great lakes bulk carrier, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. I nearly fainted! I immediately agreed to get in touch with the two guys working that project, and took some time to understand what they were doing and where they needed support. I agreed to assist with developing a longitudinal weight distribution for the ship, assist with some other weights-relate tasks (such as determining some seakeeping coefficients, to enable accurate prediction of vessel motions), develop a mathematical model of how the ship may have flooded, and look at overall longitudinal structural strength. I worked on my thesis for just over a year, and in the process learned more about the Edmund Fitzgerald than I had ever known about the Titanic. Needless to say, as soon as I discovered there was a kit on the market for the Fitz, and in the same scale as my other two kits (Titanic and DKM Bismarck), I started thinking about how I could get it and build it. SS Edmund Fitzgerald hull (front), DKM Bismarck (center), RMS Titanic (back) - all 1:350 scale Which brings me to this log. I've been thinking about how to approach the build/build log, and I think, since this is a ship I am so familiar with, whose history is impressive, and whose sinking gained national, pop culture attention through Gordon Lightfoot's song, I want to mingle in with the progress of the build the background of the ship, the story of her sinking, and some of the interesting results I got from my forensics work, such that by the time the build is complete, the 'narrative' will be completed as well. I've seen several logs where the first several posts are just related to history, before any building begins. I like that idea too, and maybe it's better because it's all in one place. But I'm a rambler, and I fear that I'd write far too much up front (I probably already have). Rather, I'd like the story to follow the build - for example, discussing the conception of the idea, the design, and the construction in conjunction with discussing the parts of the kit and prepping the hull; discussing her career as a laker in conjunction with building details of the hatch crane and accommodations structures fore and aft; and discussing the final voyage and the drama being played out by the captain and crew while building the pilot house, etc. I'm not sure these correlations are locked in stone, but that's kind of the idea I want to shoot for - vessel history intertwined with build progress. So - what do you all think? Does the idea sound interesting? Or should I dump all the history-type narrative right up front? I'm open to suggestions. Either way, sometime in the near future I'll post the pictures I took of the kit, and introduce the various challenges I see to this build.
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- edmund fitzgerald
- iron shipwrights
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