brunelrussell

I just came across a previously unknown (by me) direct stern photo of the Great Eastern at Milford Haven shortly before her breaking up.  It was on the website for the National Museum of Wales and they let you copy it.  They also have some landscape shots featuring the ship but not useful to the modeller.  I can finally figure out how far apart the stern hawseholes are!

Brunel Russell here: I found some really nice archival tissue at an art supply store that has the perfect texture for the small scale I'm working at; not sure how I'm going to tint it tan to simulate linen.  Suggestions?

It's going to be awhile before I need this information, but on my Great Eastern model I would like to show the yards and gaffs set at an angle as in the plan from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Journal.  I am not setting all the sails, of course, just the topsails and three trysails.  Should the gaffs be set at an angle on the masts where they are not set?  I know you real sailors out there are rolling on the floor laughing but I honestly don't know.  Hep me! Hep me!  Also, I would like to have one of the topgallants being set but am not sure how to arrange the crew on deck; line pullers and such.

I've had some health issues and fallen way behind, but I'm ready to jump back into the game.  Just when you thought it was safe to come on line...

Guess what, people!  I, like, totally cut the aluminum tubes all by myself!  It doesn't pay to look too close at the first one but it's usable.  I guess the moderator can eliminate this thread.

No luck in finding 13/16 metal tube; hardly anyone has it.  The PMSE web site doesn't provide any means of actually buying anything.  I'm having a helluva time trying to cut my 5/8 inch aluminum in half longitudinally; I thought aluminum was supposed to be relatively soft; must be an alloy.  If I can't 'do' the funnels I can't do the boat.  Frustrating much!

brunelrussell here: I can't display any images of my Great Eastern model because I don't have the equipment- I don't even own a computer, but have to use the library.  Maybe I'll try a verbal description but it would be awful long and dull.

Brunelrussell, here: to Bonedoctor51: having gotten no reply for the above, I guess I should get your mailing address or something.  If you can, get back with me.

Brunelrussell here: After careful consideration, I've decided to use 3/4 inch brass tube built up with plastic card, which also provides a nice thin upper edge.  Thanks to all for your advice, though.

brunelrussell weighing in: Somehow or other, some scientific publishers do manage to provide free-access articles, for example PLOSOne and Paleontologoca Polonica.  I still think it's a ripoff, but then I'm not a capitalist.  Oh, hi Keithbrad80.  The article in question is in the journal The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, volume 30, issue 2, December 2001, pp. 231-249.  I've also found it on several other web sites, all with the same proviso.  I blush to admit that I don't know what a URL is; I haven't gotten over the telephone yet.  If you can help I'd be plumb grateful.

Brunelrussell here in carmudgeon mode:  I'm always interested in Civil War blockade runners and there is an article out about the Denbigh, which is being studied off the coast of Galveston, Texas by three of the people involved, but I can't even read it because, for reasons unknown, you have to list an institution in order to be allowed the privilege.  What's wrong with being a private  individual?  The company which owns the publication   is Elsevier, who are bad 

about paywalling their articles; I've had the same problem with them concerning paleontological journals.  Unless it's proprietary or otherwise 'sensitive' I believe that information should be freely available to all and not just another marketable commodity.  So there.

Brunelrussell to Bonedoctor51: Sorry about the delay, but I have some basic information (lines,layout etc.) from the Science Museum London which I don't need anymore.  Could someone inform me whether we have to do transactions through the  web site or on our own?  Any other information I impart to Bonedoctor51 I will put on line in case anyone is interested.

Brunelrussell here: the only problem with your advice is the fact that I don't have any kind of power equipment and can't see getting any for just one job, so I prefer to 'farm it out'.  Any takers?

Brunelrussell here: I confess I'm overwhelmed by the response to my inquiry!  You guys rock, as they say these days.  I will definitely try PSME, and somehow it never occurred to me to try using paper; after all, it's just another form of wood.  Thank you all again.

Brunelrussell here: not being very organized to begin with and not having a means to photograph or transmit, I won't be able to do a regular build log, but I can provide updates if you like.  Love the canal boat tale; shades of Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyan!

Brunelrussell here; I recommend the blocks and deadeyes made by the Syren company; they are boxwood and very good.  I intend to use them on the Great Eastern model I'm working on.

Brunelrussell here; I'll see what I can get together for you; I'll get back with you.

Brunelrussell here, still slaving away on the Great Eastern.  I have three aluminum tubes for the aft funnels that need to be cut in half longitudinally (lengthwise, in other words).  If anybody out there has the equipment to do this for me I would be plumb grateful and reimburse you for your trouble.  Thanx!

Brunelrussell here, on my third iteration of the funnels (smokestacks) of the Great Eastern.  I recently realized that the two round forward funnels as originally built were slightly smaller than the seven foot longitudinal dimension of the aft ones.  K&S doesn't make most of their larger diameter brass tubes any more, and an inquiry to the company concerning any pieces left in their warehouse got only a 3 foot piece for $100 which, seeing that I only need about 8 inches, seemed a bit steep.  I'm inquiring if anybody out there might have some left over in their scrap bin; I only need about 8 inches.  I will of course pay for materials and your trouble.  Oh, shoot I didn't give the diameter!  It's 13/16ths.  Any help would be appreciated.  Oh, I should add that two four inch pieces would be fine.

Brunelrussell again, to Mr. bonedoctor; you got any questions about the G.E. I'm your man.  I've been researching the damn thing for almost 40 years, I can date any photos, I've been through all her various transformations.  I'm obsessed, in other words, and am building a 1/8th inch to the foot model in her N.Y. maiden voyage mode.  I could talk your ear off about this thing.  I have to use library computers so my replies might be a bit slow.  Nobody around here has any intererst in the subject. Please, ask!

Hello all,  brunelrussell again.  I found a photo in my vast collection of nautical stuff that shows an apparently modern sailing ship with several canvas-covered hatches.  The edges seem to be held down by toggles of some kind.  I didn't think to look into The Great Britain, duh.  Thanks again, guys (and dolls).

Being a genuine card-carrying carmudgeon at age mumblety-mumble, I will here vent my spleen about some continuing myths and misinformation concerning Brunel's - and my - 'great babe', the S. S. Great Eastern, the first being the continuing belief in the 'skeletons in the cell' incident.  It is pure maritime urban myth.  During the ship's construction, a couple of workers went missing.  Instead of the reasonable explanation that they simply wandered off one day, as laborers tended to do in those days, the Victorians, with their penchant for ghosts and the supernatural, the story went around that they had somehow been sealed up in one of the spaces between the inner and outer hulls.  These were pretty tight quarters since the space was only 3 feet, and the din from other riveters must have been appalling.  It was claimed that their calls for help were thus unheard.  The first objection I have is, what about at the end of the work day when things quieted down?  Another major objection to the story is that the hull spaces, or 'cells', were perfectly accessible from the inside for required maintainance by means of manholes.  Emmerson even states that the covers for these weren't installed until, fortunately, just before the 'Great Eastern rock' voyage.  The ship did seem to be dogged by ill luck, but attributing this to ghostly vengeance smacks more of the 12th rather than the 19th or 20th centuries.  I believe that many of her difficulties stemmed from her sheer novelty, plus the fact that her various owners and directors were dumb as dirt.  I believe the first recent report of the story was in James Dugan's mostly admirable account in 'The Great Iron Ship'.  He claimed to have gotten it from a tug captain or some such who was alive at the time.  I think this person was havi ng a bit of fun with 'bloody yank' Dugan.  Several parties, including the author of 'The Big Ship', Patrick Beaver, have made a thorough survey of the Liverpool newspapers during the years of the ship's dismantling nearby, and have found no mention whatsoever any such occurence; as now, any such sensational story would not have escaped the attention of the press.  I suppose the yarn is now a permanent part of the ship's legacy, and appeals to those of a certain mind set, but it should be taken with more than a pinch of salt.  Another much more minor bit if misinformation concerns a picture in wide circulation on the internet which supposedly depicts a 'lounge' on the G.E..  In a marvelous book by Stephen Fox entitled 'Transatlantic', which I highly recommend to liner buffs, in the second pictorial section after page 366, second page in on top, is a reproduction of the same picture identified as the lady's drawing room on one of the two Inman liners City of Paris or City of New York.  If you are at all familiar with the G.E.'s interiors you will see that there is no resemblance; the ceiling is way too low and the overstuffed seating is very much late 19th century.  This kind of sloppy research seems to be on the rise these days.  Anyhow, having gotten that off what I laughingly call my chest, boys and girls, keep your deadeyes in a row - I almost said 'ducks - and happy modelling to all

Still slaving away on the Great Eastern (my life's work) and now that I know where the cargo hatches were, I need info as to how the canvas covers which I assume were there appeared.  Trying to find info like this online any more is hopeless;  it all seems to be about buying and selling stuff.  If anybody can cue me in I'd be appreciative.    brunalrussell

I've decided to go for 1/16 inch, if anyone's interested.  Thanks for making me see reason!

The scale of the model is HO; 1/8"= 1 foot.