brunelrussell
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Everything posted by brunelrussell
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I fibbed when I made the above statement: I just reread Emmerson and it said it took four hours to take in the fore course and topsail in a gale.
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Sorry, I don't have a computer.
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In photos of the flying bridge of the steamship Great Eastern are two brass thingies that look like drinking cups, somewhat separate from the ones at the center. Can anyone tell me what they are? They look something like a pelorus (spelling?) but I don't think they were around back then. Thank you.
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Update! I suckered a friend of mine into buying this on his credit card, little knowing that his entire savings have been funneled into my unnumbered Swiss bank account! Mwah ha ha ha! But seriously, I got a big (for me) tax refund coming which will hopefully fund the lumber for the decks on the G.E.!
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Scratch Build George Law rigging question
brunelrussell replied to Boat Doc's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
I have noticed in photographs of the paddle steamer Arago And some others that the lower yards were actually lowered to the deck when the ship was presumably idle. Perhaps they bent the sails then and didn't need footropes. Don't know about the sails higher up. -
How Realistic Can One Make Sails?
brunelrussell replied to Julie Mo's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
Just something to add that doesn't seem to be common knowledge: American ships had very light colored cotton sails, but English and Continental sails were made if flax or hemp and were a gray/fawn color. Or maybe everybody knew this but me. -
Double channels on clippers — why?
brunelrussell replied to Srodbro's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
I believe most American sailing ships had double channels, not just clippers; not sure why. The Brits never used them. . -
Many many thanks for the tip! Unfortunately, E-bay doesn't honor my credit card, for some reason. But thanks anyway.
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I've heard that the sailors on the maiden voyage were afraid to ascend the rigging. and it took two hours to furl one of the lower squaresails. The blocks for the braces, which were mounted on the paddlebox, look to be about a foot and a half long! Many thanks for the communication.
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Several years ago I ordered some cannon kits (from Amazon, I think) that with a bit of alteration were perfect for the Great Eastern; that were brass and had the neatest little disassembled carriages. I ordered 4. Recently I learned that the ship had 6. I can't seem to find them anywhere now, even on the company website. I could make them from scratch but the hobby shop didn't have any plus I am congenitally lazy. They were 31.5 mm long. If anyone can help me with this I'd be plumb grateful.
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Brunelrussell here: having fractured a bone in my left pinkie and being a southpaw I am temporarily barred from the shipyard, so I've decided to do some research on the rigging, even though that phase is far in the future. I'm pretty much up on squaresails but less so on the fore-and-aft kind. The Great Eastern has a loose-footed gaffsail on every mast. Since these seem to be employed on steamships for the most part, Mr. Underhill has little to say about them. Mowell's book on the Great Britain has a lot of info plus a belaying chart which is very helpful, and even Bowcock's book on the C.S.S Alabama has some very clear diagrams. It seems that the sheets of these sails ran through blocks on deck and from there to somewhere on the bulwarks. I seems to me that this would make getting around on deck a bit of a pain, though it explains the row of ringbolts on deck just outside the saloon decks that I've noticed in photographs. If any of youse guys can help me with this I'd be plumb grateful. I'm also in doubt about the fore staysail sheet, which also apparently runs through a deck block to a pin. In other words, I need to get my sheets together. Maybe some of you rigging experts out there can hep me. Thanks in advance!
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I just may try that dapping thing, but thank you all for your suggestions!
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Brunelrussell here; as some of you know I am working on a large-scale model of the steamship Great Eastern. The ship had two compasses surmounted by domes around 2 feet in diameter, or one quarter inch scale size. I tried using hollow brass beads but in compressing them to the slightly oblate shape required, the seams opened. I then tried making them of brass tubing rings glued together, which had worked on the capstan tops (brass sheet in that case) but the edges of some of the layers exfoliated. Nobody on line has hollow brass spheres that small. If anybody knows of another way, please lemme know. Thanks in advance
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Brunelrussell update: I looked over some of the German sources but my high school German wasn't good enough to decipher them. I did manage to find what I wanted at, of all places, Model Expo; they had metric walnut. I used Paypal once and had problems. Anyhoo, alls well that ends...well?
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I've noticed that many, if not most, models of late 19th century ocean liners have a pink rather than red underbody (below the waterline); is this some sort of modeling convention or did they really have antifouling paint of this color? Thanx a bunch.
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I posted a brief heads-up on this title in the 'plans' section but was sensibly asked to do a review in this one, so here goes... The book is 'American Steamships on the Atlantic' by Cedric Ridgely-Nevitt, who was a marine architect. This is one of those overlooked periods in American - heck, world! - shipbuilding, so, being interested in this period I ordered it from Amazon out of curiosity, and was glad I did. It begins with the earliest efforts by Robert Fulton and others and covers the entire period of the wooden, mostly paddle wheel coastal and seagoing vessels of that period. Among the illustrations are exquisitely drawn plans by the author, somewhat in the style of the late Howard Chappelle, with lines included. The set for the New York-Havre liner 'Arago' are particularly nice and I'm thinking of starting a model of her. I was a bit disappointed by the material for the Collins liners but apparently little remains, except for the lines of the 'Adriatic' (I'm queer for Collins liners). Vanderbilt's ships are fairly well covered. The written material is exhaustive and interesting. To anyone interested in this comparative backwater, I recommend this book without reservation.
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Mr. Nils, I've been following your progress on the 'Kaiser Bill' with interest and not a little envy, as it is a ship I've always been fascinated with. I was able to find most of your source material on line but where did you get the hull lines? I know I'll never get around to building it but I might draw up a modeller's plan. Also, a possibly dumb question: my German is not good enough to figure out what the frame spacing was on the ship; if you could give me that I'll be eternally grateful. Keep up the good work!
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I have a technique of making ship model spars that can't possibly warp; I've only tried it on yards for my Great Eastern model but I don't see why it wouldn't work for masts or any other spar. I made the "core" of the yards from aluminum tubing of various diameters and covered them with tapered wood strips, using epoxy throughout. Sometimes they came out a bit uneven (more than a bit, actually) but after being sanded down to shape they look fine; they'll be painted anyway, but with more care than I employed I think it would work for spars left "bright". I can't wait to try it on the masts, in which case I will use brass for greater strength. Happy modeling!
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Custom photoetch resources
brunelrussell replied to Keith_W's topic in Metal Work, Soldering and Metal Fittings
There is an outfit in Australia called Steam & Things that does custom photoetching mainly for model railroaders but also ship parts; they've already done a set of paddle wheels for a 1\8 inch to the foot model of the Great Eastern-which I am also doing-so I intend to use them for photoetched stuff. Hope this helps.- 12 replies
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