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rwiederrich

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Everything posted by rwiederrich

  1. rwiederrich
    Just a few updates....Like I said earlier...I've been so preoccupied with so many home type jobs I have had no real time to work on the GR....I can only assume I will be back in the shipyard this fall. I do have a friend who I've asked to make the case for the GR. But for your entertainment here are a few pic of what I have been doing. I finished up the front porch and veranda/French door/roof for the front of the house...complete front overhaul and I just finished the cedar decking. I began by installing all the new windows and ended up with the deck. Next....I worked on my second hobby and converted one of my dental chairs into a binocular chair to hold my large 21X127 custom binoculars. I also built the rotating table the chair sits on. I, now have a couple of trees to fall and cut up...... I'm so exhausted. Rob
  2. rwiederrich
    Paper works exceptionally well...and is very forgiving. Rob
  3. rwiederrich
    I love clippers and I'm getting warn out on Cutty Sark examples. Your Redjacket is done well and is quite refreshing. Rob
  4. rwiederrich
    Thanks Nic...I just thought it was easier to treat the shrouds/ratlines as part of the masts and them as one unit....so when I added the yards(Off model), everything would go together nicely and nearly complete. Your approach seams similar....your channel/chainplate work looks very nice too. Rob
  5. rwiederrich
    Great job on the offsets....I like the method described...seams very easy....short of turning your own masts with offsets within them. I also like building the masts and adding the ratlines for the top and topgallants off model. I found it far easier to rotate and do the miniature work in its own fice...giving far more access and ease of work. Then you can place the masts and add the main shrouds. Here's a pic of mine done this way before yards and sails. Rob
  6. rwiederrich
    So good to see you back and at it hard. Several questions if I may? How did you apply your mast straps(what are they made from?) What is going on with the top mast at the doubling......It appears to be resting on a square post? Is this the simulated stepout the mast head would have to accommodate the lower shrouds? And does not the instructions call for double deadeyes and lanyards for the top shrouds? Some rigging diagrams call for simple bulleyes and stropping...much like what you created. I'm assuming the Redjacket had varnished masts and yards. Your work is wonderful and vary clean and tidy. Rob
  7. rwiederrich
    Thanks Pat..I experimented quite a bit to get the lighter green seen below the white caps and then the darker water as the froth and foam clears. Its a plethora of depth and color that I struggled with. Thanks for the fine comment and compliment. I've been so busy with house projects(finishing up the front porch(7X30)), and making chicken coops and farm stuff...that I just don't have enough hours in the day to work on my ships. Not to mention that my ship modeling hobby has to compete with my telescope/astronomy hobby. I'm currently building a mount for my extremely large binoculars to ride on an old converted dental chair....for real good astro viewing. Anyway...again, thanks for your encouragement and comments. Rob(spread thinner than jam on day old bread)
  8. rwiederrich
    A bit better image to show the raging sea.
  9. rwiederrich
    Thanks Pat. She'll be rigged for foul weather for sure. Like many of the my other builds....ie: Cutty Sark Rudder repair, Ferreira backwater, and the Donald McKay around the Horn...I like to mount my models in actual life events they actually experienced. Not just to mount them on a nicely crafted pedestal mount. I want the viewer to be lured into the history of the ship...not just her beauty. I feel it causes the viewer to be engaged...not only in the fine craftsmanship of the model, but in an historical event associated with the vessel. To bring history alive. I opted to highlight the unique piece of wood I used for the Great Republics mounting....then say the mooring she was scuttled at after she burned to her waterline. I will be returning to the Donald McKay and the Gory of the Seas shortly after I finish the GR. I found it far easier to finish one ship..then to have to set aside all the tooling and parts for the specific ship in leu of the other. Just too much shuffling...since I have only a small portion of the bench in my shop to do work, I'd have to remove the GR entirely from the shop. Thanks for your encouragement. Rob
  10. rwiederrich
    Zigg…..I've set her aside till I finish the Great Republic. I really wanted to see how I could tackle open sea water...I had already done the Ferreira on a still backwater. I have done further research on the McKay and I need to redo some windows on the main cabin. Like the GR the McKay had a forward and aft weatherdeck with a gangway that passed over the mid deck with her bulwarks so sailors could easily pass from one deck to the next without going up and down access ladders. I really want to finish her because she will rigged with only heavy weather sails. A powerful impression. Being lured by the dramatic, I wanted viewers to see what big waves might have looked like with a clipper being tossed in them. Not your average model mounting. Here she is on the shelf behind the Great Republic.
  11. rwiederrich
    Coming along nicely... Rob
  12. rwiederrich
    It's been a while since I posted last...sorry for the delay...but I have been tackling some summer jobs, like finishing building the chicken coop and running fence in my lower pasture. The admiral has required my time ashore to be fully engaged in these tasks...not to mention finishing up the front porch decking. Thanks for hanging in there friends.....summer tasks seam to rob me of any time needed to work on the Great Republic. Rob
  13. rwiederrich
    Yeah....when I was developing my system...I built a pounce wheel....but the *Puncture* looking holes just looked ridiculous. Plus the indentations are not actually holes but nail heads...recessed from hammering. To simulate this required an ample amount of ingenuity. The reason why I used a press. Great job. Rob
  14. rwiederrich
    You're doing a wonderful job. You're almost done.... I couldn't get my head around the nearly 2000 copper plates that were needed for my scratch built Great Republic...so I created my own system, by using copper tape cut into 8" strips and run through a clothes press roller that I modified for the purpose. With a wire mesh gauge and some drywall sanding mesh paper I was able to emboss the nail imprints and plate seams onto the strip, all in one simple pass through the press.. Then all I did was affix them...fast and easy compared to the tedium of single plate work. I also loathed the final shiny copper color...and since the Gr was not covered with copper but with the yellow *muntz* metal plates....I chose to paint over my copper plates with a metallic paint that represented the muntz metal after it has oxidized. It turns a metallic *brown*...instead of the typical greenish wash you see from weathers copper. The Cutty Sark was also coppered in *Muntz* metal NOT copper. When new the muntz metal was quite *Yellow*….more like brass. Here is a pic of my copper strips..ready to be applied to the hull.
  15. rwiederrich
    A vary handsome model....and in card...wonderful. Your clear attention to clean gluing and crisp folds is quite telling of your skill. Love it..... and I'm sure it will be loved by the Admiral and will find a place of honor. Rob
  16. rwiederrich
    What a following
  17. rwiederrich
    I was with you when you began this log...you've overcome many obstacles and recovered very well. It is very rewarding to know you are building her for your own personal enjoyment...that is the most important thing. Keep up the great work. Thanks for your fine comments as well. Rob
  18. rwiederrich
    I don't recall, if you are aware, but some of the images you posted are of the Ferreira... and when the Portuguese got a hold of the Cutty Sark they did some serious mods....like adding that access on the aft poop deck house by the helm. (To name just one of many) Are you going to model her with all the mods or are you staying true to her original configuration? Rob
  19. rwiederrich
    What an impressive lighthouse...beautiful. Great job on the card model......love lighthouses and yours in wonderful. Rob
  20. rwiederrich
    Shipyard work soothes the soul..... Can't wait to see how you affix the bowsprit. Rob
  21. rwiederrich
    I only hope the detail remains in those older injection molds. My issue is with the shiny nylon thread currently being used...instead of the nicer older thread that was probably made from cotton or hemp. Rob
  22. rwiederrich
    So good to see you at the shipyard Nic....super progress too. She is a beautiful clipper. Rob
  23. rwiederrich
    My original intent was to use several 1/96 hulls to make the hull of the Great Republic....however, the jump from 1/96 to 1/128 was significant enough, doing so would be more problematic then building her from scratch....and the two hulls are significantly different amidships and at the stern. If I built the Republic in 1/96 compared to my Cutty/ Swordfish/Seawitch...in that scale she would be nearly a foot and a half longer and much larger. In any case, in 1/128..she is slightly larger then the others....NOT to scale. I used a Cutty hull for my Glory of the Seas hull, as well as my Donald McKay....in the latter case the hull is submerged, so no errors are seen...and I completely rebuilt the gunwales and deck to replicate that of the McKay. As far as the Revell rigging line....their older line found in their older kits is very fine IMO and THAT is the rigging line that is so hard to get. the modern version provides a nylon thread...unsuitable. the older thread rigging is more hemp or cotton. Thanks for all your fine comments and compliments. Rob
  24. rwiederrich
    The mizzen braces fall back to the spanker mast..instead of running forward to the main mast...note the painting. I will be changing some of the rigging as seen in this painting, however, this portion is correct from other sources. Sorry for any confusion.
  25. rwiederrich
    After that patience builder...I proceeded to finish up all the remaining mizzen backstays....and the topgallant stay. Some of the images will show some additions of the port main royal and topgallant braces and their inevitable run to their fairleads and to pins. The mizzen will become a web of lines from the mainmast...however unlike most 3 masters...the mizzen braces do not run forward to the main mast for belaying...they run aft to the spanker mast. Lots of little things added along the way. Rob

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