rwiederrich

All together

 

And the Flying Cloud

The next is the Sea Witch

Next I'll post some images of the first three hulls already cut and primed.
Here is the small Rainbow

I'm  A SHIPYARD.
 
Well I took a few images of the blocks of wood for the next 3 hulls...the Sovereign...the James Baines and the Cutty Sark.
 
Drawn on the wood in 3D...I'll go to the bandsaw and cut them out.

Searching for a good place to start this..and since I will be building wood half models of at least 8 clipper ships..this looks like the right place.
 
I have several builder half models of several clipper ships..ie...the Lightning and the Cutty Sark.
 
But my problem is, in all the clipper models I build they are all roughly the same size models..but do not represent the actual comparative size to each other.  To keep the scale issue from being clouded as folks view my collection..and from misconceptions being formed that this ship was the same size as that ship; I am embarking on a new project.
 
To scratch build from carved wood a plaque that will contain some significant clipper ships through the period from 1845 to 1869.  A representation of the evolution of the clipper design.  As far as I am aware...there is no such collectors plaque currently available...so I am taking it upon myself to design and build one myself, for my library.
 
This means I will draft and scale 8 clippers...that I feel represent significant design changes and establish a visual representation of scale between these clipper ships.
 
I'm first starting with the Rainbow..of 159 ft built in 1845.
The Sea Witch of 170 ft built in 1846.
The Cutty Sark of 212 ft built in1869.
The Flying cloud of 229 ft built in1851.
The Young America of 243 ft built in 1853.
The Sovereign of the Seas of 258 ft built in 1852.
The James Baines of 266 ft built in1854
The Great Republic of 335 ft built in 1853
 
Each one of these clippers represents different designs and sizes...just what I want to demonstrate.
The average clipper's size fell between 170 and 260 ft in length....so I selected vessels that fell within that norm.  Not to be eclipsed by the Giant of them all the Great Republic.
 
I will be carving each of the half hull models from soft pine and the scale selected for rooms sake will be 1": 35'.  So the Rainbow will be roughly 4 1/4" long and the GR 9 1/4".
 
All will be situated in row on a nicely detailed plaque of wood(Painted antique green) with gilded trim.
 
Lets get started.
 
Rob

Almost finished....A few more items to add.

I painted the bottoms today...a metallic *Muntz*color..cept the Rainbow had a green bottom.

Almost finished....A few more items to add.

Almost finished....A few more items to add.

You know...with all that black iron used for banding and bracing..there must have been some painting of it as well..because there would have been an excessive amount of rusty metal on these ships if not.  I'd imagine these bands would have been bright orange by the end of a salty voyage...not to mention all of the other metal work aboard on other structures.
 
Any clue on its preservation Ed?
 
Rob

Ed...try Cast Your Anchor.com...they sell 42 lpi and many other sizes.
 
Rob

Wonderful work....
 
Rob

I worked a bit on the plaque by adding the name plates.  I ran out of labeling so I'll get some tomorrow.
 
Rob

Personally I think your metal work is superb and quite phenomenal.  With that said, my practice is to paint all my iron work...knowing some form of preservative was actually used on iron ships, and or on their iron accessories..(.ie Cutty Sark)...So I Paint...in much the same manner as was typical.  With this being said..it allows me to use what ever medium I choose to replicate the iron work...without the tedium of actually creating real miniature (Copper, brass) iron work.
 
Paint covers a multitude of sins.
 
Rob(love your work and enjoy every minute)

You know...with all that black iron used for banding and bracing..there must have been some painting of it as well..because there would have been an excessive amount of rusty metal on these ships if not.  I'd imagine these bands would have been bright orange by the end of a salty voyage...not to mention all of the other metal work aboard on other structures.
 
Any clue on its preservation Ed?
 
Rob

You know...with all that black iron used for banding and bracing..there must have been some painting of it as well..because there would have been an excessive amount of rusty metal on these ships if not.  I'd imagine these bands would have been bright orange by the end of a salty voyage...not to mention all of the other metal work aboard on other structures.
 
Any clue on its preservation Ed?
 
Rob

Ed...try Cast Your Anchor.com...they sell 42 lpi and many other sizes.
 
Rob

Wonderful work....
 
Rob

Wonderful work....
 
Rob

I worked a bit on the plaque by adding the name plates.  I ran out of labeling so I'll get some tomorrow.
 
Rob

I worked a bit on the plaque by adding the name plates.  I ran out of labeling so I'll get some tomorrow.
 
Rob

I worked a bit on the plaque by adding the name plates.  I ran out of labeling so I'll get some tomorrow.
 
Rob

I worked a bit on the plaque by adding the name plates.  I ran out of labeling so I'll get some tomorrow.
 
Rob

Oh boy what an experiment that might be.
Over the weekend I cut the backing and made the frame for the half hull plaque.  Painted the backing green trimmed the frame in antique gold and added the half hulls to it.  This week I'll begin making the name plates for each hull.  These will be made on maple strips of wood, embellished with some minor carving on the ends.
The goal is to then add another small internal framed plaque (off to right in the upper corner)with a short description of the American clipper ship era and note some builders info.
 
Then to finish I will antique the entire plaque by rubbing a very thin layer of stain over the entire surface....in effect edging and detailing(weathering/aging) and finishing the plaque.
Images will follow.
 
Rob