rwiederrich

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Lastly the entire collection in order and in various stages of completion.
You can see the significance of the comparison...for if one didn't have such a form of comparison..you will fail to recognize the size difference between famous clippers of the same era.
 
More to follow.
 
Rob

Here are some new images of the finished band saw cut half hulls.
 
Young America in the middle(Just started carving) and Sovereign of the Seas on top
 
Rob

Here are some images of the three after I made the cuts on the band saw...co carving or shaping yet.....
 
Rob

All together

 

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

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Yes..so if you compare the Young America(An Ed build log on this vary forum) to the Great Republic you can see the difference.  It was ginormous.
 
Rob

Thanks Steve and Russ.   I hope to continue with the step by step construction and explanations of the significance of the project to me.
Russ, the smallest half hull model is of the Rainbow..the vessel identified as the first true clipper.
From bottom to top....Rainbow, Sea Witch, Cutty Sark, Flying Cloud, Young America, Sovereign of the Sea, James Baines and the Great Republic.
 
NOTE: All the clippers are modeled using the actual builders line drawings of their particular hulls.
 
Thanks for all the likes.
 
Rob

Lastly the entire collection in order and in various stages of completion.
You can see the significance of the comparison...for if one didn't have such a form of comparison..you will fail to recognize the size difference between famous clippers of the same era.
 
More to follow.
 
Rob

Here is the rough carved Great Republic(Top) and the James Baines..the seond larges clipper ever made next to the GR.

Here are some new images of the finished band saw cut half hulls.
 
Young America in the middle(Just started carving) and Sovereign of the Seas on top
 
Rob

I've finished cutting out the Great Republic and the Young American...but still need to contour and finish carving them(as well as the three just cut) into their final designs.  that takes the longest, because the true hull design is captured in the final carving and great care must be taken to make an accurate representation.
 
More to follow.
 
Rob

Thanks Druxey.  I intended the scale to be small so as to allow me to fit at least 8 hull models/designs on the plaque.
The plaque must be large enough and small enough to accommodate the half models, descriptions of them and a characterization of the particulars of why hull models were used and to demonstrate the varied size of clipper ships being built during the clipper era and be able to comfortably find a wall space.
Thanks for your fine comments and interest.
 
Rob

Jim...your work is masterful.  You have control of the depth of field and a good grasp of scale and keeping the ships dimensions correct.
I love your grasp of shadow and the ease of the seas roll and elusion of depth.  Very nice.  This is water color..so you show a very competent  application of color...overlapping, and control of hue.  I struggled with controlling the natural flow of the color to bleed into other colors...you masterfully controlled your medium.
Do you begin with light colors and move to darker or are you introducing acrylic to highlight the darker watercolors?
 
Very impressive work.  I love your water...my favorite are the sailing ships...but any good ship representation(within historical context)is my favorite.
 
Rob

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Spent some time finishing up the initial carving of the half hulls.  Here are some pix.

Jim...your work is masterful.  You have control of the depth of field and a good grasp of scale and keeping the ships dimensions correct.
I love your grasp of shadow and the ease of the seas roll and elusion of depth.  Very nice.  This is water color..so you show a very competent  application of color...overlapping, and control of hue.  I struggled with controlling the natural flow of the color to bleed into other colors...you masterfully controlled your medium.
Do you begin with light colors and move to darker or are you introducing acrylic to highlight the darker watercolors?
 
Very impressive work.  I love your water...my favorite are the sailing ships...but any good ship representation(within historical context)is my favorite.
 
Rob

Just delicious......superbly done Ed!
 
Rob

Yes..so if you compare the Young America(An Ed build log on this vary forum) to the Great Republic you can see the difference.  It was ginormous.
 
Rob