Calhoun Zabel

Oh, I didn't realize that was the ship type. I thought that was this specific ship's name. Thanks.

That's a significant amount of framing... Looking very nice so far! This is also a very interesting hull shape. What would this type of ship be called?

Outstanding work. 3700 hours, that's mind boggling. Thank you for posting all the pictures you did - I am a particular fan of the photos of the deck with all the lines belayed and coiled. Just perfect.

Thanks for your input Steve, I agree. V3 were cut out today, out of 0.25" MDF. Most dimensions were shrunk considerably in addition. I think they're looking much better: Hal, you replied as I was typing this, and I agree - the aftmost support needs to be reduced in height, because it still looks a little goofy. It also needs some hand shaping to match the shape of the hull. It could be done on the CNC, but it's probably quicker to do by hand. I was wondering if I should line them with something. We've got lots of thin foam gasket material at work that I'll probably use. Something black, so it's well hidden. I've got another question... Are the anchor chains supposed to be threaded through these rings on deck? If not, why are they so perfectly placed there and unused?

Sweet, I'm up for following this one! I have a newfound love of clippers, thanks to Ed's detailed log. And I tend to model every project I make, so I dig the renders. I'll just grab a seat up front here...

A small update, while I procrastinate cutting the rigging off... I decided that the old, super rough display stand wasn't worth keeping around any more, and that I could do MUCH better. I started by picking rough spots for stand positions, and drew curves that I thought might work. I cut them out of some card stock, and placed them against the hull, re-cutting and adjusting position until I was happy with the fit. Here's what I ended up with: You can also see the stern has the rough shape of the stand that I'm going to make. I was inspired by a dock cleat, which I thought was fitting. Next, I dropped these pictures into Fusion 360 to draw up the final products: Next step is to set up a quick toolpath for the small CNC at work, and cut out test pieces from 0.5" MDF: Quick cleanup with an exacto, a test fit, and now we know these don't quite fit. I scaled one of my reference images improperly, so day 2 sees a new set for testing: Better fit, but there's still need for another revision. I'm not sure I'm a fan of how far they extend up the sides. Am I way overdoing these? Should I just make little stubby pieces to "grab" the keel and call it good? Any input here on preferred mounting solutions would be appreciated. EDIT: Oh, and if anyone's curious about the Fusion stuff, I'm happy to share more detail on that process.

EJ, thanks for the pointer toward Syren, looks like their prices are reasonable. Thank you all for the tips - I'm feeling slightly more confident now that I've got a supplier and a rough plan. I'll be using the PDF sheet on Syren's rope page to match up what sizes I need as I pull them off and measure lengths. Time to make another spreadsheet to keep tabs on things, and pictures, pictures, pictures...

I will definitely be redoing the rigging. I am starting that whole process tonight, actually. Beginning with taking TONS of pictures. As I do this process, I'm going to start trying to figure out the rigging process... Where do I start? What do I look for in terms of materials? I'm probably going to leave the shrouds in place, as the lower masts are intact and I'm sure my grandpa spent a good deal of time on them. (Yes, I know the ratlines are incorrectly colored... My next model will be accurate, I promise 😉). Do I need to find real-world references and scale the dimensions appropriately? What would those references be? Boy, how deep the rabbit hole goes... 😵

Man, that is so cool! What a beautiful, large ship. Is it entirely sail powered, or are there props that I missed in the pictures somewhere? How is everything powered? How are you controlling things? Do we get video of the sails in operation? I almost can't believe that the rigging is functional. I love it. Sorry for the deluge of questions, but this is right up my alley, so the lighting and RC aspect of this build really interest me. Do you mind sharing some of the details?

Ditto what Mark said. You've even got the drop of the chains correct, to my eyes. Very impressive stuff. I look forward to following along as you complete this build.

Ed, I love the correct terminology, so please keep it up. I just had to laugh at that point, I'd been able to follow most things up to that point via context, but that whole paragraph stumped me. Just goes to show how much I need to be reading and learning, so it's definitely not a bad thing.

Well, I made some progress last night. I removed all the loose broken pieces, and swabbed the deck. That ugly white spot (I don't know what it is) is mostly gone, as you can see here: And look, some of the wood even has a bit of a shine on it! Looks like there was some finishing done, before the years of dust settled in... I'm encouraged by this, but also a little concerned - after it had been sitting in our hot garage for a few days, there's a distinct smell of cigarette smoke. My grandpa was a smoker, so I'm not sure if this is a feature or not. It's certainly authentic to his style though...

Nice work on the starboard light. As druxey said, it looks better than the original. Why not make a second for the port side, so that they do match?

Whew, made it to present day. What a ride this thread is! There are so many tips and tricks contained here - in both your posts Ed, and others - it's astounding. I'm sure I missed half the information in my first read-through. Especially the rigging information. There was one part in particular: I read that probably three times in a row, and just started laughing - I don't understand what most of this means, and I love it. Then there are some things that make total sense, and are brilliant - the leathering where the lines wrap around the masts for example: incredible! The tiny metalwork: I don't know how you do it, but I'm so glad you take the effort. There are many more examples I could mention, but I'll leave it at that for now. I'll be following along for sure. Thank you for your extremely thorough and patient explanations and tutorials, Ed. You're a credit to this community. On an entirely different note; clippers are very cool! I had no idea these ships were built to be such beasts. I'd heard the term 'clipper' before, but man, seeing what they're actually made of is very interesting. I also find it interesting how similar the mast construction and rigging is to how something like the Charles W. Morgan was done. Not the number of sails, but the general structure at least. Perhaps that was just generally how things were done around that time. I'd be interested to hear the more educated folks' thoughts on this.

For anyone curious, Mystic has kindly digitized Bray's book, Boat Plans at Mystic Seaport for viewing, in the research area of their site. It contains a barebones drawing of the rigging, and a lines drawing. Thanks for the tip on that one Roger. I do think I'll cut all the lines to clean and work on the hull/deck, it's the re-doing of the rigging that scares me a bit.

My name is Cal. I'm almost able to add a signature to make that more obvious. Great update. I love the tiny chains that are used on these ships.

Thank you for The heads up John, I hadn't dug hard enough to find the other, which is more reasonably priced. I think it will be necessary, as I look closer I am finding more empty spaces that look like they once held parts. Making the replacements would be fun, don't get me wrong, but it might consume more time than I'm going to be able to spend, currently. Roger, thank you for the tips on the books. This is exactly why I posted here, there's all sorts of knowledge that I don't even know that I don't know. I'll take a look and see what Powell's has to offer. However, I might still pick up a kit. I may not strictly need plans, but the parts would be very useful. As for removing the rigging, would that be to just clip all the strings, but leave the hardware in place? For example, leave the deadeyes(?) In place? Seahawk, that's an excellent idea. We just moved, and I haven't found our local library yet, but I'm sure going to now. Thank you!

Looking good so far! I look forward to future progress on this project. I am very interested in this, as I would love to be able to take lines drawings for ships and turn them into full 3D models. Seeing things in 3D really helps me when it comes time to build things. Keep up the good work!

Mark and Steve, thank you for those links. It's looking more and more likely that I'll need to purchase the plans, rather than finding them somewhere. Jasseji, I appreciate the input. That seems as good a place as any to start, because like you said it gives me access to more things. You've also taught me that I really need to learn my ship terminology. I recognize some of those words, but others... I also need to figure out what constitutes the standing vs. running rigging. That'll be spelled out in the plans, I assume.

Thank you ccoyle, for both the information and for correcting my error. I've reached out to Artesania Latina to ask if they still have plans. The kit is no longer available, but like you said, they are still in business. Fingers crossed! EDIT: Well, they got back to me rather quickly - no more plans are available from them, as this is a model from the 80's. Understandable, but a tad disappointing.

Thank you Backer, I did also find that link, but the link to the plans within that topic is dead - it seems that particular museum no longer sells plans for any ships, let alone for the Charles W. Morgan. The only plans I can find are sold by Mystic, where the Charles W. Morgan currently resides, for what seems like an excessive amount... I may have to just bite the bullet, but I am hopeful other plans exist out there. Shipmodel, I'll check out the Shop Notes booklet, thanks. I appreciate you being willing to help, as well. There definitely is a lot of work, but I'm not too concerned with being overwhelmed or anything - after all, I have no real deadline for this. I'll pick at it piece by piece when I have time, so it won't be too stressful. In the meantime, is there anything I can or should get started on? My biggest question at this point is: should I be considering re-rigging the entire ship? If I tear it all down, I'll have much easier access to everything else on the ship... I'm just not sure about re-doing it. Woodworking I can handle, rigging is a whole new world.

Hoooooo boy, where to even begin... Maybe some background: My grandfather was a prolific model maker, spending his retirement assembling models with what I can only assume were kits, judging by how long scratch builds seem to take. He passed away some years ago, and his models were either split between his children or sold - I recently inherited one of the ones we kept. That model is the Charles W. Morgan, and boy is it in rough shape. If the title didn't warn you enough, I'll say it again - this poor ship has seen much better days. Here are some pictures: Overview: Top of the Mainmast: The Bow: At the stern, I don't know what this is called, but it's one of many broken ... booms? There's a broken railing on the starboard side: A good example of the general state of the rigging: The hull has also been beat up (starboard forward): Aft on the starboard side: As you can see, there's lots of damage, and that's why I'm here. I need help. I don't know where to begin. I don't know what kit this is, where I can find plans, and what the right order of operations will be. To start, I'll be dusting - I know how to do that! Any tips, tricks, or suggestions are more than appreciated - at this point, I think it's necessary.

Hello everyone, My name is Cal - initially I was only looking for help restoring a model that I inherited, but now - my eyes have been opened to the incredible world of modelling. I'm reading and reading all the build logs I can - especially the scratch ones. This forum is full of all kinds of interesting information and wonderful workmanship. I expect this is another hobby that'll be a deep, deep rabbit hole for me. I can't wait! EDIT: For anyone interested, I've started a restoration log for the Charles W. Morgan model I inherited. LINK

I just finished reading through this thread... It reads like a novel, but one that is full of useful information and tips on model construction and restoration. Thank you very much both to Michael for starting this thread and documenting everything so well, but also to the other skilled folks who have contributed. As someone who has just found this forum hoping to find information on model restoration, this is very heartening. I look forward to seeing this project come to completion!