ClipperFan
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Rob, As the man who has inspired us all to join you in your pursuit of the most accurate recapture of McKay's final Clipper, I doubt any one of us would accuse you of being hypocritical. This continues to be a collaborative journey of discovery. Who knows what future discoveries may yet undo our current understandings? Still, I am firmly convinced that you and Vlad have built two of the finest museum quality scale replicas to date, flaws and all. -
Vladimir, I'm not sure if you remember the specifics for spars, so I'm sharing the section about the bowsprit. Inner bowsprit was 24' to the inside of the cap. Outside of the cap, the jiboom was 15' and flying jibboom 16' in one spar. From other descriptions of McKay clippers, there was a 5' end beyond. That would give a total spar length of 36' beyond the cap, 24' inner bowsprit, adding in an 18" cap gives you 61'6" total. It's doubtful these rigging arrangements changed over the years of her sailing service, other than the addition of the spritsail yard. I applaud your openness to revising your anchor chains. I also firmly disagree with your self-denigration. I'm sure others, including Rob, would agree. You are a far more talented, resourceful and clever artisan than you yourself give yourself credit for.
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Vladimir, This revised scale fore deck sketch is based on Michael Mjelde's original with the slimmer profile you indicated using red lines about a year ago. You'll notice, there's no indication of chains running dangerously across the deck. Neither is there any indication of openings for such in front of the foremast. It makes far more sense for the opening to below be directly beneath the windlass. Less distance for chains to travel, greater ease of operation. As I always say. It's your model, your decision as to how you want to approach her for accuracy. However, if your goal is to be as faithful to McKay's original, both Rob and I agree your current depiction is most likely inaccurate. I hate to be a pain in the a--, but there it is....
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Vladimir, Staring down on the fore deck of your Glory of the Seas it's quite possible to believe I'm actually looking at the real ship herself. In fact, that's true for many of your close-ups as well. That's a tribute to the refined level model making you're proficient at. Masterful work sir! I have a question for the group. When I see the anchor chains running from foremast to the windlass across the deck it occurs to me this puzzling question. Wouldn't such a dangerous arrangement represent a potential fire hazard to the vessel herself? If you've ever seen a heavy wrought iron anchor let loose to free fall into the depths of the sea, it plummets at a fast pace. If those chains weren't somehow suspended above the deck and away from all wooden structures, friction would certainly ignite to wood. Does anybody know how this was handled on the real ships? Vlad, this is no critique of your work, your deck photo just brought it to my attention.
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Rob, Your really lovely shadow box treatment is proof this rare Glory of the Seas relic has most definitely found the proper home. I love the blue & gold rope treatment. All in all, very elegant. Ironically, your blue is exactly the color I had in mind for the table cover of a proposed display. It's like we're twins or at least constantly on the same creative wavelength....
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Vladimir, I read in Revell's "Cutty Sark" instruction manual that running your lines through parrafin wax will eliminate the fuzziness issue you describe. Meanwhile your larger scale version is allowing for much greater detail than smaller scales can provide. You are doing a beautiful job of rigging and it's a thrill to observe your progress.
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Rob, I was hoping you'd be the highest bidder on this exciting item. I'm glad it's going to a deserving home. Fortunately for you, I'm tight on funds right now or we might have been in a bidding war without either one of us been the wiser for it.... 🙂
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Vladimir, It's painful to read about your solder skin poisoning accident. I wish you a speedy recovery. Your miniature crane fashioning is impressive. Thanks for sharing.
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George, I'm in full agreement with my buddy Vladimir's conclusion, you're doing a top notch job on this rigging process. Results are very clean and professional. I applaud your very thorough and patient approach in this tedium inducing process.
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Vladimir, Your attention to detail is second to none. I particularly appreciate your scratch built apparently brass parrell which matches the Underhill illustration identically. The same goes for your safety line, as well as the professionally rigged stirrups, footropes, and blocks. All very impressive work.
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Vladimir, It's been a while since I've been able to visit this site. Our son was recently rear ended while sitting at a stop light. He's fine but our family car's been totaled and as usual, the other guy's insurance settlement isn't near enough to get us another comparable car. It's been a huge distraction. Anyhow, your deck work is simply amazing. It actually looks like the planks have all been caulked as well. Very impressive!
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Vladimir, I really appreciate your deck and plank laying treatise. It's another tribute to your relentless devotion to accuracy. I'm looking forward to her final appearance after everything's laid down "shipshape and Bristol fashion" with her protective varnish.
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Rob, As I first mentioned, in a tribute to McKay's long lost final Medium Clipper, I believe what would really draw viewers in would be an inspirational display with your magnificent model as the centerpiece but not the sole piece. Mike has a lifetime collection of ultra rare images. How exciting would it be to see enlargements of the most crystal clear ones? Imagine if we could display her original 14' name board. How dramatic an overall backdrop that would make? Then think if we could gather some of the finest paintings done of her as well. I believe the best displays tell a story, they pull in the viewers with a compelling narrative. We have more than enough actual artifacts, as well as the fascinating two year collaboration to ascertain the authentic appearance of Glory of the Seas which has proven to be radically different, far more advanced than the rather dumpy image of her we started out with. I will relocate my Librarian's contact info, share some of your incredible images and see if I can get her to catch fire with this compelling idea.
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GeorgeK, I applaud your concern and attention to detail. Little items like the foremast tip not being in parallel alignment with the other masts is noticeable to people who pay attention and does mar an otherwise beautifully crafted model.
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GeorgeK, Impressive rigging treatise. I appreciate your explanation of using bowsprit rigging to actually pull forward the top of the skysail foremast in order to accomodate the stress being place on it by the mainmast rigging which will be applied later on. All in all, very beautiful, clean work.
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Rob, I had a great email contact with the Librarian Curator of the San Francisco Maritime Museum which Mike provided. She's the reason we were able to get those beautiful full color images of Glory's nameboard. In addition she supplied a nice color photo of the framed Samuel Walters oil, which I still consider to be the most beautiful work, as well as the best representation of Glory of the Seas. I'm sure she would be thrilled to see the stunning results of your two year effort. Since McKay's clipper was a popular visitor in San Francisco, they might be more receptive to your offer. However, maybe we should consult Mike first, to get his feedback.
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Vladimir, Wanting to emulate artisan level cabinetry expertise of a master modeler like Ray Langdon's impressive New Hampshire Clipper Witch of the Wave is admirable indeed. I look forward to completion of your current museum quality Glory of the Seas model, which I anticipate will be a wonder to behold and then to follow your next build!
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Vladimir, Your revised figurehead looks really beautiful! Considering your working dimensions of 1 & 1/4" it appears that you've really captured quite a few important details of her unique pose. I particularly appreciate your clever use of a toothpick to apply tiny gold highlights to her garb. Realizing how challenging this process has been, my sole concern is that she seems to have lost her right foot. If your figurehead isn't permanently mounted yet, there's room enough to move her up just enough to fit her foot in. If not, she's a very nice compliment to your vessel's bow as she sits right now. Overall, she's night and day difference and a wondrous improvement over your initial attempt. Fine work indeed!
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Rob, Did Tacoma give you any time-line as to when their model display renovation will be completed? Meanwhile, maybe Mike might have some other ideas?
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Rob, Basing your reconstruction on Glory of the Seas in her later years when there is far more available photographic documentation to faithfully rely on makes eminent sense. As I've been saying going on two years now, I firmly believe that your marvelous model is the very finest museum quality replica in the world. In a similar vein, I see Vlad on pace to accomplish the same, with the only difference, besides scale size, is his brave choice to model the same vessel as she was first launched. Sould we ever write a book on this fascinating journey, I believe her change in appearance, her evolution over decades wiil be of particular interest to everybody.
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Vladimir, Rob will agree that right now, as she sits, your replica is the world's most accurate representation of Donald McKay's final Medium Clipper Glory of the Seas as she originally appeared when launched in November 1869. He can lay claim to fame for having the most scale accurate vessel as she appeared in 1880 after many intriguing modifications but not as she was originally conceived by McKay himself. That honor now belongs exclusively to you. I hope this thought encourages you through the many hours of tedium and drudgery it takes to fully realize your dream.
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Vladimir, I'm glad you appreciate my positive observations. In fairness, they're all well deserved by the hard work you're doing. As can be seen by the tedious shackle manufacturing process you're currently engaged in, scratch building is an artisan event which requires incredible patience and perseverance.
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Vladimir, Nice work revising your main fife rail, it now looks true to scale. Great job!
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Vladimir, I applaud yourr insight in catching the subtle, nearly unnoticeable curvature of the deck house roofs. As Rob pointed out, the boat skids have slight cut outs on each side to clear the moulding which surrounds both the main house and rear coach house. Great work on your fore deck house! It is truly an impressive size and you have captured it vey nicely.
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Rob, I asked Mike for sharper images of these particular scenes. He didn't have anything better but said if he does come across them, he'll gladly share them. I agree that, as originally designed, Glory of the Seas had a much simpler deck scheme with far more open spaces. It will be fascinating to see how the two compare once both are completed.
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