ClipperFan

Luis, I found a couple historic photos of your subject model. The National Maritime Museum of South Australia has an amazing treasure-trove of literally dozens of these beautiful clipper ships. First pic is of Sir Lancelot in Shanghai in 1867 when she was just two years old. The other is years later in her career when she had her mizzen re-rigged as bark. What's notable is that her hull, fore and mainmast all look identical in both scenes. A tribute to her solid construction. Interestingly, her original Camelot Knight figurehead now resides beneath the 1869 tea clipper Cutty Sark Museum, Greenwich, England. His right arm originally held an uplifted sword while it seems like his left grips a shield, probably embossed with an English lion. Technically the figurehead is a bust, since his waist ends wrapped in a red garment. Contrary to Cutty Sark's pure white Witch 'Nannie' the Sir Lancelot figurehead is all natural, painted in brilliant colors. The Knight himself has dazzling blue eyes and sports a Fu-Manchu moustache reminiscent of a character from a Gilbert & Sullivan play.

Luis, I hope you don't mind, but since I'm somewhat familiar with this artist's work, it occurred to me that this particular image is washed out. I found a more colorful version and share it here. The full title of this work is: "Sir Lancelot downstream on the Thames" by French artist Roger Chapelet. You're doing an impressive job on a famously lovely tea clipper.

Rob, Mike has expressed his interest in seeing your completed model. Perhaps that's a start. Maybe later this year, when Mike's 3rd publication becomes available it may generate more interest. Perhaps a better approach would be to include your model as part of a collection of Mike's artifacts and rare photographs enlarged. You would think the publisher would have some interest in such promotional value.

Yankee Clipper, It may sound trite but this is truly sincere. I am deeply humbled by your very generous comments on my article. Since this was my first article published, I once again want to acknowledge the selfless tutelage of Druxey. He very generously agreed to edit my initial rough draft. Based on the enormity of red ink I received back, two thought occured to me. First, I realized how much effort Druxey put into carefully evaluating my punctuation. Specifically, the biggest novice mistakes I repeatedly made were run-on sentences. If my initial draft had been a car, it would have been analogous to a vehicle without brakes endlessly careening downhill... Second, the final ready for print manuscript was barely recognizable to the original draft submitted to Druxey. If you really enjoyed reading this article, a special recognition belongs to my invisible editor too.

Rick, I'm glad you enjoyed the article. I've seen a pdf version but yet to see it in the magazine itself yet. Regardless, accolades go out to Rob Wiederrich, who's single-minded pursuit of creating an historically scale accurate replica led to a fascinating domino effect. His efforts caught the attention of Arina "TheAuthor'sDaughter". This led to an eventual meeting with her dad, non other than the world's foremost authority on all things related to Donald McKay's final magnificent final clipper ship Glory of the Seas. Few realize that Mike, as he prefers to be called, has been researching this splendid vessel since 1955. Our small cadre has had the benefit of Mike's nearly 70 years of research. Each step of the way, Mike has generously provided us with his insight and to me, at least more exhilerating, his amazing seemingly endless cache of incredibly sharp contemporary photographs. Another significant contribution to this reconstruction effort has been made by Vladimir who's gifted CGI talents enabled him to create a backbone with bulkheads similar to Flying Fish kits. Vlad then generously provided Rob and I with sturdy 1:96th scale moldings. A personal thank you I owe is to Druxey who very generously took my somewhat amateurish mish-mash and guided me to a workable manuscript. Now I get to do this process all over again, as the NRJ editor has already given his approval for at least one more follow up article, since Rob has completed his 1:96th scale version. At the same time I plan to advocate for his impressive miniature to go on display, preferably in a local Western Seabord location. Residing on the East Coast, I would love to one day see his model myself. Perhaps we can generate more excitement since Mike's 3rd publication "From Whaler to Clipper Ship, Henry Gillespie, Down East Captain" gets released July 15th. Time will tell.

Vladimir, Thank you for the recognition of my soon to be published Nautical Research Journal 1st installment of "Reconstructing Donald McKay's Clipper Glory of the Seas" article. That's right gentlemen, NRJ's editor has already greenlit a 2nd installment following the completion of Rob Wiederrich's model. No guarantees but since Vladimir's larger replica is proceeding at a more modest pace, yet every bit deserving of recognition, I'm not ruling out the possibility of a 3rd article. As usual Vlad has minimized his own substantial contributions to this project. Taking advantage of his CGI knowledge, while I was seriously struggling with a 1:96 scale hull reconstruction using rulers, curved forms, sheets of 11"×17" paper taped together, Vlad incorporated all dimensions we unveiled and banged out Flying Fish style center piece with corresponding bulkheads. He then had one each custom produced for Rob, me and himself. Ours are 1:96th while Vladimir's is 1:72nd. I owe a personal debt of gratitude to Druxey who graciously volunteered to edit my manuscript prior to submission. From all the red ink which returned, I learned a humbling lesson. Who knew I wrote so many, oh so many.... run on sentences? Thank you Druxey for taking my random wordings and turning them into a submission that has now been accepted for publication.

Vladimir, Your talent as a creative artisan is clearly being way underestimated by.... you. This is beautiful, delicate scroll work, especially for a first effort. As for the coming pyramids, I imagine on the real vessel, they would have been thicker at the bottom, tapering thinner to their tops to mimic the real thing. Then it's a simple matter of scribing them to reproduce the large carved boulders which comprise the whole. I'm confident you'll get this done. Thanks for the brief detour from the dizzying labyrinth of rigging.

MikeR, I believe the point Rob's making is that, unless a yardarm is going to be permanently affixed to the mast, there's no need for a permanent band. In the case of all moveable yards, which sometimes were partially lowered when reefed in rough weather, they need greater mobility so they would only require the hinged parrell. There are more than one image of McKay's last clipper which show a much simpler arrangement of all upper yards. By the way, your hardware work is really beautiful.

MikeR your delicate machine work is simply amazing! Thanks for sharing.

Vladimir, I'm praying for your family that you have a rapid, full healthy recovery.

Snug Harbor Johnny I think you're right that the flag is being pushed by a different wind than the sails in your beautiful Europa picture. She definitely appears to be sailing with the wind directly abaft. I know what you mean, when you discuss the incredible artisanship of modelers like Mike R with his beautiful Clipper Flying Fish. The metal crafting and wooden spar scratch building that's done so casually is just mind-bending for novices like myself. EdT has set the bar at an unbelievable level. I have to admit to having a bit of a personal bias towards the two Glory of the Seas models, since I was deeply involved in collaborative research that led to a point where Vlad was able to create hull molds. Rob Wiederrich's 1:96th scale is a beauty to behold and I personally consider her to be the most accurate replica of the ship to date. Meanwhile Vladimir's even larger 1:72nd scale continues to be rigged and is another beautiful rendition of McKay's long lost final Clipper. A Nautical Research Journal article I wrote nearly a year ago is finally going to be published in February's issue. It should include some never before seen photos, courtesy of author Micheal Mejelde who was intimately involved in Rob and Vladimir's project.

1911 Europa: Steel Bark, 131 ft length, 24.4 ft beam, 15 ft depth of hold, 108 ft mainmast height. 1851 Flying Fish: Wooden Extreme Clipper Ship, 220 ft length, 40 ft beam, 22 ft depth of hold, 150 ft estimated mainmast height. In all fairness, this isn't an equal comparison, as the steel bark was originally constructed as a light ship while the California Clipper was a purposely built merchant vessel designed to powerfully sail through some of the toughest seas on the planet. Still, the latter vessel is referred to as a "Tall Ship" and she's a lovely ship. However, America's original, genuine "Tall Ships" truly scraped the skies and would be a wonder to behold today.

Snug Harbor Johnny That's a beautiful photo. What would be amazing to see would be how your Flying Fish would absolutely dwarf this modern day steel tall ship Europa. I'm going to look up the specs on the two to share and idea of the comparisons. But you're right, this image proves exactly what I'm talking about. In fact, in this image, based on the direction of the flag at the mainmast she appears to be sailing upwind.

MikeR, there's something so beautiful and elegant about an intelligently rigged sailing ship. Clipper ships especially represent the epitome of this highly technical, scientific effort to most efficiently harness the power of wind. You're doing an impressive job capturing that accurately. I'm also blown away by the precision craftsmanship of your spars. It's truly enjoyable to watch your progress!

Hi Pat, I appreciate your encouragement.

Druxey thanks for your encouragement. I share your hopes.

Re TBlack When you work with consummate professionals, they recognize a true state of emergency vs just an inconvenience. I just wish it was over. Rob, thanks for the sentiment. Given current circumstances, I honestly can't conceive of how 2023 can get any worse....

Hi Rob, Vlad, Druxey, Arina, et all, Due to experiencing a major emergency I missed the chance to wish you all a Merry Christmas. For the first time in my life, I will sctually be ringing in the New Year in a motel room. Our home has a frozen heating system due to losing power Dec 23rd. Thank God I had the foresight to rent a motel room in time. Power was restored Dec 25th but by then ice formed in one of the baseboards. Plumbers drained all water from the system, so no danger of flooding but we're still waiting for repairs to be done. Happy New Year everybody. Here's the publisher's website to order Mike's new book: www.tamupress.com

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.

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....

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.

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....

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.

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.... 🙂