ClipperFan

MikeR, excellent detail work on your deck pieces. I particularly appreciate the brass center of your ship's wheel. It lends even more convincing authenticity to the structure.

Rob, From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know how much of an honor and privilege it has been, to participate in this fascinating journey of discovery and exploration of Donald McKays final masterpiece. Without exaggeration, this has been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. Your decades long dedication to investigating Glory of the Seas in order to achieve the highest level of accuracy inspired a small group of us to join you in pursuing a mutual objective of rediscovering the full authentic beauty of McKay's incredible final Clipper. Such dedication even brought in Arina "The Author's Daughter" who then introduced you to her famous author father Michael Mjelde. His contribution to our efforts has been immeasurable. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined we'd be collaborating with the single man who has devoted 60 years of his life to the history of a single Clipper. His brilliant, ultra rare historic images allowed us to achieve high levels of accuracy never anticipated before. All along I said quite confidently, that you (and Vladimir) are creating two of the finest museum quality replicas of this impressive vessel. I am proud to have been associated with your amazing project.

Vladimir, I have the same prow image where the foremast has been edited down to give a closer view of the forecastle. This makes it easier to see the 3rd fairlead cut out on the starboard side. Conversely, there's no fairlead cut out any further back. This is conclusive photographic proof of Rob's statement about the accurate location of the 3rd fairlead.

Vladimir, Your meticulous attention to the smallest deck details is commendable. I'm particularly impressed with the reworking of the deck fairing to incorporate an authentic ship's carpentry joinery as her hull narrows. Very impressive.

Vladimir, With Rob's rapid production pace, it's easy to forget there's another just as beautifully crafted model vessel waiting in the wings, so to speak. These latest hull images truly demonstrate your artisan level of craftsmanship. Lovely details like your reproduction of her wrought iron anchor hawsehole contribute to her authenticity. It's also a magnificent tribute to Donald McKay's spectacular Clipper Ship as well. I particularly appreciate the dead on view of your replica's hull. If it weren't for the background you could almost believe it was the real vessel herself.

Vlad, I'm humbled and honored at your enthusiasm for my work. Actually, look closer you'll see this simple rendering was done on the back of an envelope. Refer back to the photo which inspired this and you'll see that the short stanchion cant or slant , if you prefer is more pronounced then even my work depicts. It was this discovery which led to my conversation with Rob. That's when he clarified indenting the rail was done for rigging clearance.

Vlad, This pic is from the early 1900s (I think 1913 but I have to verify that with original sent from Mike). Glory of the Seas has long since been converted to a floating factory barge, that's identifiable by all the new structure added to her decks in front of the original coach house. Original structures include her wheelhouse, now extended and her curving rear coach house with original turned rail stanchions. Everything else are eyesore additions purposefully added to facilitate her floating salmon processing and canning operation. By the way, I would never dream of ordering you to tear down and rebuild your creation. I just thought, since you had removed so much of your other buildings, you could slightly modify the rear half of the coach house. That's where it appears to curve on the real vessel herself. The front half doesn't have to be touched at all. Just a thought.

Vladimir, Since your creative process includes a major tear down of previously constructed structures, I figured you might also want to revise the configuration of your rear coach house as well. At first, it looked like Mike's never seen before stern image arrived too late to have an impact on your model's accuracy but now I'm thinking maybe not. Looking at the catwalks on both sides of the coach house viewed from astern, it's quite clear they remain a consistent width. The house itself has a beautiful curving feature which matches the ship's narrowing bulkheads. It's not a rectangle at all, the front is slightly wider than the rear. Even Flying Fish plans are somewhat vague about this common sense feature. Clearly Donald McKay intended to have consistent working area for the crew, which he valued more than the slight inconvenience of narrowing space for stern occupants.

Rob, I like this image even better. My only issue (there always seems to be one) 😉 the background vessel needs to be raised, since it looks disturbingly like it's foundered. I realize you want to avoid it being a distraction but to me the current position looks.... unnatural.

Bob Cleek, McKay's original Wheelhouse design had the ship's wheel in a recessed area in front of the wheelhouse. Effectively, the helmsman was still completely exposed to the elements in front. Back wall and two sides about 3' deep were all the protection the original design afforded. When the wheelhouse was extended to the back of the rear companionway, they had the foresight to install 4 large windows in front. Ship's wheel and helmsman's position never changed from the position on the poop deck. Big difference was now the sailor manning the helm was completely protected.

Rob, that one image is simply amazing! It exceeds expectations. This proves "beyond the shadow of a doubt" that besides the obvious fact that you are indeed a hell of a model shipwright, all of our concerted efforts to correctly reinterpret all facets of McKay's last glorious Clipper have resulted in the most accurate replica conceivable! All I can say is.... wow, just wow!!!! That and it's been an honor and one of the most exciting experiences in my life to collaborate with you, Vlad, Druxey and every other member of this revolutionary enterprise!

Vladimir, exquisitely beautiful and meticulously consistent reworking of your coach house stanchions. They definitely appear to be more in scale now. An added bonus is that the shorter poop deck stanchions now look more accurate in comparison.

Rob, When we originally discussed submitting a Nautical Research Journal article, I remember discussing submitting a follow up one including completion of your magificent replica. That was pending response for my first submission. However, since the editor sent receipt confirmation that it met their July 1st submission deadline, I've heard nothing since. From their publication calendars, the next issue should be December. I will reach out to see if the editor can let me know if the article might appear then, in a later issue or not at all... Meanwhile, Rob if you want we can collaborate on a 2nd follow up or do a plan for displaying your model in a local museum. As for developing an actual fully illustrated book, nothing would excite me more. Others can correct me if I exaggerate but I honestly can't think of another more thoroughly documented, examined and reconstructed vessel than McKay's Glory of the Seas.

Rob, I'll never tire of seeing these wonderful overall photos of your breathtakingly magnificent Clipper Ship Glory of the Seas!

Vladimir & Rob, it's evident from this 1869 fitting out scene, that the rear tip of the lifeboats did rest on the front edge of the rear coach house roof and a boat skid in the forward area. The photo's not defined enough to see it but by viewing the long drooping line at the fore davit, following over to the sternward side, between a sailor seated on the gunnal and another standing to his immediate left, there's a rectangular void interrupting the dark curving shadow under the upside down lifeboat which exactly matches the shape of the boat skid supporting it. Since the spaces between posts were 3 feet, it should be possible to mount lifeboats in between them giving an added advantage of supporting objects with which to lash down boats.

Vladimir, as Rob said earlier, it's really nice to see your Glory of the Seas back in the shipyard under construction again. Your work is methodical, clean and elegant.

Rick310 I echo Rob and Pat's sentiment. Very clean work indeed.

Rob, I love the activity you're creating as you continue to populate your replica with additional crew. Maybe this is "pushing the envelope" but since you're already displaying Glory of the Seas in port, I thought it might be a fun moment to add a vintage photographer in the act of recording the ship's boy posing on the boy's house. Here's an actual scene of a photographer of that era, showing what would have been considered "portable" and in use in the late 1870s when that image was taken. You could even pose the ship's carpenter preparing to do the work on the port side of the ship before he crouches down. The idea is to replicate actual events which have been memorialized on film. If your stunning vessel does go on display, this would give potential audiences a fascinating tie in to actual events.

Rob, kinda like "Gumby" sailors 😉 could have some real interesting possibilities for Halloween!

Thanks for setting the record straight. By mixing HO & 1:96th scale figures, Rob can give the impression of a variety of crew sizes, just like real life.

Rob, you learn something every day. I didn't know HO figures were 1:96th scale.

Roger, from their positions, the few crew I've seen so far are most likely from Revell's 1:96th scale Cutty Sark.

Rob, displaying interactions of crew is a great idea, as it creates an imaginative narrative for observers to interpret for themselves. The reason why I specifically suggested the fellow sitting out in midair on nothing but rigging is because it's surprisingly eye-catching as well as being demonstrably historically accurate. It made me realize how at home in every area of these magnificent tall ships those fearless individuals really were. Finally I hope you fully populate your superlative vessel with more than just a token handful of crew.

Rob, Adding sailors to your vessel certainly drives home how massive Glory of the Seas really was. I think it would be neat if you could reproduce positioning of men as seen in the now familiar photos. The captain in his distinctive bowler standing on the roof of the forward cabin and ship's boy perching on the boy's house would be fun. Here's the British Tea Clipper Sir Lancelot with Spindrift in Foochow. Looking closely at the mizzen mast of the ship in the foreground, just below her mizzen royal yard, there's a sailor comfortably sitting out in the air on nothing but rigging doing some kind of repairs. That would be a fascinating scene to replicate too. Have fun!

http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/News/BDA/BDA(1851-11-04).html John, all McKay clipper lines plans I've seen usually only display the stem. Rob and I have come to the conclusion that Donald himself considered this unique hull construction almost like copyright issue. If you want to see the extreme that he went to, just look at the bow of the clipper Lightning which simply leaves this area an open space! My suggesrion is add the cutwater to the stem and overlay the naval hoods just like McKay himself designed. I suspect the reason we haven't seen naval hoods on other clipper ships is due to the very complicated twisting form of these nautical devices. In fact, when Rob did his replication, he used thin metal to represent them. Just remember to thin the naval hoods cutwater to replicate actual scale. Other observations I have about Flying Fish have to do with her figurehead and bowsprit. The link opens up to Duncan MacLean's November 4th, 1851 "Boston Daily Atlas" in-depth description of Flying Fish. Since her bowsprit length from hull to inside of her cap is 18' that means she would have 6 wrought iron bands each 3' apart from the centers of those bands. That leaves 18" from the bow to the 1st band and 18" from the center of the 6th band to the inside of the cap. The inner 18" of the bowsprit isn't round but oblong as it enters the hull. Outboard of the cap, she has a 40' jibboom, divided at 20' and 15' with a 5' end. It too becomes oblong as it enters the ship's hull. In addition, the jibboom gets thinner at the top a short distance before entering the hull. Observing the beautifully clear starboard close up of Glory's bow and figurehead, you can see how we arrived at these figures. Glory's figurehead is documented as being 90". Since Flying Fish was a much smaller vessel, her flying fish figurehead would have been about 7'. Figurehead carving was a very ornate art form, so my sketch reflects that. The head would be positioned looking straight forward while the rest of her body would angle down sharply to accomodate the angle of the bowsprit. Her wings would flare out as if in flight and probably over layed a good portion of the naval hoods. Both Rob and Vladimir had to redo the height of their forecastle bulkheads. That because actual photos of Glory's forecastle revealed a much higher bulkhead. The forecastle deck should actually be mounted on top of the monkey rail molding. Looking the fore of Glory's forecastle shows a lovely curving piece which Rob concluded housed belaying pins. It's not simply a straight piece. You can also see that her splashrail extends nearly to the front of her foremast shrouds. Another rare Glory of the Seas stern photo reveals that her rear coach house curves inward to match the narrowing hull. It's hidden by her enlarged wheelhouse but originally her rear gangway was offset to the port side. Meanwhile, based on a famous JE Buttersworth Flying Fish painting commissioned by her owners, to commemorate her win of "The Great Atlantic-Pacific Sea Derby" it's clear her rear coach house had a more elaborate front fascia than on current plans. There were two large windows, most likely being 3' tall x 30" wide with sculptured moldings and a single sliding door in the center. The recessed areas would have been painted pearl and raised areas white. There are ornately sculpted and carved arch bracket supports at each end for the roof deck overhead. At the fore of the coach house is a thin brass railing which only covers the front of the house and terminates in graceful curves at each end. If you like, I can sketch this out for you.