ClipperFan
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Rob, it always struck me as odd that the iron bands on Glory's masts were red, I imagine it was a deeper shade, perhaps vermilion. Then again her pump wheels were bright red, so.... As for her bowsprit, contemporary works appear to have the inner portion painted black, including her bands. Every description I've read of her is that she was a proud vessel of matchless beauty. Meanwhile, here are a few more rare images I recently unearthed sleuthing rare publications. I found a long 5 page article on Glory's history, which included the Standard Oil photo from her starboard rear quarter, the SF dock scene and a painting. The other two are of Glory in 1912 being converted into a refrigerator factory and an internal scene of conversion itself. Finally from Refrigerator World is a brief article on the machinery installed. For a then 43 year old wooden vessel, she was one tough, durably constructed ship to bear all of this weight. I realize this last article has zero to do with modeling her in general but I felt you guys might appreciate it anyway.
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Rob, as for Glory's original paint scheme, Duncan MacLean is a bit light on his description. He states that all woodwork below the upper deck was bright and varnished. She was yellow metal plated up to 22' and above she was painted black. Inside her bulwarks were painted pearl color, relieved with white. While he makes no mention of her waterways, I would accept the firsthand description of a man who was there at her construction and actually played on her while under construction. More complex details like skylight numbers and locations can become confused but I believe colors are probably easier to remember, being more distinct. I've looked at Colonial pearl colors and they're very pretty pastel shades. Apparently McKay appreciated this shade a lot. As far back as his very first Extreme Clipper "Stag Hound" pearl is probably his most consistent color used. Likewise blue waterways were a very consistent paint scheme. I would consider painting the raised portions, bulwarks and carriage house railings white, the relief portion. Oddly enough, in the Samuel Walters painting, the turned rails surrounding her poop appear to be varnished wood with white rails while the entire carriage house rails are entirely white.
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Rob, I've been inside Mystic the recreated Seaport years ago. They are one of my favorite destinations. Mainly due to the Mystic Maritime Art Gallery which routinely features impressive original artwork of today's modern nautical art masters. As you know from my past year's interaction with your group, I am a purist when it comest to authenticity. As a result, while I have great respect for the talent of these modelers, usually their accuracy in scale leaves much to be desired. Even the historic "Glory of the Seas" model in JFK's Library, while impressive and beautiful crafted disappoints me due to its inaccuracies. I strongly suspect that our group due primarily to Mike's impressive photos and our mutual commitment to constructing meticulously accurate plans, will contribute to the most accurate miniatures ever.
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Rob, I didn't realize your first turned rails were for around the poop. Structurally they look great but in comparison to height, they're a little tall. As for the carriage house rails, you know those round toothpicks that are everywhere at restaurant cashiers? I would look into those at least as a starting point for stock to work with.
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Rob, after my simple exercise of scaling these rails down to where they're supposed to be, it gives me a greater appreciation for the challenging effort to replicate them. I see what you mean by them breaking as you try to make them skinnier and more accurate. Already yours are light years ahead of the mass produced ones. Obviously you prefer wood. I wonder though, would sculpey (the material Doris sculpts with) be an easier solution? From what I've read, it starts larger and then shrinks when heated in the oven. Just a thought, especially for the poop deck ones.
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Rob, as promised, here are my sketches of the turned rails as seen in the scene of her from the main deck. Note: the last teenie weenie two are to accurate scale. Good luck! After posting my 1st sketch, I realized I hadn't done larger versions of the turned rails that surround the pop deck. Here they are up to 3/4ths of an inch, which is huge in comparison to true scale on the left. The iron bar at the front ends is visible in the busy scene of the main deck, which also shows that those rails cant inwards significantly towards the front, straightens up towards the middle of the peop and then cants just slightly outwards as it rounds the Stern. Even the Carriage House turned rails aren't verticle, they too cant just slightly inwards. What I also find fascinating is that the front has two turned rails about 2' apart at both outer ends, with 8 more at equal distance. While the poop deck rails are too small to count, I managed to count 18 of the larger ones per side. Including the front but not yet counting the rear, I get 46.
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Rob, delicate work for this next step of your project is an understatement. At 3' height for the rear carriage house railings, they are a mere 3/8s of an inch to scale. Figuring the smaller stockier turned railings which surround the entire poop deck also come up to 3', when accounting for the 18" monkeyrail height upon which they sit, that leaves a mere 18" height for those. Again at 1:96th scale that's 3/16th of an inch! Curious as to what that actually looks like at scale, I sketched a few samples, which I'll share a little later. Tiny just doesn't even come close...
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Rob, these are absolutely beautiful. You even improved on the smaller size and grouping of the lowercase letters. Congratulations!
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Rob, where I come from, that's usually referred to as "Yankee Ingenuity." By Yankee I'm referring to as universally American, not just limited to New England States.
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Rob, when I view your incredible productivity, honestly 'lazy' is the last word that comes to my mind. I think, you, as usual are too hard on yourself. After all I don't see Michael Mjelde or his daughter knocking on anyone else's door....
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Vladimir, for those of us who have Warehouse storage capacity, a 330' vessel 55" at 1:72nd scale makes perfect sense.
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Rob, look closely enough, you'll see those little 'wings' are on every letter except both "Os" upper & lowercase, as well as lowercase 'e.' Besides, I made no mention of making it any easier, just more accurate.. ;-)
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Rob, beautiful and to scale as well, very nicely done! To contribute towards accuracy of the name board, I've included another more clear image of the sketch done of the actual board in the video. Since I had no idea of length at the time, I rough estimated it based on an assumption that it was a foot tall. Anyhow, rough wooden formation of letters is accurate as taken from the video stills.
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Rob, this will be instructive to see!
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Another fascinating article and beautiful painting I found was from Jan 27, 1923 by the famous seaman artist Charles R Patterson who actually last saw her in service as a fully functioning sailing vessel in 1899. At the time he wrote his reminiscence, there was still serious anticipation that McKay's last Clipper would still be relocated back to Boston to be eventually restored. The larger image of the same painting was from May that same year, in tribute to the lost vessel....
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While researching why Glory couldn't be saved, I found this old photo of her from Dec 1913. Ironically it's an advertisement from the manufacturer of coarkboard that was installed to convert her into a gigantic refrigeration plant. Since I haven't yet figured out how to share pdf files, this image was taken with my phone from the document visible on my laptop.
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Rob, seems you don't realize how teenie tiny something is until you attempt to do it at scale. I don't know if this helps but here is a 1 & 3/4ths inch long x1/8th inch high "GLORY of the SEAS" nameboard. I gotta rest my eyes now.
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Rob, these are absolutely beautiful. You are setting an incredible bar for the rest of us to follow. Meanwhile, I hate to be "scale police" but at 1:96th a 14' nameboard would be 1 & 3/4th" long by 1/8" high. Tell me to not mention these things if it bothers you.
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Rob, it's been a crazy, busy work day so I haven't had time to do a decent reply. I still feel like our Bow profile isn't as aggressive above and below the waterline as the images of Glory in Seattle gives me the impression she was. I'm working on tracings of the close up of her Figurehead to compare to her Bow profile in the 1907 scene. At the San Pedro dock The bowsprit's relative shortness compared to where her figurehead ends reveals some foreshortening, since Glory isn't exactly square to the viewer for an exact broadside. It's subtle but definitely there. Another item which might affect her sheer is location of her Starboard loading Port. In Vladimir's excellent profile, this key component is still a little too close to the main mast when it's actually slightly closer to the end of the Foreshrouds. Why should this matter? Because the locked in height at that location has been established by counting strakes. It's not the lowest part of the her sheer, which is in the middle of the main shrouds. By correcting the dock's location, will that affect her profile? Finally, the crease line at the Stern looks like it's where the iron ends of her Shrouds all would mount to and is quite likely to align with the lower end of the Naval Hoods. If that's the case, it gwould make the depth 3'6". Review McKay's sketch of his twin Packets, the same thin line is there too. I realize these are "nit pickey" little details, which is why I referred to them as 5%. Then again, the devil's always in the details too, aren't they?
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Rob, after seeing your impressive "Great Republic" build, the very last word I'd use to describe your work is hack. Inventive, creative, inspired are much more appropriate to your process.
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Rob, thank you for the compliment, that was very big of you. In all fairness though, we have to give the nod to Mike who's lifetime of research has led us to this point.
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Rob, while I understand your reference to artistic license, I don't believe that's what any of us have been doing. Instead, by using multiple photos generously shared by Mike (still ongoing, I might add) and meticulously researching precise dimensions in comparison to the most accurate images we can get, we have been methodically recreating McKay's last, lost Clipper in amazing detail. You probably recognize the name Björn Landström. I draw my inspiration from his incredible marine art reconstructions of ships from contemporary artist's works. I believe that "Glory of the Seas" had a finer entrance and exit than she previously had been given credit for. Even the most recent Bow and Stern views bare that out. I'm glad that Mike is so enthusiastic with our progress. After relentlessly pursuing the most accurate recreation possible for 12 years now, I just want to make sure I don't stop short just before the finish line....
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Vladimir, You're so welcome, my friend. Rob has drawn some incredible talent to his once solo project, to the point where "theauthorsdaughter" noticed his determined progress and inspired her dad Michael Mjelde "the Big Kahuna" himself to get deeply involved in sharing his incredible treasure trove of spectacular photos. Your own computer CAD skills have made a major contribution as well. I am still doggedly determined to get Glory's true Hull form accurate. As we see more clear images of her from multiple viewpoints, including now an image of her Stern which is even sharper than bows of other contemporary sail powered vessels, I feel stronger than ever that we somehow come to a consensus on her true overall hydrodynamic appearance. We're about 95% there, it's just that elusive 5%....
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Rob, As you can see from all the well deserved accolades coming in from fellow modelers, your remarkable miniature carving efforts have been far more successful than you gave yourself credit for. Vladimir is absolutely right too. Even if it's possible to 3D print a meticulously precisely accurate miniature, it actually detracts from recognition of the artistic effort itself. One of the qualities of 17th Century miniaturists I admire most is their amazing carving abilities. For the same reason, I am constantly in awe of Doris and her incredibly lifelike sculptures is know that they're all hand carved from scratch. In conclusion, you have set a mighty high 'bar' my friend. It will be fascinating to see how others take up the challenge in their own creations, including possibly, eventually myself. By the way, to answer your question, yes I did see the photo of Glory's Bow below her nameboard. However it wasn't until after being able to freeze the image did that occur.
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I learned how to access a new feature of my phone. Voila! Screenshots of "Glory of the Seas" nameboard and the Samuel Walters oil which graces the cover of Michael Mjelde's wonderful first book that follows. This should help Vladimir and others see how this beautifully rugged device actually appeared. Of course this in no way compares to Rob's gorgeously realized miniature Athene Figurehead. Compare his work to the one at the Bow of Walter's spectacular oil painting and well, there is no comparison. I am in awe of Rob's results. Believe me after spending years trying to capture her essence, I know how complex and challenging a Figurehead she is.
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