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ClipperFan

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  1. Druxey, This image shows Athene's upper arm bracelets as well as her necklace. Look closely, you'll also see the very bottom of her garment has double thin lines. I personally suspect these items could possibly have been embellished with gold at her launch. Especially since it would highlight all the lovely folds of her gown.
  2. Druxey, It was my pleasure. I understand about your choice not to get into the niggling details of Glory's figurehead. I just thought you might appreciate knowing them.
  3. Druxey, From this viewpoint, that looks just about perfect. I realize her face is partially blocked but look how naturally her arm position is and how more accurately her grip appears on that long, flowing gown. Athene wears a fancy necklace, which is barely visible as a grey area at the nape of her neck and two arm bracelets. It's easier to see if you refer back to some pics of her we've already shared.
  4. As promised, both images from page 227 of "Glory of the Seas" Michael Mjelde's first book published way back in 1970. To put things into perspective, Mike had already put 16 years into researching her at that point. Simply incredible.....
  5. Rob, as soon as I saw this I thought of two things. This exact label and how you were surprised that Athene's long trailing toga actually had an open area through it. Mike also sent me both images on page 227 of his 1st book. I'm having a little trouble downloading it. As soon as I can, I'll share them with the group too.
  6. Druxey, That's much better. Now you're getting much closer. If you look real close, you'll see the large light object to the left of Athene's tight hairpin, that entire oval object is her hand, it's a little more parallel to the horizon. Her whole thumb is hidden inside of the fabric, only her upper hand is visible. It represents her gripping the flowing gown much tighter. This is a lovely improvement.
  7. Michael Mjelde has opened up his golden vault and shared some more spectacular images with me. This port side view of her Goddess Athene is one I've never seen before.
  8. Vladimir, Sometimes a picture is worth, well too many words.... Above the anchor hole is what I call the edge of the Naval Hood. There are four big ropes that exit the first notch, run right over the "L" in "GLORY" and then across the Naval Hood. That beveled edge is not verticle; it goes at an angle to match the outward curve of Glory's Bow. Notice the three carved ribbons? They all stop right at the edge of Glory's Naval Hood. The bottom of that Hood has three moldings, not two like on the top. From what I see, especially in the other close up Starboard view, those three are each shorter than the one below. The thickness of those three combined is about equal to the upper two Naval Hood moldings combined. I tried to keep it less technical but there's so many elements involved that it's hard not to. I hope this helps.
  9. Vladimir, Your stern looks much closer to Glory's. The drop below the Main Rail molding doesn't bulge out that I see, it's more of a graceful drop and it's a little deeper than your profile. It's hard to tell but it looks to be around 3 1/2'. The edge is visible on her Stern Starboard quarter. Nice catch on that, I didn't see it until you pointed that out.
  10. Vladimir, My apologies if descriptions I give are too confusing. I will try to make it simpler. Upper right side of this page, third line down "seven FOOT sheer. None of McKay's Clippers had a sheer in INCHES.
  11. Vladimir, It looks overall like you're getting so close. What I've noticed is that Glory's 1st notch (bit) aligns up with the inclined top edge of her Naval Hood. The triple moldings of the Hood's lower edge aren't verticle, they actually each are a little shorter to coincide with the inclined edge which blends with the curve of her prow. You'll need to shorten the top two ribbons in her carving which both end exactly at that edge point. Again, reference the hawse line from the bit in the photo which goes directly over the "E" in "SEAS", it aligns perfectly with that starting edge. Her Bowsprit angle would be much closer to the outer top of the Naval Hood. Look at the 1807 San Pedro Bow, there's no daylight between her Bowsprit and Hood. At Sea, this would all be rigged as tight as possible, since any slack would be disastrous for her massive rigging. Then Glory's transition from her keel to stem is a quarter circle, not the sharp juncture you have. See her 1869 scene on the Ways and look closely at the very bottom of her Prow You are making remarkable progress and it's very exciting to see.
  12. TheAuthorsDaughter That's fascinating to learn there's yet one more vestige of Donald McKay's last Clipper left. Thanks for sharing that with us. Of course if you have any pics of it, that would be marvelous to see!
  13. Vladimir, That looks much better. Glory's Bowsprit was 34" in diameter & 24 feet outboard. There are 7 iron bands, each 3' apart & 1 additional band which wraps around both her Bowsprit and Jibboom above. There's 18" before band 1 & 18" beyond band 7 to the Cap. The head of Athene lines up midway between band 2 & 3. That puts her 7 1/2 feet from the center of band 1 and 9 feet from the beginning of the Bowsprit. I believe Rob also said Athene's exactly 7 1/2 feet from the inner Bobstay mount on the Bowsprit too.
  14. Druxey, Yes. Look very closely at the object up near Athene's tight hair bun. Notice the small oval? That's the neatly severed wrist of her right hand. Only her right thumb is hidden under the drapery, her entire right hand is visible above the drapery. I'm positive of this. Below, just to the right of a dark area at the nape of Athene's neck is her right shoulder, then there's another oval with a tiny black dot in it. That's her severed upper right arm. That dot is most likely an iron armature, as best I can guess. It must have been one powerful wave to snap her arm off so cleanly. There's an old newspaper article that refers to the fact that the young East Boston beauty who posed for Glory's figurehead drowned. When her body was recovered she was missing an arm. Apparently at the same time the Sea gave up her dead, a freak wave struck "Glory of the Seas" and removed her Figurehead's right arm. Superstitious sailors tried to replace it but were never successful.
  15. Vladimir, The devil's in the details. This looks lovely but (don't you always hate that there's a but?) The figurehead is a little too small. Take a look at Druxey's work, which looks like his scale is spot on. Also look at the sharp close up. We've confirmed from multiple sources, including that Seattle view, that Athene is 7 1/2' tall. Courtesy of Rob, we now have very precise measurements for the relationship of all the elements in her Bow. At her correct height, Athene's crown is 2' from the tip of the Naval Hood and her head is just above the Hood. Her right hand is 18" from the tip too. Speaking of which, you're copying Druxey's mistake in the position of her upper arm. The item just above is not cloth, it's actually the severed wrist and hand holding the flowing drapery behind it. The arm should blend into that wrist, not be just below as it's drawn now.
  16. Vladimir, That's lovely. Now add a thin parallel line to that single line and you'll be very close to the original.
  17. Druxey, See how she now looks like she's carrying something in her right hand. Well that thing IS her right hand! What looks like it could be the end of a loaf of bread is actually the inside of her right wrist in the photo. Draw her upper forearm from the angle of her wrist and her right arm naturally bends back from there.
  18. Druxey, Take a close look at the gold necklace at the nape of Athene's neck. Just above you'll see what remains of her right hand, the small oval on right is the inside of her wrist, her thumb is inside the fabric and her upper hand grips the top. Meanwhile if you look to the right side of that necklace, you'll see another oval with a dark spot in the center. That's her shoulder and a small section of her upper right arm. Following her contours, you can project her right arm out, slightly downwards, then her upper forearm will reach back up and slightly inwards to connect with her wrist.
  19. The latest images from Michael Mjelde. These are close ups of "Glory of the Seas" at San Francisco dock 1877. For some odd reason, although I can get them right side up on my phone, they won't orient correctly when I upload them. My apologies. I figured upside down or not, you guys would all appreciate these higher definition images. Vladimir, if you look carefully at the carved arch on her Cutwater you'll see what I meant by the curve mirrors that of the lower one on the upper Naval Hood. I'm going to print these out and then try to merge them into a continuous single image, unless somebody beats me to it.
  20. Druxey, Nice work on Athene. One correction you want to make. If you look carefully you can see the central iron armature of her right arm where it broke off. It's pointed down more than your recreation does. Than you actually captured her right hand which is the oblong artifact up next to her small bun. Reposition her right forearm to connect to her hand and erase the back line at the right end of her hand. Very nice overall, you definitely captured her graceful pose and lovely features, which isn't easy to do.
  21. Vladimir, Regarding your attempts to recreate Glory's Cutwater flower carvings, there's a continual double stem that leads in a curving line all the way to the end. There's no break. It's the thinnest section but it's definitely there. The problem is that it's damnably difficult to see. Also it looks like the lower carved arch drops down along the outer edge and towards the end follows the curve of the lower Naval Hood arch.
  22. My apologies then. It must have been the way reproductions were made. I forgot that some were taken from books that were quite difficult to get flat in order to reproduce them.
  23. Vladimir, Beautiful work on these lovely ribbon scrolls. Some observations on the ornamental moldings of the Naval Hood . While the two lower moldings of the Main Rail continue on to complete the upper moldings of the Naval Hood, there are three thinner moldings that comprise the edge of the lower Hood arch. All three terminate at the tip, while the top two actually continue to the opposite side. The lower moldings aren't even at the Bow where they meet the Hull, they actually stagger inwards, as they edge the joint which is at an angle to match the curve of the prow. There's a hawse line running from the notch in the Cap Rail outward, running over the engraved "E" in "Seas" perfectly outlines this junction.
  24. Rob, Vladimir. Druxey, et all It looks like there were more than one image taken of "Glory of the Seas" on the Ways in 1869. I noticed that the position of the flagstaff with starry flag at her Bowsprit changes angles in various pictures, as does the angle of inclination of her Bowsprit Cap and Bowsprit too. The most noticeable difference is between the 1st and 2nd scene. It's hard to tell, since the middle pic has the Flag partially cut off but the flagstaff is verticle in this scene, while it's angled slightly backwards in the top one. Meanwhile in the third, bottom scene, the dolphin striker, which we referred to as being a reliable source as a plumb line actually angles outward slightly. I just thought others would appreciate these subtle differences.
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