Rick310
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Looking really good. Nice job on the copper and the planking. Really like the contrast between the copper and the he black hull.
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After what seemed like a long time, appropriate 1 year, it was time to move onto the forecastle. I was glad to be done with the metal work although I found that I really enjoyed soldering. The first thing I did was to cut and shape the carrick bits, Samson post, knees and the mooring bits. I then proceeded to make the pump brake (?) for the anchor windlass. By this time I bit the bullet and purchased a Sherline lathe and milling machine. I have absolutely no experience with either but seeing what EdT and KeithAug and Rob do, I hope to learn how to use them. First up was making the bells and whelping drums. Made these by soldering telescoping brass tube and rod, then mounting them in the lathe and turning them with files which worked pretty good . The bell gallows frame I made according to EdT, out of rectangular brass tube that I drilled on the milling machine, mounted in a vice and filled to shape. This bells mounts on the binnacle at the stern and the Samson post on the forecastle. The frame took 4 try’s to get one right. The cap for the bell I turned with the parting tool. It came out well by accident.
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Determining the number and size of the deadeyes took some time as I decided to use 4 different sizes. This proved to be nearly impossible as I had to purchase the deadeyes and the sizes were not consistent as advertised. The largest were 16 in. (Real) which equals 4 mm (scale). The actual sizes ranged from 3.8 to 4.2 mm. I purchased them through Model Expo and I was very pleased with the quality of the deadeyes, even if there were variations in the size. I ordered them during the pandemic and bought both boxwood and walnut deadeyes, depending on what was available. The nicest deadeyes where the Falconet deadeyes but only the 3.5 mm ones where available. Model Expo now has the 2.5 mm ones. I ended up using only 4 different sizes for both the fore and main masts, and 3 for the mizzenmast mast. These were stained with a walnut stain from Minwax with variable results as boxwood doesn’t take stain well. This is especially apparent on the 3 smallest deadeyes which are boxwood. Rings were made of 24 ga. copper wire as the 28 ga. was too small. These were wrapped around an appropriate sized drill bit and pinched at the ends to flatten them along with the end of the chain plates. They were then cleaned with acetone and soldered with a butane torch and copper phosphorus solder per EdT. I am pleased with the results although they don’t compare to EdT’s Y A. several had to be redone as they either sat too high or low on the channel. The next challenge was to make all 62 of the backing links. I made mine 6/32 long with holes at both ends. Again, consistency was the challenge. I actually enjoyed making the chain plates and backing links one I got comfortable with the technique. The backing links were by far the hardest to make and so probably made over 100 to get 62 that were fairly consistent. All these were chemically blackened with a solution from Bluejacket. These were pinned to the hull again for a final check, removed and the deadeyes snapped in the rings. I thought the chain plates looked too wide on the last 3 smallest deadeyes so I reducrd the widths of the chains to 1/32 wide, which looks more appropriate. These were pinned to the hull with bolts made of straight pins and the molding strip glued in place. By this time the hull was looking pretty dinged up so I filled in the dings, sanded and repainted it.
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I was finally faced with the fact that I could no longer avoid working on the channels, chain plates and deadeyes. I have been dreading this moment ever since I first saw the plans for FF. I literally had decades to consider how to make the chain plates and no idea how to go about it with a reasonable expectation that I could do this. The recommended technique described in the plans looked difficult to make and be consistent especially since I had little to no experience with soldering. Fortunately and timely, EdT published the 2nd of his 3 volume series on building the Young America. These books have been an absolute Godsend not only for making the chain plates but all aspects of modeling a clipper ship. His wonderful description of how he tackled this issue and his clear photos and concise method convinced me to try it myself. First, was making, fitting and marking the channels which was fairly straight forward given the hull’s asymmetry. I made the 3 brackets for each of the lower channels out of brass that I cut with a paper cutter. I had previously made bands for the bowsprit and struggled to get consistent widths cutting the brass sheet this way. Making the brackets was a preview of making the chain plates and I was very concerned with consistency given to that there are 62 of them. EdT used copper which I had not used before. So, with some trepidation, I purchased some .02 copper sheets and 24 and 26 ga. copper wire. I cut the copper sheets on the Byrnes table saw with poor results until I remembered reading that some one suggested sandwiching the sheet between 2 layers of 1/16 basswood sheets, This works like a charm. I had the opportunity to purchase 1/16 wide brass strips from Bluejacket but it just looked too wide and out of scale. I made mine 3/64 wide. The next challenge was to drill holes in the end of the chain plate, given that I did not have a drill press and would have to do it by hand. I started by using a center punch and a #75 drill bit held in pin vice. With some practice, this worked fine, later to be enlarged to a #71 drill bit. The chains were bent and pinned to the hull. I had measured the hull were the chains would be bolted and placed painters tape on the hull to locate that position and insure all chains terminated at the same level.
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Wonderful painting and I really like your sketches of the stern board, stem and figureheads. Your talent is amazing and I believe, very accurate.
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WOW Rob. Incredible!!! Really like the furled sails!!
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Thanks again ClipperFan for your kind words. I think that if I continued to remake the arch, I might be able to come up with something better but I didn’t want to get bogged down and it probably wouldn’t be that much better.
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Looks really nice!! Looking forward to starting the POB version when I get the solid hull version done.
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Rob, the scale of the Flying Cloud model is 1:48, or a 1/4 inches =1 foot
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Before I moved on to the channels,chain plates and deadeyes, I attempted to come up with a solution to making the stern carving. This, of course was to avoid attempting to making the chain plates and straps for the deadeyes which terrified me. The stern board was described by McLean as a beautiful arch but no other details. The Buttersworth’s painting shows a small portion of the end of the arch but all else is speculation. I originally thought I would attempt to bend very small strips of wood but my utter failure in producing those strips was discouraging to say the least. I had no success with a draw plate reducing the strips to approximately 1/32 diameter, which I thought was the maximum size I could use without it being too bulky. There must be a secret to using a draw plate that I just haven’t found. That, combined with the trouble I had bending wood strips made me think that this was going to be very difficult and not practical. I considered having a decal made, but that would look flat and besides, what design? I would probably try to duplicate what is shown on the plans and I decided to go that route as a last resort. About that time, while reading KeithAug’s amazing blog on the schooner Germania, he described using brass wire to model some ship’s carving at the bow of the model, which was beautifully done (as everything else on the model). I decided to try this using 24 and 28 ga. Brass wire. I made no attempt to duplicate the plans, aiming to produce a stern arch that looked decorative. After several attempts , this is what I came up with. I intend to use decals for the name and port.
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Rob, ClipperFan. What a beautiful painting of Glory by Samuel Walters. Walters, as you may well know, was considered the pre-eminent Liverpool artist back in the 1800’s. I have additional pictures of the Flying Cloud at the Boston Museum of art which clearly shows the belaying pins for the mizzenmast in the taffrail rail. I just can’t discern accurately the spacing in way of the shrouds. These pictures are available on line plus I took my own photos. I believe that this model was donated to the museum in 1929 and was built by H E Boucher in 1915, who I think was a professional model maker. It was overseen by Capt. Arthur H. Clark, who captained clipper ships and wrote the book The Clipper Ship Era with nice things to say about the FF. One interesting detail of this model is that the inside edge of the plank sheer has a double bead molding, as does the outside edge. This is also seen in photos of the Benjamin. Packard. I choose to model this molding, although it is not supported by the plans or Carothers American Built Clipper Ship. Rob, I certainly don’t disagree with your decision to mount the pin rail to the shrouds. Going by the Walters painting, it looks like the closed bulwark would be to low for the pin rail.
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ClipperFan, I’ll do my best, probably next week as I have to go out of town. Rob, nobody can criticize your decision as no knows for certain. I have doubts about my own solution although I believe it’s reasonable. To add to my uncertainty is the beautiful model of the Flying Cloud 1:48 scale at the Boston Museum of Art. I took pictures but was unable to discern the mizzen pin rail. It appears that there is one pin between stanchions fore and aft of the shrouds and 2 pins between stanchions in the way of the mizzen shrouds. Can’t tell if the rail is expanded and there are more pins. If not, then there are still not enough pins and this model has full sails.
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Clipper Fan, Thanks again for your input and suggestions. Really appreciated. When I saw the China painting, I was at the preview of the auction and the room was pretty cramped and dark. That is why I was unable to get a full picture of FF. I believe the colors are fairly accurate given how good the photos for the catalog were.
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ClipperFan, Once again thank you for your input. The curved end of the taffrail could certainly be brass although it appears to be wood on the Chinese painting, something I have wondered about. What is concerning is that the rail on the aft cabin roof is poorly depicted-wood or brass. I agree with you that it is probably brass although the end of the rail is awkward and doesn’t look right. I prefer the depiction by Buttersworth and intend to model it out of brass as painted by Buttersworth. Interestingly, curved metal rails At the fore end of a wood rail as shown on the Glory photo is frequently seen in photos and paintings of some of the large 4, 5, 6, masted schooners built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Rob, I completely agree with you about the mizzenmast pin rails. What I modeled on FF, was seen on ships built many years later. Was this a new innovation or one that persisted from earlier times? I think your solution is every bit as plausible as mine. I just don’t know and I still don’t know if there are any other alternative that make sense. It is so frustrating to have photos or paintings that don’t quite show the detail you are looking for. What ever you decide, your model of Glory sets a standard other models will be compare too.
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Jared, Here is the catalog picture of FF. It sold in 2007 for a total price of $87000. This was an exceptionally large painting, measuring 31.5 x 47.5 inches not including the frame. I was told that the original Chinese laquored frame had latered been painted gold. Truely remarkable to see!
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ClipperFan, I agree that the rail on top of the aft cabin is probably brass. That is how I intend to model it as shown on the Buttersworth painting. I hope to model the aft cabin as you suggest, curving towards the stern.
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After I had completed the aft cabin bulwark and the forward companionways, I decided to move onto the channels. However it occurred to me that I needed to complete the top gallant rail and the taffrail first. I was afraid I would break off the channels attempting to attach the rails. This was one of the projects I was really dreading given the asymmetry of the stern. I purchased stanchions from Bluejacket to replace the ones provided with the kit. The stanchions from Bluejacket are much nicer. I attempted to make a jig to bend the rails with some success after multiple attempts. Of course the asymmetry was still a headache. I made both the top gallant and taffrails, attached the top gallant rail, measured and cemented the stanchions and finally the taffrail. Prior to this I measured the taffrail for the belaying pins and immediately found that there wasn’t enough room for all the mizzen belaying pins. From photos of the Benjamin Packard I notice that the taffrail was expanded(wider) for the belaying pins on the mizzen mast. This is also seen on the Star of India in San Diego. I understand that these are both much later ships. Therefore I expanded the rail in the way of the shrouds and backstays. I will still have to add additional pins fore and aft on the taffrail as needed. I have no evidence that this was done on the FF. If I tried to squeeze in additional pins between the stanchions, it would be crowded and difficult to belay the lines. This solution seems reasonable to me. I should add that anytime I’m unsure what to do and the plans aren’t specific or seem wrong, I try to find examples of what was done on another ship if possible. I also decided to shorten the taffrail. This was done because the China trade painting depicts them as not extending so far forward as the plans and the point where they turn down as being left bright. As posted before, shortening them would have the advantage of functioning as a hand rail for the steps to the poop deck. The Buttersworth painting does not depict the turn down of the fore end of the taffrail rail but ends at the forward side of the aft deck house. Bending the end of the taffrail was a challenge because the basswood kept crushing and I had no luck with boxwood. It took me almost 2weeks to get 2ends that were usable. These were stained with Minwax Ipswich pine. I also used this stain on the gangways which were made out of cherry because a mahogany stain ended up being too dark.
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Hi Rob, no, Ian going to address this in another post. There is not enough room on the taffrail for all the belaying pins without them being crowded. I choose to expand the taffrail to accommodate all the pins. This is the same as the Benjamin Packard and the Star of India in San Diego which is a much later ship. I have no evidence that this was done on the Flying Fish. Call it artistic license LOL
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An excellent observation ClipperFan and I agree with you about the placement of the windows. I am not going to correct this version as I’m not sure I can do it without having to remake the entire bulkhead. I also have the plank on bulkhead version of the flying fish so that when I am done with this version I can correct my mistakes on the next. This too I will also correct. in regards to your truly excellent work on The Naval hood with Glory of the Seas, may I recommend the book ship carvers of North America by Brewington. It was published I believe in 1963 and is out of print. I understand he’s considered the definitive work for American ship carvings. He has included three or four pages devoted to The Naval hood and the transformation of the cut water to take the smaller figureheads and billet heads for the clipper ships and the transformation from upright to leaning forward to reduce weight. I believe you would find this extremely interesting. I Also want to commend you for the beautiful drawings you have rendered, especially of the flying fish. I am attempting to carve the figurehead and I find your drawings to be very useful. Thanks again
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I modeled the doors to the storage space on either side of the poop deck similar to the Packard. Note that the planks are vertical as opposed to horizontal.
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About this time, the photos of the Buttersworth painting became available online, clearly depicting 2 windows on either side of the aft cabin. The windows were added and the fancy knees where then made along with the molding which was again modeled after the Packard. At his point I was unsure about windows and elected not to place any.
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When I purchased the FF model and reviewed the plans, the aft cabin face as depicted on the plans just didn’t look right to me. With all due respect to those who developed the plans, It is not aesthetic and the asymmetry with just the one window bothered me especially when compared to photos of the Benjamin Packard and the Glory of The Seas that have beautiful aft cabins. Therefore I decided to model the aft cabin similar to the aft cabin of the Packard. This was done prior to the Buttersworth painting being made available. This is what I came up with.
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