Great Republic 1853 by rwiederrich - FINISHED - four masted extreme clipper

[rwiederrich]

2 hours ago, Jaager said:

I only have a passing knowledge of sail handling, but the painting has me wondering.

I thought that stunsails were used in light breezes.  The sky looks like a storm.  The sea surface being combers, I think there is a correlation between wind speed and how the surface looks and I doubt that light breezes  do that. The angle it is hitting the bow and the angle of the yards.  Water pouring from the stb main stun spreader.  And how much fishing could the sea birds do in those conditions, or even scoop up garbage?

 

By the way, it has got to be difficult to get that much detail at what really is a miniature scale.  Excellent job.   Can you imagine what that ship would be like at 1:48?  Who gets the house, you or it?

IT would be the house.......

When I am focused on adding as much detail as I can....it becomes almost second nature to *go for it* and add as much as possible.

 

One thing one needs to keep in mind when identifying sail requirements for any particular wind speed.  You are correct in the stun sails were made of much lighter material then storm sails and were generally employed in light breezes...to gain as much momentum as could be gained.

But the little known fact is that many clipper captains were notorious for DRIVING their ships in all manner of weather and if they felt they could gain another knot by keeping the stun sails aloft while running before the wind...they would...and not even blink an eye doing so.

 

Some captains would leave they sky sails set the entire voyage...even while rounding the horn(Dangerous stuff).

 

Thanks for the fine compliment and comment.

 

Rob

Edited December 3, 2018 by rwiederrich

[Sailor1234567890]

That painting in your post #630... I don't think she's coming about in that image. I think she's hove to in order to take that tug that's off her starboard side.

[rwiederrich]

12 hours ago, Sailor1234567890 said:

That painting in your post #630... I don't think she's coming about in that image. I think she's hove to in order to take that tug that's off her starboard side.

I tend to agree, however, my point was the array caused by yards swinging about under a tack.  I used this image to demonstrate what happens when every yard on a mast must shift in order to catch the wind.  This image is what I had to demonstrate the principle.

Thanks for pointing out the specifics of the movement.  Your observation demonstrates how orchestrated the movement of the yards/sails was and how every purpose could be recognized.

The question brought up originally about yard placement in relations to what I was trying to accomplish, I feel, was answered satisfactorily...solely based on historical evidence that Clipper ship masters would indeed extend the proper use of sails to achieve their ultimate goal of speed and to set a good sailing record.   Clipper captains were known for PUSHING/DRIVING their ships and crews to the very brink of catastrophe.

 

I think 12 to 20 degrees is ample pitch for my sails to exhibit their prowess and still expose enough rigging detail.

The only folks who will ever see it will be family and friends, and myself. Scrutiny is low.  Cept for now, while under my MSW friends all seeing eyes.

 

Rob(Thanks for the fine comments and many likes everyone)

Edited December 4, 2018 by rwiederrich

[Sailor1234567890]

I hope you didn't take my comment as a criticism. I too am greatly enjoying your build(s). Still have an old CS 1:96 Revell hull for you on the condition you do something really cool with it.

[rwiederrich]

11 hours ago, Sailor1234567890 said:

I hope you didn't take my comment as a criticism. I too am greatly enjoying your build(s). Still have an old CS 1:96 Revell hull for you on the condition you do something really cool with it.

I did not take it as criticism....on the contrary....I encompassed your observation into a brauder observation, that yard positioning can be greatly expressed during many circumstances and or changes in wind direction and course.

It is typically known that sails set on a model are set at an angle, catching the wind off the aft quarter...but even less known is that sails can be directed in any fashion during the evolution of a tack but are rarely depicted in a model such as represented in the image I provided.

 

Folks sometimes forget that sails as much as they were used to propel the vessel..were also used to stop the vessel.

 

I remember the CS hull offer and I hope that when I finish the GR...my imagination muscles will produce a wonderfully ingenious project for it.

Thanks for the wonderful remarks.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Spent some time finishing up the items I had mentioned earlier.

The clew lines and the lower yard lifts......added some rope coils too..

[rwiederrich]

After the final rigging was added that would be harder to add later was done..I focused on making the fore main course.  Using my sail making technique and a couple of hours...I finished making the sail and now all was needed was to bend it to the yard.

It is being supported with extra elevation...so that when it is dry it will have some room to sag back down and be clewed up and rigged.

Bunt lines and reef points were added as well...

[rwiederrich]

I took some closeup to help get the perspective...

[rwiederrich]

And a few more.....I think she is going to be a good looker when complete....

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

I'm liking the paper sails too....they are opaque enough..but still present a real sail like quality...

A few more for the day.....

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Closeup of the reef points on the reef bands....

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Man that is some lovely work Rob; a joy to see.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[druxey]

The latter painting appears to have some of her sails aback in order to brake the ship's speed, not to change tack.

[rwiederrich]

9 minutes ago, druxey said:

The latter painting appears to have some of her sails aback in order to brake the ship's speed, not to change tack.

Yes..that was determined...however, similar arrangements occur when tacking.....that is all I was referencing...when building a model other then prototypically.

 

Thanks for the correction.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

37 minutes ago, BANYAN said:

Man that is some lovely work Rob; a joy to see.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Thanks Pat...I appreciate that comment.  My work pales compared to some masters who haunt these pages....I'm generally a lazy modeler...and I'm surprised myself, at some of the effects....

 

I'm actually thinking of rigging the head gear and rigging the fore stays and the jibs....before I move to the main mast.

 

Rob

[Chasseur]

Love all of the little details especially on the sails!

Keep it coming Rob.

[rwiederrich]

15 hours ago, Chasseur said:

Love all of the little details especially on the sails!

Keep it coming Rob.

Thank you so very much....

The details find themselves in preparation...and more preparation.  Years of adding and retracting details have brought me to where I have ended.

Good scale panel lines(On both sides) of your paper is a very good start. Applying even layers of paint to achieve a realistic opacity is also critical.

It was a stroke of desperate, spontaneous, enginuity, that caused me to realize that the fine strands of a nylon paint brush, cut to scale length, would make exceptional reef points.  The thread ones I used years ago..were just comical...and not really to scale.

 

I think the effects I will use on the jib sails will surely step up my game...I just hope I can pull it off..since these sails need to appear to defy gravity.

Since my GR sails are depicting a brisk breeze I will not have to mimic the jibs pushing away from the stays.  I feel the effect, I'm looking for will provide the emotion I'm looking for.

 

Thanks for your fine comments and compliments.

And thanks everyone for your nice likes...

 

Rob

[Dowmer]

On 12/5/2018 at 10:57 AM, rwiederrich said:

but even less known is that sails can be directed in any fashion during the evolution of a tack but are rarely depicted in a model

 

Rob,

Just a thought but you might be able to achieve that billowed jib look hanging away from the stay using wire instead of rope for the sheet.  So it could hold the sail out so to speak rather than in real life it would hold it down. 

 

 

[druxey]

In some of those photos it's hard to realize how small the model really is! Nice going, Rob.

[rwiederrich]

Not been feeling to well today so I just did a bit.....

 

I added the buntlines and worked out some fairlead positions...

 

 

[rwiederrich]

1 hour ago, Dowmer said:

 

Rob,

Just a thought but you might be able to achieve that billowed jib look hanging away from the stay using wire instead of rope for the sheet.  So it could hold the sail out so to speak rather than in real life it would hold it down. 

 

 

That is exactly how I was going to do it.  I have some extremely strong orthodontic stainless wire that is very small and it will do the job without looking like wire.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

34 minutes ago, druxey said:

In some of those photos it's hard to realize how small the model really is! Nice going, Rob.

Right.

 

Having the main mast off really helps get around..when belaying lines and running them through the faileads.

 

Rob

[capnharv2]

Rob,

 

How portable is your GR? I'd sure like to see it at our next PSSM meeting at the Foss Museum (sometime this spring-I don't know when yet).

 

The model looks fantastic. Most realistic sails in a long time.

 

Harvey

[rwiederrich]

19 hours ago, capnharv2 said:

The model looks fantastic. Most realistic sails in a long time.

Thanks Harvey.  Over the years it always seamed difficult for me to see how much effort was required to make Silkspan look like real sails...not to mention real cloth(which is way out of scale).  I began using paper about 30 years ago....I've improved on my technique and from what I have determined....they are quite convincing these days.

Thanks for the fine comments and encouragement.

Paper is actually very easy to make look like authentic sails...when manipulated with the right tools and treated with paint.  Finding material for scale sheet points (Nylon paint brush) was a spontaneous stroke of genius. If I say so myself.

 

Not sure how mobile the model is....I will have to consider its travels.......thanks for enquiring.....it would be a real privilege to show her off.

 

Rob

Edited December 8, 2018 by rwiederrich

[rwiederrich]

Spent some time today on the GR...first I had to replace the main clew lines with something that had realism and sag....

 

Finished adding some rope coils too.

 

Here are bunch of pics.

[rwiederrich]

Some rope coils....still working on these...need some cleaning up and dressing...

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Looking mighty fine there Rob, very realistic results with your lines.  I wouldn't tidy the coils too much as, especially for often-used running rigging, these would not have been overly orderly/ship-shape anyway

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dowmer]

Looks nice Rob. I like the catenary sag of the clew lines on the fore main. 👍

 

 

[rwiederrich]

22 hours ago, Dowmer said:

Looks nice Rob. I like the catenary sag of the clew lines on the fore main. 👍

 

 

Yes...I troubled over these for some time.  The originals were taught, but they appeared unrealistic to me..so I removed them and created the ones with natural sag.  Much more effective,  the course is fluid in the wind and since it is not being held down by anything more then gravity and the tension of the braces, the clews needed to represent the same fluidity.

 

As mentioned before, I'm representing a mild to moderate breeze in her sails.

I have some halyard chain issues to correct...but after that, I think I will  rig only the lower forestay......then get on to the main mast.

 

I've vacillated with my next move and I think it would benefit construction, if I forgo adding all the forestays at this time(don't need to bump into them).

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Hi Rob, if you are adding the other stays and preventers to the other masts as you work aft, you may need to have at least one forward stay (even if not the final (position etc) to provide some resistance as you tension the others aft?  I also did not do a final securing knot/bend on these until all was well settled so that I could adjust them if needed.

 

cheers

 

Pat