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

[Mirabell61]

nice progress Rob,

 

Nils

[popeye the sailor]

head gear looks even sweeter Rob........very nicely done!   get better my friend.......hope to see you back soon!  

[rwiederrich]

Well I worked on the GR a bit today..finished laying up a port anchor underneath the cathead.  I added the forward passageway and the forward hold cover.

 

Even at this scale the parts are pretty small.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

I'll be adding rope coils about the fordeck to finish it up before I begin to add the forward rail.

[popeye the sailor]

good to see your back........any amount of progress is a welcome sight      well done on the fore deck.......did you cut all of the other structure pieces too?

[Omega1234]

Nice work, Rob.

 

The foredeck is certainly looking crowded and 'fit for purpose'. I can't wait until the rigging starts growing, but I understand that that's a long way away.

 

Enjoy.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick.  

[rwiederrich]

Modeling habits of old would have me work the entire model at once....ie..placing deck parts along the length of the model.  I've decided to forgo that approach and begin from the bow and work aft.  Instead of making/installing all the bits or cleats then installing them..I make them all then only install the ones in the area I am working.  Same goes with the deck furniture and houses.  For some reason it makes the build go by faster for me to see small accomplishments being made then to drudge through an entire vessel that isn't really finished...just piece mealed.

 

I've been working overtime so I have had few hours to dedicate to the GR.....I am planning to working on the for fife rail this weekend and possibly the main hatch.

 

Sweeewww...I'm used to working at a faster clip(Pun).

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Spent some time making the forward fife rail.

[rwiederrich]

Working forward aft..I still need to add the ships bell mounted on the forward campanionway, just forward of the hatchway.

Slowly moving along.

 

Rob

[popeye the sailor]

your going fast enough..........your still getting over that ill, ya know    savor what your doing........your doing a superb job of it  

 

 

I can't help but notice the Cutty parts in the background...........it's a tease     I have a friend in Hawaii that has three of them.........I haven't been able to get him to part with {at least} one of them yet.   I have my second build of the Cutty still in the hallway.........all it needs is to have the repairs done to some of the lines {from when we last moved},  the braces,  and the studding sails.  one of these days,  I will finish her  

[rwiederrich]

Thanks Popeye...and thanks everyone for the likes.

 

Yes those are extra 1/96 CS spare parts.  In my building technique I sometimes utilize  spare parts that are in scale as models for me to use to make my own parts from metal or some other media.  I have many kits I bash from to aid in my builds.  Remember...if I can use someone else's machined parts I will.

 

I'm after the end product...the means and process getting there is irrelevant.

 

Oh..by the way..it was brought  to my attention on another forum that my calculations for scale on the GB is off.

So for all who are following, let me clear the scale thing up for you..so I don't create further confusion.

 

This particular model is built 3/32"=1ft.  10.75 scale feet= 1 inch.  The GR was a total of 400ft long(335ft from stem to stern of hull only)

So dividing 335 or 400 by 10.75 you get roughly 31" or 38". Then divide 31" or 38 by 12=2.5 or 3.1  Finally take the hull length 335 or 400 and divide that by 2.5 or  3.1= 130ish.

 

So from all that mind bending contortioning....my model has a hull of 31", 38" as a completed model and is in the scale of 1/130.  NOT the erroneous scale I posted earlier of 1/280.

 

I think that's right.

 

Rob(I hope it's right)

[popeye the sailor]

gee Rob.........that sounds kinda technical........dunno if I can wrap my head around it.   I'm more into the artistic values here    now........THAT......I think you have plenty of  

 

more eye candy please!!!

[rwiederrich]

Made a few hatch covers and installed the bell.  Slowly moving aft.

[popeye the sailor]

very well done Rob!  

[albert]

Yes very very well done.

[rwiederrich]

Thanks everyone for your fine comments and likes.

I wish I was working faster.  The hatch covers were all hand carved from stock and finished trimmed..so they took a bit of time.

 

The main cabin will have its fife rail attached so it will take a bit longer too...hope I can throw some time at it tonight.

 

Rob

[Chasseur]

Rob an art form should never be rushed. All in good time I say!

[rwiederrich]

I haven't had much time to work on the GR..but I did manage to finish up the large 30ft long stern eagle clutching an American shield.

 

Here it is on the deck and then mounted.

 

Slowly moving along.

 

Rob

[Omega1234]

Hi Rob

 

Wow!!!!!! How'd you do it????

 

I stand respectfully in awe (and slightly jealous) of your skills.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[albert]

Hi Rob, very nice work.

[rwiederrich]

Thanks Patrick and Albert.....

Well..as is my habit(Think outside the box, and use anything and everything)...I scrounged around for some time until I found an eagle pin that was the right size, orientation, and had the American shield clutched in the eagles talons.  With some modifications and some very mild accurate bending....I achieved the goal I was seeking.

Then with some paint to identify the shield and after I cut out portions of the planksheer...fit her in and glued her down.

 

It's all about re-engineering.  Oh yeah..I could have made the eagle from scratch...with lots of time and energy applied...but why?   I achieved my goal.

And since the Great Republic had this enormous 30ft eagle on her stern...it had to be convincing.

 

I've seen other examples by other model builders....annn...I think it works well.

 

Now for the eagle head figurehead....

 

Rob

Edited November 30, 2016 by rwiederrich

[popeye the sailor]

stern looks great Rob........did you find it in a craft store?  that's where I get a lot of my stuff  

[rwiederrich]

No actually..this particular eagle is roughly 60 years old and was procured from an antique vender.

 

Since there are no photos or scaled renderings of the eagle stern ornamentation that was on the GR stern...all we have are personal descriptions and measurements of the carving.

 

What was on the GR's stern (American eagle with extended wings clutching the American crest) and its location in relations to the rail edge and its dimensions are known....so I kept my example within scale and used some artistic license.

 

I had searched for some time (Locally and internet) and was quite fortunate to locate an example that require only minor alterations.  Yes I had to exchange an historical antique for a model component...but that exchange IMV proved to be an advantageous one.

 

Again..thanks for your kind words.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Thanks Dave....yeah, I just wanted the hull finished..so I did it the fastest way without a whole lot of fiddling around with multiple layers of strip planking.  Since I was only going to paint it and copper it anyway.  My method would have been harder if I didn't have access to the 1/16" thick by 2" planking...that actually molds around the formed bulkheads very easily.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Spent some time building the main cabin today....about an hour of my time before I had to run.

Paneled just like the for cabins.

[rwiederrich]

Sorry my images aren't any better.

 

Rob

[Chasseur]

No worries Rob we're ship builders not photographers!

[popeye the sailor]

looks great to me Rob........nice match of the roof to the deck  

[rwiederrich]

Popeye..The paint mach is tricky...cuz they are done at quite different times...but must look like they were done at the same time.  Especially when the deck house roof needs to match the deck as closely as possible...to make it congruent.  Darker on the edgers then the high middle...cuz that is typically where the walkers walk.

 

Thanks for the fine comments and encouragement.  The main fife rail is next to be fashioned.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

An hour or so building the main fife rail.