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

[michael mott]

"300 to 350 blocks" Wow! Rob great to be catching up you are doing an amazing job on all the details, I don't think I could do it, i am having enough of a challenge with a single mast. the progress looks fantastic.

 

Michael

[rwiederrich]

23 minutes ago, michael mott said:

"300 to 350 blocks" Wow! Rob great to be catching up you are doing an amazing job on all the details, I don't think I could do it, i am having enough of a challenge with a single mast. the progress looks fantastic.

 

Michael

Thanks Michael...I appreciate that.  However, your models are a bit larger in scale so your detail (IMV) is more exacting.

Again...thanks for the fine comments.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Doing a little off ship work on the spanker mast.

[rwiederrich]

Did a bit more on the spanker.

[druxey]

Looks lovely , but I hope that you used Tung oil rather than tongue oil. Yech!

[rwiederrich]

13 hours ago, druxey said:

Looks lovely , but I hope that you used Tung oil rather than tongue oil. Yech!

Riiiiight….I used spit to get the job done.  Like threading a needle.

 

Rob

[archjofo]

Hi Rob,
the rigging and the sails look fantastic.
You are doing a really good job.
Looking forward to the continuation in the new year.
I wish you all the best for 2020.

[rwiederrich]

2 hours ago, archjofo said:

Hi Rob,
the rigging and the sails look fantastic.
You are doing a really good job.
Looking forward to the continuation in the new year.
I wish you all the best for 2020.

 

Thanks so very much.....I'm working the best I can.....

I'm afraid the next year will find me completing the Great Republic...sooner than I had imagined.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Here are some images of todays work.   I set the topsail and am finishing up its rigging with sheets and downhauls.

Pretty close to stepping the mast in the hull.

 

Enjoy.

[rwiederrich]

Placed the spanker in the hull for some balance and measurements.  Making sure everything is correct before I finalize the stepping and glue the mast in place.

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Niiice; you'll be done before you know it Rob.

 

Happy New Year

 

cheers

 

Pat

[rwiederrich]

Thanks Pat...and happy new year to you as well.

[rwiederrich]

Funny..as I survey the situation....it appears all that is needed is the stays and the shrouds/ratlines...not to mention  lots of final finishing details and some running rigging for the gaff and boom.

I'm shocked I'm gonna be finished with this model in a month or so(assuming a lot).

I'll have to take some good photos of it, outside the model shop, that is.

 

Happy new year everyone.

 

Rob

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by rwiederrich

[rwiederrich]

Thanks for the visits and  likes.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

 

 

I wanted to add this new image to give some balance to the entire rig of the ship.

 

Rob

[Sailor1234567890]

Did she not set a cross jack?

[rwiederrich]

15 hours ago, Sailor1234567890 said:

Did she not set a cross jack?

I'm sure that she did....however, records indicate she was only partially rigged when she went down from Boston to New York.....suggesting she would fill out her sail compliment once there. 

I took the liberty to remove the crossjack for better viewing of the mizzen rigging and that of the spanker.

Sail configurations were in part that of the privy of the captain........So I *Privied*.....

 

Thanks for noticing.

 

Rob 

[Bob Cleek]

I'm curious why a small ensign is flying from the mizzen top instead of the aftermost gaff peak. I know there must be a reason. I've just never seen that before. How come?

[rwiederrich]

On ‎1‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 9:58 AM, Bob Cleek said:

I'm curious why a small ensign is flying from the mizzen top instead of the aftermost gaff peak. I know there must be a reason. I've just never seen that before. How come?

Sorry for the delay in answering you Bob...…..LIFE happens.

 

 

From what I gather...from my study...during her entrance into NY harbor she was bedecked with all manner of duplicate ensign's and pennants....from the tops of all her masts.  I will be adding a large national flag from her spanker gaff peak as was her natural location, when that time comes.

I'm considering adding a house flag beneath the mizzen ensign as well, or maybe from the spanker top.

 

Thanks for applying your keen eye, Bob and pointing out the issue.  Most....are not aware that certain flags had certain locations that they were flown from.

 

Rob

[Bob Cleek]

5 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

...during her entrance into NY harbor she was bedecked with all manner of duplicate ensign's and pennants....from the tops of all her masts.  I will be adding a large national flag from her spanker gaff peak as was her natural location, when that time comes.

I'm considering adding a house flag beneath the mizzen ensign as well, or maybe from the spanker top.

That explains it. I didn't realize the circumstances of your portrayal and that there were more flags coming! However, under the "dressed ship" circumstance you describe, the largest ensign should be flying from the stern flagstaff. There would be another smaller national ensign at the spanker masthead, but none from the gaff peak because only one national ensign is properly flown from any given mast. When a house flag is flown on a "dressed ship, it's always flown alone from the main top.

 

 

A ship that is dressed or full-dressed for a U.S. holiday or other special event flies its largest available ensign at the flagstaff and an ensign at each masthead at which a personal flag or command pennant is not hoisted. If it is dressed in honor of a foreign nation, that nation's naval ensign flies at the head of the mainmast. (Navy Regulations 1279)

 

A merchant ship's personal or "house flag" is always flown from the top of the mainmast unless preempted by a foreign nation's naval ensign (AKA: "courtesy flag.") (Merchant ships do not fly command pennants.)

 

 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Bob Cleek

[rwiederrich]

6 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

That explains it. I didn't realize the circumstances of your portrayal and that there were more flags coming! However, under the "dressed ship" circumstance you describe, the largest ensign should be flying from the stern flagstaff. There would be another smaller national ensign at the spanker masthead, but none from the gaff peak because only one national ensign is properly flown from any given mast. When a house flag is flown on a "dressed ship, it's always flown alone from the main top.

 

 

A ship that is dressed or full-dressed for a U.S. holiday or other special event flies its largest available ensign at the flagstaff and an ensign at each masthead at which a personal flag or command pennant is not hoisted. If it is dressed in honor of a foreign nation, that nation's naval ensign flies at the head of the mainmast. (Navy Regulations 1279)

 

A merchant ship's personal or "house flag" is always flown from the top of the mainmast unless preempted by a foreign nation's naval ensign (AKA: "courtesy flag.") (Merchant ships do not fly command pennants.)

 

 

Thanks Bob..so much for your input.  Much appreciated as usual.

 

Rob

[Bob Cleek]

2 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Thanks Bob..so much for your input.  Much appreciated as usual.

 

I should mention, however, that under USN regulations, dressed ship and full-dressed ship are not displayed while the ship is underway. Only at anchor or alongside a dock.  That wouldn't necessarily apply to a merchant ship, although they generally followed the Navy practice. If you've got a contemporary photo of her underway, I'd go with that for authority. Even if the display wasn't proper, nobody could fault the portrayal on the model. 

 

 

 

 

[rwiederrich]

8 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

I should mention, however, that under USN regulations, dressed ship and full-dressed ship are not displayed while the ship is underway. Only at anchor or alongside a dock.  That wouldn't necessarily apply to a merchant ship, although they generally followed the Navy practice. If you've got a contemporary photo of her underway, I'd go with that for authority. Even if the display wasn't proper, nobody could fault the portrayal on the model. 

 

 

 

 

I knew that *underway* vessels generally only displayed the ensign on the gaff and possibly some signal flags below that.  From what I gather....it was not uncommon for a merchant ship to fly their owners *House* flag on the masthead when in proximity of land...to give recognition to the said owner/s.

Thanks again for the fine observation and acute description of proper flag display.   That detail can get lost, among other things, but is not any less significant.

 

Rob

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

.it was not uncommon for a merchant ship to fly their owners *House* flag on the masthead when in proximity of land...to give recognition to the said owner/s.

Yes, that was supposedly the genesis of the "widow's walks" on coastal homes. The "widows" would watch for their husbands' return from their long whaling voyages and identify the ships from a distance by the house flags they flew. Whether that was actually true, or the balconies were simply an architectural embellishment popular in the era, is a matter of some dispute.

 

 

[rwiederrich]

One item I wish to share concerning my representation of the Great Republic.

 

I wish to reemphasize, that my version is based on her original rig as designed and built by Donald McKay.  And as accounts recalled her, as she sailed down from her Boston point of origin to her final rigging and loading out point in NY harbor.  She was being towed down, but set sail, throwing off her lines and actually overcoming and passed her tug on the trip down.  She was *dressed out* when she left and when she arrived at dockside, where she spent many weeks loading cargo...and while she was disposed...her captain(Donald McKay's brother) permitted her to be viewed by the adoring and amazed public, for a fee of one dime admission.  Monies   collected were used to fund the *Sailors Haven* a retirement house for old sailors.

 

My attempt to model her cannot be understood as a representation of how she appeared at any time after she was burned to the waterline and subsequently rebuilt at a greatly reduced rig and capacity.

As I get closer to her completion...details will be added that will harmonize actual practice of ensign and pennant locations....along with artistic license that greatly pleases the model makers own romantic allure to this wonderfully imagined and crafted extreme bark clipper.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

15 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said:

Yes, that was supposedly the genesis of the "widow's walks" on coastal homes. The "widows" would watch for their husbands' return from their long whaling voyages and identify the ships from a distance by the house flags they flew. Whether that was actually true, or the balconies were simply an architectural embellishment popular in the era, is a matter of some dispute.

 

 

 

 

Indeed...house flags were the calling card for vessel ownership......one of my favorite scenes.....

[Bob Cleek]

1 hour ago, rwiederrich said:

As I get closer to her completion...details will be added that will harmonize actual practice of ensign and pennant locations....along with artistic license that greatly pleases the model makers own romantic allure to this wonderfully imagined and crafted extreme bark clipper.

And this, Dear Friends, is the difference between just craftsmanship and real art! 

[rwiederrich]

Today I glued the spanker mast in place and am preparing to build the lower stays and their rigging.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Spent some time today adding the main spanker and topmast stays.

Some pics.

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Lookn' good Rob, nice work.  certainly on the homeward bound leg of this building journey now.

 

cheers

 

Pat