Glory of the Seas medium clipper 1869 - FINISHED - by rwiederrich - 1/96

[BANYAN]

That is starting to look like a very nice set of hull lines Rob.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[ClipperFan]

Rob,

It's hard to comprehend the blistering pace you are proceeding at, for a guy unfamiliar with wood working. In an effort to keep up, I've jumped to full scale, relying mainly on the 3 ledger sized sections shared recently. Once I nail down her distinctive, yacht like upper bow, the rest will flow quickly. You're right too about her Hull below water, it is practically vertical in the image. I'm still working on reconciling that with her launch photo, which to me, when compared to the almost vertical tall pole behind, appears to have a slight incline back from straight vertical. I hope to have initial work on the Bow done soon.

[rwiederrich]

13 hours ago, BANYAN said:

That is starting to look like a very nice set of hull lines Rob.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Thanks Pat...oh...I have plenty of errors to manage and fix...but that is what is so fun about this for me.  Unlike EdT's magnificent Young America, where every element must be perfect to align itself with other perfect members...I can get away with some sloppy workmanship...because its all about the end result.  If I need to *wedge* or *fill* to compensate for an error...it will be covered up with something else and then drenched in copious amounts of glue, bondo, epoxy, wax, paint....etc.

 

Yes...she is developing some nice lines.  My plan is to place all the bulkheads and then correct the deck lines, by adding shims and will be doing the same for the bulwark members as well....cutting them or adding to them to create the correct sheer and proper balance for the rail.

 

Thanks for the fine comment.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

20 minutes ago, ClipperFan said:

Rob,

It's hard to comprehend the blistering pace you are proceeding at, for a guy unfamiliar with wood working. In an effort to keep up, I've jumped to full scale, relying mainly on the 3 ledger sized sections shared recently. Once I nail down her distinctive, yacht like upper bow, the rest will flow quickly. You're right too about her Hull below water, it is practically vertical in the image. I'm still working on reconciling that with her launch photo, which to me, when compared to the almost vertical tall pole behind, appears to have a slight incline back from straight vertical. I hope to have initial work on the Bow done soon.

I just use my saber saw to cut out the bulkheads and my table top band saw to cut out the keel section.  I drew out an example of vertical for Vladimir....by recognizing the vertical anchor hanging on her port side.  Utilizing the anchor shank as a reference, I deduced the rough angulation of the bow....and she is surprisingly vertical.  Coupled with her dockside image at her conversion to a salmon cannary….it is clear she did not have a swooping entry like Great Republic.  The best educated guess is all we really have.  I'm looking forward to your contributions and your final drawings for your own contribution.

Exciting....isn't it?

 

Thanks for the fine comments and encouragements.

 

Rob 

[druxey]

If it's of any help, the draughts in McKay's book all show almost vertical stems.

[rwiederrich]

26 minutes ago, druxey said:

If it's of any help, the draughts in McKay's book all show almost vertical stems.

That's right...you have that book....think you can pop off a smidge of an image that you have?  ………….Pls pls pls pls…..

 

Rob(Just means I'm not far off...huh?)

[druxey]

Oh, all right, then. Three examples from McKay's The Practical Shipbuilder, 1839

[rwiederrich]

?  Druxey...what vessel is that for?  Not sure it is the Glory of the Seas.....unless I'm missing something terribly.

 

Rob

[druxey]

No of course it isn't, Rob! I'm sorry if I gave the impression that it was. These are representative vessel types to illustrate various points of practical shipbuilding. They are all generic; titled 'Brig', 'Ship', 'Pilot Boat', etc. However, all have relatively vertical stems.

[rwiederrich]

1 minute ago, druxey said:

No of course it isn't, Rob! I'm sorry if I gave the impression that it was. These are representative vessel types to illustrate various points of practical shipbuilding. They are all generic; titled 'Brig', 'Ship', 'Pilot Boat', etc.

Yes....I gathered that after I looked at your drawings and I remembered you had the practical shipbuilding book...but still was not clear if McKay(Donald's brother) had included any of Glory in his collection.

Thank you again.  However...the bulkhead drawing (Of the ship), does show promise as to be quite similar to those of Glory...that might have been the *confusing* factor for me.

Your encouragement and motivation are always uplifting.

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

 

This large working Half Hull model of McKay's 1853 Clipper "Romance of the Sea" shows that when it came to Clipper ships, the Bow and Stem weren't verticle. While the area below water wasn't changed significantly, the Cutwater above, which isn't depicted in half hulls sweeps up in dramatic fashion in a graceful curve. 

Romance of the Sea was 235' on deck, 38 1/2 ' wide with 20' depth of hold. 

The vessels depicted in McKay's 1839 book are 30 years prior to "Glory of the Seas." I believe with his initial 1851 Clipper "Stag Hound" (which has images of her Half Hull) in another Biography of McKays Packets and Clippers, shows a near verticle stem, again without the Cutwater .

[ClipperFan]

Hull plans of twin Clipper Packets "Star of Empire" 1853 and "Chariot of Fame" 1854 drawn by Donald McKay himself again show a graceful curving entry at the Bow. Both of these vessels were 3 decked, just like "Glory of the Seas." According to an April 1853 Boston Daily Atlas article, "Star of Empire's" Keel was 208', length on deck 230' and width 48'. In reconstructing Glory's underwater structure, I am working with these various sources.

[rwiederrich]

It's good we have these images we can rely upon and repost for clarity and refamiliarization.  In her launching image, if you draw a line down from her free hanging anchor(a good plumb), you can clearly see she had a very near vertical entry in her stem.  Probably only several degrees(I don't have anything to measure currently).

The Star of Empire, probably was an inspiration for Glory, since she is just a few ft longer and her dimensions are very similar.  Cept Donald rarely created the same model, other then his sister examples.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

You know...as I study this image, it reminds me of just how big these vessels were....look at the size of the men on the forecastle...….and the height of the bow from keel to rail.

Then imagine further, by knowing that the Great Republic(which was built 16 years earlier), was nearly 100ft longer and over 20ft deeper then the Glory.  She had to be a sight, in her enormity.

 

Rob(Love clippers)

[rwiederrich]

Clipperfan..I see you changed your profile picture to that of the Glory of the Seas......cool.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

Added several more bulkheads today...one last one for the stern to cut out.

 

They are all fee and will be moved around and relocated for optimal planking...then I will glue them in and then add the bulkhead spacers.

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

....and the lady's form emerges

 

cheers

 

Pat

[ClipperFan]

Impressive work, Rob. I'm nearly done recreating Ledger page 1 Bow enlargement of Glory. In my ongoing effort to be as precise as possible, I'm doing the equivalent of taking "offsets" of the vessel's dimensions in the photo and reproducing them on paper. It's painstakingly slow work but the results are worth it. The biggest challenge remains her underwater Hull, which isn't fully visible in any other image than the one of her launch. Another obstacle is recreating her Naval Hoods, carved arch of her Cutwater and her Goddess Athene figurehead. Once page 1 is complete, I'll share it here. Pages 2 and 3 will go much quicker, since those images are clearer and her sheer is clearly visible. Once all 3 images are complete, I'll mail you a set of copies.

[rwiederrich]

Having a good quality set of drawings will be wonderful.  I'm keeping her sheer open for corrections and like I mentioned earlier...her bulkheads are currently mobile, so I can make any corrections, substitutions...etc.

 The near profile image of her just after fitting out...it our best profile of her showing her at ballast....probably riding as high as she can get...clearly showing her quite vertical cutwater and entry...following her aft one can easily see her exit lines.  Her sheer is nice and profiled...not to mention her clean copper/muntz line.

All of this coupled with your drawings will aid in producing the most accurate hull of Glory..I feel is possible.  And that is fine because we are our own best critics.....since the less discriminating eye wouldn't know the difference anyway.

 

I'm so glad we have come to this place...again...thanks for your wonderful contributions.

 

Rob

[rwiederrich]

One thing I noticed and you may have too.  An unrelated item...a iron bar that is bolted just forward of her bow name plate that extends down to the tip of her naval hood...just behind the figurehead's hip?  It shows up on the port side closeup of her figurehead as well?  Is it supporting the hood?

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

Good catch! That long iron bar, which bolts into the "Monkey Rail" just ahead of Glory's letterhead appears to attach to the outer end of the Naval Hood. It doesn't look like it goes to her figurehead. The figurehead would be securely mounted to the Cutwater between the Naval Hoods as well as the carved arch pedestal she stands upon.

What's interesting is about a quarter of the way out from the shackle mounting point, there appears to be a shiny area, almost like an adjustable screw section which would enable the Naval Hoods to be tightened in differing climactic conditions. 

When you read descriptions of this particular area of McKay's Clippers, especially detailed in his first Clipper "Stag Hound" Duncan McLean explains in scientific eloquence how this rugged construction is so strongly reinforced that even the loss of her Cutwater wouldn't severely damage the underlying Stem or the vessel herself. This brilliance of designed reinforcement is a nautical invention that I believe Donald McKay was very careful to protect. Just look at his Clipper "Lightning" which literally ends in blank open space right at this critical juncture. 

[rwiederrich]

I'm fully not sure what shackle point you are referencing, but the short bracing arm that is supporting the inner bobstay that is attached to the cutwater is interesting.  It is reminiscent of the extender found on the Cutty Sark between the cutwater and her bobstay.

 

This is a very clear image of her bow section...perfect for replicating her members.  I've not seen this clear of an example of this image before.  Great joy!

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

This image taken from a children's book about McKay's Clipper Ships has one of the best reproductions of his Clipper "Lightning" I've ever seen. In all fairness, I drew some additional lines around the Bowsprit, which in the original book only has a single line, like the masts. Her Stern is incomplete, I sketched a stern to finish it. The gray lines on the far left are actually pages of the book. I copied the pages and drew on the copies. Otherwise this is Donald McKay's original lines, including an obvious blank area where the Cutwater and Naval Hoods would be. Finally there would be about a 2' Monkey Rail that mounts above the Main Rail and follows her Sheer and the respective 1' front Quarter Rail which typically ends just short of the Foremast.

[ClipperFan]

The shackle I refer to is the connecting joint of the iron bar as it mounts into Glory's Hull just ahead of the "G" in her nameplate. There's an iron loop that the bar mounts into, instead of bolting directly into the wood. This feature allows for some flexing at this joint, minimizing potential wear and tear to the wood at this juncture.

Another interesting feature that's visible too is that the round Bowsprit actually becomes oblong as it enters into the Bow. This makes for a stronger joint and eliminates any possibility of this massive piece rotating and causing havoc with all the chain link and rigging attached to it.

FYI: I agree, there is still a treasure trove of images still out there. I'm pretty sure I found this in the Boston Museum of Science website. The same one where I found the Builder's Half Hull of "Romance of the Sea."

[rwiederrich]

13 minutes ago, ClipperFan said:

The shackle I refer to is the connecting joint of the iron bar as it mounts into Glory's Hull just ahead of the "G" in her nameplate. There's an iron loop that the bar mounts into, instead of bolting directly into the wood. This feature allows for some flexing at this joint, minimizing potential wear and tear to the wood at this juncture.

Another interesting feature that's visible too is that the round Bowsprit actually becomes oblong as it enters into the Bow. This makes for a stronger joint and eliminates any possibility of this massive piece rotating and causing havoc with all the chain link and rigging attached to it.

FYI: I agree, there is still a treasure trove of images still out there. I'm pretty sure I found this in the Boston Museum of Science website. The same one where I found the Builder's Half Hull of "Romance of the Sea."

Riiight...I see what you were saying.  that connection does lend itself to some flex and give and adjustment.  Yes...her bowsprit is square as it enters the bow and is turned just exiting over the hood.  In this and some other  images it is evident the jibboom is milled in like fashion.   I've had copies of this figurehead image for years...not with such clarity though.  I used it when making a comparison image of my 1/96 Glory build.  This clear images also shows the true nameboard lettering...with Glory and Seas in large letters while *of the* is in smaller font

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

The shackle I refer to is the connecting joint of the iron bar as it mounts into Glory's Hull just ahead of the "G" in her nameplate. There's an iron loop that the bar mounts into, instead of bolting directly into the wood. This feature allows for some flexing at this joint, minimizing potential wear and tear to the wood at this juncture.

Another interesting feature that's visible too is that the round Bowsprit actually becomes oblong as it enters into the Bow. This makes for a stronger joint and eliminates any possibility of this massive piece rotating and causing havoc with all the chain link and rigging attached to it.

FYI: I agree, there is still a treasure trove of images still out there. I'm pretty sure I found this in the Boston Museum of Science website. The same one where I found the Builder's Half Hull of "Romance of the Sea."

[ClipperFan]

Rob, from the same Boston Museum of Science comes this original Builder's Half Hull Model of the "Great Republic."

[ClipperFan]

Rob, I don't know if you've ever seen this painting. It's probably one of the most dramatic scenes of Clipper "Glory of the Seas" rounding Cape Horn by Charles Robert Patterson. He was a Maritime man himself who was noted for his accurate portrayal of these vessels.

[rwiederrich]

59 minutes ago, ClipperFan said:

Rob, I don't know if you've ever seen this painting. It's probably one of the most dramatic scenes of Clipper "Glory of the Seas" rounding Cape Horn by Charles Robert Patterson. He was a Maritime man himself who was noted for his accurate portrayal of these vessels.

Yep.....I have a copy.   It’s amazing 

[rwiederrich]

2 hours ago, ClipperFan said:

Rob, from the same Boston Museum of Science comes this original Builder's Half Hull Model of the "Great Republic."

That’s amazing