Flying Fish by gak1965 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:96

[Rick310]

George,

I went back and looked at the pictures of the flying cloud hit the Boston Museum of Art and appears that the missing mast was finished, and that there are vertical grooves on the mizzenmast Samos mean in for. I am taking this to mean that the medicine on the flying cloud was finished or a build mast. Don’t really know. Note the oops on the mizzenmast mast.

[Rick310]

Sorry, bad post. Trying to say that there are vertical grooves and the mizzen mast as well as the main mast which I believe means the masts are fished. This would mean of course that the mizzen mast was a made mast.  Also note the hoops on the mizzenmast

[ClipperFan]

1 hour ago, Rick310 said:

Sorry, bad post. Trying to say that there are vertical grooves and the mizzen mast as well as the main mast which I believe means the masts are fished. This would mean of course that the mizzen mast was a made mast.  Also note the hoops on the mizzenmast

1 hour ago, Rick310 said:

Sorry, bad post. Trying to say that there are vertical grooves and the mizzen mast as well as the main mast which I believe means the masts are fished. This would mean of course that the mizzen mast was a made mast.  Also note the hoops on the mizzenmast

Rick, actually I'm reversing my position. Two out of three of Duncan Maclean's McKay Clipper ship's are specifically referenced as having fished fore and main masts. Stag Hound his first and Flying Fish both omit any mention of a fished mizzen mast. In all cases I read, the mizzen masts were smaller in diameter than their inner bowsprit. This leads me to conclude that it's very likely the mizzens were solid sticks and not built, like I was first convinced they were.

[Rick310]

ClipperFan

I agree and I do have questions about the Flying Cloud model at the Boston museum of art concerning the mizzenmast hoops and fish.  Although the model was made by a professional model maker, in 1915 (?),  one wonders how much research they did concerning details like whether or not the Mizzenmast was a single stick or a built mast.  Another question is how the fairleads in the shrouds are one long piece of wood versus individual fairleads. I know either could be appropriate but is that truly accurate for the flying cloud?  Overall, it is an absolutely fantastic model worth seeing if you are anywhere near Boston.

I keep coming back to the fact about the China trade painting and Buttersworth‘s painting show hoops on the mizzen And one would expect that at least one of the painters had first hand knowledge of the vessel.

[ClipperFan]

Rick,

From the few online images I've seen of the spectacular Flying Cloud miniature, especially in reference to her gorgeous sail plan, this Boucher model is definitely worth seeing in person. Having said that, it's still inaccurate to the Boston Daily Atlas contemporary description, as well as several contemporary art depictions. Her lovely trumpet bearing winged angel figurehead is merely tacked on below the bowsprit. There's no naval hoods or gilded carved arch cutwater. Meanwhile a small portico protecting the entrance to rear cabins below is a substantial building on the model. Eventually I intend to make sketches correcting these oversights and share them on a separate page.

As for the two artists, it's quite possible that both were able to view Flying Fish in person. The similarity of portrayals is just too much for coincidence. It's also a good possibility that in a refit, a single stick mizzen was replaced with a built mast after discovering sticks weren't strong enough. 

[gak1965]

Well, an update. I've been working on the lower masts while I finish odds and ends on the deck. Lots of photos for me (well 6) but we are in a period where many things get done but the ship doesn't change much in overall appearance. With additional paint, the main was painted, and it is time to start adding additional details, including the iron reinforcing on the tops and the holes for the fairleads.

 

The first new thing that needed doing was the spencer jackstays on the fore and main masts. They are theoretically 1" or 0.01" at scale. I built mine from 24 gauge black steel wire and 0.75 x 6 mm brass eyebolts that were chemically blackened. That would make them about 2x scale, but it isn't terribly noticeable. The jackstays on the yards were smaller and I will likely use a finer wire when I make them. Here is the foremast with the spencer jackstay.

 

 

Next I made the futtock shrouds from deadeyes and some fine gauge black wire. The ends were threaded through the pre-drilled holes in the top and attached to a large eyebolt that is filling in for the individual mounting points on the relevant iron. Finally I drilled a hole in the masts for the gaffs and mounted a piece of 24 gauge wire that will eventually become the gooseneck. I have seen people use circles cut from blackened copper tape to make fairly convincing hinges at this scale and that is the plan for these gaffs. Here are photos of the fore and main masts with the jackstays and the futtock shrouds.

 

 

This picture also shows that I installed the amidships ladders. I ultimately used the castings, they seemed as good as I was likely to make on my own, and (on the fore) that I've started installing the blocks for the bunt and clew lines. Ideally the blocks would be of four sized (two different sizes on the main/fore) and a second (smaller) set of two sizes on the mizzen. The kit comes with three sizes of single block and functionally all 4 block sizes were closest to the 3/32 inch size - so all 24 will be the same size. 

 

The mizzen required a spencer mast, which I built from a dowel and a some strip brass bent to accept a 24 gauge wire that will be the gooseneck, the spencer and then wraps around the lower mast. I also added the futtock shrouds, and here is a photo:

 

 

So, the ship looks like this now with all of the masts in place (but not yet glued in). The mizzen is slightly more raked than I want, but the picture makes it look worse than it is. I am going to get in there with my Dremel so that it will stand at the same rake as the fore and main.

 

 

Finally, a view of the ship from the bow showing the masts which. Again, the alignment appears a little off because they have no shrouds and are not glued in place.

 

 

Next up - on the right of the final photo you can see the brass belaying pins that I hit with some patina. I think I need to give them another treatment to make them more uniform, but otherwise they are ready to be placed. Finish stropping the rest of the blocks that are mounted on the tops (16 down, 8 to go) as well as a couple of blocks for the mizzen braces that mount on the top, and then it's time to make the topgallant masts. I build (but don't rig) the entire mast before doing it's final mounting and starting to put the shrouds in place. Hopefully that time will start to come soon. In the interim I will probably start to rig the boswsprit to give me another area to make some obvious progress.

 

As always, thanks for looking in and the encouragement.

 

Regards,

George K

 

[rwiederrich]

Moving ahead nicely...for sure.  Now it starts to get real fun.....

 

Rob

[gak1965]

I've started making the topmasts, beginning with the main. Rather than use the kit supplied dowels, I'm starting with larger square stock. For the main that means 3/8 square basswood which I am going to turn and then trim to size. So, the stock on my lathe, marked up to show (left to right) the bottom of square portion of the mast, the end of the round segment, and the end of the square segment. I added a mark (after this picture was taken for the beginning of the round section of the mast.

 

 

Here is the mast after turning. You will note that the square ends are way too big, as the lower part of the mast should be about 1/4" square and the upper about 3/16" square. This was the expected outcome of this step.

 

 

Next I took some 100 grit sandpaper and narrowed the square segments so that they were correctly sized, drilled holes for the fid, and made it from two sections of 1/32 x 1/64" blackened brass. The mast is shown below. Once I'v built all three, I'm going to stain it so that it is a little darker.

 

 

Next the trestletrees, crosstrees, and spreaders. These were made out of boxwood stock. In order to get the the crosstrees to be properly aligned on the trestletrees, I  dremeled the cutouts with a cutting blade while the two trestletrees were clamped together. The crosstrees themselves are made from 1/16" x 1/32" stock, and quite flimsy before they were mounted. The spreaders are only 3" square in real life (1/32" at scale), and I was very worried about the loads that they were going to be under. So, I took some blackened 1/64" x 1/32" brass and glued it to the bottom of spreaders. You can see the this in the next two photos of the trees and spreaders from above and below (the marks are where I need to put the cleats and will be removed).

 

 

 

The brass is barely visible, and I may put some on the brace as well. As with the mast, once all three are made I'm going to remove all the pencil marks and stain them. I haven't decided yet if I am going to make the six cleats out of wood (they would be really small and fragile) or put an opened jackstay eyebolt or perhaps a bit of very fine wire. They are going to be sufficiently hidden by rigging that I'm inclined to simplicity.

 

I wanted to get an idea what the whole assembly will look like on the model, so I slipped them onto the mast, and I have to say I am reasonably pleased.

 

 

Thanks again for looking in!

 

Regards,

George K.

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by gak1965
One of the photos wound up at the bottom rather than in text

[robdurant]

Lovely clean work, George.

 

What a great way of strengthening the spreaders... it would be disheartening to see them bend or break half way through rigging, and this gives a great safeguard.

[ClipperFan]

George,

Thanks for sharing your topmast build process in such specific detail. Addition of brass reinforcement which will be well disguised is a brilliant solution for such delicate trestle tree work. Great artisan quality work!

[Jared]

You have done an amazing job on your masts George and the wealth of valuable  information you have provided will be a valuable guide to me and others.   I have not made any progress on my model over  past 3 months due to other activities and a honeymoon.  Your work will inspire me to get going again!

[ClipperFan]

2 hours ago, Jared said:

You have done an amazing job on your masts George and the wealth of valuable  information you have provided will be a valuable guide to me and others.   I have not made any progress on my model over  past 3 months due to other activities and a honeymoon.  Your work will inspire me to get going again!

Jared,

Nice way to "bury the lead". Congratulations on your somewhat recent wedding! I hope you are as happy and fulfilled with your lovely bride as I have been with Peggy my wife and best friend. Just remember "happy wife, happy life." It's true! I'm looking forward to eventually seeing progress on your own project.

[gak1965]

2 hours ago, ClipperFan said:

Jared,

Nice way to "bury the lead". Congratulations on your somewhat recent wedding!

Offhand I'd say you were setting your priorities appropriately! Congratulations, indeed! May you have a long and happy marriage!

 

George K

[Rick310]

Really well done!!

[gak1965]

Happy 4th!

 

An update on construction. The topmasts are all completed and mounted on the tops, the caps are painted and secured and we have three nice and straights masts. Finally all of the spreaders are complete (although they are not current glued to topmasts. Some photos. From the sides:

 

 

From above:

 

 

 

And from forward:

 

 

One quick question to anyone in the know. Regarding the chocks on the spreaders. Are they placed in specific locations to direct the flow of the backstays at a particular location on the spreader, or are they located where the backstays naturally fall and are just there to keep them from slipping?

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

George K

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by gak1965

[ClipperFan]

2 hours ago, gak1965 said:

Happy 4th!

 

An update on construction. The topmasts are all completed and mounted on the tops, the caps are painted and secured and we have three nice and straights masts. Finally all of the spreaders are complete (although they are not current glued to topmasts. Some photos. From the sides:

 

 

From above:

 

 

 

And from forward:

 

 

One quick question to anyone in the know. Regarding the chocks on the spreaders. Are they placed in specific locations to direct the flow of the backstays at a particular location on the spreader, or are they located where the backstays naturally fall and are just there to keep them from slipping?

 

As always, thanks for looking in!

 

George K

 

 

 

 

George,

Nice work on your masts. Thanks for sharing your progress photos. As for your spreader check question. I believe they're installed to position the backstays so they don't interfere with each other. If they would spread naturally, there'd be no need for the spreaders themselves.

[Rick310]

Great question. Don’t know the answer.  ClipperFan is probably correct.  Makes sense.  Mast look great!!

[gak1965]

Thanks all. To try to clarify my question, here is a segment of the plans. It shows (I think) that the spreaders are not changing the flow of the backstays. 

 

 

Now, here is a drawing I made to show the question I'm wondering about. On the left you have a mast viewed looking forward and on the right you have a mirrored mast from the side. On the looking forward view you have two options: on the left side, the spreader changes the direction of the stay, on the right, it hits it naturally and just kind of helps keep the stay in place using its natural flow. On the right, you have the same situation (although I realized it is the opposite as on the other drawing). On the left, the spreader is just sitting where the path of the stay naturally falls, and on the right, it changes the direction of the stay. 

 

 

This is a public domain image from Wikipedia showing a (modern) spreader - as you can see they are changing the flow of the stay:

 

 

Again, my read of the plans says that this isn't what is going on - that it is following the natural path of the stay - but would appreciate anyone's insights. In either case it would prevent interference, but it will drive where I put the chocks.

 

Thanks again,

George K

 

[MrBlueJacket]

In modern ships, the spreaders actually spread out the stays for more leverage.

 

But in old ships, my opinion (without any direct evidence) is that they are to stabilize the long run of the stays rather than change their direction.

 

Nic

[gak1965]

23 minutes ago, MrBlueJacket said:

 

But in old ships, my opinion (without any direct evidence) is that they are to stabilize the long run of the stays rather than change their direction.

 

Nic

That seems consistent with the plans and what photos I could find. The practical upshot is that I'm not going to install the chocks (if at all) until I see where the stays land on them. Better that they flow and maybe stick out slightly from the spreaders than have them bend oddly.

 

In a month or so, I'm guessing I'll see how closely I actually followed the plans when the first topgallant stay is set.

 

Thanks,

George K

 

P.S. It's sad to hear that you are looking for a buyer for BlueJacket. I wish you the best of luck finding a someone to continue it's wonderful operations and you the best in retirement.

 

 

[stm]

This has come across my mind more than once when I was constructing my ships over the decades. The plans always seem to show that the chocks are placed where the lines are, as you noted above, "located where the backstays naturally fall and are just there to keep them from slipping". I can see where this would keep the backstays in line when the winds started to howl in the upper sails of the ship. I may be right, wrong, dead on, or not even close, with my take. Even though I have been curious over the years, I never did research it. Possible that both your thoughts have some validity. I'll stay away from the modern rigs since I have very little experience with that.

 

Scott

[rwiederrich]

Spreaders had a 2 fold employment.  They, like Nic pointed out,  enact more leverage against the natural flex of the mast under stresses(spreading it out), and acting (Like a bowsprit martingale)....AND they  stabilize the backstay from whipping in the strong wind and from entangling with the others.

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

George,

More of my spreader 2c contributions. I believe that placing chocks where the lines naturally fall makes the most logical sense. Rob's correct about his description of the proper purpose of the spreaders to alleviate stress, reinforce natural spread and prevent entanglements. That leads me to believe that pushing the lines further out would possibly increase stress beyond natural forces, and potentially weaken the upper masts. Probably the best resources would be either Bill Crothers The American Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856 and Harold A. Underhill's Masting & Rigging: the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier. 

[gak1965]

58 minutes ago, ClipperFan said:

masts. Probably the best resources would be either Bill Crothers The American Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856 and Harold A. Underhill's Masting & Rigging: the Clipper Ship & Ocean Carrier.

Yeah. Gonna have to stick a crowbar in my wallet and get one or both ...

[ClipperFan]

36 minutes ago, gak1965 said:

Yeah. Gonna have to stick a crowbar in my wallet and get one or both ...

George,

How does $8.37 sound?

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31077602751&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-tile1&searchurl=ds%3D10%26kn%3DAmerican%2Bbuilt%2Bclipper%2Bship%26sortby%3D17

[gak1965]

No update for a few weeks (vacation), but here are some lovely model ships (and one real boat) from the Reykjavik Maritime Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

No hints as to where I might be 🙂.

 

George K

[ClipperFan]

1 hour ago, gak1965 said:

No update for a few weeks (vacation), but here are some lovely model ships (and one real boat) from the Reykjavik Maritime Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

No hints as to where I might be 🙂.

 

George K

George,

Been to Reykjavik, even seen a volcanic isle erupt from the window of a DC-7 back in '65 on our memorable flight to West Germany.

[gak1965]

Well, three failed attempts to make the fore topgallant mast today (two breaks, one asymmetry). But this arrived from my one of my favorite bookstores (Powell's in Portland, OR), so not a complete loss.

 

Fun fact from an early look through the book. The green color of my fish was chosen l because according to Steven Ujifusa's book "Barons of the Sea", McKay had originally wanted to paint it that way. Interestingly, on p 344 of the edition I have of Crothers we read that Fearless was painted a green color known as "Tea color" and that this green was used on all of the ships owned by William Weld & Co. Boston. Fearless was built after the Fish, but makes me wonder if McKay saw some of Weld's other ships and got some ideas...

Edited July 22, 2022 by gak1965

[gak1965]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:08 PM, ClipperFan said:

George,

Been to Reykjavik, even seen a volcanic isle erupt from the window of a DC-7 back in '65 on our memorable flight to West Germany.

I wonder how many people my children's age would even get the West Germany reference. 

 

Getting old, I guess.

[ClipperFan]

6 hours ago, gak1965 said:

I wonder how many people my children's age would even get the West Germany reference. 

 

Getting old, I guess.

George,

I Googled these dates, even though I lived them all. I was terrified by the first and elated to tears at the second. President Kenney's June 26th, 1963 "Nun, Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech electrified me and President Reagan's June 12th, 1987 challenge to Gorbachev to "Tear down this Wall!" signified thawing of the Cold War. To be honest, I never thought it would happen.

Nov 9th, 2022 will mark the 33rd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall which had been erected by East Germany Aug 13th, 1961. For damn near 28 years that thing stood, symbolically immobile.

Hard to believe that was so long ago. It's literally a generation that hasn't lived with a divided Germany, the reality of the scary Cold War and seeing the brutal edifice that the Wall represented......

While the Wall put shivers down my spine, I was given an even greater shock a few years later when, for a few months our family lived in Würzburg, West Germany. The location was 3 miles from East Germany. Our dad wanted us to experience the reality of the East German frontier, so he took us to their border. I was shocked to discover an 18 foot stockade chain link fence, topped with nasty, viscious looking cantinas wire wrapped in intimidating spirals on top. Every few meters, there were posts with ominous blinking red lights. Dad told us that meant the entire wall was electrified ...

We cautiously watched armed East German soldatan manning a tall guard tower. Apparently we got a little too close as they were staring at us through binoculars. I saw them through my own pair of binoculars. When they suddenly burst out of their enclosure and went to man a 50 cal machine gun mounted on a corner racing us, I told Dad. He said, "oops, we've worn out our welcome! Time to go boys!" We all piled into our little Opel wagon and Dad left a cloud of dust and gravel as he put the pedal to the metal!