Flying Fish by Jared - Model Shipways - 1:96

[ClipperFan]

@Jared you have indeed built a very pretty McKay California Fleet clipper ship Flying Fish. When she's finished, you may want to take these 8 exactly specific pics before you encase her. It's best to have her well lit with a plain neutral background. That way in the future when there's another model ship builder's contest, you'll be ready. 

[berhard]

Great job Jared!  I've been quietly following along.  Watching your progress has help me keep working on my Cutty Sark.

[Jared]

Finally finished putting the rope coils on the belay pins and added 8 crew members to the boat.  Only 1 more task left:  securing the 2 ships boats to their davits.

 

[Rick310]

Well done!!!

looks great!!

I will miss reading your updates!!

Rick

[rwiederrich]

Great job Jared.  Many rope coils makes the belayed lines legitimate……adding realism to your fine model. The “Harties” and “Bully Boys” add authenticity to a working ship.   
 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

@Jared seeing tiny crew on your model emphasizes how large McKay's California Fleet Clippers really were. Great job. I'd appreciate seeing some overall pics of your Flying Fish when she's finished before she's encased.

[Jared]

7 hours ago, ClipperFan said:

@Jared seeing tiny crew on your model emphasizes how large McKay's California Fleet Clippers really were. Great job. I'd appreciate seeing some overall pics of your Flying Fish when she's finished before she's encased.

How true.  When I first saw how small the 3d printed figures were in relation to the size of the clipper ship  I thought I must have miscalculated their size.  But I did not.  The scale size was correct.  The clipper was indeed enormous.  What a truly magnificent ship she must have been for her day.  A marvel of engineering and craftsmanship by McKay's shipyard.

Edited Thursday at 07:06 PM by Jared

[Jared]

Rich, my second hobby is photography.  In October, after a vacation, I plan to make a set of highly detailed, focus stacked images of the finished model, which I will post here to conclude this build log.  I will then put her in a case, and drink my celebratory scotch, before moving in to my next build, the USF Essex 1799.

[ClipperFan]

39 minutes ago, Jared said:

Rich, my second hobby is photography.  In October, after a vacation, I plan to make a set of highly detailed, focus stacked images of the finished model, which I will post here to conclude this build log.  I will then put her in a case, and drink my celebratory scotch, before moving in to my next build, the USF Essex 1799.

@Jared looking at your 3D printed crew on my laptop, I noticed that their arms are short compared to a real person's. I suggest comparing them to Revell 1:96th scale sailors from Cutty Sark to see the difference. Meanwhile, when you're ready to make your finished model pics do yourself a big favor and take 8 specific ones to precisely match contest entry eligibility. I bent over backwards to appeal to a chief judge to try and get @rwiederrich and @Vladimir_Wairoa incredibly detailed Glory of the Seas replicas (both featured in a Winter 2023 Nautical Research Journal article) approved and was denied since they didn't meet strict photo angles as required. 

[rwiederrich]

17 minutes ago, ClipperFan said:

@Jared looking at your 3D printed crew on my laptop, I noticed that their arms are short compared to a real person's. I suggest comparing them to Revell 1:96th scale sailors from Cutty Sark to see the difference. Meanwhile, when you're ready to make your finished model pics do yourself a big favor and take 8 specific ones to precisely match contest entry eligibility. I bent over backwards to appeal to a chief judge to try and get @rwiederrich and @Vladimir_Wairoa incredibly detailed Glory of the Seas replicas (both featured in a Winter 2023 Nautical Research Journal article) approved and was denied since they didn't meet strict photo angles as required. 

Yes do that Jared.  I will be taking those images of Staghound before she ever ends up in  a case .  Unfortunately, I neither had the time nor pre-thought to have done that for Glory of the Seas and the Great Republic. 😪.

 

Can't wait to see those images of your wonderful build.   I understand *stacking* image for astrophotography to capture luminosity of vary dim objects...but what do you mean by *stacking*?

 

Rob

[Jared]

Focus stacking is a specialized technique that allows you to photograph subjects such that everything in the photo appears tact sharp.  When you take a single close up shot of a model, you will notice that only part of the model (a thin slice) is in sharp focus.  The term Depth of Field refers to the part of the photo front to back that is in focus.  The closer your camera lens is to your model, the narrower will be the depth of field.  Choosing a higher aperture number will result in a wider DOF, but the entire image will never be tact sharp.

 

 

 

In focus stacking, you take many images of your model, each focused slightly back from that of the previous shot.  You then take your 50 or so images and go into a specialized software program (I used Helicon Focus).  It loads the 50 or so images and and scans them all to find the sharpest part of each, then it takes these parts and blends them to create a single composite image.  If this is done correctly, you will have an image of you subject (model) where everything is tact sharp.

 

The technique is particularly well suited for photographing models and other macro subjects like flowers and bugs.  Its best to do this with an advanced camera with built in Focus stacking settings.  A tripod and powerful computer is also recommended.

 

I made the image of my Flying Fish model posted below several years ago using focus stacking, as an example of what can be achieved using this technique.  It was made from 64 images.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 07:13 PM by Jared

[Jared]

6 hours ago, ClipperFan said:

@Jared looking at your 3D printed crew on my laptop, I noticed that their arms are short compared to a real person's. I suggest comparing them to Revell 1:96th scale sailors from Cutty Sark to see the difference. Meanwhile, when you're ready to make your finished model pics do yourself a big favor and take 8 specific ones to precisely match contest entry eligibility. I bent over backwards to appeal to a chief judge to try and get @rwiederrich and @Vladimir_Wairoa incredibly detailed Glory of the Seas replicas (both featured in a Winter 2023 Nautical Research Journal article) approved and was denied since they didn't meet strict photo angles as required. 

At this scale, the tiny figures taxes the capabilities of the 3d printer.  It had a lot of difficulty making the thin arms.  Also the arms and legs were exceptionally fragile and easily were broken when removing the figures from the support plastic.   I am not going to do any more on the figures.  When you look at them by eye the arms look alright, and certainly won't be noticible once the model is in its case.  Under a closeup camera lens, things will look worse than they are.  

Edited Thursday at 07:18 PM by Jared

[ClipperFan]

49 minutes ago, Jared said:

Focus stacking is a specialized technique that allows you to photograph subjects such that everything in the photo appears tact sharp.  When you take a single close up shot of a model, you will notice that only part of the model (a thin slice) is in sharp focus.  The term Depth of Field refers to the part of the photo front to back that is in focus.  The closer your camera lens is to your model, the narrower will be the depth of field.  Choosing a higher aperture number will result in a wider DOF, but the entire image will never be tact sharp.

 

 

 

In focus stacking, you take many images of your model, each focused slightly back from that of the previous shot.  You then take your 50 or so images and go into a specialized software program (I used Helicon Focus).  It loads the 50 or so images and and scans them all to find the sharpest part of each, then it takes these parts and blends them to create a single composite image.  If this is done correctly, you will have an image of you subject (model) where everything is tact sharp.

 

The technique is particularly well suited for photographing models and other macro subjects like flowers and bugs.  Its best to do this with an advanced camera with built in Focus stacking settings.  A tripod and powerful computer is also recommended.

 

I made the image of my Flying Fish model posted below several years ago using focus stacking, as an example of what can be achieved using this technique.  It was made from 64 images.

 

 

@Jared thanks for that detailed focus stacking description. You learn something new every day. That detailed bow image is crystal clear. Not to be a "kill-joy" but for the 8 specific contest entry pics, I would simply use duplicate normal shots just in case judges don't accept focus stacked ones. I can't wait to see your beautiful series of focus stacked ones.

[ClipperFan]

33 minutes ago, Jared said:

At this scale, the tiny figures taxes the capabilities of the 3d printer.  It had a lot of difficulty making the thin arms.  Also the arms and legs were exceptionally fragile and easily were broken when removing the figures from the support plastic.   I am not going to do any more on the figures.  When you look at them by eye the arms look alright, and certainly won't be noticible once the model is in its case.  Under a closeup camera lens, things will look worse than they are.  

@Jared it was my impression that you secured these tiny figures from other 3D print suppliers. I had no idea you made them yourself. They definitely add to your model regardless of barely noticeable "shortcomings."

 

[Jared]

Wow!  I never thought I would get to this moment.  My Flying Fish has reached completion.

 

Mounting the 2 ships boats was an interesting bit of enjoyable work.  There were lots of pieces that had to made and connected.  These are shown in the photos below.

 

Next I then spent time tightening some of the chains under the bowsprit.  This included cutting out and replacing the rigging between 2 of the hearts.

 

Lastly I cleaned up the model and applied a few spots of touchup paint here and there, and polished up the mahogany base with a fresh coat of tung oil.  I have not finalized my decision yet whether or not to add any flags.  I think they would be  distracting/tacky looking  on the model.  I can revisut this later before the model is placed in its case.

 

The last photo shows a stbd side view of my completed model.  In October I am planning to post much better highly detailed images as a conclusion to this log. 

 

Final Thoughts:  This model was a real challenge from start to finish, but was a work of considerable satisfaction and enjoyment for me.  I learned a lot of new skills and am most grateful to George, Rich, Rob and Rick and others who have offered encouragement and answered my questions throughout the build.  I also would like to give a shout out to NRG for hosting this terrific web site and for all they do for our members and hobby.

 

For anyone thinking about building this beautiful model, be advised that it would be an extremely poor choice kit for a beginner.  I would rate it as an advanced kit.  My impression from looking at other build logs over the years is that many of the  modeller's who have bought this kit with good intent sadly were unable  to complete it.  

 

Thank you all.

 

 

[petervisser]

Congratulations Jared on your fine model. A real accomplishment for sure! Time to splice that mainbrace!

Cheers,

Peter