Flying Fish by campbewj - Model Shipways - 1:96

[campbewj]

Two final pictures before the primer hits the planks.   Then it will be paint, and coppering for a while.

[Rick310]

Looks really nice!!  Looking forward to starting the POB version when I get the solid hull version done.

[campbewj]

I primed and painted the hull, I believe I stopped at 4 coats of the black to get good coverage.   I was looking for more of base to set the copper tape than necessarily a finish coat.   As the paint was drying a I spent some time looking at the work of Keithbrad80 and GAK1965.  (which I do a lot).   I tested out the pizza cutter to make the joint marks as well as a pounce wheel to add additional details.     Ultimately I dropped the pounce wheel and simply went with the lines to outline the individual copper sheets.   This simplified the jig such that I only needed slots to make consistent strips.

[campbewj]

Over the past couple of days I've cut enough strips and applied them to cover the first belt between the keel and the goring line.  As with the practice strips, any movement of the tape while working with it shows up on the final product.   Peeling the backing off, if you don't keep the foil side straight, makes little marks across the foil.   While I've become better and limiting this, some is inevitable and I've simply accepted that.   The markings from the Pizza cutter look good, better in some places than others but so far I'm happy with the outcome.   Most of these strips will be under the boat and not seen often so hopefully I will continue to get better at this.

[gak1965]

3 hours ago, campbewj said:

Peeling the backing off, if you don't keep the foil side straight, makes little marks across the foil.   While I've become better and limiting this, some is inevitable and I've simply accepted that. 

The markings will disappear a bit as the copper tarnishes and they give the plates a bit of surface interest, suggesting the nails that are there without putting in a bunch of giant out of scale dots. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

 

Bottom line is that it looks great, keep on rolling.

 

George K

[rwiederrich]

Coming along nicely. 
 

Rob

[campbewj]

thank you both

[Rick310]

Looking really good. Nice job on the copper and the planking.  Really like the contrast between the copper and the he black hull.

[campbewj]

Coppering is now completed and I've mounted the ship on a scrap piece of wood.   I'll replace this with something nice before I get into masts etc. that will make it difficult to turn up side down later on.    I haven't decided if I'm going to make some nice wood mounting board or just buy one.   On to the next level of stanchions and planking.

[bobandlucy]

Wow, the hull looks great!

[ClipperFan]

@campbewj your painted and coppered Flying Fish hull looks beautiful. Since it's been well over a year from your last update, I hope all is well with you and your family. Jared who's also well on his way to finishing his clipper just ran into an issue with his solid tops. My hope is to share accurate info with you so that you can avoid Jared's problem. The MSW plans for solid tops have 2 errors. First, the crosstrees intersect the lubber's hole, creating 4 small rectangles, which isn't right. Reviewing 3 actual ships reveals that there's a long, uninterrupted lubber's hole. Second, according to Jared's "Mastini" plan, the trestletree projects awkwardly beyond the semi-circular top above. However, the foremast on Glory of the Seas shows that the trestletrees below blend in harmoniously with the solid top above. Images are 3 of Glory of the Seas , 2 of USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" a single shot of the Whaler Charles W Morgan and finally 2 of Jared's incorrect plans. Having this accurate info should allow you to rig shrouds easier too.

[campbewj]

Well its been a very long time since I last posted, about 18 months if my quick look is correct.   A lot of work has been done over that time and I documented it with a few pictures along the way.   Clearly posting is not my long suit but I'm going to try to do better this winter.   For now, I'm just going to dump the pictures in and if anyone has a question on how I did things, please respond and I'll do my best to remember how I did it.  I don't believe I'm one of the more accomplished modelers here, but I did think it is important to let folks know that work was continuing and I'm enjoying it at the pace I'm going.  

[campbewj]

Working on the exterior rails

[campbewj]

Working on the deck structures

my general take on the use of the cast items is that I will attempt to build one from scratch and if I like it better than the one provided I will use it.  If not, just part of the learning curve.  

[campbewj]

Where I am today after picking this up after a summer away.  

I believe the deck structures are complete.  I have started the masts and I'm nearing completion of the lower sections of all three masts.   I need to re-orient myself to where I am and what's next.   hopefully my next post will be in a week or two and not months.   

[JacquesCousteau]

That looks great, nice job! 

[campbewj]

Still working on various pieces of the masts.  I've painted the lower masts as I believe these are completed.   I've formed the masts, drilled holes and made a number of brass fittings.   Still working on the upper cross trees.  I've used the suggestion to glue some brass on the bottom of the pieces to add some strength.   Shown below is my Makita "lathe".   Spinning with sandpaper to take round out the square basswood and remove material.   

[campbewj]

One item I'm struggling with is the balls at the top of the mast.  As I'm working on it, the needs to be some hole in the top of the ball to support the lightning rod which I envision being a small brass rod.  There also needs to be two small holes to act as the flag halyard.   Using a Dremel drill press on basswood I end up either destroying the piece or making it grossly out of scale.   

How have others made these pieces?   looking at the other builds these parts must be done much later in the build.   I'd like to try while everything is still in hand on not on the ship, but could wait as well.   thoughts?

 

thank you 

 

[rwiederrich]

She's looking wonderful...great job.  Clean and well constructed.

 

Rob

[Jared]

Nice craftmanship.  For the lightning rods at the tops of the masts, I used the pins that come with new shirts.  I painted the plastic ball part with a metalic paint and cut the metal pin part to the desired length.  I glued the ball to the top of the mast with super glue.  I used a small drill to create a bit of depression at the top of the wood mast to provide a better seat for the ball.

 

I recently remade all of my topgallant masts out of a stronger wood than the kit's basswood due the breakage problems.  I have decided not to add the lightning to the mast tops until the rigging is complete, to minimize risking knocking them off (again).

[Rick310]

Just reread your blog, you are doing a really nice job!!  I especially like the way the planking on the forecastle came out, the nibs look great, really stands out!

Keep up the great work!!

Rick

[Jared]

Thanks.  Attached is a photo of my lightning rods. 

[campbewj]

Thank you for the ideas on the lightning rods and nice comments.

[rwiederrich]

Have you been following the changes that have been recently discovered about the McKay naval hoods and cutwater?  Kits today are misrepresenting the bow of McKay clippers...and they are sorely inaccurate.

 

I hope you have seen the info, Clipperfan has amassed on the subject.

 

Good build.

 

Rob

[ClipperFan]

@campbewj

It's been too long since I've looked in on your really sharp Flying Fish build. Your aft coach house profile is really nice. It looks very similar to how the real one on Glory of the Seas narrowed to accomodate working of the ship by her crew. 

Rob and I have discovered some more facts about the real McKay vessel versus commercial plans. We're doing a project on McKay's premier vessel, the extreme California clipper Stag Hound. While discussing the forward forecastle windlass and bulkhead arrangement we arrived at a completely different plan than current commercial plans show. This has developed from the relatively low interior forecastle height. In the case of Stag Hound, Flying Cloud and Flying Fish, Duncan McLean states their deck height was set at that of the main rail. For both Stag Hound and Flying Cloud that's 5' but for Flying Fish it was a mere 4'6". Keep in mind, decks were 3 & 1/2" thick, making interior height that much lower.

Here's the issue we discovered. This area was set up to provide accommodations for a watch of the crew. So in order to provide that, bulkhead walls would have to been higher and the forecastle would have been closed, not open as plans show. Here's an excerpt describing this set up for Flying Fish. This completely contradicts the Ben Lankford lay out. I suspect he patterned it after the Scottish tea clipper Cutty Sark. McLean states that twin companions in the wings of the forecastle lead to crew quarters below. Before these (down below) there are waterclosets, lockers, etc.He also says this area was lofty, well lit and ventilated. Rob and I have concluded there most likely was a 3' drop, creating 7' high bulkheads. Since the windlass can't be mounted above, it too was mounted below. Here's how I envision this revised topgallant forecastle bulkhead for Stag Hound. Flying Cloud and Flying Fish would have had similar arrangements. That eliminates the twin free standing twin structures abaft the forecastle as well as depiction of a windlass crammed into an awkward  area too tight to comfortably work in. When you think about McKays deck heights in every other area of his ships, they're all 7' or higher. Why would he then put the forecastle crew in cramped confines?

I realize this revelation comes too late for your current build but I thought you would appreciate knowing our latest developments as we discover them.