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Sail Ho!!!!!! Of the larboard bow


JRutman

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superb work , that's the way sailing ships should be displayed , the maritime museum here in aberdeen has a fair number of  models of clippers, but they're all  on stands with the rigging all beautifully displayed, but they're soulless ,  I much prefer your approach ..

 

Maybe one day I'll get round to Thermopyale  displayed like this , (the original was built in aberdeen 1868)

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Splendid!! :thumbsup: and you only entrust us with a few picks though.

 

I started the 1/48 "Pride of  Baltimore" some time back got the keel and bulkheads laid but the planking scares the begee-bees out of me.

Steam the planks before gluing them in place.

The steaming softens the fibers and makes the wood more pliable, Also the steamed wood takes a "set" much easier.

Since the glue will not adhere as well to moist wood clamp the pieces in place without glue. Use T pins or strong tape to hold in place while drying. Or use strips of cloth, as if you ere applying a tourniquet. When the wood is dry let the pieces free, apply glue and clamp back in place.

Steaming is a very old process in dealing with wood, goes back hundreds if not thousands of years.

Get a large kettle or teapot with a small diameter pouring spout and hold the strips of wood in the steam as it comes out.

Keep in mind that the steam is HOT and will burn you if you do not take precautions, like wearing gloves, or hold it with a tool.

There is nothing to be scared of, it is only a stupid piece of wood.

Also once you master the technique it actually becomes fun. Mastering any new process is fun.

Enjoy,

Edited by ssculptor
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superb work , that's the way sailing ships should be displayed , the maritime museum here in aberdeen has a fair number of  models of clippers, but they're all  on stands with the rigging all beautifully displayed, but they're soulless ,  I much prefer your approach ..

 

Maybe one day I'll get round to Thermopyale  displayed like this , (the original was built in aberdeen 1868)

  I agree. I never liked ship models displayed out of water. Except maybe in a drydock scene?   When I was very young,my mother and me built the Cutty Sark but only with standing rigging. We were intimidated by all the running rigging. I believe she was also built up north?

J

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I like to see model ships displayed hanging from the ceiling. Really, no kidding. I got this idea from seeing the votive models hanging from old churches in Europe. This custom goes back to the 14th century or earlier. It was a matter of getting a blessing from the church.

The best part of these church models is that, after blowing away 400 to 600 years of dust, one gets a scale model of a ship of the time, made at the time and so we know how ships were constructed back then. Wonderful for navel archaeologists. 

I have a strange affinity for large wooden ship models. Plastic models do nothing for me. In a previous life or lives I must have been a sailor. I get that same feeling when I approach a full size wooden ship. It is, to me a fatal attraction, as if it was calling my soul to join with it as I was standing there.  I had that feeling when I approached the real viking ship from the 1893 Chicago's Worlds Fair that was on display (with the mast down) in Chicago. It was in an open building, like a really big carport in a park. This was back in the 1950's. I wish I knew if it is still there or if it has been moved somewhere else. I hope it has been preserved. I understand completely about the call of the siren.

To me the most beautiful man made construction is a wooden sailing ship. Just the lines of the hull are enough to sooth my soul.

Eerie is the call of the sea.

Stephen

There are others who get these feelings when flying, especially when alone in the plane. The best writer on this subject was Antoine de Saint-Exuprey. Read some of his writings on flying, such as Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry

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The Roskilde Viking Museum (in Denmark) has both modern reproductions and the original wood from at least five ships that were purposely sunk to block the harbor entrance. You can get up close to some wooden ships from long ago and I believe you can even take a sailing trip on their new reproductions. I was just there two weeks ago and it is amazing to see.

 

http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/

 

Tnarg

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The Roskilde Viking Museum (in Denmark) has both modern reproductions and the original wood from at least five ships that were purposely sunk to block the harbor entrance. You can get up close to some wooden ships from long ago and I believe you can even take a sailing trip on their new reproductions. I was just there two weeks ago and it is amazing to see.

 

http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/

 

Tnarg

Wow! If I row can I wear a set of foul smelling Viking clothes, with a horned helmet?

I once flew from NY to Luxembourg via Icelandic Air Lines DC-8. It was a very interesting flight. The pilot steered from the rear of the aircraft holding onto a long tiller attached to the rudder. The stewardesses all wore viking costumes which was a bother  because when the taller ones stood up their pointy helmets punctured the ceiling. So we could not fly too high but that was OK as each seat had an opening under the window for the oars. Rowing was tiring but we were rewarded by stopping off in Canada for some looting and pillaging. A real fun flight.

That was in 1986. Sigh, they just do not make airliners like that anymore.

Stephen the Red

Edited by ssculptor
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Excellent!  I can smell the tar and hear the canvas flapping!

 

I have the 1/96th Constitution buried in my stash...I have designs on doing the HMS President with it someday, but not yet....

 

Tim W.

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Yes Jerry , Cutty Sark was built in Fife, about 70-80 miles south  from aberdeen , for some reason the  bulk of the really famous  clippers all came from the NE coast of Scotland.  

  This was probably because,as my Scots girlfriend always reminds me in words and deeds,the Scots are very thrifty and frugal,all the while being a reserved,humble race that is destined to rule the earth!!

  Occh,  Aye!!!

 J

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