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Regatta yacht "Britannia"

P

Peter Gutterman

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Jun 17, 2021
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HRM regatta yacht "Britannia" 1893-1936 most successful racing yacht 631 races 235 victories under kings Edward VII, George V, Mamoli model.
Textured plexiglass "ocean" Tamaya acrylic "snow" seafoam. Paper sails. Model Shapeways 1:64 scale figures. Mahogany custom case by Paul Geiger.
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re Britannia: The bulwarks and cabins are English Yew wood milled down from board stock. The deck is pine. The configuration of the yacht as portrayed required expanded research of period photographs and plans, as the boat had seven different revisions to her rig and deck configuration over her more than 40 year lifetime. Most of the cast white metal parts supplied in the kit were useless and had to be fabricated from scratch. Extra wood had to be added to the fore and aft faces of the provided bulkheads and carved down to give the hull enough body to be planked ,as too few bulkheads are provided in the kit to create a fair hull. A Google search unearthed the Model Shapeways Merchant Marine and early to mid 20th c. Royal Navy figures in the proper 1:64 scale. Better to be lucky then good. The diorama (my first) is a 3d rendering of a 1924 Beken photo from the book "Enterprise to Endeavour", the J Class Yachts" by Ian Dear.
 
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Bill, If you are referring to the Britannia, thanks. That's it, just many pics. There's only one model. The museum is my living room(unless you have any suggestions).
If you are referring to the RC models Those are tres cool, I agree! Pretty museum worthy!
Thanks to shota70 and jimsky as well.
 
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Wow, that is a realist look at an under sail diorama. well done and look at the relationship between ship length and sail area!
 
Re: ship length to sail area. Hard to believe but straight from two sets of plans and a couple of books. She must have been a bear to handle. these cutter rigs had huge sail areas. The sail on the boom forward ( I don't know the proper name) functioned like a genoa Jib or spinnaker, with the boom deployed to one side and the mainsail to the other when running before the wind. The activity in preparation to deploy the sail (which would have weighed most of half a ton ,dry) is pure speculation, but I had to have something to occupy all those cool little figures. Also note the poor seasick sailor barfing over the port bow railing.
If anyone knows the correct name of this particular sail, please enlighten me. After 1938 she was rigged with a Marconi mainsail and held her own in competition with the much newer cutting edge J boats. A much more efficient, manageable and faster rig. Her hull was a masterpiece of timeless fin keel racing yacht design by George L. Watson in1893. After the death of King George V she was taken out and given a Viking burial as per the King's wishes, perhaps in the belief that' if you are King you CAN take it with you...
 
To magic Mike and all the others. Thanks for the kind words! Very encouraging! From the US, Italy, Brazil and beyond, no less, there really is hope!
I suppose I am not alone in wondering if all the gazillion hours I've spent making this stuff has been worthwhile. A little positive feedback and interest counts for a lot in what appears to be an angry, shoot first ask questions later, my side is right and you're all wrong, increasingly negative society.
A little uplift goes a long way. After all "A rising tide lifts all boats."
Thanks to all for making my and everybody else's world a little happier place to be.

Pete
 
Thanks! Glad you like it. The sails are 50lb. Strathmore acid free drawing paper. (Another "this oughtta work! "adventure.) The join lines are #3H pencil (Sharpen early and often!) Helps to have a the largest light box you can find. I got mine on Amazon (The great vending machine in the sky). They are wafer thin these days. No need to ever change bulbs!:D
Maybe I'll post a build log on paper sails. Still a work in progress, I must add. No easier than sewing. I just am casting about for something that will hold a curve, look full and luff and hopefully, scale.

Thanks fer askin'
Pete
 
Thanks to Graham, Kurt and fourseas, plus all of the above and the whole international crew who've expressed positive comments, thumbs up and heart eyed smiley faces!

Pete :D
 
Peter Gutterman said:
Maybe I'll post a build log on paper sails. Still a work in progress, I must add. No easier than sewing. I just am casting about for something that will hold a curve, look full and luff and hopefully, scale.
Click to expand...
Hi Peter. I saw the pictures of your wonderful model in your 1st post and was wondering from what material the sails were made. Good to read this: your made the sails from paper. :) (And now I read it also in your second line in that 1st post …… ;))
I draw the join lines on my BN paper sails also with a pensil. To hold the curves I sprayed them with matted acrylic. While drying I occasionally used my Admirals hair dryer to blow the curve till the acrylic was dry. That was useful on my 1/3 tissue / Japanese paper. I don’t know how that responds on your used paper. Made myself first a test-sail.
Regards, Peter
 
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Thanks, Navy51
Remember, your DE diorama model knocked me out, brought back a flood of memories for me and touched me in a very special way. As it did, I believe for some others whose parents /grandparents served aboard these ships. I dare say that THAT'S what you are doing here!
As for the level of my work, thanks for the compliment. Looking around at many of the models displayed here and the level of skill I see, I feel the same way you do.
I mean, we all just do the best we can, welcome the comments and useful criticism and are happy to have a place to share with like minded people. Around the world, I might add.
At this point I have literally gained TENS of followers!:rolleyes:

Pete;)
 
Peter, I used the same matte acrylic spray and hair drier on "Britannia's" main sail in a desperate bid to help it keep its shape. once again, better to be lucky than good. I'm impatient, am disposed to lean too heavily on "THIS oughtta work!" and end up trying desperate measures on models with a lot to loose if I screw up. I just did that trying to save the mainsail on my Shamrock V model, had to take it off and start over setting myself back about 40 hrs. worth of work, remaking all four sails.Cautious
You are right. Always make test mockups for every new experiment. Better to spend the hours up front' than driving yourself to modelcide! I'd like to know more about your technique and the papers you use. Maybe a tutorial?
Also note that I was using Canson brand 93lb. multimedia paper.

Thanks, Pete
 
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