"Flying Cloud " by Mamoli - kit bash

The Gavel said:

Pete! I look forward to your tutorial on the lathe!

I think you should remain hopeful. Indeed, I believe you are hopeful by nature. The best evidence is the act you have chosen for you avocation. Something that takes hours and days and months and years to make. Something that takes equally long to master (excluding our shipmate Paul ). Something that calls forth creativity in solving problems. All in hope. In hope that the object of your labor will be as excellent as it is in your gift to make it. On top of that, you spread hope with your sharing. Thank you for that.

I hope for you, for all of us, that we continue to be hopeful, that we continue to share the experience of hopefulness. As you know, I spend a lot of time studying history, of the USA's founding in particular. I know you too enjoy history, so I'm not trying to preach here. It seems that human nature involves comparing and the comparison leads to what I call "othering." Once someone's "otherness" is fixed then comes the fear and a host of negative emotions and reactions. The great and inscrutable Thomas Jefferson was subject to this condition. When he wrote his Notes on the State of Virginia in Paris in the late 1780's he made a profound statement about the fear he felt because of the "otherness" of the slaves. He was not alone in his fear. On the other hand, hope abided among others of the founding generation. His Excellency, George Washington, I believe, was chief among the hopeful group. What he learned, what he was willing to learn and unlearn about his relationship to slavery because of his majestic service as Commander of the Continental Army is a vision of hope. Unlike Jefferson, Washington did not give way to the "othering" of his slaves. He learned from service leading black patriots. He did not fear or despise them. He made it his last act after death to free his slaves. Hope.

In the end, the hopeful ones, like yourself, coexist at all times with the hopeless ones. It is a shame that hopelessness gets the headlines. It make the world look bleak and dangerous. The reality is, well, much more hopeful. The reality is that hopefulness and the gifts it gives are abundant and outweigh hopelessness by magnitudes. It would be lovely for the world if the headlines and those who write them gave expressions of hopefulness proportionate space.

The lesson, if there is one, is to remain hopeful and all that hopefulness conveys to the person who hopes and those to whom providence has placed in his or her path. And with that, I can't wait to see the finished ship's boats, my friend.

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

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Best post of the (still young) new year...

The Gavel said:

Pete! I look forward to your tutorial on the lathe!

I think you should remain hopeful. Indeed, I believe you are hopeful by nature. The best evidence is the act you have chosen for you avocation. Something that takes hours and days and months and years to make. Something that takes equally long to master (excluding our shipmate Paul ). Something that calls forth creativity in solving problems. All in hope. In hope that the object of your labor will be as excellent as it is in your gift to make it. On top of that, you spread hope with your sharing. Thank you for that.

I hope for you, for all of us, that we continue to be hopeful, that we continue to share the experience of hopefulness. As you know, I spend a lot of time studying history, of the USA's founding in particular. I know you too enjoy history, so I'm not trying to preach here. It seems that human nature involves comparing and the comparison leads to what I call "othering." Once someone's "otherness" is fixed then comes the fear and a host of negative emotions and reactions. The great and inscrutable Thomas Jefferson was subject to this condition. When he wrote his Notes on the State of Virginia in Paris in the late 1780's he made a profound statement about the fear he felt because of the "otherness" of the slaves. He was not alone in his fear. On the other hand, hope abided among others of the founding generation. His Excellency, George Washington, I believe, was chief among the hopeful group. What he learned, what he was willing to learn and unlearn about his relationship to slavery because of his majestic service as Commander of the Continental Army is a vision of hope. Unlike Jefferson, Washington did not give way to the "othering" of his slaves. He learned from service leading black patriots. He did not fear or despise them. He made it his last act after death to free his slaves. Hope.

In the end, the hopeful ones, like yourself, coexist at all times with the hopeless ones. It is a shame that hopelessness gets the headlines. It make the world look bleak and dangerous. The reality is, well, much more hopeful. The reality is that hopefulness and the gifts it gives are abundant and outweigh hopelessness by magnitudes. It would be lovely for the world if the headlines and those who write them gave expressions of hopefulness proportionate space.

The lesson, if there is one, is to remain hopeful and all that hopefulness conveys to the person who hopes and those to whom providence has placed in his or her path. And with that, I can't wait to see the finished ship's boats, my friend.

Blessings. Peace. Gratitude.
Chuck

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Wisdom abounds in one so young! Embarking on one of these models at any age is an act of hope and optimism, let alone in the mid-seventies. (When I started this one, I still qualified as "mid".) Sort of like having children. Now I have six grandchildren from 23 to four. The push-pull between optimistic and pessimistic me leaves me feeling a little ashamed of the circumstances which they are inheriting. I probably won't live long enough to see it sorted. But now the sorting is up to them. I can say, that throughout the generations the families of which I have become a part, including the blended sort, have done a pretty good job. The progeny all leans optimistic and productive and express abundant love. So, yes, I do have hope.
Thanks for the encouragement and reason to be other than grumpy Grandpa.
Pete

Time to update the progress on the little ZHL Jolly Boat model. Being a paper model and the tiny scale conspire to complicate the ability fabricate a plank on frame, fair and fill the inevitably uneven and asymmetrical results. A little blob of Aileen's Quick Dry Tacky Glue on the work surface, some water to keep it from getting too dry and a fine point brush as an applicator work pretty well to attach the strakes. you get a reasonable amount of time for adjustments and sufficient tack to hold the fussy little laser cut paper strakes in place. I spayed the planked paper hull with matt acrylic to waterproof it and used a combination of gesso and water-based wood filler to fill it. My son gave me the Japanese washable foam fine sanding strips for small projects for Christmas. I have been using the 600 grit. Still a little refinement desired .

Last bit. Last pic above of the thwart brackets. Tweezers required and no breathing, tiny drop of glue and good luck. Use a fresh #10 Xacto blade to part the parts from the parts sheet After I see how I like this, I may build the launch and mount it right side up on the deck house.

Let's call that a WIN!

Thanks, Paul. Coming from you that IS a win!

Great outcome Peter, seeing the little boat in your hand gave me an appreciation of its small size and your effort to make them look so well defined.

Peter Gutterman said:

Wisdom abounds in one so young! Embarking on one of these models at any age is an act of hope and optimism, let alone in the mid-seventies. (When I started this one, I still qualified as "mid".) Sort of like having children. Now I have six grandchildren from 23 to four. The push-pull between optimistic and pessimistic me leaves me feeling a little ashamed of the circumstances which they are inheriting. I probably won't live long enough to see it sorted. But now the sorting is up to them. I can say, that throughout the generations the families of which I have become a part, including the blended sort, have done a pretty good job. The progeny all leans optimistic and productive and express abundant love. So, yes, I do have hope.
Thanks for the encouragement and reason to be other than grumpy Grandpa.
Pete

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Pete! Seems to me that hope is a genetic thing in your family! I love it!

Blessings.
Chuck

dockattner said:

Let's call that a WIN!

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What Paul said! Really amazing detail and so delicate. Careful, Gulliver!

Daniel20 said:

Great outcome Peter, seeing the little boat in your hand gave me an appreciation of its small size and your effort to make them look so well defined.

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Thanks, Daniel (et al) The encouragement is... well, encouraging. I'm never satisfied, and the flaws always glare at me.
Looking through your eyes is a very pleasant perspective

Thanks ever so!

Onward on my quest for better ships' boats in 1:96 scale for Flying Cloud. I came across a set of for plank on frame models from (Zhl [?]) models or as it says on the instruction sheet, "Shicheng models" I found them on E-Bay, but like the Will o' the Wisp, they have come and gone, vanished without a trace. The Jolly Boat, Cutter and Launch seem appropriate for a mid 19thc. clipper ship. The Pinnace is too specifically 18th or early19thc. English warship. I have finished the Jolly boat and have begun the Cutter. These kits being tiny in scale, of paper and card, laser cut, exhaustively detailed plank on frame models are not for the faint of heart. Having pictures only instructions the pit falls are many. On this cutter the similarity between the cant frames, and applique pieces for the stem were easy to confuse. I even put the stern post on backwards at first and misplaced the appliques for the stem. A nagging notion that I had gotten something fatally wrong, and a closer inspection of the pictorial assembly instructions revealed my errors. The use of debondable adhesives, patience and luck allowed me to correct my mistakes. Had I proceeded, I'd have been SOL. I used Liquid hide glue to assemble the building jig and to affix the keel in place. this glue is easily reversable with plain warm water. Critical, as the whole assembly must be dis-assembled once all the structural assembly is complete. Patience, VERY tiny dots of glue to affix the frames to the keelson, using Aileens' fast dry tacky glue, allows for adjustment and correction, worked well for the frame assembly. Once dry and fully satisfied that no alterations were necessary, I used a tiny dot of CA to lock them in place. I used a tined applicator to be as sparing and accurate as possible. It is critical to get the frames in place as accurately and uniformly as possible, as this will significantly affect the planking process. There will be very little opportunity for filling and fairing once the planks go on.
I plan to build all four models. The Launch looks appropriate. The Pinnace, not so much, but it will make a cool little stand-alone model. Despite the departure from common practice on clippers I think I will mount them right side up rather than upside down. As Roger Pellet pointed out these boats weight a ton or more apiece, making the commonly depicted upside-down storage practice both impractical and illogical. But then my Flying Cloud model has gotten so far afield from the conventional portrayal, in a quest to pursue the possible interpretations of how she may actually have appeared in 1851, that one more reason to leave Flying Cloud traditionalists scratching their heads, no longer gives me pause of concern. After many hours in, fingers crossed, I carry on

Pete

Cont'd.

Pete! Good day, shipmate! I love your boat project, the precision and audacity fit you. Please put a rule next to the building jig - it will help visualize just how small the parts are for this effort. Thank you also for sharing your knowledge and advice on adhesives. I'm going to pick up the stuff you described.

Speaking of adhesives, I have been using Gorilla glue gel ca for just about everything including "pinning" ropes around block and deadeyes. I recently read that the "right way" is to use acrylic matte medium. I got some Liquitex amm. It works ok, but doesn't work for me to lock knots in place. I also tried it as a way to stiffing line for footropes. I was not particularly pleased. Your thoughts maestro?

Keep up the lovely work friend!

Blessings.
Chuck

CA turns acid over time. Not recommended on natural fiber or brass according to an article in the NRJ. Acid is the enemy of the archival.
Thin white glue or matte medium to be absorbed by natural fiber to seal knots.White or clear Aileen's Tacky Glue for reversable high tack.
I have used CA with brass in lieu of soldering. I will probably have fallen into decay by the time the brass in my models does.
Thanks for the encouraging compliments!

I have as yet to find a good method for stiffening scale "rope" in order to stiffen it for foot ropes or shape it into catenary curves to simulate the natural weight of rope in suspension.
Suggestions from anyone else welcome!

Actually, twisted fine wire works pretty well.

I could swear you already built the ship's boats. Perhaps twice. And here you are again? Groundhog's Day?

You are right. Including vacuum formed plastic over hand modified white metal commercial offerings: a bread-and-butter lift method kit from Model Expo, boats scavenged from Cutty sark and Sea Witch plastic models, I wasn't completely happy with any of them. After seeing such fine offerings of ships' auxiliary boats built to the same high standard as the models they adorn, by so many contributors here on SOS, I feel I have to at least make the effort. Your own work presents just such a challenge to reach a little higher and try a little harder.
Of course, this all pushes any completion of Flying Cloud in sight to a farther and farther horizon. But, like me it won't be over 'till it's over.

Pete

Peter Gutterman said:

I have as yet to find a good method for stiffening scale "rope" in order to stiffen it for foot ropes or shape it into catenary curves to simulate the natural weight of rope in suspension.
Suggestions from anyone else welcome!

Actually, twisted fine wire works pretty well.

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I ended up going with wire. Posting about it soon.

Thanks, Pete

Peter Gutterman said:

CA turns acid over time. Not recommended on natural fiber or brass according to an article in the NRJ. Acid is the enemy of the archival.
Thin white glue or matte medium to be absorbed by natural fiber to seal knots.View attachment 495927White or clear Aileen's Tacky Glue for reversable high tack.
I have used CA with brass in lieu of soldering. I will probably have fallen into decay by the time the brass in my models does.
Thanks for the encouraging compliments!

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Well friend. Since I've used CA for all of my rigging - including the Lovely Renee - looks like I have to hope that there's enough un-natural fiber in the rigging to tolerate CAs long term effects. I've also been using it on Harriet Lane . I stopped and switched to acrylic matte medium as soon as I read your post. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Blessings.
Chuck