"Flying Cloud " by Mamoli - kit bash

I just finished the book, Flying Cloud and the Woman Who Guided Her and enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the last era of commercial sail that lasted from say, 1850 into the 1930’s. For those who have not read it, it is what I’d call a “semi-novel.” While the author says that it’s based on archival information much dialog is created. Also some of the details regarding rerigging following her TWO! dismastings didn’t make much sense.

But! The book does a great job of digging into the details of life at sea aboard a large sailing ship. I am an experienced small boat sailor and was fortunate to have been a crew member of the O.W. Fowler, an 80 ft square rigged ship owned by the Culver Summer Naval School. This vessel sailed on a large inland lake in Indiana. It gave teen aged boys like me a chance to learn about square rigged ships, including working aloft. However, one gets a clear sense from the book that that Flying Cloud and the vessels that succeeded her were completely different. They were huge, very, powerful wind machines. (Like the difference between the farmer’s windmill and a modern wind turbines). A reader of the book can only marvel at the bravery, strength, and agility required of the crew to control Flying Cloud’s rig in heavy weather and her master’s intuitive judgement of when and how to react to different conditions. On thing that I did learn from my summer square rigger experience; these vessels are very hard to tack. To do so in a howling gale when your life depended it boggles the mind!

Roger
 
Roger Pellett said:
I just finished the book, Flying Cloud and the Woman Who Guided Her and enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the last era of commercial sail that lasted from say, 1850 into the 1930’s. For those who have not read it, it is what I’d call a “semi-novel.” While the author says that it’s based on archival information much dialog is created. Also some of the details regarding rerigging following her TWO! dismastings didn’t make much sense.

But! The book does a great job of digging into the details of life at sea aboard a large sailing ship. I am an experienced small boat sailor and was fortunate to have been a crew member of the O.W. Fowler, an 80 ft square rigged ship owned by the Culver Summer Naval School. This vessel sailed on a large inland lake in Indiana. It gave teen aged boys like me a chance to learn about square rigged ships, including working aloft. However, one gets a clear sense from the book that that Flying Cloud and the vessels that succeeded her were completely different. They were huge, very, powerful wind machines. (Like the difference between the farmer’s windmill and a modern wind turbines). A reader of the book can only marvel at the bravery, strength, and agility required of the crew to control Flying Cloud’s rig in heavy weather and her master’s intuitive judgement of when and how to react to different conditions. On thing that I did learn from my summer square rigger experience; these vessels are very hard to tack. To do so in a howling gale when your life depended it boggles the mind!

Roger
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Roger,
Here's a contemporary illustration of the 1852 McKay California Clipper dismasted off Valparaiso on the night of October 12th during a sudden gale. Captain Lauchlan McKay rallied his crew of nearly 100 seamen and instructed them that not a line was to be cut. Working day and night they completely rebuilt her snd in 12 days, it was if nothing ever happened!

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Roger Pellett said:
I just finished the book, Flying Cloud and the Woman Who Guided Her and enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone interested in the last era of commercial sail that lasted from say, 1850 into the 1930’s. For those who have not read it, it is what I’d call a “semi-novel.” While the author says that it’s based on archival information much dialog is created. Also some of the details regarding rerigging following her TWO! dismastings didn’t make much sense.

But! The book does a great job of digging into the details of life at sea aboard a large sailing ship. I am an experienced small boat sailor and was fortunate to have been a crew member of the O.W. Fowler, an 80 ft square rigged ship owned by the Culver Summer Naval School. This vessel sailed on a large inland lake in Indiana. It gave teen aged boys like me a chance to learn about square rigged ships, including working aloft. However, one gets a clear sense from the book that that Flying Cloud and the vessels that succeeded her were completely different. They were huge, very, powerful wind machines. (Like the difference between the farmer’s windmill and a modern wind turbines). A reader of the book can only marvel at the bravery, strength, and agility required of the crew to control Flying Cloud’s rig in heavy weather and her master’s intuitive judgement of when and how to react to different conditions. On thing that I did learn from my summer square rigger experience; these vessels are very hard to tack. To do so in a howling gale when your life depended it boggles the mind!

Roger
Click to expand...
Yeah. I read that book several years ago myself and recommended it to Pete. It is truly amazing, the work that was required to sail one of these magnificent ships...in the most horrific weather imaginable.

Rob
 
rwiederrich said:
Yeah. I read that book several years ago myself and recommended it to Pete. It is truly amazing, the work that was required to sail one of these magnificent ships...in the most horrific weather imaginable.

Rob
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Rob,
I'm beginning to believe the strength of McKay's unique reinforced navel hood, cutwater combination prow would have given his California Clippers an ability to press on against the mightiest seas of the Horn. That structural advantage, the support of her rugged bowsprit being securely tied down would most likely have given captains confidence to carry sail more aggressively. That might have been another reason why McKay so jealously guarded these nautical devices. That and these vessels had razor sharp profiles. Compare the ability of these clippers to the performance of the HMS Bounty. After three futile attempts to 'round Cape Horn Captain Bligh was forced to admit failure and sail the opposite direction clear across the globe around the Cape of Good Hope to finally arrive at the Tahitian Islands...
 
Terrific book.
I've had/ am Participating in some model shows. Last weekend at Down rigging Festival in Chestertown MD, home of the topsail schooner replica Sultana.
Next weekend at OXford, Md.
 
I don't know why this marvel of modern tech. began crossing out my writing.o_O
At Chestertown on the Chester River all the tall ships from MD/VA were there as well as an assortment of classic wooden vessels. Unbelievable gorgeous weather! The Washington Ship Model society, of which I am a member, had the exclusive responsibility of showing ship models in the Sultana workshop.
Oxford MD model boat show (also on the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore) Is this weekend. The only regional model show exclusively for watercraft, ships and boats. Usually heavy on Chesapeake craft, but still a lot of variety.
I am currently trying to come up with some acceptable ship's boats at scale. I have some aftermarket white metal ones as well as what came with the kit. Basically, all crap.
Right now, I'm trying to see if, with a bit of filing and carving, I can come up with four acceptable ones, or if I have to start from scratch. That and boat skids on the deck house, and whether or not to include deck house sky lights as pictured in Crothers. Plus, I need to make some patent ventilators. So, nothing in the way of progress to document in pictures of late. And yes, I took a break.
Thanks for asking!

Pete
 
The descriptions of tacking and wearing (complete with diagrams) in the book are worth the read in themselves, as well as the picture it paints of life aboard such a ship and the sheer guts it took to embark on such a voyage on one of those vessels taking on that New York to San Francisco trip. Or any ocean voyage in general.
 
Peter Gutterman said:
I don't know why this marvel of modern tech. began crossing out my writing.o_O
At Chestertown on the Chester River all the tall ships from MD/VA were there as well as an assortment of classic wooden vessels. Unbelievable gorgeous weather! The Washington Ship Model society, of which I am a member, had the exclusive responsibility of showing ship models in the Sultana workshop.
Oxford MD model boat show (also on the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore) Is this weekend. The only regional model show exclusively for watercraft, ships and boats. Usually heavy on Chesapeake craft, but still a lot of variety.
I am currently trying to come up with some acceptable ship's boats at scale. I have some aftermarket white metal ones as well as what came with the kit. Basically, all crap.
Right now, I'm trying to see if, with a bit of filing and carving, I can come up with four acceptable ones, or if I have to start from scratch. That and boat skids on the deck house, and whether or not to include deck house sky lights as pictured in Crothers. Plus, I need to make some patent ventilators. So, nothing in the way of progress to document in pictures of late. And yes, I took a break.
Thanks for asking!

Pete
Click to expand...
Wonderful, Pete! I envy you your access to the actual ships and shows. I'm land locked as you know and I don't know of anything like The Washington Ship Model Society in my part of the world. I hope you had a great time!

Blessings.
Chuck
 
Pete,

If you are willing to include plastic in your model, why not vacuum form your small boats. Vacuum forming is easy, cheap and foolproof. An ordinary Shop Vac provides the vacuum and an oven or cheap hot plate can be used as a heat source to soften the plastic. A vacuum box and frame to hold the plastic sheet can be knocked up from scrap lumber. If you are happy with the hull forms of the kit supplied boats you can use these as forms.

Roger
 
Peter Gutterman said:
I don't know why this marvel of modern tech. began crossing out my writing.o_O
At Chestertown on the Chester River all the tall ships from MD/VA were there as well as an assortment of classic wooden vessels. Unbelievable gorgeous weather! The Washington Ship Model society, of which I am a member, had the exclusive responsibility of showing ship models in the Sultana workshop.
Oxford MD model boat show (also on the Chesapeake Bay eastern shore) Is this weekend. The only regional model show exclusively for watercraft, ships and boats. Usually heavy on Chesapeake craft, but still a lot of variety.
I am currently trying to come up with some acceptable ship's boats at scale. I have some aftermarket white metal ones as well as what came with the kit. Basically, all crap.
Right now, I'm trying to see if, with a bit of filing and carving, I can come up with four acceptable ones, or if I have to start from scratch. That and boat skids on the deck house, and whether or not to include deck house sky lights as pictured in Crothers. Plus, I need to make some patent ventilators. So, nothing in the way of progress to document in pictures of late. And yes, I took a break.
Thanks for asking!

Pete
Click to expand...
Pete,
If you took pictures of these shows, I hope you'll share some with us. This may sound like sacrilege on a wooden ship model but here goes. Revell makes highly accurate ship's boats for their 1:96th scale Cutty Sark or  Thermopylae models. Painted with the right semi-gloss paints, they'd provide decent replacements.
 
I have looked into the option of buying and cannibalizing Revell clipper ship models on E-bay. some were cheap enough, but the cost of shipping was more than 2-3 times the cost of the models. I do have a cheap Chinese vacuum forming device from Micro-Marc. If I can do a decent job of cleaning up the cast metal boats, I can use those as plugs for vacuum forming. Or I could carve plugs from scratch. However, all the filing, carving and sanding involved doesn't make for very interesting process pictures until there is enough of an aggregate to document a successful procedure and outcome, especially as I'm kind of groping around for the best way forward. Success, at this point, is not assured with any specific choice. Just gotta try 'em out until I find what works best. ;)

As always, thanks for the genuine concern, interest and good suggestions. I believe I have demonstrated my willingness to adapt, adopt and, indeed, to reverse course and modify my work in order to move forward. Thumbs-Up

Pete
 
Peter Gutterman said:
I have looked into the option of buying and cannibalizing Revell clipper ship models on E-bay. some were cheap enough, but the cost of shipping was more than 2-3 times the cost of the models. I do have a cheap Chinese vacuum forming device from Micro-Marc. If I can do a decent job of cleaning up the cast metal boats, I can use those as plugs for vacuum forming. Or I could carve plugs from scratch. However, all the filing, carving and sanding involved doesn't make for very interesting process pictures until there is enough of an aggregate to document a successful procedure and outcome, especially as I'm kind of groping around for the best way forward. Success, at this point, is not assured with any specific choice. Just gotta try 'em out until I find what works best. ;)

As always, thanks for the genuine concern, interest and good suggestions. I believe I have demonstrated my willingness to adapt, adopt and, indeed, to reverse course and modify my work in order to move forward. Thumbs-Up

Pete
Click to expand...
I've cannibalized dozens of Revell models....from CS, Thermopylae, to Constitution. Old Marx kits of Swordfish to Seawitch, Old broken Model shipways kits to just unrepairable kits , both wood and plastic.

I'll buy or be gifted peoples junk, just to scavenge parts and fixtures from them.. Remember, repurposing stuff from other discarded kits(so long as they are in the same scale), is part in parcel to any successful build. Use whatever you can to get the job done. Scratch build, what can't be repurposed.

Hack model building 101.

The code I live by.

Rob
 
Pete, The first (really bad) photo shows a pair of cutters vacuum formed for a model that I built of the monitor USS Catskill. The other photos show my vacuum forming setup. Incidentally, the box with the screen on top is also handy for some airbrushing projects, notably painting flags.

The boats in the photos were, formed in halves. When the boat shaped part is trimmed from the plastic sheet, a little flange is left along the boat’s bottom and stem for gluing the two halves together. This also forms the boat’s keel and stem piece. The carved form is left long and the boat is cut to the right length after forming. A separate transom is then glued in place

Roger


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That's a really nice setup and nice work. As fuzzy as the picture is, looks like a fine USS Catskill. The cutters are terrific! Thumbs-Up
Thanks for sharing.
Pete
 
The Catskill sits in its glass case on a really high bookcase in my basement. My son and son-in-law will be visiting for Thanksgiving. They can help me get it down and we’ll get some decent photos. Same for my Dad’s Flying Cloud model.

BTW, It appears that you live in the DC area. My wife grew up there and we we were married there. I was a Naval Officer on the Engineering staff of “The Kindly Old Gentleman.” This was way back in the ‘60s and I loved living there. We now live near Lake Superior in Northeastern Minnesota so haven’t visited DC for many years.

Roger
 
I've lived in MD in the immediate DC vicinity all my life, save for the first two years in Minnesota and five winters at the University of Miami. Born in DC.
My dad was a WWII Navy guy, engineer and physicist.
This area was a goldmine of historic antique furniture to restore between '78 and 2010. And a great place for historic ship models. I restored some for $ and others as a volunteer at the USNA museum workshop. The area also brought me a few customers for ship models.
I look forward to seeing photos of your "Catskill" and your dad's "Flying Cloud". I have followed with great interest the tidbits of your family history and that of your dad whom you clearly loved and admired as I did mine. They went a long way to making us who we are today. As, no doubt, did the rest of our families growing up.
We were, indeed, fortunate. :D

Pete
 
Making boats: I spent a LOT of time carving, filing and sanding my collection of (soft) white metal 1:96 ship's boats into something usable as plug forms for my (long time on the shelf, first time use, thank heaven for U-Tube instruction videos!) vacuum form gizmo. Rob will recognize it for making dentures.
My first try was with the thin styrene sheet. Nice detail but a little flimsy. The next go was with sheet 2-3 times as thick. The trick is to let the heated sheet sag to the point before it overheats and falls out into a useless glob or catches fire. No disasters. Better to be lucky than good. DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE BALL! Or, in this case, the softening styrene sheet. As soon as you see uniform sag, push the plunger handle! Turn on the Vacuum first! Put the plug in place align and center it well, BEFORE turning on the heat!!! The plug will probably need to be raised with a small scrap glued underneath. make this smaller than the outer perimeter of the plug it is holding up.
I took extra pictures, more than necessary but you'll get the idea.
What to do next in the process of making boats still needs pondering. Do I fit out the interior of the one on davits? Do I try other options? Remains to be seen. Cautious

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