"Flying Cloud " by Mamoli - kit bash

rwiederrich said:
I'd like to know as well. I have never seen a deckhouse with large skylights atop it. Ample light is collected from the side windows. Skylights are needed when there is no other source of light, but by it. Like a cabin or dining cabin within the hull.

Rob
Click to expand...
Rob,
It strikes me that structural components which make up a great portion of a clipper ship, like her hull profile and spars are treated with great accuracy (save for missing navel hoods and cutwater). Such items like deck furniture and structures seem to be more conjecture than anything else.
 
If conjecture was as structurally sound as the common use of it would suggest, perhaps the world's structural institutions wouldn't be falling apart quite as fast as they appear to be. :rolleyes:
 
ClipperFan said:
Rob,
It strikes me that structural components which make up a great portion of a clipper ship, like her hull profile and spars are treated with great accuracy (save for missing navel hoods and cutwater). Such items like deck furniture and structures seem to be more conjecture than anything else.
Click to expand...
After giving serious consideration to the above and other comments concerning my inclusion of skylights, I decided to hit the "skylight delete" key and return my main deck house roof to the more conservative assessment of how it most likely appeared in 1851. Fortunately, unlike other decisions that I made when I was 18 and had to live with for the rest of my life, this one was reversable. :rolleyes: So, having used white glue that can easily be undone with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and finding that I was only "a little bit pregnant", I was able to undo the skylight decision and return my cabin roof to its previously pristine virgin condition. As Rob has suggested " A little bit of paint can hide a multitude of sins". That and the judicious use of easily reversable adhesives.

Pete20241123_112336.jpg20241123_112327.jpg20241123_112345.jpg
 
Peter Gutterman said:
After giving serious consideration to the above and other comments concerning my inclusion of skylights, I decided to hit the "skylight delete" key and return my main deck house roof to the more conservative assessment of how it most likely appeared in 1851. Fortunately, unlike other decisions that I made when I was 18 and had to live with for the rest of my life, this one was reversable. :rolleyes: So, having used white glue that can easily be undone with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and finding that I was only "a little bit pregnant", I was able to undo the skylight decision and return my cabin roof to its previously pristine virgin condition. As Rob has suggested " A little bit of paint can hide a multitude of sins". That and the judicious use of easily reversable adhesives.

PeteView attachment 485969View attachment 485970View attachment 485971
Click to expand...
Peter,
I approve of your well thought out choice to remove those controversial roof skylights. To your credit, they're beautifully crafted. They'll probably be very distinctive on your Flying Cloud poop deck. There, we have a precedent that twin skylights were installed abaft the mizzenmast as seen on Glory of the Seas. One other adjustment you might consider has to do with your boat skids. On Glory of the Seas there's a gentle curve to the bottom of all boat skids which barely project beyond the roof molding. It was most likely done to minimize head injuries. Look closely at the recently reposted image of the ship's boy astride the aft boat skid on the cabin boy's house.
 
Photos of my father’s early 1940’s Flying Cloud Model built from an A.J. Fisher kit. A.J. Fisher kits featured sawn lifts to be laminated into a hull block for shaping by the model builder so this is a “solid hull” model. My guess is that they made use of the information readily available; hull lines, sail plan. There were also people who remembered one or more of these amazing ships and especially the next generation- the downeasters. The result is reasonably accurate hull lines. The rest is “sort of correct.” This model resembles deck arrangements from later sources like Crothers but details that you guys are discovery are lacking.

As you can see, the model is unrigged. My father always said that he was baffled by the rigging. I received the model in about 2000. If was filthy from sitting unprotected atop a bookcase and damaged by the movers. I cleaned it, touched up the paint, repaired the damage and built the glass case. I also added the stub masts.

The model is intended as a tribute to my father, so I have elected not to complete it.

Roger

IMG_0209.jpegIMG_0197.jpegIMG_0194.jpeg
IMG_0193.jpeg

IMG_0214.jpeg
 
Too Cool, Roger! I love it!
Seeing your dad's model now is a great help to me in envisioning how I want to finish mine, and the final look. I am pretty sure I will go for the "dockyard" presentation as well, with some more detail and rig added, but not the whole thing.
I am glad you rescued, restored and protected this fine heirloom. A tribute to your remarkable father!
Thanks for sharing it here.

Pete
 
Roger,
Your dad did a top notch job on a beautiful subject given the available knowledge at the time. I've always loved the long, lithe lines of Flying Cloud too.You too did marvelous preservation work on your dad's model. Rob's right, you constructed a lovely case to permanently protect her as well. I am particularly impressed with the beautiful representation of the famous Flying Cloud angelic figurehead. She looks very close to images of her in the earliest image of the famous McKay California clipper at the launch. Fine craftsmanship indeed. Thank you for sharing these awesome pictures!
 
On to ship's boats. I have temporarily in place on the skids three boats from the Revell Cutty Sark. They have the virtue of having interiors. I may decide to mount one right side up on the skids, as shown in one of the pictures of Glory of the Seas. Roger Pellet makes a pretty good case for mounting at least one this way as these boats weighed more than a ton. That's a lot to handle and get launched from an upside-down position. For the lifeboat to be mounted on the davits I chose to use one from The Model Shipways bread and butter kits (under 10 bucks!). They make nice little projects. I am going to display it open and fitted out. I am aware of the covers for which Rob has a nice technique for duplicating.20241204_160738.jpg20241204_140926.jpg20241204_152127.jpg20241204_152247.jpg20241205_171709.jpg20241206_140440.jpg20241206_155713 (1).jpg20241206_155755 (2).jpg20241207_133141 (1).jpg20241207_133627 (2).jpg20241207_135358.jpg20241207_133611 (3).jpg20241207_135425.jpg20241207_162204.jpg20241207_164700.jpg20241208_150410.jpg20241208_150415.jpg20241208_150340.jpg20241208_150313 (1).jpg The trick with these bread-and-butter lift method kits is not to sand through from the outside when shaping the convex curves at the stern. They don't leave much meat on the bone or room for error.

20241207_164816.jpg I like the idea of the added interest in displaying at least one boat open and fitted out. This is to be a display model to showcase detail, not necessarily to conform to any particular phase in the actual working life of the ship.
 
Last edited:
Peter Gutterman said:
On to ship's boats. I have temporarily in place on the skids three boats from the Revell Cutty Sark. They have the virtue of having interiors. I may decide to mount one right side up on the skids, as shown in one of the pictures of Glory of the Seas. Roger Pellet makes a pretty good case for mounting at least one this way as these boats weighed more than a ton. That's a lot to handle and get launched from an upside-down position. For the lifeboat to be mounted on the davits I chose to use one from The Model Shipways bread and butter kits (under 10 bucks!). They make nice little projects. I am going to display it open and fitted out. I am aware of the covers for which Rob has a nice technique for duplicating.View attachment 488978View attachment 488979View attachment 488980View attachment 488981View attachment 488982View attachment 488983View attachment 488984View attachment 488985View attachment 488986View attachment 488987View attachment 488988View attachment 488989View attachment 488990View attachment 488991View attachment 488993View attachment 488995View attachment 488996View attachment 488997View attachment 488998 The trick with these bread-and-butter lift method kits is not to sand through from the outside when shaping the convex curves at the stern. They don't leave much meat on the bone or room for error.

View attachment 488994 I like the idea of the added interest in displaying at least one boat open and fitted out. This is to be a display model to showcase detail, not necessarily to conform to any particular phase in the actual working life of the ship.
Click to expand...
Pete! Really nice work on the boat! You're doing great things! Thank you for sharing your journey!

Blessings.
Chuck
 
Roger Pellett said:
Photos of my father’s early 1940’s Flying Cloud Model built from an A.J. Fisher kit. A.J. Fisher kits featured sawn lifts to be laminated into a hull block for shaping by the model builder so this is a “solid hull” model. My guess is that they made use of the information readily available; hull lines, sail plan. There were also people who remembered one or more of these amazing ships and especially the next generation- the downeasters. The result is reasonably accurate hull lines. The rest is “sort of correct.” This model resembles deck arrangements from later sources like Crothers but details that you guys are discovery are lacking.

As you can see, the model is unrigged. My father always said that he was baffled by the rigging. I received the model in about 2000. If was filthy from sitting unprotected atop a bookcase and damaged by the movers. I cleaned it, touched up the paint, repaired the damage and built the glass case. I also added the stub masts.

The model is intended as a tribute to my father, so I have elected not to complete it.

Roger

View attachment 487742View attachment 487744View attachment 487745
View attachment 487746

View attachment 487743
Click to expand...
Good morning Peter. Wonderful tribute to your Dad. To touch it up and make this display case is special. Cheers Grant
 
Adding deck features: ship's bells, scavenged from plastic Revell "Cutty Sark kit". I decided to apply the "KISS" principle and not try to fabricate some elaborate mountings for these and did what seemed simplest and logical; the binnacle cabinet came with the kit, painted with burnt sienna, and dry brushed for highlighted edges and raised features with a lighter brown. I added a slice of brass rod painted white on top for the compass ; for the gratings I used 1/16" laser cut grating pieces, but instead of trying to fit these fussy and fragile pieces together I cut them to size after making the frames, turned the pieces on their sides and glued them down inside the frames, at this tiny scale the effect is the same, a lick of stain and amber shellac on the frames completes the effect; I remembered the tiedowns on the binnacle cabinet, but forgot the eye bolts on the booby hatch before I glued it down. Since this was possibly a permanent fixture where it is located, I decided not20241210_153838 (1).jpg20241211_114611.jpg to risk F***ing up by trying to retro fit the eyebolts in place.20241210_113751.jpg20241211_105735.jpg20241210_153627.jpg20241211_114143.jpg20241211_141404.jpg20241212_164541 (1).jpg20241212_164947.jpg20241212_165052.jpg20241213_125311.jpg20241213_130915.jpg20241213_140817.jpg20241213_155530.jpg20241213_155435.jpg20241213_140835.jpg
 
Last edited:
Of course, macro photos of micro details exaggerate all my flaws and after the fact screw-ups. In theory the casual observer is always viewing the model from nearly a scale hundred feet away. or at least that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :rolleyes:
As always, thanks Jim and Paul. You guys usually get to my post before I finish editing it! ;)

Pete
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top