Staghound...Extreme clipper 1850 by rwiederrich 1/96

rwiederrich said:
Well, I figured it was about time to begin my Staghound build log. The bulkheads are finalizing and are in route soon. That subject will come up for sure...but much has been done off line privately...to save a lot of haggling and recreating Staghounds dimensions. I have several partners who aided me in the research of my last build Glory of the Seas....they, again have come to my aid again and will input most of the particulars of the design and what we have been up to for the last months.
While I waited for the production of the bulkheads...I wanted to work on many items that would take time, during the lull.
First...here is a painting of the Clipper I am going to build....she is Donald McKay's first clipper. His entry into the fast paced world of the ever changing clipper design.

Staghound was an extreme clipper, one that the owners gave Donald McKay full charge of. He designed her, decided on her particulars, and had full card blanch' in her construction.
I will attempt to do her justice.

Firs I began with her namesake...the Staghound figurehead. She is 7/8 long.
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Carving up the figurehead.
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Guilded Gold
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Rob

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I am glad someone is taking on Staghound. She has a beautiful hull, with higher deadrise and a deep keel. She deserves more attention, but is often overshadowed by her younger and more famous sister.
 
Alex Bellinger said:
I am glad someone is taking on Staghound. She has a beautiful hull, with higher deadrise and a deep keel. She deserves more attention, but is often overshadowed by her younger and more famous sister.
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Thanks for looking in Alex. Yes our research has been impeccable...and nothing is being overlooked. Just as with Glory of the Seas...we are correcting many inaccuracies, that tend to be replicated, when McKay clippers are fabricated. The details are there, you just have to dig deeper to find them...and use a copious amount of deduction and reason. But necessity dictates, sometimes, that artistic license is required....based upon what is already known, to create what is missing. Unlike using frog DNA to make up for the missing sequences discovered in Dino DNA......we use hard documented evidence of historical practices used by Donald McKay on other clipper designs he experimented with. We hope this will be the most accurate model ever produced of Staghound. Richard Jones and I have discovered, and by way of his tenacious evangelism....Donald McKay's secret *Hood*, that had been erroneously excluded from every model of every clipper he ever built. We are flipping the history world of McKay clippers on its head. Rich will have a writeup on the subject in a future Nautical Research Journal when he finishes his article on our Glory of the Seas project.1724070117663.png
 
rwiederrich said:
Thanks for looking in Alex. Yes our research has been impeccable...and nothing is being overlooked. Just as with Glory of the Seas...we are correcting many inaccuracies, that tend to be replicated, when McKay clippers are fabricated. The details are there, you just have to dig deeper to find them...and use a copious amount of deduction and reason. But necessity dictates, sometimes, that artistic license is required....based upon what is already known, to create what is missing. Unlike using frog DNA to make up for the missing sequences discovered in Dino DNA......we use hard documented evidence of historical practices used by Donald McKay on other clipper designs he experimented with. We hope this will be the most accurate model ever produced of Staghound. Richard Jones and I have discovered, and by way of his tenacious evangelism....Donald McKay's secret *Hood*, that had been erroneously excluded from every model of every clipper he ever built. We are flipping the history world of McKay clippers on its head. Rich will have a writeup on the subject in a future Nautical Research Journal when he finishes his article on our Glory of the Seas project.View attachment 465718
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Alex Bellingrer:
Rob's correct in that we're investigating every possible source of information to verify each section of McKay's inaugural extreme clipper Stag Hound. A particularly fortuitous discovery, which I hadn't even anticipated was the very generous response I got from my email to: Lori Fidler, Associate Director of Collections, Old State House, Boston, MA (Bostonian Society). She sent me the entire November 18, 1896 Cornelius McKay letter to Captain Arthur H Clark. Beside a 2nd typed page (not included in an original excerpt in the 1928 "Some Famous Sailing Ships and Their Builder Donald McKay" by author Richard McKay) there were two handwritten pages as well. Some anecdotal information doesn't aid in model building but I find it fascinating none the less. One page two of the typed letter Cornelius refers to his father's clipper like thus: "She was the Pioneer craft of the California Clipper Fleet." To me this indicates the high regard Donald's son held Stag Hound in. Still, some typos occured, for instance the main yard is typed as 26 feet when clearly it was 86 feet. This error is corrected in the handwritten notes which followed. We learned two other valuable facts regarding her construction in those notes. On the bottom page, the mainmast height is given a 166 feet from deck to mainmast truck. Subtracting that figure from total mainmast height gives us how far the masts were inset into her hull. Total mainmast components equal 210' -166 = 44' inset. Applying that -44 to the other masts give us their total height too: foremast equals 190' - 44 = 146, and mizzenmast equals 174' -44 = 130'. Since only the lower masts are inset, we simply subtract entire 44' from each lowest mast resulting in: fore 82 - 44 = 38', main 88 - 44 = 44' and mizzen 78 - 44 = 34'. You can't get more precisely accurate than that. Another key spec I discovered in the handwritten notes is the bowsprit steeve is 4.2 meaning 4 & 1/4" per foot, not the more aggressive 4 & 1/2" reported in the Boston Daily Atlas.
By checking and even double checking we are uncovering exact dimensions to assure the most accurate clipper Stag Hound reproduction possible.
 
rwiederrich said:
On MSW...

Rob
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Rob,
I replied on MSW, now that I saw it. Essentially, I agree with your concept, with a couple thoughts. Maybe they would have sliding doors to give maintenance access to such complex machinery & gears. Two: it looks like there's some sort of auxiliary windlass handle on the right side of the capstan. Maybe that was for a back up in case of a mechanical failure?
 
Wow! If you unearth such a trove of pertinent information on Flying Cloud, alert the two Williams (M.&R.) who are gathering all the necessary data to build models of that ship. Alas, I started mine over a year ago and am too far along to benefit to as great a degree than if I had started with all this information up front. I am happy to say that my model has benefitted materially from the input volunteered by Rich and Rob. I am happy, also, that my build log has sparked such interest and input. I believe this will set the two Williams on a course to create some spectacular iterations of the legendary ship.
Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at mine, incorporating such valuable revelations as are practicable, no doubt to the benefit of my product, should I live long enough to work my way to completing such an ambitious project! :rolleyes:

Pete
 
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Peter Gutterman said:
Wow! If you unearth such a trove of pertinent information on Flying Cloud, alert the two Williams (M.&R.) who are gathering all the necessary data to build models of that ship. Alas, I started mine over a year ago and am too far along to benefit to as great a degree than if I had started with all this information up front. I am happy to say that my model has benefitted materially from the input volunteered by Rich and Rob. I am happy, also, that my build log has sparked such interest and input. I believe this will set the two Williams on a course to create some spectacular iterations of the legendary ship.
Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at mine, incorporating such valuable revelations as are practicable, no doubt to the benefit of my product, should I live long enough to work my way to completing such an ambitious project! :rolleyes:

Pete
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Pete,
I know that I shared some info with at least one of the two Bills, do you know if the other fellow is aware of the latest discoveries we've unearthed?
 
rwiederrich said:
Thanks guys. It's only 1 1/4" long. I have been so busy...as of late(getting ready to go to Montana for a wedding), I hope to get it finished real soon.

Rob
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Rob,
Have a great time in Montana. Weddings are always such wonderfully fun events. My brother Steve, as Best Man gave a deeply sensitive, beautiful toast. Unfortunately he jumped the gun. Waiters hadn't yet poured a drop of champagne into a single glass. To cover for his flub, I stood up and said "Thanks for the dry toast, bro!" ;-)
 
ClipperFan said:
Rob,
Have a great time in Montana. Weddings are always such wonderfully fun events. My brother Steve, as Best Man gave a deeply sensitive, beautiful toast. Unfortunately he jumped the gun. Waiters hadn't yet poured a drop of champagne into a single glass. To cover for his flub, I stood up and said "Thanks for the dry toast, bro!" ;-)
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Its a working wedding. My wife is making the 3 tier cake and I'm her sue(sic) chef. It's her gift to the bride and groom. Just did one in Oregon for a nephew.

Rob
 
rwiederrich said:
Its a working wedding. My wife is making the 3 tier cake and I'm her sue(sic) chef. It's her gift to the bride and groom. Just did one in Oregon for a nephew.

Rob
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Rob,
I had no idea your wife was a baker. You'll have to pics of her cake so we can see her creativity. So, is sue another slang for "go-fer?" ;-)
You know, go for this, go for that... Have a great, safe trip anyway.
 
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