The Great Republic 1:48

[Norgale]

Worked some more on the planking and have finished what I started at the bottom and the top of the hull. Still have a wide area to plank but I have to start tapering the planks so they will all fit. I have room for 28 planks at the middle of the hull and 20 (full sized) at the stern. I divided the 20 by the 28 and got 71%. Does that mean that I should taper each remaining plank so that 71% is left at the end of the plank or am I going the wrong way with this? Never had to do this before and it's a bit confusing. Also looking at the water line, it seems to be way high up on the hull. The top black marks on the frames is where my plans show it to be. Does that look ok? Seems pretty high to me.

 

[ClipperFan]

Worked some more on the planking and have finished what I started at the bottom and the top of the hull. Still have a wide area to plank but I have to start tapering the planks so they will all fit. I have room for 28 planks at the middle of the hull and 20 (full sized) at the stern. I divided the 20 by the 28 and got 71%. Does that mean that I should taper each remaining plank so that 71% is left at the end of the plank or am I going the wrong way with this? Never had to do this before and it's a bit confusing. Also looking at the water line, it seems to be way high up on the hull. The top black marks on the frames is where my plans show it to be. Does that look ok? Seems pretty high to me.

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@Norgale
All ships have waterlines that are deeper below their hulls than above. According to McKay's booklet, Great Republic was "yellow metalled" (Muntz metal) up to 25 feet draught. At a scale of 1 inch = 4 feet, that's 6 & 1/4th inches deep. Examine these images, it's clear that the waterline below is deeper than the section of hull above.

 

[Norgale]

The half model and the two photos look much better so maybe with my hull up side down there was an optical illusion of the water line. I wonder if the half model is the one donated by the McKay family? Do you know who made the model GR and where it is? Nice looking model.

 

[ClipperFan]

The half model and the two photos look much better so maybe with my hull up side down there was an optical illusion of the water line. I wonder if the half model is the one donated by the McKay family? Do you know who made the model GR and where it is? Nice looking model.

@Norgale
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) has this description of the Great Republic half-hull model. It was apparently built by Donald McKay himself.

 

[Norgale]

Having sme trouble with my computer. Looks like I may have to take it to a shop for repair. Al the sound ent dead and the color is off a bit. It also says on a notification onscreen that I MAY have a virus and lots of notices of such from Fire fox and Mcafee. Can't tell if it's real or advertising. I'll let you know what happens. Norgale.

 

[Norgale]

Got my computer working again and all is well --so far. Finally finished the planking
I thought it would never get done but now it is. I'd like to know if any of you have or know of a sander that is small enough for model work and tough. That's my next job on the GR and there is a lot of sanding to be done. I have several sanders but they are all too big and heavy. Need something small and light I think. So now I'm out of lumber for now. Need some more to finish the top deck. I read a post on here that someone wanted to see this hull when it was all planked. Here are some pics of that along with a few others. I'm getting pretty tired of working on the GR so I just may put it up for a spell and build something else for awhile. I need to clean up my work room and get rid of a lot of junk so maybe I'll work on that too. Cheers!
It's also time to build a cradle for this thing. I'm thinking something about two feet long made with large timbers and some decorations on it along with a brass plate stating the name and birthday of the ship. Maybe the builder too. Sure could use some suggestions. Pete

 

[Peter Voogt]

Got my computer working again and all is well --so far. Finally finished the planking
I thought it would never get done but now it is. I'd like to know if any of you have or know of a sander that is small enough for model work and tough. That's my next job on the GR and there is a lot of sanding to be done. I have several sanders but they are all too big and heavy. Need something small and light I think. So now I'm out of lumber for now. Need some more to finish the top deck. I read a post on here that someone wanted to see this hull when it was all planked. Here are some pics of that along with a few others. I'm getting pretty tired of working on the GR so I just may put it up for a spell and build something else for awhile. I need to clean up my work room and get rid of a lot of junk so maybe I'll work on that too. Cheers!
It's also time to build a cradle for this thing. I'm thinking something about two feet long made with large timbers and some decorations on it along with a brass plate stating the name and birthday of the ship. Maybe the builder too. Sure could use some suggestions. Pete

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Congratulations with this milestone, Pete. Now you can see het gorgeous lines.
Regards, Peter

 

[Norgale]

Thanks Peter. I can now see all the hills and valleys too. I expected that so now it's on to sanding and more sanding. Got to finish the stern too. Appreciate the comment.

 

[ClipperFan]

@Norgale
I swear that I have paddled canoes smaller than your Great Republic. OMG she is gigantic!!! And a quite beautiful hull too.

 

[Norgale]

Hi clipper fan. Ya , it's pretty big. I think I should have gone smaller but it's too late now. Can't wait to get going on the rigging and masts. It will look a lot better when some of that gets applied. Working on smoothing out the planks and fixing things that don't look quit right. I'll need more lumber to finish the top deck too.
It's a lot of fun anyway so I enjoy it. Besides it's way too hot outside to do anything else. Pete

 

[ClipperFan]

Hi clipper fan. Ya , it's pretty big. I think I should have gone smaller but it's too late now. Can't wait to get going on the rigging and masts. It will look a lot better when some of that gets applied. Working on smoothing out the planks and fixing things that don't look quit right. I'll need more lumber to finish the top deck too.
It's a lot of fun anyway so I enjoy it. Besides it's way too hot outside to do anything else. Pete

@Norgale
Pete, you would have a jaw-dropping incredible array of clippers if you built them all at 1:24th scale. You're already tackling the single biggest wooden clipper barque ever launched. The rest are all smaller. Of course, you'd probably need to build a new place to display them....

 

[Norgale]

I thought my hobby room would be big enough for a long time but I was wrong. I filled it up with just what I already had and then came the Great Republic. Not only do I not have room for it after it's finished, I need to build a much lower table to get the rigging applied as the lower masts almost hit the ceiling lights now. However I need a bigger shed outside and maybe 8' x 10' with a two foot loft would do the trick. I could finish the GR there with a little insulation and an AC in the wall. But that's for later this fall after the summer heat dies down. Way to warm out there now. Meantime I'm just thinking. Ha!
OH boy! here comes some rain. We sure do need it.

 

[ClipperFan]

I thought my hobby room would be big enough for a long time but I was wrong. I filled it up with just what I already had and then came the Great Republic. Not only do I not have room for it after it's finished, I need to build a much lower table to get the rigging applied as the lower masts almost hit the ceiling lights now. However I need a bigger shed outside and maybe 8' x 10' with a two foot loft would do the trick. I could finish the GR there with a little insulation and an AC in the wall. But that's for later this fall after the summer heat dies down. Way to warm out there now. Meantime I'm just thinking. Ha!
OH boy! here comes some rain. We sure do need it.

@Norgale
Pete,
If your lower masts almost reach the ceiling lights then you have a big challenge facing you when you start adding topgallant, royal and skysail masts. You might want to measure total installed height first. One idea might be to do an enlargement of the sail plan from the McKay booklet. I know Staples will do poster sized images. 1:24th might not be practical but 1:48th might work. Then you just double up all components. This is a very exciting project to follow!