Paddleducks
Old Yahoo Group => Yahoo Messages => Topic started by: Paulrjordan on June 17, 2005, 05:46:39 PM
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I thought you might like to see the lovely 1:48 half hull model
of "PARIS III" which Andy Saunders of the Newhaven Maritime Museum
located at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. Take a look at the
picture I just posted in the photo section under "PJ Paddler stuff".
"PARIS III" is one of three project models I have been researching
for the past year. Along with her sister "Rouen" she is regarded as
possibly the "ultimate" Cross Channel paddle wheeler ever built. I
think you'll agree she really is a beauty with her
magnificent "turtleback" foredeck. Her almost 20 knot speed was very
impressive in her day and she could cover the Cross Channel crossing
from Newhaven to Dieppe half an hour QUICKER than the Ferries today!
The interesting aspect of this model is that, according to Andy, it
was probably built at the time of the real ship as a "sales"
promotion piece for display in one of the major railway termini of
the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. This makes it
historically important because although I have copies of original
plans, there is a complete absence of hull lines for her, so the
Bluebell Railway half-hull model is the only accurate reference we
have for this era of Cross Channel sidewheeler.
Naturally, this was my first stop during my recent UK visit. The
Bluebell Railway is a magnificent stretch of scenic railway rescued
40 years ago when British Railways was terminating many of its single
line branch services. It's located near Haywards Heath in Sussex and
features the finest operating examples of Southern Railway (Brighton
Works built) locomotives of the classic steam era. It's a "must
visit" attraction for anyone visiting the UK and operates 12 months a
year. The fully restored Victorian country stations are
architecturally stunning and the entire attraction is very
professionally run and excellent entertainment. The half model
of "PARIS III" sits in a small museum at the main station. It's
enclosed in an original glass case and is in a rather confined area,
so it's tough to take good pics of it...but Andy Saunders of Newhaven
Maritime Museum did a great job and had sent me an entire roll of
film depicting details which I could use for reference.
The first thing that struck me about the model was the beauty of the
hull...every single line perfectly formed from every any you look
at. This was to be a common thread in all the Clyde paddler models I
would eventually see during my visit. There are lovely little touches
on the "Paris III" model, such as the small cannon to provide a
warning shot of her arrival into port, the lovely woodwork on her
main saloon...the decorative work on the side of her emergency wheel
housing..all stuff that isn't on the plans..
I therefore decided to make a small 2mm/ft mock up of the hull using
computer scaled copies I had made in Canada of plans from F. G.
Hambleton's book. (I eventually discovered errors in these drawings).
I cut out the deck and hull profiles and applied them to styrene
sheet. (take a look at the photo). I then cut these styrene shapes
out with kitchen scissors and glued them together which provided me
a basic top and side profile for the hull. Since I had NO hull lines
I'd have to try replicating the hull from the Bluebell model. Trying
to capture the subtle beauty of the hull was very challenging and I
eventually visited the Bluebell Railway three times. I had to re-
shape the hull constantly before it started to get that "correct"
look of the Bluebell model. Balsa made sanding easy..and when I
needed to "fatten" an area, I used quick setting "Polyfilla". The
result is seen in the photo "Test Plug V.1". I has pretty happy with
the result and felt cionfident enough to take it to Andy Saunders at
the Newhaven Maritime Museum for a critique. He pointed out a couple
of "debatabel" area and after more reshaping when I got home, I
believe I now have a very acceptable plug for taking hull lines for
the full size model. I'll post the a photo when the test hull is
painted. (It would actually make rather a very pretty static display
model as it is just under 19 1/2 inches long.)
The same process has been used used for "Worthing Belle" (ex "Diana
Vernon" 1885)and I'm pleased to say that her hull too (with input
from Phil Hayden in Worthing, Sussex, my friends on the Clyde and
visits to Glasgow Museum of Transportation) is probably the most
accurate model that could be produced without ANY plans and purely
from contemporary photographs and period models of similar era ships.
I am still searching for the elusive hull lines for both these ships
although it now seems very likely they no longer exist. So, although
I am purely interpreting what I see and (and that is far from
satisfactory) my objective is to replicate as faithfully as possible
two ships which have never before been built as full hull models..and
what I hope is an accurate and fitting tribute to two classic
examples of 19th Century Clyde paddlers.
I'll write more about these ships, when I post details of my visit to
Glasgow and the wonderful ship models and resources I found there.
PJ