Brunel's ships - plans

[Derek Warner]

Jamie - I am posting this to Paddleducks as there a number of members going down the same path

regards Derek
----- Original Message -----
From: ushumgal
To: SeawaysShipmodelingList@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2002 6:20 AM
Subject: SSL: Brunel's ships - plans?


Now that I have settled down in my mind-numbing office job (this is
what happens when you get a tremendously practical degree, like an MA
in Mesopotamian History...) I finally have some free time to approach
a project I have been toying with for some time - to build rather
large-scale models of the Great Western, Great Britain and Great
Eastern. I'm still in the initial research stages, and have picked
up some useful materials (like Mowell's book about his R/C Great
Britain), but I am still in need of plans for these ships. Anyone
know where I can get them? I check Taubman's, and couldn't find them
there.

Thanks in advance,
Jamie
LU2.DUB.SAR

[Paulrjordan]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..I'M ROLLING IN THE AISLES HERE, DEREK! Well done !
...THIS is the same USHUMGAL who outbid me frequently on Ebay paddler
stuff! When I checked the type of purchases he was making on Ebay it
was ALL paddler related stuff and I was so tempted to send a message
inviting him to join Paddleducks, but frankly I was a little pi***ed
at getting outbid the whole time!!!

Send Ushumgal a warm invitation to join us, Derek, so we can put him
in touch with Christian and all our other "Great Easterners"..coz from
his EBAY buying record..he's definitely a "Paddleduck".. but with
obviously much deeper pockets that I have!!

(What a hoot!)

PJ

[ushumgal]

Hi, all - nice joint you got here! Yes, I am the infamous ushumgal
of ebay (sorry PJ, but I have this obesession that needs to be
satiated you know...). You will be happy to know that I haven't been
buying any models on ebay lately - I need to upgrade my ancient PC,
plus I seem to have at least one of each plastic paddle steamer model
out there already...

Anyway, I'm glad to find a group of people similarly obsessed, and I
would be delighted to help in any way I can with the Great Eastern
project - she may not have been exactly *pretty*, but she sure was
interesting!

Anyway, I guess I'd better catch up on past postings - good thing my
boss is gone at a conference all next week...

Best,
Jamie
LU2.DUB.SAR

[Paulrjordan]

Welcome, Jamie

Great to have you in here at last. Now we have someone who REALLY
knows plastic paddler kits and it's fun to have my old Ebay nemesis as
a "Paddleduck". You've made some excellent purchases on Ebay and one
of the BEST had to be that "Harriett Lane" you scooped right under my
nose for $12.00. Take alook at Messages 960 and 966 back in November
where we talk about the "Harriett Lane" YOU got...darn I was asleep
on that one!! I'm STILL chasing one but I did finally manage to get a
big "Robert E. Lee" at a decent price...which I must admit is hardly a
"rare item " these days on Ebay.

The Revell "GE" kits caused quite a sensation here and I seem to
remember you were all over those when they were up. Did you manage to
get one eventually?

Woodburner Jim recently scored a Revell "Great Eastern" and wants to
do it up accurately, and Graham (Mason) "down undah" there in OZ has a
good collection of kits (see message 813). No doubt you'll be hearing
from these guys.

> Anyway, I'm glad to find a group of people similarly obsessed, and I
> would be delighted to help in any way I can with the Great Eastern
> project - she may not have been exactly *pretty*, but she sure was
> interesting!

Christian in Portugal is our current "Great Eastern" guru and on the
way to launching THE definitive "GE" website...he's a very
knowledgable "Brunell" fan too and has accumulated all kinds of
helpful material and no doubt you'll link up with him, Woodburner Jim,
and our other "Great Easterners" soon.

> You will be happy to know that I haven't been buying any models on
> ebay lately - I need to upgrade my ancient PC, plus I seem to have
> at least one of each plastic paddle steamer model out there
> already..

Yeh, I noticed you were a little quiet these days...I'm relieved!!!
I'm still trying to snag a "Clermont", "Harriett Lane" an Airfix
"Great Western" and that illusive "Oriental Star" from Minicraft which
you mentioned. Getting a little tough to get them at a REASONABLE
price now with such a huge audience.

Now that you're here, I think I'll get started on the Plastic paddler
kit database in our files section which I'd appreciate you (and anyone
else) adding to. I have collected images of almost all the boxart for
the plastic kits.

Anyway..very glad you've joined us, Jamie, along with other members of
the Seaway Ship Model list who have recently arrived. [PLEASE do as
Jamie has done and introduce yourselves by telling us what areas of
model ships you're into and specially IF you've built, are building or
have ever REMOTELY contemplated building a model paddler!!]

By the way..it's not JUST models in here..it's ANYTHING to do with
paddlers...specially researching the BIG ones and learning more about
them to benefit those who may be inspired to build models of them down
the road.

So again on behalf of our more than "100 Paddleducks" all over the
world "Welcome" to you all!

PJ
Victoria, BC Canada

[ushumgal]

I picked up one that was already built - I actually got it in a lot
of poorly-built models for about $25 (it also included the Aurora USS
Hartford, as well as some less remarkable kits). I am glad I didn't
pay big money for it. 22 inches is simply too small for a 690 foot
ship. The details appear rather crude, because of the thickness of
the plastic. It seems on the whole to be basically accurate (though
I've done no careful review of it yet) - the pattern of the hull
plating is certainly not correct. I personally don't think this kit
is worth the $80-$120 is has been going on ebay for (unless you have
piles of money, of course... - I'd rather scratchbuild a larger, more
detailed one. Anyway, I plan to do a more detailed review in the not
too distant future.

> Now that you're here, I think I'll get started on the Plastic
paddler
> kit database in our files section which I'd appreciate you (and
anyone
> else) adding to. I have collected images of almost all the boxart
for
> the plastic kits.

That's just what I have been thinking of doing - actually, to be
precise, I have been contemplating launching a ship modeling and
maritime history website that would contain book reviews, model
reviews, and an index of all ship models, excluding 20th century
warships (they take up the bulk of Rajendra's list). And I also have
a very large file of box art and other kit images culled from ebay.
I usually kept track of scale, etc., but I now realize that I didn't
keep track of manufacturing dates, which will be necessary to make a
complete list of all issues. Anyway, what I am planning will not be
limited to paddle steamers, so it will take some time. I also need
to learn how to make searchable web databases and find a good server
to put it on. Any suggestions, anyone?

Best,
Jamie
LU2.DUB.SAR

[Christian]

Hello Jamie,

My friend and I are almost ready to go online with our Great Eastern web page, especially made with the modeler in mind. The Great Eastern plans can be found at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. They are not cheap and show evidence of inaccuracy. Just for starters: the lines plan shows a much slimmer Spar (main deck) than the Spar plan and a totally irregular scale ruler. But the frames and waterlines seem accurate. Also: the funnel and steam pipe cross sections are inaccurate. Deck plans and the longitudinal cross section are printed in the Book: Brunels Ships, published by Chatham in 1999. We will go to the trouble of eventually drawing more accurate plans and put them online. You might want to wait till our site is up.

Hope this helps, good luck with your Brunel ship models!

Christian

[Derek Warner]

Looks like PJ & Jamie are old sparing $ pals - Jamie - do as PJ says & join
up - when
you do, just go to the files & search for "the Great Eastern" - you could
spend the next
month or so digesting a wealth of information
regards Derek

[ushumgal]

> Do you know anything about Mesoptamian paddle steamers??

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the Brits had some paddle
steamers operating on the Euphrates or in the Persian Gulf, but I
know nothing about that. But the ancient Mesopotamians seem to have
limited themselves to some rather unremarkable reed boats for river
travel, or short jaunts in the Persian Gulf. The real sea-going
ships were likely run by people from southern Arabia or perhaps from
India (the Indus Valley Civilization). But we don't know much about
these ships.

Jamie
LU2.DUB.SAR

[Alistair Deayton]

I meant really the ones operated by the Royal Engineers in World War I on
the Tigris, although there were some earlier Ottoman-owned, British-built
ones on the Euphrates.