Clearwater Models

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

BONHOMME RICHARD (Heller)

This is the very very small kit from Heller Cadet in 1:500 scale of the 1765 sailing ship named BONHOMME RICHARD. The first release was in 1964 as Heller L060. It probably had solid plastic sails. This slightly later version has vacuform thin plastic sails meant to be cut out and hung.

The original vessel was a merchantman trader for the French East India Company named Duc de Duras which managed two trips to China before being bought by the king of France.

The French king gave the ship to the new USA government as a war loan in February 1779, and by September that same year it had been sunk by the British Royal Navy off north Yorkshire in the battle of Flamborough Head.

But it lived on when the captain of the Bonhomme Richard managed to capture the victorious warship HMS Serapis and sail it as a pirated vessel to the Dutch port at Texel where they made a new US flag from faulty memory and a description in a book in order not to be seized as a pirated vessel. The Texel or Serapis flag is the most unusual of the early US national flags.

Paint is a Tamiya spray white primer on the hull, and sand colour on the deck. Everything else is Vallejo acrylics. I cut off the original yards from the side of the masts and built new yards from plastic rod and from metal wire. The vacuform sails are hung from these. The rigging is sewing thread, and the vacuform sails are from the kit. I built the gold captains cabin section onto the stern of the ship as the original kit had only a flat stern. I built two additional yards and sails from the vacuform material for the two sails hung under the bowsprit as these show up in paintings and museum models. There are nice very tiny cannons on the decks.

I made all three flags by printing tiny images in colour regular and flipped so when glued together the flag would face the correct way from the mast. Flags include the best representation of what was the US national flag in 1779; the "first navy jack" of the US Navy (Don't tread on me); and the Texel or Serapis flag on the stern. It would not have been possible for the BHR to fly the Texel flag as the ship had already been sunk - but it is flown as an historical marker of the event.

I bough the kit at a flea market in Ottawa for $4, and finished it in 8 days.

UPDATE: This model placed second in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (non-powered ships)

Bonhomme Richard (1779)

A painting of the sailing vessel...

Bonhomme Richard (1779) under construction by the French East India Company,
which just happens to be in my spare bathroom

Bonhomme Richard (1779)

This model placed second in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (non-powered ships)

Sunday, 21 April 2019

HUMAN BRAIN and SKULL (Skillcraft)

Half-scale human brain and half a skull model from Skillcraft.

White paint is a Tamiya white primer. Brain flesh and blood is Vallejo acrylics and some sepia wash, with a gloss coat of Future Floor Wax to make the brain shiny and give it a wet glossy life-like appearance. And I added a gold tooth for extra flash.

I bought it at a flea market outside Ottawa. I sold it to a woman whose daughter was just finishing her neurology residency and Mom wanted to make it the centerpiece on the dining table. I could appreciate that sentiment.

Thursday, 11 April 2019

CHINESE JUNK BOAT (Aurora)

This is the very old (1956) Aurora model of a Chinese JUNK sail boat. It was part of their warships of the world series, despite showing a trading cargo boat. It came from the Bill Wilson collection. For a model tooled in 1956 it is surprisingly good.

The word "junk" may be derived from the Chinese word 船 meaning boat or ship or sailing vessel, but more probably from a Malay word for boat later used by the Chinese. Generally it means a boat with fully-battened sails. The type reached its apex in the 15th - 17th century.

The basic wood colour is Vallejo's mahogany weathered with oil pastels. The plastic masts were replaced with wooden masts, then it was fully rigged. More coiled rope will be added, as will some general cargo on deck.

It is very difficult to photograph something this dark.

Update: It won a first place ribbon at the IPMS Ottawa May 2019 contest.
UPDATE: This model placed first in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (non-powered ships)

This model placed first in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (non-powered ships)

Best Boat or Ship (Civilian) at the 27 Oct 2019 Ottawa Scale Auto contest.

Monday, 8 April 2019

"LA REALE" GALLEY (Heller)

This is the 1:450 scale model from Heller of the French galley ship "La Reale" 1694 (Royal).

La Reale (1694) was built in two years and launched in 1694. It was finally decommissioned in 1720. It took a team of 360 rowers (all slaves and prisoners of war) and two massive diagonal sails to keep the ship moving in the Mediterranean Sea. Over 57 m in length and the pinnacle of galley technology, this flagship of the French galley fleet was hopelessly outclassed by full sailing ships armed with many more cannons. Only the stern decorations survive, and are displayed in Paris' Marine Museum.

The last great sea battle between galleys took place off Cape Matapan (southern Greece) in 1717.

The model is incredibly small, but most parts are robust except for the frame for the canopy on the rear deck. It was replaced with card stock as it shattered in the box. All of the paper banners are printed as part of the kit. This model was a gift from a fellow IPMS Ottawa member who said he wanted to give me the kit because I built weird things.

La Réale (1694)

The drawing...

La Réale (1694)

This model placed third in the giant CAPCON biennial model contest on 28 September 2019 at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. (non-powered ships)