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Post by James M. Norton on Nov 12, 2012 11:15:01 GMT -5
Below is a picture of my 1/24 scale Irish ocean-going curragh, supposedly sailed by Saint Brendan and his crew of monks from the west coast of Ireland to the New Hebrides, Iceland, Greenland, and North America. The journey is described in the 5th century Latin manuscript NAVIGATIO BRENDANI ABBATIS. The model was built in 2007-2008 as a commission for an author who had written a series of fictional books on Brendan's supposed adventures in the "New World" and beyond. The hull was built in the authentic way, based on a book written by Tim Severin, who re-created Brendan's boat and voyage. First, a sturdy double gunwale was constructed upside down, ribs were bent and placed in holes in the bottom gunwale, and pulled and tugged until the desired shape was obtained, fore-and-aft stringers were attached to the ribs by individual knots at each intersection, and the resulting basket-like frame was covered with scaled sewn leather "hides". The leather shell extended over the top gunwale, and was pulled taut over the frame by being lashed to the lower gunwale. The mast, sail, and rigging conformed to the primitive sailing vessels of the time, with some artistic license. The ribs and stringers, and the knots securing them, can be seen in the photo. A single figure of Saint Brendan himself is shown at the tiller. Attachments:
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Post by James M. Norton on Nov 12, 2012 11:17:42 GMT -5
Another Curragh model photo. Attachments:
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lafrostjr
Ordinary Seaman
Find them, Chase them, Sink them
Posts: 6
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Post by lafrostjr on Nov 21, 2012 19:50:44 GMT -5
Very nice, Thanks for posting these pictures.
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Post by Kirby Francis on Dec 2, 2012 21:44:15 GMT -5
I've never seen anything like that. The detail and consistency of texture and colour on the leather are flawless. How long is the model?
By the way, do you create your own figures? The robe on St. Brendan really makes this model come alive.
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Post by James M. Norton on Dec 4, 2012 11:50:46 GMT -5
Kirby,
It's an unusual model, to be sure. I have lots of in-progress pictures, too, so maybe sometime I could do a 10-15 minute presentation to the MVSMC about how I built it. It was done in the traditional fashion used for full-sized curraghs. The model was a commission, so I don't have it to show, but the pictures would be the next best thing. Have you ever arranged for a Powerpoint-type presentation at one of the MVSMC meetings?
James
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Post by James M. Norton on Dec 4, 2012 11:56:11 GMT -5
The curragh model is about 18 inches long, built on my usual scale of 1/2"=1'. I do make all my own figures from epoxy clay or polymer clay. The latter results in figures that are quite fragile, but the clay is easy to work with. I've started putting figures on my longboat model, starting with my white-haired father at the tiller. I can't use pre-made figures, because of the poses I want to put them in, and because I wouldn't want to use them anyway, as a matter of principle. The challenge of scratch-building both model and figures is what makes modeling enjoyable for me.
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Post by Kirby Francis on Dec 11, 2012 10:26:03 GMT -5
We can accommodate PPT when we meet at the museum (or used to be able to) as they had a projector. At this point, I'm not sure where we stand on that. Regardless, I'm sure we could look into borrowing one, if you're interested in presenting. It's certainly been done by presenters in the past.
I would ask Kevin what monthly meeting would be open for such a presentation, and we'll line up the tech for that time.
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