Winans cigar ship "Gunboat" 1860r. - free Renova model

[lehcyfer]

To begin on this forum, I'd like to present you my build of a free model of Renova-Model publisher of paper models: Winans cigar ship "Gunboat" 1860r. (1:200)

Cigar shaped ships of Winans brothers inspired Jules Verne to create famed 'Nautilus'.

This particular 1860 proposition for the Russian Navy was armed with two guns on a raised platform. Russians declined so it was never built. The prototype achieved speed of 19 knots.

So much for the starters, now the build.

On the beginning I've worn up the first segment of the cigar hull trying to form its sharp end.


I decided that the printout needs to be impregnated first, but impregnation with Brand Clear Glue (BCG) was not enough co I used Cyanoacrylate Adhesive (CA), but it blurred the printout so there was a momentary consternation until I discovered that to avoid it the printout first need to be impregnated with the BCG, and after that covered with CA.

This solution worked just fine and since then I use it almost everywhere, especially with little parts or a soft paper. Additionally in this case, as a side effect there appeared delicate "wear smudges" on the sides of the ship that added interesting valorisation of the model.

BCG (water based, non toxic glue) I apply generously with my finger and dried with a hairdryer. As a sidenote, I can't imagine making models without this device - I have a little touristic one and it dramatically shortens the gluing process. CA, toxic, fast acting and aggressive glue I applied - first a few drops to a folded hygienic tissue and then in a fast movement to the surface earlier based with BCG.

CA toughens the surface of the parts allowing for very precise forming before gluing it together. As the CA is only on the surface, the cuts and undersides of the parts are of 'naked' paper which allow the water based BCG to glue them without a problem. To glue anything on the surface covered with CA I used CA, but first had to impregnate 'naked' paper with BCG to stop CA from infiltrating paper and creating unsightly stains.

BCG is perfect for gluing paper 'on touch', without flaps - there is not a one flap in this build.

From that moment everything went smooth - :


Even with a little petals I didn't have any problems (though this part ended a bit to large and contrast with the next segment)


As the rods for rudders I used filed flat nails (as you can see the rod on the plan is too long compared with the size of the rudder)


After I've built a half of the hull the work halted for some time, and only short time ago I've completed the model. Unfortunately I've got back my camera after I've finished it and so I can only show you the pictures of the ready model:








The base of the stand is a box glued entirely on touch - an excellent training


I recommend the model highly - it's an equally great exercise for building submarines as well as surface ships.

The model is available for download from the Renova-Model site, direct link to the model, and you can read some more about those amazing Winans' ships here.

If you notice some imperfections in my writing, please be so kind and point them out to me - otherwise how could I improve my use of English?

[Gharbad]

Cool boat, and you built it well. Nice and smooth.

Your English is very good, both grammar and vocabulary. Any problems are nitpicks.

And wow, you're an electrical engineer. I just graduated

[rmks2000]

Very well done. I admire how uniform the smokestacks are.

[eatcrow2]

Excellent modeling work, and nice photos showing her off.

[dansls1]

Nice build

[cjwalas]

I built this one a while ago as well. One of the best fitting kits I've done. You've done an excellent job on it!
However, I should add a possible correction. There is no definitive proof that Verne was inspired by Winans design. There is more speculation that he was influenced by the work of the French engineer Brutus DeVilleroi, who had actually been a teacher at the school Verne attended. It's even possible that Verne had been a student of DeVilleroi, although there's no historic indication that that was the case. DeVilleroi had been an aggressive proponent of submarines in France and had moved to America where he built several subs, including the first submarine of the United States, the Alligator or as it was originally called, the Submarine Propeller. There's a model of the Alligator at Ecardmodels;
1/48 USS Alligator 1863 by Trent C Henry - ECardmodels.com Shop - Downloadable models and crafts
(I think that's it)
But Winans Cigar Ships are in a class by themselves and really do look like something from a Verne novel! Winans also designed one of my favorite classes of steam locomotive, the Camels for the B&O.
Chris

[lehcyfer]

In Jacobus past stories (the part "The Winans Cigar Ships in Europe" you can read:

The wide press coverage received in London by the "Ross Winans" cigar steamer, a vessel that looked almost like a sea creature yet sported within a parlor with panelling and crystal chandeliers, seemingly caught the eye of one French author. Note the following paragraph from a work of popular fiction set in the year 1866:

"Here, Monsieur Aronnax, you have the various dimensions of the boat you are in. Its shape is that of an elongated cylinder with conical ends. It looks very much like a cigar, a design already adopted in London for constructions of the same nature. The length of the cylinder, from end to end, is exactly seventy meters, or 228.9 feet."

Trivia time here: what's the book? What's the author? The reference to cylindrical, cigar-shaped ships in London make it clear the author knew of the Winans Cigar Ships, and seems to have used them as the inspiration for the fictional boat described above. Well, at least he was partly inspired by the Winans Cigar Steamers--because the fictional ship being described (in Chapter 13, "A Few Figures") is the "Nautilus," from Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," and the Nautilus, of course, was a submarine, something the Winans boats never were.
Still, a number of scholars of both science fiction and maritime engineering have concluded that the outward description provided by Verne of the "Nautilus" was pretty much derived from the Winans Cigar Steamers. Verne, being the technophile he was, undoubtedly read all he could find about them, and probably saw the real ones, too. So while they may never have inspired an actual submarine, the Winans Cigar Steamships inspired the world's most famous fictional submarine.

And only the Winans ships had the true cigar shape with both conical ends...

The Alligator was built around the time of the proposal I've built here - it looks very interesting - maybe I'll do it someday

@rmks2000: I've made a special instrument - a stick with duct tape rolled around to the exact inside diameter of the smokestack - it helped immesurably to achieve the uniformity you comment.

[rmks2000]

lehcyfer

Excellent tip!

[cjwalas]

Originally Posted by lehcyfer

In Jacobus past stories (the part "The Winans Cigar Ships in Europe" you can read:

And only the Winans ships had the true cigar shape with both conical ends...

The Alligator was built around the time of the proposal I've built here - it looks very interesting - maybe I'll do it someday

@rmks2000: I've made a special instrument - a stick with duct tape rolled around to the exact inside diameter of the smokestack - it helped immesurably to achieve the uniformity you comment.

Not to belabor the point, but I think there's room for doubt.
That's a nice quote, but there are many others attributing the inspiration to other ships (all submarines, as far as I know). Seems like everyone has a different guess.
Visually, the usual suspects are the French submarine "Le Plongeur", a widely publicized design of the day. It had the two raised "wheelhouses" that are a trademark of Verne's Nautilus as well as the prominent ram;
BRStateMuseumJuly08SubPioneerModel.jpg
The other contender is the Confederate Pioneer. While not highly publicized, information was available in journals of the day. It has the double conical "spindle" shape of the Nautilus as well as a wheelhouse that is not far off the Verne version.
PioneerRender01.jpg
I doubt that there's any conclusive proof as to a single source of inspiration for the Nautilus. But Verne was pretty thorough in his research, at least as much as possible at the time, and while there is certainly the spindle shape of the Nautilus in the Winans ships, I would be surprised if Verne took inspiration for the Nautilus submarine from a surface vessel.
The Alligator, and its DeVilleroi predecessors, had the diver lock out that also played in the Nautilus.
Chris
PS. I really like your idea for the taped stick!

[cjwalas]

Just thought you might like to also take a look at the Alligator's predecessor, the 1859 DeVilleroi Salvage Submarine. It also has the conical ends on both ends.
Photo379.jpg

Photo382.jpg
I love these early submarine designs. There were a large number of them and it's a pity that more of the experiments weren't recorded well.
Chris