Well, after about a year and a half I finally have something built (almost). Here is the Marx SEA WITCH. All that is left is to add the decals.
I had a lot of fun building this. I never thought of doing a clipper ship, but my older brother asked if I could build something with sails to display in his condominium at the shore. I'm building the acrylic case for it now -- it's huge, about 36" long x 24" high x 12" wide. It will cover the model on the oak base you see in the picture.
I started with the stock kit, and had to do a lot of cleanup. The kit was partially built when I got it, with the original metal lithographed decks in place and most of the deck pieces attached. I disassembled it, cleaned everything and started anew. Some of the parts were missing and had to be scratchbuilt. I tried to use every original part that I could, however, in some case I had to punt and make new parts. I replaced the metal decks with plastic, as the edges were starting to rust. Also, the rail on the stern had a terrible fit, so I redid that. I tried to use the old decals, but that didn't work out. I have to make them and put them on.
I just had to use those vacuum formed sails, since they are part of the original kit. They were a little brittle, so I took some very thin sprue and glued it along the edges to prevent the edges from tearing. Some of them were misshapen and had to be heated over a candle to take out the "dents". You will see some of those spots in the photos.
I "stiched" the sails on as shown in the instructions, and was very pleased with the result. I didn't go crazy with the rigging. For one, it started to get harder and harder to find places to attach it and I was having trouble weaving in and out of everything. I was also afraid of breaking something in the process. I'm sure some of the clipper ship experts out there will see the errors in the rigging!
The rat lines took the most time to make. I used heavy black thread to run the vertical lines, then used crazy-glue hardened black thread (for stiffening) and glued them across the vertical lines with white glue. I had to be careful with the tension in the rigging, as things would easily pull and bend all over the place (and sometimes break)!
I found some of the original parts had gotten brittle, so I had to be very careful when working with the model. I broke some of the mast parts a few times and had to reglue them.
I painted the model with Testors paints. I used a wash on most parts, and a little pastel to shade and "dirty up" some areas. I sealed everything with flattened Future. There were six crewmembers that came in a separate box, which I painted according to the instructions. The guy you see on the bow I found out is actually supposed to be up on one of the mast platforms, but I found that out AFTER I mounted him on the focsle. I ended up putting a guy on one of the mast platforms -- he's the only one sitting down -- and you will see another guy on deck calling up to him. I figured if I was a seaman in those days, I'd climb the mast, find a good place to sit, and take in the view!
The Captain is back on the stern with his helmsman. He has a yellow ascot!
The deck has some add-ons to make the viewing interesting. I added some crates that are covered in a net, and some stacks of dunnage lumber (one of them covered with a tarp), as well as some barrels (also covered with a tarp). I also made a few sacks and placed them around one of the deck houses to cover a big gap between the deck house and the deck itself. I made a few rolled up tarps out of tissue paper and placed them on top. You'll also see some oars scattered around (made from brass rod and plastic) as well as some coiled ropes, lines, etc.
The bilge pump needed a crankshaft and a few other parts that were missing. That's the big handwheels you see painted red. I tried to make the model colorful, but avoid a toy-like appearance. One thing I like about using washes and pastels is that my underlying paint job doesn't have to be perfect!
The flags at the top of the main and mizzen mast are the original paper flags that came with the kit. However, I made the flag on the foremast -- it has my brother's initials on it, for that personal touch!
The bow has the original copper chain that came with the kit. It cleaned up nicely and looks sharp! The anchor chain I already had in my parts kit. The anchor stocks were scratch-built. I must have broken off that dolphin spike a dozen times during the build!
Hope you enjoy the pics!
