Titanic anniversary

This week marks the 97th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on the night of the 14th April1912 on it’s maiden voyage to New York.

A subject of great fascination for many people in Australia and overseas this recent news item from the National Archives in the UK  highlights some interesting and important records  in their collection to explore online.

If you’re luck enough to be going to the UK for holidays you might want to catch the Titanic honor and glory exhibition the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.

Or check out some Titanic books available from our Museum Store.

 

Join us on Endeavour

Do you dream to follow in the wake of Captain Cook, sailing the Endeavour along Australia’s coast? Well, now you can! Your ocean adventure begins when you board the world-recognised Endeavour replica and set sail for Cooktown. On your voyage leg, you will learn to sail, live and sleep like an 18th-century seafarer.
Find out more.

 

Frame restoration for the portrait of Sir John Franklin: part 2

Once the object was cleaned every little crack and loss area was stabilized with a consolidant mixture of Plextol B500 water and ethanol. Plextol is an acrylic emulsion and in this mix it is dilute enough to seep into the fragile areas to protect them and prevent any further losses or flaking of the gesso and gold. Once this was completed the loss areas of ornament and uneven surfaces were built up and modeled with gesso putty, smoothed with sandpaper and a damp cloth.

The old restorations of the running flower and bead ornament at the outside of the frame were removed. Many of these were done very crudely and did not correspond to the surrounding decoration. A cast was then taken of the original area with a laboratory polysiloxan, a material commonly used by dentists.

Detail of areas where old restorations have been removed.

Area of frame ornament being cast with dental putty.

Composition putty was made using the same ingredients that would have been used originally. Composition is made from chalk, rabbit skin glue, hide glue, rosin, glycerol and linseed oil. The mix is then kneaded like dough and then pressed into the mould to form the replacement areas. They were then carved down to fix into the frame, like a jigsaw puzzle.

Deatil or corner showing my new compo restorations and gesso build ups.

Frame overview with all the new fills and mouldings.

All the new gesso and compo areas were then coated with an isolation layer of B-72 in toluene.B-72 is an acrylic resin which can be used as an adhesive or coating material and is commonly used in conservation due to its excellent ageing properties. Once dry the replacement areas along with the gesso fills were painted with gouache to imitate the original bole colour used on the frame. Traditional Bole is natural clay, usually an earth red or ochre yellow. Other colour varieties include grey and black. Traditional bole, as opposed to gouache, was used for its fineness which is easily burnished (polished) it provides a smooth surface for gilding and the colour will impart on the tone of the gold leaf .

Now for the good stuff- the 23 karat gold leaf. In total 6 books of gold were used, there are 25 leaves in a book. After a day of blinding gold sample surveying, the right tone and quality of gold leaf was chosen. The adhesive was painted to the surface. This mixture is the same plextol mixture that was used for consolidating the frame. The gold leaf is transferred from the book onto a suede board and then carefully cut into the desired pieces (no breathing allowed!).

Cutting the gold leaf on the gilder's pad.

Once ready the gold leaf is gently picked up with a gilder’s tip (a flat wide brush made from squirrel hair). The adhesive on the area to be gilded is reactivated by exhalation and then the gold is laid to the surface.

The frame was not completely gilded, only the damaged areas were gilded this is called in-gilding, this minimizes the restoration and provides a more sympathetic and historically authentic result.

Detail of corner ornament with new gilding.

Once this was completed the gold was burnished with a tool made from an agate stone. The in-gilded areas were then de-stressed with light steel wool and cotton as well as an abrasive material called rottenstone (not what its name suggests!).This matches the in-gilded areas with the original damaged gilded surface and unifies the whole frame.

Any areas needing a final touch of gold goodness were painted lightly with mica pigments. Mica pigments do not tarnish or discolour like commercial metallic paints,they are mixed with Plextol and are removable with acetone.

 

Giant guitar boat makes waves during museum visit

The museum was home to a very unique guest for the first two weeks of February… the custom-made guitar boat SS Maton.

Josh Pyke and his guitar boat at the museum

The extraordinary vessel which starred in the music video for ARIA-award winning singer/songwriter Josh Pyke’s hit single ‘Make You Happy’ was on display at the museum while it was being auctioned off for charity.

The SS Maton – named for the brand of guitar Josh Pyke plays – made headlines late last year when Pyke cruised around Sydney Harbour in it for the music video. During filming, images of the boat spread rapidly across the world on the internet. The video clip even became the #1 featured video on YouTube world wide.

The boat was custom-designed and measures an amazing 6.1 metres from the top of the neck to the base, and is just over 2 metres wide. In all it took a week to build at a workshop at Fox Professional Studios in Moore Park. Made from plywood, polystyrene and steel it weighs around 250 kgs. It also features a small outboard motor hooked over the back to propel it across the water and even a giant plectrum (guitar pick)!

The choice of a guitar boat for his music video is not such a strange one for Pyke … he admits to a strong seafaring influence in his song writing.

‘I’ve always been interested in maritime history… my ancestors were all whalers and Navy men, so I feel some kind of pull for that kind of life and history,” Pyke says.

And it’s not such a surprise to see Pyke and the guitar boat at the museum… the song ‘Make You Happy’ is from Josh’s new album ‘Chimney’s Afire’ which has a distinct nautical feel.

“Ever since I was a kid reading adventure books, especially Huckleberry Finn, I’ve always had the desire to jump on a raft and disappear down a river…I relate solid, seafaring adventuring tales as the romantic, alternate universe that I’d want to live in if I was ever to throw it all away and disappear,” he said.

It’s the language of the whaling era which seems to have struck such a chord with Josh and can be heard flowing through the album. ‘Chimney’s Afire’ is the cry whalers of yesteryear made when they harpooned a whale and a plume of blood and water would spurt from its blowhole.

“It’s a horrifying, brutal image, but the actual language is evocative and quite amazing,” says Pyke. Other songs on the album include ‘The Lighthouse Song’, ‘Where Two Oceans Meet’ and the title track ‘Chimney’s Afire’.

The guitar boat was on display at the museum from 2 to 12 February where it attracted a large number of visitors and publicity. The eBay auction was a success with a final winning bid of $7,100. All proceeds raised went to the Indigenous Literacy Project.

Josh Pyke on board the guitar boat

 

Happy Birthday Mr Darwin

Today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin and five weeks until the grand opening of our forthcoming exhibition Charles Darwin – Voyages and ideas that shook the world.

Around the world there are celebrations, exhibitions, seminars, book launches and other activities during the whole year – not only marking 200 years since Darwin was born but 150 years since he published On the Origin of Species.

Our exhibition will be in the North Gallery and Gallery One opening to the public on Friday 20 March with material from our own collection plus The British Museum, National Maritime Museum Greenwich, Oxford University, SLNSW, National Library, Queensland and Tasmania. Some material will be on show for the first time.

We are also holding a symposium on 20 and 21 March in conjunction with the Australian Research Council – In the wake of the Beagle – Science in the southern oceans from the age of Darwin.

Cheers and enjoy the year of Darwin

Lindsey Shaw
Senior Curator Maritime Technology Exploration & Navy

 

New library research guide – HMS Beagle

We all know about Charles Darwin but what about the Beagle we hear you ask..

Most people know the HMS Beagle as the ship on which Charles Darwin’s sailed on his world famous voyage that was a catalyst to developing his theory of evolution.  At the Vaughan Evans Library we thought it was time that the Beagle emerged from Darwin’s shadow.

HMS Beagle is a new library research guide for those who would like to find out more about this small survey vessel which played such an important part in Australian and world history. The guide covers printed and online sources and also includes information on crew,  logs  and accounts of voyages,  Darwin’s voyage  and recent archaeological expeditions to find it’s final resting place.

Find it and other research guides in the Library pages on the Museum’s website.

Making HMS Beagle - see the construction of a model for the Museum here on the Museum blog.

 

End of the trip now lets plan the next one

All good expeditions must come to an end, equipment must be returned to its owners, expedition members returned to their families, friends and employers, charter vessels have to be cleaned, resupplied, the crew changed over and then sent back out to sea with a different set of passengers seeking different diving locations and sites.

The same applied to the Mermaid 2009 expedition. On Thursday morning we had to have everything and everyone of the vessel by 8.15 to allow the crew and the vessel to prepare for its afternoon departure.

After a hasty breakfast the packing of gear continued and cabins, storage areas, the dive deck and saloon were checked for left items, books, electrical cables, cameras, misplaced T Shirts and lost toothbrushes. While all this was going on I organised a vehicle to pick up all the offloaded equipment and arranged accomodation for those expedition members who were staying over nght in Cairns.

Peter Illidge said his goodbys and commenced his drive back to Townsville ferrying equipment we had borrowed from James Cook University and the Museum of Tropical Queensland. We also said our goodbys to Dr. Nigel Erskine and Dr. Lloyd Fletcher who were also leaving us today in Cairns.

Whilst the remaining crew were seeing the sites of Cairns – Paul Hundley, Lee Graham and I were playing material conservators – packing the artefacts recovered from HMCS Mermaid in absorbent gel and protective boxes – before they made their long trip to Sydney and into the care of the conservation section at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

In the evening the remaining crew members got together for a final meal together before flying out to their respective States. Like all good things expeditions must come to an end BUT as the evening meal progressed talk moved onto other wrecks on other reefs off the coast of Australia.

Museum archaeologist Dr. Nigel Erskine dreaming of new shipwrecks on new reefs.

Expeditions such as this one are only as successful as the crew are experienced, innovative and hard working.  A very big thankyou (in no particular order) to Peter Illidge, Warren Delaney, Ed Slaughter, Wayne Morris, Grant Luckman, Lloyd Fletcher, Elaine Cuzens, Alice Lafferty, Megan Blacker, John Mullen, Jacqui Mullen, Jenni Mullen, Stephen Day, Lindsay Birley, Greg Tanner, Scott Northcutt, Anne Northcutt, Christina Koh, Andrew Turner, Grant Bowering, Xanthe Rivett, Nikki McNicole, John McNicole, Lesley Howlett, Laurie Carrico, Mark Stewart, Cathy Stewart, Meyric Slimming, Fred Pakoa, Lee Graham, Paul Hundley and Nigel Erskine.

Mermaid Project 2009 Expedition Team

 

A big hats off to Trevor Jackson, skipper of Spoilsport, Kerrin Jones, Spoilsport Cruise Director and all of the crew at Mike Ball Dive Expeditions including Craig Stevens, Stirling Robertson,Warren Boast James, Richard Kennedy, Alex Michael, Tristan Bright, Bre Jenkins and Katrina along with the crew of Nimrod and Pirate for their hard work, professionalism and sense of humour.

Silentworld Foundation dive vessel Nimrod on station at Flora reef

I would also like to thank the expeditions sponsors Silentworld Foundation without whose assistance this expedition would not have been possible.  

Mike Ball Dive Expeditions vessel Spoilsport off Flora Reef

 

Flora Reef 14 January (but really back in Sydney)

Well its been almost two weeks since my last post on the Mermaid Project blog and a lot has happened in that time.

On the morning of Wednesday 14 January the Mermaid Project team along with the gallant crew of Spoilsport found themselves anchored yet again off the southern edge of Flora Reef. We had relocated the site the previous evening and had commenced the preliminary post recovery assessment of the site in less than ideal conditions. However conditions had moderated overnight and underwater visibility had improved enough for us to complete our assessment.

Despite the largish seas which had been washing over the site for the last five days or so we could see no additional scouring or disturbance to the seabed on the Mermaid site – the areas where artefacts had been recovered from looked much the same as the rest of the reef – and there did not appear to be any additional corrosion occuring on the exposed iron concretions.  The Mermaid’s anchor also appeared quite stable although reef areas further south of the anchor appeared to have been damaged by the robust seas.

Whilst the two sites were being assessed by Paul Hundley, Lloyd Fletcher, Grant Luckman and myself the gallant mag and manta board crew of Ed Slaughter, Lee Graham, Peter Illidge and Nigel Erskine were doing it all again but this time for Xanthe Rivett’s camera – just in case we missed any crucial footage the first time round. All the crew acted like old hands (or is that old hams) and the filming was completed in record time.

After the work dives were completed we all took the opportunity to be photographed as a team around the Mermaid anchor before starting the lengthy task of checking and washing the gear and stowing it away in preparation for our departure from Flora Reef in the afternoon.

Spoilsport departed Flora Reef and the site of the Mermaid at 1400 and we arrived back in Cairns about 1830 in the evening.

Last dive on the Mermaid

The Mermen of the Mermaid Project 2009

 

Week 16

Happy New Year to you all! This is the last update for this project, as HMS Beagle is now complete!

The completed model of HMS Beagle: side view

The completed model of HMS Beagle: front view

The completed model of HMS Beagle: top view

The completed model of HMS Beagle showing the hull detail and plinth.

The model making part of the project was finished just before Christmas, leaving only the base and the brass plinths to be completed.

The base is made of a piece of Dark Teak with an ornate edging which I routered in keeping with the design of the brass plinths. I used a teak oil finish, giving the wood a burnished look by using three layers of wax after the oil had dried. The plinths themselves were turned by a good friend of mine, as my poor lathe could not cope with 40mm brass rod! I decided against the traditional glossy brass, as the brushed metal blends better with the rest of the display.

The model of the Beagle showing the teak base and brass plinths.

The completed model of HMS Beagle: deck detail

Once it was all stuck and bolted together it was time to step back, critically examining the overall “look” of the model – how all pieces work together, how the shading fits in the with the rest of the ship, whether colours blend in, and whether there is anything that really stands out. Having a Christmas break allowed me to forget the model for a time and fresh eyes picked out many small problems which careful airbrushing helped to remove. I thought the main flag looked rather stiff and unnatural, so made a few alterations. The flag and the pennant are made out of shim brass sheet, a very thin brass ideal for the job, with a wire soldered to the edge for the rope. This was painted white, and transfers added for the art work. The metal was twisted to look like a flowing piece of material, and, using my trusty airbrush, I added shading to the folds,  allowing it texture and definition.

The main problem was cleaning the deck. Imagine the deck, carrying canons, rigging, winches and numerous other apparatus, as well as bits and pieces of materials left over from the production of the model! Firstly I thought I’d blow the pieces out. I blew….and all the bits went to the other side of the deck. I did it again… and they went back to the opposite side once more. I eventually spent a very long two hours picking out the bits using tweezers!

It certainly has been a journey, but as we draw to the end of the “making of the Beagle”, I hope it has been as enjoyable for you as it has for me. This has been my first model of a sailing ship, and I called upon many sources of information and excellent books in the making and understanding of such. In particular, I would like to credit Karl Heinz Marquardt’s work “HMS Beagle Survey Ship Extraordinaire”, from the ‘Anatomy of a Ship’ series. This book is designed for model makers and was a huge help in getting the project to completion. I have always said that the one of the major problems facing model makers is finding information, and was pleased to note that this was not the case at all in the making of the Beagle!

The completed model of HMS Beagle: deck detail

All pictures of the model used in the updates were taken using my Nikon camera. I have been using black out roller blind from Spotlight, (available in both blue and white), and why I did not do this years ago I do not know, as I think the effect has been brilliant.

I would like to thank the following people for their help and support throughout this project:

Nigel Erskine – Curator, Richella King -Manager of Online Services, Myfanwy Appleton – Web Editing, Peter Webster – Artillerist, Tim Smith – Marine Archaeologist, Mike Rikard-Bell – Marine Archaeologist, Ben Joseph – Plinth Turner, RIchard Taylor – Advisor, Glen Andrews – Retailer, Rhonda Brewer – Retailer.

Finally, I am open to any questions you may have, please feel free to get in touch for a chat.  I gave an interview on ABC Radio on the 19th of January which you can listen to.

On the first of February I will be giving a talk on the Beagle and professional model making in general at the Australian National Maritime Museum. For further information  please visit  the museum’s website.

I look forward to seeing the ship on display as part of the Charles Darwin exhibition on the 20th of March 2009 in the ANMM Gallery One!

Contributed by model-maker Mike Bass.

 

Flora Reef

Members of the Mermaid Project during a rain squall.

Warren Delaney from the Maritime Archaeological Association of Queensland. One of the Mermaid Project 2009 volunteers.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Late on Monday night the intrepid Mermaid Project 2009 crew anchored off Fitzroy Island south of Cairns where we then waited for the crew of Pirate to join us for a few hours to pick up video footage of the Mermaid site which Xanthe had compiled for a media release on the discovery.

After the drop off Spoilsport headed south for Flora Reef and the wreck of the Mermaid – on the way the vessel passed through bands of turgid and dirty water, complete with whole trees, a result of the floods that had inundated parts of Cairns a few days earlier.

Arriving at Flora Reef divers quickly located the wreck but conditions on site were in marked contrast to the conditions we were working in ten days earlier. The strong North Westerly winds had picked up sand and sediments and the water had now taken on a milky appearance – photography was out of the question. The Mermaid was inspected and despite the exposed nature of the site no scouring of the seabed was detected and no artefacts had been exposed.

The dive to locate the Mermaid’s ketch anchor was less successful. The GPS marks were inaccurate and despite a swim search the anchor could not be located. After checking the GPS marks the anchor bouy was retrieved and the site re-bouyed. This time the divers were more successful with Lee, Grant and Ed relocating the anchor. Although the anchor was OK the team reported that some of the nearby coral bommies had been overturned during the recent south-easterlies.

The afternoon on Flora Reef was spent looking for surveying bouys left on the Reef the previous week, cleaning and packing equipment and backing up date. In the evening the crew were treated to one of Xanthe’s AV productions on the survey of Endeavour Reef. I will endeavour (pun intended) to upload the AV once we get back to Cairns on Thursday.