Largest THERMOPYLAE Clipper Tall Ship (Cutty Sark's Rival) scratch built 1:64 rare [Full Screen]

THERMOPYLAE (1868): The fastest clipper ship to have sailed the oceans of the world....
Model Ship:
- Length 1235 mm - Height 790 mm - Breadth 175 mm
- Finely Crafted
- Largest Scale in the world: 1:64
- Built from scratch over thousands of hours, including research
- Project duration: 3 years
- Highest possible accuracy based on original plans, historical drawings, paintings and photographs
Clipper Ship Rivalry: Thermopylae versus Cutty Sark:
They were grand, towering spectacles and, for a few years, the swiftest transport vessels on the oceans. A clipper ship, with a mainmast almost as tall as the ship’s length, was a sight to behold even at anchor. At sea, riding a strong wind under full sail, it was the marvel of its time. They had inspired names: Flying Cloud, Flying Fish, Hurricane, Stag Hound, Westward Ho, Lightning, Sea Witch. The most famous were the Thermopylae and Cutty Sark. They became great rivals in the England-China tea trade and, in a sense, sisters.
Thermopylae & Cutty Sark: Legends in Their Own Time:
Both vessels were Scottish-built. The Thermopylae, on its maiden voyage in 1868, set a speed record of 61 days from London to Melbourne. It then broke the transport record from Foochow back home to Gravesend.
The Cutty Sark was launched in 1869, and informal competition between the two fliers began the next year. The Thermopylae bested the Cutty Sark in 1870 and 1871. In 1872, the Cutty Sark held an estimated 400-mile lead until it lost its rudder in a severe gale in the Indian Ocean. It limped around the Cape of Good Hope and arrived in England a week behind its nemesis.
Not until 1876 did the Cutty Sark make the best time. The Thermopylae regained dominance the next year.
THERMOPYLAE was an extreme composite clipper ship designed by Bernard Waymouth of London and build in 1868 by Walter Hood & Co., Aberdeen.
In 1897 she was sold to the Portuguese Navy as a training ship and renamed PEDRO NUNES, after a 16th century Portuguese mathematician and geographer. The vessel was converted to a coal hulk and finally sunk by gunfire as target practice on 13th October 1907. In June 2003 a group of professional Portuguese divers found the remains of THERMOPYLAE about 30 meters down on the seabed off Lisbon. The hull is mainly buried beneath the sand but enough is visible to identify her as THERMOPYLAE.
Conclusion:
".... The delightful form of the hull of a tea clipper, gently twisting from a hollowed curve and flare at the bows to a slight inward inclination or tumblehome and then reversing the twist again into the grand sweep under the counter stern, all being moulded perfectly into the curves toward the keel, must surely rank as the most aesthetically perfect manmade shape. There is much to be learned about the purpose of life in looking back-as in our regard of the tea clipper ....George Campbell [China Tea Clippers, 1990]"
Ship Model Construction & Video by Vlasios Giannakainas (sidirodromeas).
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Thanks for watching...!
Facebook Page: / sidirodromeas

[@billbaynes3432]

The detail on this model is perfection indeed! On the Cutty Sark the bottom of the hull was covered in copper!

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you Bill !!! Yes, this ship had copper coverage too. I have all pieces of copper, bought from Italy some years ago but no time to fix them yet :-) I wish you all the best for a happy new year!

[@preteristlab-endtimes5683]

What beautifully clean lines. Congratulations of your labour of love. It's clipper-perfection and captures the wonder of sail. You did the age-of-sail proud in your rendition of this example of the marque. Respect to your dedication. I think you are amazing. Australia

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you so much my friend for such a nice and precious comment :-) I am very glad you liked it! My best greetings to the lovely people of Australia from Greece...

[@lawnmowermanTX]

@@sidirodromeas I have the Revel Models of both ships. I had sealed the hulls, put temporary compartment bulkheads in the hull, and put spackling compound with gravel for ballast, in an out/in door pool they both were awesome model sailing ships.. Is there a model of the Ben Nevis from the White Star line packet ships? I believe there was a a packet ship from Prussia to Texas (LaVaca) and to Australia. Is there any photos, or documents? What scale would this model ship be in, and is there any location where she was lost at sea or dismantled?

[@peterevens7968]

This is a beautiful ship, there is a street named after it on the Isle of Dogs in East London. She beat Cutty Sark on a tea run from China to London, as Cutty Sark lost her rudder in a severe storm. Both were exceptional vessels.

[@sidirodromeas]

Exactly Peter. Thanks for your comment.

[@cirrus1964]

But Cutty was ahaed, the captain of the Green Beauty, did not show his log book! He refused this!

[@makumjeff2257]

Beautiful build, well done

[@sidirodromeas]

makum jeff thanks!

[@clarepover6603]

Thanks for the view of a beautiful ship

[@sidirodromeas]

Clare, thank you!

[@user-zw6mh6vg7h]

very beautiful model

[@RPKGameVids]

Very nice!

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you!!!

[@melvinjohnson7033]

Very nicely done. Attention to detail evident. It would have been nice if you added some narration or wording so the viewers could have learned more about this fine model.

[@sidirodromeas]

Melvin Johnson, thanks for your kind comments! Although I thought I have included a lot of info in this video, I am thinking of trying this in my future videos....

[@ma32851]

cool ship!

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you Karl :-)

[@brucehaddow2666]

Thanks Vlasios, Very beautiful build. Where can one find original plans?

[@sidirodromeas]

Thanks Bruce. Please through my fb link

[@kklast]

hi, I have a model Cutty Sark 1800 mm long, scale 1:36. A detailed work. I believe the greatest ever made!

[@sidirodromeas]

Very good!

[@fightingbear8537]

Nice model 👌 I have a model of the Cutty Sark.

[@sidirodromeas]

Thank you Steven Lee

[@owntor1]

I believe Thermopylae had metal plating on the lower hull.

[@sidirodromeas]

Jim A, yes indeed! Copper plates below the green line for hull protection. I already have them but no time yet to put them on.

[@owntor1]

@Dwight Kurt Schrute III Yes it did. It had copper-zinc sheathing on the lower hull like the Cutty Sark. www.nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Monument_Thermopylae.php

[@sidirodromeas]

@Dwight Kurt Schrute III Wrong!!!

[@en4ce_]

Now in 1:2 😉

[@sidirodromeas]

Where my friend? Have a nice day :-)

[@en4ce_]

@@sidirodromeas just a joke, you did great work here :)

[@sidirodromeas]

@@en4ce_ thank you :-)