Cutty Sark — 1869 British Tea Clipper Model (31.5 in / 80 cm, Western Red Cedar, Mahogany & Teak)
Cutty Sark — 1869 British Tea Clipper Model (31.5 in / 80 cm, Western Red Cedar, Mahogany & Teak)
How big is it?
Length about 80 cm / 31.5 in, height about 73 cm. Drawn to scale; the model outline is a simplified shape.
Model details
- Size
- 31.5 in / 80 cm
- Materials
- Mahogany, Western red cedar, Teak, Brass, Linen sails
- Construction
- Plank-on-frame, built by hand
- Condition
- Fully assembled, ready to display
- Display
- Wooden base with brass nameplate
- Collection
- Tall Ship Models - Admiral Line
- Item no.
- T375
A natural-wood Cutty Sark in cedar, mahogany and teak — three timbers, three tones, no paint to hide any of them.
Leaving the hull unpainted is a decision about what the model is for. Painted, it depicts a ship. Bare, it also shows how it was made: the run of individual planks, the grain shift where one timber meets another, the brass fittings against wood. Nothing is buried under lacquer.
Specification
- 31.5 in / 80 cm
- Plank-on-frame hull in western red cedar, mahogany and teak, natural finish
- Three masts and bowsprit with complete hand-knotted standing and running rigging
- Hand-stitched linen sails on every yard
- Deck detail: deckhouses, wheel, capstan, boats, rails and fittings
- Metal anchors and wooden rudder
- Solid wood base with engraved brass nameplate
- Fully assembled
The ship
Built on the Clyde in 1869 for the China tea trade and rendered obsolete on that route almost immediately by the Suez Canal, Cutty Sark found her real career carrying wool from Australia. She was the fastest thing on that run for years. She survives in dry dock at Greenwich.