Blue Ensign

Have you thought of silver soldering Kevin. I haven't done much of it, but I have made attachments to fine brass work and I use Palmer Metals combined solder/flux in a syringe which is applied in a very neat bead and comes in different melt points for repeat additions to a unit piece. More expensive than the ordinary sort, but gives a satisfying result. B.E.

Post 14 Capping/Drift Rail (Part46) Much as I liked the idea of the pre marked capping rails, when I came to fit them they just looked too broad to my eye. This would have been exacerbated by my desire to add even a very thin edging strip with a profile moulding cut into it. 1820 The provided strip measures 4.5mm wide which equates to 11.3". The scantlings table in the Alert book gives the Drift rail width of 7½" which equates to 3mm at scale. I understand the over-scale width maybe a necessary simplification to incorporate the cut outs for the timberheads etc; and ease construction, but I have decided to go another route. I recall that I had the same issue with the Pegasus kit where the Drift rails also had to be reduced in width. 1806(2) For Alert I used Pear wood strip of 3x1mm which is a perfect fit for the drift rails, and add a moulding to the outside edge. 1812(2) The provided rails may come in to use as a template to mark the cut out positions but for the dedicated kit basher they aren't really necessary as the positions are clearly marked on the plans. New Paint job. I wasn't really happy with the shade of blue I first painted the topsides with. On reflection it looked too bright, somehow at odds with the red internal scheme, perhaps too modern looking. These things are hard to pin down. The revised scheme is based on Humbrol Matt 96 which is RAF Blue. At a pinch I think you could get away with this on its own, it has a muted dusky blue/grey tone. 1800(2) However, I thought it needed making slightly paler and a tad brighter. To achieve this I added white paint by degrees, testing each sample, until I arrived at the final shade I was happy with. 1811 1816 That's it for the outboard work for the present. To reach this point has taken some seven weeks of fairly regular work time. Amusing to think how many models Chris Watton has completed in this time, I think he must have an army of Elves down in the Forest of Dean working night shifts. I will now attend to planking the deck before I begin tinkering with the clinkering on the lower hull. B.E. 16/08/2019

L.G. Carr Laughton in his book Old Ship Figureheads and sterns, covers this subject at some length. He specifically notes as a curiosity that in paintings and models the upper works of the period sometimes show the ground as blue or red, when "we know with some certainty that there was strict regulation that the colour should be black." This appeared to go back to the17th Century, and he cites an Admiralty order of 12 July 1715 that "the outsides of ships be painted of the usual yellow colour and the ground black". This doesn't mean that the rule was always adhered to, but in terms of fancy frieze works, it was usually restricted to ships of importance, and less so even on those, as the Napoleonic war ground on into the 19th c. With regard to cutters like Alert, they were utility vessels, commanded by low ranking officers, probably without the wherewithal, or authority, to pay for special paint jobs. If the topsides were painted at all I would guess it would be black. Even so I am happy to display my Alert with blue painted topsides, but I won't be adding the etch decoration. B.E.

Thank you Kurt, she's still looking a bit rough at the moment, but I like to get some paint on her so I can judge the effect before I proceed too far. I think you're on the right track regarding the shade of blue for the topsides. This is the sort of tone I will ultimately aim to get. Of course using blue anyway is probably artistic licence as the official colour was black, but blue does make a nice contrast with the wood. Cheers, B.E.

Post 13 Laying down some paint. Having taken a minimalistic approach to paint on my Cheerful build, with this model I am going to broadly follow the paint scheme as indicated in the Alert Book. I am using Vallejo Flat Red 031 for the internal paintwork, as I did with Cheerful. 1716(2) This is a good point to coat the internal bulwarks and internal faces of the ports. 1719 Once the spirketting had been painted I added the Waterway using 1/32" Boxwood square stock. For the stern and topsides the suggested Humbrol Matt Blue(25) is a tad too dark for my taste. 1770(2) I concocted my own mix based on the formula I used for Pegasus. The base paint is Humbrol Matt 89 (Middle Blue) to which Matt 25 (Matt Blue) and Matt 27 (sea Grey) and are added. The proportions are roughly 60% (89) 30% (25) 10% (27) 1769(2) Still not entirely convinced that I've got the shade right yet, but this is ok for a base coat. Mouldings and rails There are mouldings across the stern at Counter, Transom and Tafferal. 1721 I used 1/16th Boxwood strip for the purpose thinned down a little. These are much enhanced by scribing a simple relief using a razor blade cut pattern. 1718 For the Sheer rail which runs beneath the gun ports the kit indicates using plain 1mm x 1mm strip. I used a tad wider Boxwood stuff and as with the stern rails I scribed a profile on the face. The kit paint scheme indicates this be painted black, but I prefer to leave it bright. I rather liked the look of treenails on my Cheerful model. After some thought I decided to add the treenails along the broadside above the wale. 1759(4) Taking the arrangement from the Alert book drawings, I used a 0.6mm micro drill and filled the holes using a filler mix. Not very distinct but that's how they should be. A coat of wipe-on poly is applied to seal the surface. B.E. 14/08/2019

Post 12 Cutting the Ports The kit provides a combined capping strip/ gun port template (46) which has the port positions marked, along with the slots for the timber heads. 1640 These are very delicate strips and in my kit the front ends had broken away even before removal from the supporting fret. Even so they are a good idea, simplifies and takes all the hassle out of making a rail. I always find the cutting out of ports a tricky business, but at least these are only half ports. 1641 To assist the process it is useful to have:- A square section strip the size of the port, with two grades of sandpaper stuck to two of the sides. I'm using an 8mm square section of Walnut. A gauging strip with the 4mm and 6mm depths cut out to mark and check progress. A good quality narrow blade razor saw, and scalpel for cutting and paring. 1639 Once the ports have been marked, Tamiya tape is used as guides for the vertical cuts. 1636 Always a relief when this job has been done. 1643 With care things will go well, but watch the angles of the vertical cuts across the top, they are not all square to the keel, but follow the curve of the bulwark. B.E. 11/08/2019

Post 11 Planking above the wale Above the wale I have used Boxwood strip forming three strakes down to the wale top. At the aft end the planks are shaped to meet the lower side counter pieces. 1598(2) I won't completely finish these Top sides off until I have cut the half ports along the bulwark. 1606 I then moved onto planking the internal bulwarks. For the Spirketing I used kit Pear wood strips,(1x3mm and 1x4mm) Above this I used a Boxwood strip sanded back to the top line. 1607 The second layer of the Wales were then attached using 6x1mm Boxwood strip. A rabbet is cut into the bow stem to take the forward end which is slightly reduced in thickness. The plank requires a little heat bending to take the stress out of it and before fitting the three Hook and and Butt scarph joints are represented by scribing into the surface. I have followed the arrangement from the Goodwin Alert book. Using Caldercraft metal black paint I applied a thinned coat to seal the wales, but these will need to be finished much further down the road. As suspected the scarf joints are barely visible, and probably not worth the effort. 1604 1605 I added the waterways along the deck, cut from some Boxwood sheet. 1609 Starting to look a little better now, my next job will be to cut the half ports along the bulwark, before planking the deck. B.E. 08/08/2019

Just beautiful, a worthy addition to the main build. B.E.

Thank you Dave and Kurt. @ Dave, - Bashing is part of the fun, I fully accept that most kits contain simplifications to appeal to a wider customer and skill base, and Alert is no exception. The single exception in my case is Cheerful, but that is on a completely different level. Good luck with the fairing, one of my least favourite jobs. @ Kurt - I will temporarily attach the wale with pins to mark the positions, and then scribe them off the model. When the wales are completed I doubt they will be very evident beneath the black paint. Regards, B.E.

Post 10 Reworking the Transom:- I have already departed from the kit arrangement by incorporating lower side counter timbers. 1453 My next step is to glue the stern transom pattern (49) this also is planked with thin box strip. I think the stern pattern will stand a slight beefing up and the Box wood cladding will do the job. 1462 Initial trial fitting of the transom showed that there was no margin along the bottom of the gun ports inboard, to allow for the deck planking, which would otherwise rise above the framing. The one clear photo in the build guide shows such a margin, but that is without the 1mm planking applied to the platform deck above the counter. I had to tweak the transom piece by adding a strip along the bottom to raise it slightly above the deck level. Once this is done it is clearer to see how the upper side timber (75) which incorporates the boom crutch, can be accommodated. 1463 With the Transom piece fitted, I now have a solid edge to work the Upper side timbers. I think the inboard framing detail of the kit Transom configuration is a little sparse, having only the four vertical counter timbers, which are either side of the stern ports. 1460 Using Boxwood strip I added the transom beam which runs across the top of the gun ports, and a Tafferal capping strip. 1464 1459 Fixing Capping rails to the transom involves an eclectic mix of clamping items. These small additions, replicate more accurately the stern framing of the cutter, and imho greatly improve the look of the model, or will once I've fettled it. 1476 The modifications require making new side pieces including the crutch. The original piece is shown in the centre. 1481 These are attached to the transom and will be fine tuned on the model. 1482 A second layer lower Side piece is glued to the hull. These are quite intricate pieces that butt up to the upright and curve and twist down to meet the wale aft edge. 1486 Still very much wip but it is progressing as I hoped, and with the structure now there I can decide on the paint scheme and add the second layer wale timbers. B.E. 05/08/2019

The boat looks good Chris, in scale terms what size is it? I like the inclusion of a deck boat on a model, and had to scratch them for my Pegasus build, so a 1:64 scale boat included with a kit would appeal to me. B.E.

Well at least you won't have to paint Donald Duck on the 4" gun shield. 😃 B.E.

Love this kit, especially when enhanced with etch and more true scale fittings. Major visual differences to the original Bluebell kit are the shape of the radar cover, some of the Carly floats, and Porthole layout. Some good reference photo's in Canada's Flowers by Thomas G Lynch, and Ensign 3 and man o' war 7' by Antony Preston and Alan Raven. Two other reference works I have are Flower Class Corvettes by John Lambert, and Corvettes of The Royal Canadian Navy by Ken Macpherson. Looking forward to see what you do with her Kevin. B.E.

I think I'll defer the paint versus varnish finish until I see how I do. Not even thought about treenailing at this scale.🤔 Regards, B.E.

Cheers Dirk, In that case I will use the 0.7mm thick stuff, it is very pliable and has an adequate range of widths, I did use it for the exterior planking and deck planking on my Pegasus build. Regards, B.E.

Thanks Dirk, I do have a supply of Boxwood strip of a nominal 0.7mm in varying widths which I was thinking of using. I thought with such a thin strip I wouldn't have to attempt rebating the upper edges of the strakes, the downside of course is that there is little room for sanding out mistakes. When you did your clinker planking did you find that differing strip widths were needed? Regards, B.E.

So am I Kurt,😃 I haven't yet formulated my approach to the clinker planking , I will give my full attention to that once I have completed the topside planking down to the Wale. Goodwin gives the size of the planking as approx 12" broad amidships and 2½" thick (4.76mm x1mm ) at scale. Looking at the book drawings they seem to equate to 6mm x1mm boards with a rabbet of 1.5mm to a depth of 0.25mm. The Garboard plank looks to be 9mm wide at mid point. I do have a fair range of timbers of varying widths and thicknesses. Cheers, B.E.

Post 9 Going off Piste - So to begin the next stage At this point things start to get interesting. I am departing from the kit arrangement of completing the second planking and then adding the wale. I need to add the wale at this point because below this level the planking is Clinker built, above the wale it is carvel. The lower hull planking will start at the garboard plank because below the wale the planks overlap the one below. If I sound confident and knowing what I'm talking about - always remember - appearances can be deceptive, and there will be plenty of time for me to bail out and revert to a carvel hull. The Wale According to the Goodwin book Alert had a single plank wale measuring 15" broad x 5" thick. (6mm x 2mm) This correlates pretty well with the kit dimensions of (2) 3mm x 1mm planks, which allowing for the second planking, is spot on. Fixing the wales is one of the most critical parts of a build and it takes some time and adjustments to get it looking right to your eye. 1391 I used Tamiya tape to initially mark the position of the lower line of the wale, this again correlates with measurements comparisons between the book and kit drawings. 1380 I then add a narrow strip at the lower edge of the wale position, to use as a guide to fit the wale. Actually this was the same strip as I used for my Cheerful build, pretty close for sheer but obviously shorter in length. I am using 6mm x 1mm strips of Boxwood for the wales, each wale will consist of two layers to give a finished thickness of 1mm over the second planking layer. The top layer will have the butt and hook scarphs scribed into the surface, but these may not clearly show once the wale is blackened. 1377 The wales are shaped at the stern to allow for the lower stern side counter pieces. These I cut out from some broad Boxwood Strip using the kit part (76) as a template. 1384 They are temporarily pinned into place until the upper bulwark top layer planking is completed. I have followed the arrangement for these side timbers as indicated in the Alert Book. 1378 A funny angle but the photo shows the curve of the side counter pieces to follow the wale line. 1383 Moving on... B.E. 01/08/2019

Post 8 Sand, fill, and the tweaks begin The hull has been filled where necessary using a very light and fine filler, sanded, smoothed, and sanded again. I used a thin vertical strip to highlight any hollows. My hull wasn't in bad shape prior to the sanding but I found that Chris's estimate of an hours' work for the sanding process to be somewhat optimistic in my case.🙄 1338 At this point I added the uppermost strake of 1.5 x 4mm strip. 1340 Using a full strip I formed a lateral bend to follow the sheer line and a slight curve to round the bow section. Went on quite easily but pinning thro' the upper end of the bulkhead extensions did split many of them. Clamps and pegs were used to secure the strakes during gluing, don't think pins are really required. Counter pattern (48) 1341 When I first fitted this I wasn't happy with the result, and removed it. It seemed to lack that graceful curve following the line of what would be the lower stern counter timber. This is because the stern frames are straight on their underside rather than concave. This is clearly evident on the kit build photo's which show it as a near straight line, which creates a mismatch to the curve of the lower counter pattern represented by part (76) In my opinion this produces a less than desirable look. 1343 Before fitting the counter pattern I would suggest that the curve of part 76 is marked on the stern timbers and the curve sanded into the profile, as shown above and below. 1344 1346 The lower counter pattern (76) temporarily in place. 1347 This is the effect I'm looking for. 1349 I then re-attached the Counter pattern (48), Note: I have left planking the tuck until later, I want the diagonal planking to go over the ends of the second planking rather than the other way around. 1357 With the counter in place I planked it horizontally with thin Box strip. I will probably replace the counter timbers with Boxwood versions. I note a difference between the kit Alert and the book Alert in that the lower stern counter timber on the kit version ends atop the wale, whereas the book drawings show the timber carrying down with the wale butting against it, in the same manner as Cheerful. This is something else I will need to consider when fitting the wale. B.E. 31/07/2019

I'm leaning very much towards having a go at tinkering with clinkering 😃 B.E.

Well done Joe, a beautiful model . B.E.

I think we find there is much more to any build than we first thought Dave, but part of the fun is driving ourselves mad trying to get it right.🤔 I did take some liberties with the first planking , there's nothing like doing single planking with expensive timbers to concentrate the mind. 😃 Regards, Maurice.

You're making good progress mugje; Acetone is the stuff to use to remove ca. I apply it carefully with a cotton bud but be careful it will also remove the plates if it is used too liberally. I follow up the cleaning using a mixture of vinegar and salt rubbed over the plates, be careful not to snag them. The plates will need to be fully clean if they are to age evenly. Regards, B.E.

Post 7 Moving onto the Garboard Plank Back in the Boatyard I now invert the hull to start with the Garboard plank. On this kit with two plank layers it's not really necessary as the purpose of the first planking is to provide a solid and properly shaped hull form onto which the second layer is glued. However, the second layer will need to be properly planked for good effect so it does no harm to employ some of the techniques on the soon to be hidden first layer. 1169 The position of the Garboard plank at the forward end involves a little bit of best estimation. Because I have no rabbet the plank tapers to a near point at the bow end; I have it just forward of Bulkhead two and aft of the bottom end of the keel slot. 1171 The rest of the plank I have left at full width, but inducing some twist towards the aft end to allow it to lie flat against the false keel and stern post. If nothing else, fitting a specific Garboard plank will allow the correct position to be confirmed, and if it's a little out - well it will be covered up. I also bevelled the plank back edge where it meets the keel, and thinned it down a little on the back face where it runs into the stern post. Even so, a fair bit of thinning down will be necessary , basically down to nothing, to allow for the second planking. With the Garboard planks in place the adjoining plank is fitted. 1261 This quite a tricky one as there is a tight lateral curve at the forward end where it goes around the Garboard plank and into the stem slot. There is quite an acute angle to the plank end. I then add a third strake also requiring lateral bending at the bow end. 1264 To achieve the required bends the curve has to be formed at least a third along the length of a strip to get the required purchase. The Lime wood did not lend itself easily to the lateral bending process with breaks occurring at fault lines along the grain. I did suffer quite an attrition rate of breaking strips, a problem not experienced with hardwoods such as Box. This resulted in several of the strakes being made up of two planks butt joined. The final strip of a very irregular shape lies beneath the curve of the hull and was spiled to fit. Using the provided strip of all one width makes avoiding stealers almost impossible, but as a first layer base this is not really an issue. 1270 At the end of the first planking I am left with a pile of off-cuts. There is sufficient strip to do the job, particularly if you follow the suggested kit method of planking. So here is the completed first planking in all it's rough glory. 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 The sanding process now begins, there are a few hollows and ridges to sort out before I move on. Then comes the really interesting bit. B.E. 28/07/2019

Thank you Kurt, North Yorkshire was wonderful and the weather was kind to us. Being retired, life is one long vacation for us, I am happy to say.☺️ 0976 .... and the Fish and Chips at the Cod and Lobster in Staithes were delicious. Glad we didn't order the large portion! Back to the Boatyard. B.E.