DavidM

Oh, also, I now have binnacles in 1mm boxwood, plus the small chimney in CNC turned bass for sale

**PRE-ORDER OPENS AT 12.01AM, THURSDAY 16th JULY**
 
Hello,
 
Seems like an age since I updated this, but I have been very busy with both Flirt and new designs for an end of year kit release.
 
Anyway, I can say that I have all materials in and ready for both versions of Flirt. I am waiting for the plans, manual and boxes and labels to be delivered.
 
I mentioned in Jim's Flirt thread that I changed my mind about the boxes at the last minute (was going to have the same boxes as Alert and Speedy, even did the full box art for the kid). Because of the  length of some of the materials, the new box will be 520mm long (internal), 300mm wide and 90mm high. The kit components will fit much better.
 
I will paste what I wrote on the Flirt thread:
 
Standard version Flirt is already high spec, with laser cut pearwood and pearwood planking, Keel and bulkheads are 3mm MDF, and lower deck and stern frames are 2mm birch ply (the 2mm deck was initially meant to be done in 'Ceiba ply', but I decided this material was utter trash, and changed to much stronger 2mm birch ply) . There will be 2mm single blocks for rigging the cannon carriages if you so desire.
 
Master Shipwright version is crazy spec, but will look fantastic, DelF's version of Speedy looks wonderful. Flirt MS will have laser cut keel and bulkheads in the highest quality birch ply, all wooden laser cut parts in 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, 3mm and 4mm boxwood, second planking in boxwood too. Machined pearwood blocks as standard PLUS 90+ 2.5mm 2 hole pear wood blocks for rigging the cannon carriages.  This version also comes with the 18' cutter as standard, with 1x2mm boxwood planking.
 
Both versions will have 100 metre reels of Gutterman 0.1mm thread, so there's more than enough for rigging the cannon as well as masts and yards.
 
Both versions will be available to pre-order at 12am, as I know everything is in hand and all materials laser cut and fittings/wood packs made up, ready to go into the boxes once here.
 
 


 

 

 

 

Boxwood is almost 4 times the cost of even pearwood. It is much closer grained and very strong. The colour is different, lighter than pear wood. Boxwood is used a lot for delicate carving because it doesn't split like 'normal' woods. Flirt MS version has 6 laser cut sheets in varying thicknesses, and 1x4, 1x3 and 1x2mm boxwood strip for hull planking.

Yes, I will not ship a kit without the box. I have to wait until I get the boxes so I can measure the area and then get the sleeves made.
Yes, it means exactly that. The materials used are so expensive it can be nothing else but limited edition.
 
More may be available in the future if I decide to invest in the materials again, but not for a good while.

Standard version Flirt is already high spec, with laser cut pearwood and pearwood planking, Keel and bulkheads are 3mm MDF, and lower 2mm deck and stern frames are 2mm birch ply (the 2mm deck was initially meant to be done in 'Ceiba ply', but I decided this material was utter trash, and changed to much stronger 2mm birch ply) . There will be 2mm single blocks for rigging the cannon carriages if you so desire.
 
Master Shipwright version is crazy spec, but will look fantastic, DelF's version of Speedy looks wonderful. Flirt MS will have laser cut keel and bulkheads in the highest quality birch ply, all wooden laser cut parts in 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, 3mm and 4mm boxwood, second planking in boxwood too. Machined pearwood blocks as standard PLUS 90+ 2.5mm 2 hole pear wood blocks for rigging the cannon carriages.  This version also comes with the 18' cutter as standard, with 1x2mm boxwood planking.
 
Both versions will have 100 metre reels of Gutterman 0.1mm thread, so there's more than enough for rigging the cannon as well as masts and yards.
 
I changed my mind about the box very late, last week in fact. I am now having the same type as the small Fifie and Zulu, but a larger internal length (520x300x90mm), so the planking strips fit in better, plus I could have two labels for the boxes, one for the standard and one for the MS version.

OK, I have just finished the Flirt box art, ready to be sent to the printers.
 
I now have to wait until I have the plans, manual and boxes done for me.
 
For the Master Shipwright version of Flirt, I have decided to ditch the maple veneer deck due to high scrap rates, so have ordered 1mm thick maple sheet instead. As soon as that arrives, I can do the MS decks. Everything else is done, laser cut wise, and waiting to go into the boxes...

Well, this is it folks, it's all done. It's taken me just under 11 weeks from start to finish, and that's around 10 days longer than I planned, simply because I've had to re-learn rigging again. The last time I did a fully-rigged warship was about 13yrs ago, so I was just a little rusty. I rigged this model in about 12 or 13 days, in total. I actually re-learned swear words that I'd also long forgotten.
 
I have cut corners, there's no doubt, but that's more through necessity as I know Chris needed to get this kit sorted. Ordering the boxes is by far one of the longest jobs when it comes to wait times. But I can tell you that the model will now be available in early August (tentatively), and in standard and Master Shipwright editions.
 
Please ignore the strange rear shroud line in this first photo. They don't cross. It was just me moving blocks etc. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And here is the finished model, in various angles. Remember that the launch is only in one shot for effect as that will only be included in the Master Shipwright edition, and not shown on the box art.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And here's the manual's cover...
 

 
 
 
For me now, it's a very short break before I plough into the Amati Victory which I've just been told is being kitted for me at this moment. Hope you liked the Flirt build! I know it's abridged, but you can see the full manual in the kit   

Yes, I am just waiting for the finished model to complete the box art and manual.

1:64 H.M. Cutter Alert 1777
Vanguard Models
Catalogue # VM-01
Available from Vanguard Models for £180
 

 
 
The Alert, built in Dover by Henry Ladd and launched on 24th June 1777, was the largest class of cutter in the Royal Navy. Alert originally carried ten four-pounder carriage guns and six to twelve half-pounder swivel guns. She was one of fifteen cutters built for the Royal navy between 1777 and 1778. Smaller cutters were often purchased or built by private yards and then purchased by the Navy, but Alert was purpose built from the keel up.
 
In February 1778, Alert docked at Plymouth for an overhaul, to which some alterations were made to her hull and the ten four pounder carriage guns were replaced with twelve six pounder guns, raising her broadside weight by 30%. The guns were changed because six-pounder shot was more commonly available and, of course, they were more effective. Because of the increase in ordnance, the crew of the Alert was increased from sixty to eighty men, and recommissioned under a new commander, Lieutenant William George Fairfax. In May 1778, Fairfax was promoted to Commander and Alert was re-classed as a sloop to comply with Admiralty requirements. (Although always remained cutter rigged)
 
On 17th June 1778, the Alert, in company with the frigate Arethusa, spotted and intercepted the French frigate Belle Poule and the armed lugger Coureur, with the latter overhauled by the Alert and surrendered, returning to Spithead after the action with her prize. On 8th July of the same year, whilst on an independent deployment, searching for the enemy fleet, Alert was taken by surprise and captured by the French frigate Junon. Alert is reported as lost without trace on 15th December 1779. Alerts sister, Rattlesnake lasted a little longer, being wrecked on the island of Trinidad on 11th October 1781.

The model kit of the Alert is depicted after her refit with twelve six-pounder guns and a full complement of twelve half-pounder swivel guns, giving an ordnance total of twenty-four guns. Although not stated in the records when researching, it is possible that the upper bulwarks were fully planked, rather than having the open drift. The decoration that adorns the upper sides and stern is optional, as it is unlikely that the original vessel, when in service, would have had such decoration. This is inspired by the two paintings of the vessel by Joseph Marshall, which formed part of the George III collection of ship model paintings. It is possible the decoration would have been painted on during launch day, or if a prominent (Royal) figure visited to review the fleet.
 
The kit


H.M. Cutter Alert 1777 is the very first kit from Chris Watton’s own brand label, ‘Vanguard Models’. Of course, you will have heard of Chris’s name from kits released under the Amati (Victory Models) and Caldercraft/JoTika companies, as well as some magazine part-work stuff etc. I’ve bbeen watching this project come together both on and off Model Ship World, and the sort of effort that goes into producing a model kit. Vanguard’s new kit comes in a reasonably large box which is adorned with photos of the completed model, and some profile illustration too. Guess what? I got kit #001!! I’ll not claim any preferential treatment though! Lifting the lid and the first layer of bubble-wrap reveals a personalised customer letter and also a MASSIVE A3-size instruction manual which is spiral bound. We’ll look at this again a little later. 
 
Fittings

A neat little labelled box contains all of the fittings for Alert, carefully kept in one place, and very professional-looking too. Cutting the tape tab reveals a series of labelled bags. Everything in this kit is also labelled in the same way and easily cross referenced against both the parts inventory and during construction. It really does appear to have been made as intuitive and easy to follow as humanly possible.

The fittings are generally a mix of either resin or white metal. In the first pack we have the large winch which is cast in resin. This was originally intended to be white metal, but the quality of the parts was poor, so a new part was 3D designed and cast in light grey resin. Only a little clean-up is required to push this into service on Alert. Also in resin is the smaller windlass for the topsail bitts. The anchors are cast in white metal, and these look great. Very little preparation will be needed before they can be used.

More white metal fittings are supplied for the twelve 6-pounder cannon and the twelve half-pounder swivel guns. I would give these a clean-up with a file and some steel wool. Another pouch is supplied for the cannon shot.

One of the next packs contain steel pins for assisting with the first layer of planking. These look very nicely made and are sharp, with nothing malformed. It could be an idea to pilot drill the plank before using these, so as not to split any of the MDF frames or the planks themselves. The next two packs contain deadeyes and deadeye sheaves. The quality of these is very good, and definitely some of the nicest I’ve seen recently.

Three more packets contain two sizes of single block and one size of double block. Again, quality is evident here.

In the last three packets in the fittings box, you’ll find triple blocks, parrel beads and also the mainstay ‘mouse’.

 
Rigging

A zip-lock wallet contains six spools of very high-quality rigging cord in natural and black colours, as well as a sleeve of thicker natural thread which I think is for the anchor cables. This latter is handmade by Syren in the US, so you can be assured of its standards. Also note how each spool is labelled and inventoried so you won’t accidentally use the wrong cord when rigging.


 
Timber strip
Onto the timber strip. This initial release of Alert contains boxwood for the deck planking and pearwood for the hull. This sort of timber isn’t normally found in kits, with the recent exception of Master Korabel’s Avos kit’s XS Edition. It certainly is very welcome to see, and the standard of timber is excellent. I do believe that Chris will be releasing a slightly cheaper version of Alert with Tanganyika instead of pearwood and boxwood. Chris hopes this will retail for around £155 and is actually the same as he used in the prototype model you can see on the box lid and the photos in this review. All timber strip is packed into thick, sealed plastic sleeves, and clearly labelled so you can cross reference with the inventory to make sure you are indeed using the correct wood for the specific task.










Timber standards are high with a nice uniform colour per batch, no coarse grain or split ends and fuzziness. 
 
Sail cloth is supplied too, just in case you do indeed want to display in this manner. The material is provided as sheet, and you will need to use the drawings to draw out the shapes on the cloth and cut/sew. Sails aren’t really for me, but the option is there, should you want to display her in all her sheets to the wind glory!


 
Sheet material

Now we come to the sheet material. There are two thick, clear sleeves containing laser-cut material. This first sleeve holds all of the main constructional elements plus something rather unusual for a kit like this, and that’s a clear acrylic display base! 


The base is a simple but attractive slot-together affair whose parts just need to be gently removed from the sheet. They are also covered in a protective film that makes it look dull in my photo. Rest assured that the material underneath is crystal clear. To assemble this, you could either use an acrylic cement such as Tensol, or an epoxy that will also dry clear. One such product that comes to mind is from HpH Models in the Czech Republic. You can of course use Cyano glue, but make sure it’s the odourless variety so it won’t cloud the clear plastic.






The constructional stuff here comes in two sheets of 3mm MDF and one sheet of 2mm timber, all nice and warp-free. On the MDF, you’ll find the false keel, bulkheads, inner and outer bow patterns, stern planking and securing patterns, and the ship’s stove flue. The timber sheet contains the lower deck pattern (constructional element), and stern frames (middle, inner, outer). Laser-cutting is nice and neat with almost no localised scorching. It wouldn’t really matter either way though as these parts will be either hidden or bevelled. 

Our second sleeve of parts are all laser-cut from timber, with no MDF. Here, we have a combination of 3mm, 1.5mm and 1mm sheet material, containing parts for absolutely everything else timber-related on Alert, from gun carriages, hatch coamings, keep parts, cap rails, transom rails, tiller arm, trestle trees etc. You name it, it’s here. There are a few parts on the 1mm sheet which are hanging by only a few tabs due to the relative fragility of the tabs on a thin sheet, but all parts are perfectly fine. This material isn’t too rigid either, so those parts that need to be curved, such as the transom, will do so without any problem whatsoever. 






 
Photo-etch

The inclusion of photo-etch in models these days is almost de rigueur, and Alert is no exception. Three frets are included in 0.2mm, 0,4mm, and 0.6mm bare brass, and all as good as any such material that I’ve used in any of my magazine and book work over the last 10yrs. As well as the obvious and intricate outer hull scrollwork embellishments, you’ll find metalwork here for the bowsprit and masting, cleats, windlass parts, stanchions, rudder gudgeon and pintle brace, eyebolt rings, deck grating, anchor ring, rigging components, and even a neat nameplate for the clear acrylic stand. All parts should be nice and easy to remove with them being held with thin, narrow tabs. A jeweller’s file will be needed to clean up any nibs remaining from the tabs. 










 
Instruction book

This is epic in size! Printed in colour on thick paper stock in A3 size, the manual us spiral-bound instead of just being stapled. This means it will be easy to turn pages over, and the size is good for the eyes for those of us of whose youth has long since slipped away. The manual is 56 pages and begins with a side and upper elevation drawing of Alert, followed by a history and building tips/suggested tools and materials list. A full inventory is then supplied, along with images of the various sheets and PE frets. As the timber elements aren’t numbered on the sheets, you are advised to number each yourself before removal from the sheet. 


 
 
Construction sequences are given in photographic form with crystal clear English explaining everything along the way. All illustrations are also clearly annotated where required. The photographs are interspersed with more drawings of the vessel in various profiles, clearly showing the task at hand. A good example of how comprehensive the instructions are is the inclusion of a deck plank showing the planking format and the shift between the planks.



 
When it comes to masting, drawings are supplied for this with accompanying dimensions and diameters. As I always find masting the most frustrating task, the drawings are a big help and clearly mark out the plan of attack. Excellent rigging illustrations are also supplied, showing everything clearly, including seizing, ratlines etc. A guide to exactly which rigging block to use is also provided. No guessing like on many of the legacy kits that got so many of us started in this hobby. As also mentioned, sail plans are supplied so you can make and add these from the cloth that’s provided.


 
Conclusion
What a great start to Chris’s new venture, Vanguard Models. He does keep telling me that he’s learnt so much from this that he will change in future releases, but he does sell himself short, dramatically. If you know of Chris’s work from his previous designs with Amati and Caldercraft, then you will know his own personal style comes through in attention to detail and design approach. This is a gorgeous kit that will present many hours of fulfilling bench time. Materials quality is what what we have come to expect from high-end kits. All in all, a fantastic package!

 

 
My sincere thanks to Chris Watton for getting this out so quickly for me to feature as a review here on Model Ship World. To purchase directly, click this link at the top of the article.
 

 
 
 

Hi Folks .. Not sure if it's a Site Glitch or an Eamonn's Computer Glitch, but all content I follow (and have read) for the past 3 years (ish) has come up as Un-Read (and showing all as new content from back then)..  So I had to go to the 'Mark All Content As Read' tab on the bottom of the Main Forum Page and hit it !  Alas this means that I may have missed some very recent activity on your Logs (I will slowly have to locate the most recent stuff posted and go from there, prob from last Thursday) Just to let ye all know I'm not ignoring anyone    Honest .. I just had to mark every thing as Read cos there was a LOT of stuff suddenly showing up !
 
Cheers
 
Eamonn

Hi Folks ... Quick Update ..
 
This past week or so I have been properly examining the Stand situation, it was never my intention to display Ballahoo on the Kit stand but instead to build a kind of Launch Way of one type or another (very similar to Dirks in fact)
So after a fair amount of browsing through various examples of 'Slip Way' Type Stands, I narrowed it down to the one below.. This is one I first saw on Dubz's Sherbourne build log and also on another Cutter (in a Museum I think) and it seemed perfect !
It isn't quiet finished yet but is about 90% there, all that's left is to fine tune the Keel supports and build the upright side Supports (4 per side) then stain the whole affair Medium Oak colour.
The Base the stand is sitting on isn't the permanent one, the knots are a bit prominent (though that said I kinda like it  )
 
All The Best
 
Eamonn

And The Back Stays Are Done ..    (with No Obvious 'Deliberate' Mistakes Either 🙄 )
 
Got a fair bit of rigging done today, kinda got a production line going.
 
All The Very Best & Thanks For Stopping By
 
Eamonn
 

Ok Folks .. Bit of Dubz Style Deconstruction Time ..  I wasn't best pleased with the run of the Back Stays (where I made them off on the cap rail) so I put a Double Block in place of the Single (On the Running Part) and made them off at the Pin Rack ...  I want to point out that I didn't make a mistake and put a Single where there should have been a Double (If that's what you think 🙄😇  Honest..) ... The Plan is patiently wrong here, I'd show you but this Raccoon came in and ate that part ...  Cough Cough Ahem Ahem   ..
 
 
All The Best
 
Honest Eamonn Owner At 'We Don't Make Mistakes Boat Yards'   
 
The Fix ...

Fore Mast Back Stays done ...they too are served to just below the Gaff (same as the Shrouds)
 
Just the Main Mast Ones to do and then onto Ratlines and Anchor Work & Flag Halyard etc (The 'To Do List' is getting smaller by the day   still plenty left though not least a visit to the stand where I may make a kind of Launch Way similar to Dirks Sherbourne )
 
Thanks for looking in Folks
 
Eamonn

Quick photos of my Jig mentioned above ..  it is a real time and patience saver ! 
You can hopefully just see the point of the needle sticking up slightly through the Block hole in the 2nd photo.
 
Photo 1 shows one of the most useful devices I use, the weighted 'tweezers' holder, it is a life saver for rigging as with the right tension on the thumb screws it can be adjusted easily with one hand simply by 'gently twisting' the joins or the base of the tweezers themselves, you can see my scrap wood jig in front of it too..
 
Note.. It took much longer to write this than to make that stropped block !
 
Cheers Folks
 
Eamonn
 
 

I've still been putting my exile from my day job to good use and pushing forward on this build. 
 
Next up was adding the 0.8mm ply bulwarks. As with anything like this that has to try to conform to various compound curves, it can be a little testy, but a 30 min soak in hot water certainly helps to ease it into position. A series of pinning and clamping persuaded it too, once glue had been applied. the upper bulwark MDF ears were only lightly glued to the ply as these will be removed in a later stage before fitting the laser engraved deck.

 
 
First planking is done with lime planks, 5mm wide and 1.5mm thick. There's more than enough bulkheads to get a good even finish, providing you faired them properly too. It's all Prep Prep Prep. These planks were glued with PVA and also tapered as necessary. 



 
 
Once planked, a thorough sanding was given, making sure no steps, unevenness or other anomalies would show on the shapes of the finished hull. 

 
 
The 4mm x 1mm pear strips are now cut into short lengths for the stern and stern counter etc. The rudder post is temporarily clamped in position so that I can plank up to it on either side without any guesswork. The edges of this are then sanded flush with the hull sides.



 
 
The pear 'master plank' is now fitted to each side. This isn't guesswork as there are laser cut marks on the bulwark that help you position this in the same place as the planking run for the wale. CA gel is used to glue into position as it gives some seconds to align things.

 
A quick photo with a few deck things sat in position!

 
 
The hull is now planked in pear from the master plank down to the keel. 

 
 
More as soon as I get time to edit photos!

Another update. Again, these are selected images from the eventual instruction manual. This is a sort of abridged version and represent only a few of the pictures that will be published in that book, so I've picked key ones for MSW. 
 
Chris suggests that the first two (bow) and last three (stern) bulkheads are bevelled somewhat before installation, including the other bow cross-bulkhead pieces. This is a pretty sound plan as it saves a whole load of work when it comes to fairing the hull. I used the same methodology in my instructions. I used my Dremel for this, set at a comfortable 9000rpm. Once all the bow bulkheads and cross-slotted pieces were bevelled, I glued these into place. I'm sure this looks familiar to builders of Speedy! Also notice the doorway on bulkhead 10. This has a pear wood door fitted to it with a brass nail as a handle. I also fit the deck support pieces across each bulkhead.
 



 
 
After gluing in the stern bulkheads into place, bulkhead #16 is bevelled along the top to match the sheer, and then the two long deck support beams are slotted and glued into position. This creates a really strong frame that stops the bulkheads bending, as well as being another great support for the deck that'll sit on top.


 
 
One difference (of many) in this kit is the replacement of the MDF stern frames for more resilient birch ply parts. These are now glued into position. Many parts in this kit are replaced with alternative material ones, such as the lower mast tops which will now be pear, as well as the stern face itself. The stern counter remains in ply. The deck is now glued into position. This needs bending somewhat and then allowed to click into position. It only takes a minute or so to install the deck and it sits perfectly on all the beams, no exceptions...



 
 
To protect the stern frames, the stern counter and stern panels are now glued into position. The keel is temporarily fitted with the supplied MDF clamps, so the counter can be correctly positioned. 

 
The hull is now faired. This only took me less than an hour, with the stern keel area being thinned out to about 1/3 it's original width to accommodate the planking which will then bring it up to the original thickness. I can sand that thinner too later, to accommodate the second layer of pear.

 
 
The inner stem post is now glued into position and left to dry before I fit the ply gun port strips.


 
 
That's it until I get more work done. I have built the cannon and capstan, but I'll not post those yet, for the sake of getting things in order
 
More when I've done it!

8-9 weeks away, I would have thought

Not a lot. As far as I can tell, they were virtually identical, being built in the same yard at more or less the same time. I have made a few minor changes to a lot of the parts, (gratings and ladders are standard laser cut parts for Flirt, and new anchor designs, so not a single white metal casting in this kit)  and the masts and rig will be of early 1780's vintage, rather than early 1800's. There are enough changes to warrant a completely new manual and plan set - but it will be the Master Shipwright version that has the most changes, especially materials.
 
Speedy was already a very sound design, this just expands on that a little more, and I can now included stuff as standard that I simply couldn't before. A few PE parts have migrated from their brass etched sheets onto the laser cut sheets, including all masts cleats.
 
But most of all, and what I initially forgot to add, is that I wanted to do the earlier version with a white hull below the waterline, I think this will really show the fine hull lines.

Afternoon!
 
Ok, this one is going to take me a little longer than the prototypes of VM's Fifie and Zulu! I'll try to keep this updated as often as I can if there's some real interest. Flirt is based on the previous Speedy kit, but with some notable differences. The model itself won't have a launch as standard, and there are differences to the rig too, plus the deadeyes are replaced with pear wood heart blocks. She also won't be coppered below the waterline, instead being painted white. Before I kick off with the hull, I built the temporary cradle. This is only temporary as there's a clear acrylic one for the finished model, and I don't want to use that until I really need to. Onwards with the prototype! Again, these are photos that will eventually be in the instruction manual, and not regular bench build images.
 

 
 
The regular kit will have 3mm MDF for the main hull components. I quite like this material. It's easy to sand and takes the nails and glue real well. There will be a Master Shipwright version where the MDF will be replaced with birch ply, but that will be very limited edition! There is actually a little birch ply in the standard kit, replacing the MDF stern frames. 


 
 
As you'd expect, everything just drops together, and those that are building the Speedy I'm sure would testify to. The bulkheads, minus the bevelled ones, are now glued in place. There are also two parts which support the lower deck ends. These are also now glued into place.


 
 
One difference to Speedy is the replacement of the lower MDF deck with an engraved ply deck. This, as before, fits in four sections.




 
 
With the deck in place, glue is brushed un the undersides. That'll give more strength, and some rigidity to the outer portions of the deck edges.

 
That's it for the moment. I've been so busy that I've barely noticed I've been in isolation for over a month. It's one way to make the time fly! More soon.
 
 
 

Time for an update. 
 
The hull is now pretty much built, down to the various rigging points on the outside hull. Here is another abridged series of photos which will feature in the instruction manual.
 
It had been decided very early on that First was to look very different from Speedy. That wasn't just with the white bottom hull and earlier riggings, but also with selective use of period colours. The kit itself is quite different to Speedy, with different materials used in places, necessitating new laser cut files specifically for this release. Instead of leaving the upper bulwarks in pear, I sat the swivel gun post support patterns against the cap rail and marked the area to be painted blue, with a pencil. The adjoining areas were then masked and several thin coats of Humbrol 25 Blue brush painted into that area. The patterns were then glued into position and the areas they lay over the gun and oar ports, snipped away and trimmed back.
 



 
 
The catheads were now assembled and painted before being installed. These were very much a perfect fit, which really pleased me!

 
 
The bow timbers and head rails were now fitted. This was probably the most fiddly aspect of the model so far, and what I thought would be a 20 minute session turned out to take about 3hrs before I was happy enough with it. I also fitted the depth markings etc. The dark area you see around these is where I've sealed them in polyurethane varnish to give them extra protection. Those areas will blend in to the last full coat of varnish I apply. Note I also added the vertical swivel gun timbers, but in Humbrol 74 Linen (ochre) to give some contrast against the other elements.

 
 
Thought I'd have a small diversion and make the four anchors. The only metal in these is the ring. The stocks are also made up from two parts as per the real thing, and black cartridge paper used for the bands.

 
 
All belaying pins and racks are now fitted. These are also pinned as well as being glued with PVA. I prefer this glue for things like this, as CA can fracture if stressed. 

 
 
As with the belaying pin racks, the channels are also pinned and glued with PVA. The chainplates in this kit are provided as single pieces. You need to open them up to sit the deadeye in them, then close back up. Some touching up with black paint is also required. All chainplates are now fitted and pinned to the wales. 


 
 
All my previous work in making the deck fittings and furniture can now be put into play. The small steel balls for the cannon shot, are burnished in metal blacking fluid.



 
 
And here we are so far! Hope you like it.

Is is very easy to clamp the outside edges of the deck down onto the false deck below. I use a lot of 2 inch clamps for this, with rubber tips.

 
 
 
I just use lengths of bubble-wrap for this, suspended on lollipop sticks taped to the reflectors 🤣

No. Those are generally far too limiting for something like this, especially when comes to having to photograph something the size of Victory. My setup has two formats. I can switch from small scale which is what I've been using in these photos, to large scale which is what I'll use when I start masting this. The screen is a pure white blind that I just draw down from high up on the wall.
 
All images are processed with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Camera is a Nikon D5100 DSLR
 

Couldn't resist putting the finished deck stuff on the hull, to see how this will look later. Nothing here is glued on. It's now all removed and work on painting the lower hull in white is now underway.
 

Instead of just posting my work in regular build order, I thought I'd post an idea of exactly what I've been doing, including working on stuff that's further ahead than the regular sequence. As this is for the manual, it doesn't allow me to sit idle and twiddle my thumbs as parts and paints dry. Instead, I go off on a tangent and work on other things. First up, I'll show you where I currently am with the hull.
 
One task I love doing is removing the bulkhead ears from above the deck. At this point, I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with a build. These are just snapped off with a pair of pliers and the stubs sanded flush with the false deck. Before I can fit the deck, I spray some red oxide primer around the inside bow and stern areas, as these would be difficult to paint later. The standard laser-engraved limewood deck is then installed using Titebond and then clamped down around the edges to make sure it sits perfectly to the false deck.
 



 
 
Once the deck is down, the inner bulwarks are planked. All planks are first painted. Painting the lowest plank at least helps to stop paint splashing onto the deck. I was unlucky with my planking as the gaps I needed to fill meant that more or less all paint was stripped back down to the woodwork so I could apply some acrylic wood filler. This was then sanded smooth and the various holes in the ply bulwark drilled through to the inside for the various eyebolts etc. The red oxide paint is now reapplied after completing the exterior pear planks and sanding the whole hull exterior smooth.


 
 
The only wales I'll be visiting this year with lockdown are the ones I'll be gluing to the exterior of this hull. The top of the first per plank that was laid is now marked with a pencil to identify where the 3mm x 1mm pear strip will fit. This is two planks below the bottom of the newly cut gun ports. 

 
 
After fitting the 3mm wide plank to each side, a 4mm plank was then butt up directly below it. Masking tape was now applied to either side so I didn't damage the surrounding pear. Sandpaper is now used to smooth the exterior.

 
 
Things start to take further shape as the outer prow is fitted, along with the keel and stern keel post. Some of the supplied clamps are used to keep everything in alignment.

 
 
Whilst that was setting, I made the rudder. Although you'll see copper gudgeons and pintles on this, they are a leftover from the original Speedy kit I have. There Flirt kit will be supplied with these in brass as there's no copper plates on this kit. Cartridge paper is used for the iron bands at either side of the tiller arm location.

 
 
The original masking tape for the wales was removed, simply because I didn't want to risk any sanding dust being lodged in there. The outside edges of the wales were again carefully masked, followed by the rest of the model, and Plastikote black spray applied. There will be no black paint on the bow area as this is being left in bear pear, along with some new laser-engraved per parts. 

 
 
I did say I'd been working on some other stuff, and here it is. We have some grate frames, bitts, windlass, ladders, pumps, capstan and cannon. I still have a lot of work to do on the cutter yet, but as you can see, things are moving at a nice pace.










 
 More when I have it...