palmerit

To be clear, I do look forward to someday working on a kit (like the Model Shipways - Chuck Passaro - Syren in my stash) that requires a lot more scratch building. For example, on many Vanguard kits, you get a beautiful etched deck with plankings and tree nails and you get bulwarks with gun ports cut out that is etched showing the planking and tree nails. On a kit like the Syren, you need to scratch build for yourself all of these parts (you need to do the planking, do tree nails if you wish, create the structure around the gun ports, plank around the gun ports). That's part of the reason why a Vanguard kit in the hands of a novice like me can look so nice. You can always chose to do all this scratch building on a Vanguard kit of course - and some do - but you don't have a choice on other kits. That's also why a relative novice can build something like a Vanguard Sherbourne, which would be a far more difficult kit if you needed to do all the constituent steps from scratch.

Finished the deck for the most part. Just a few last pieces to add. Then it’s on to the masts, yards, and rigging - and sails.

I'd recommend a Vanguard model 100%. Great materials, great instructions, great design, great finished product. I did the Model Shipways three model (Shipwright Series) kits and they're a great experience. Building something like the Vanguard Sherbourne will be completely different. For example, the Dory, Pram, and Smack do not have the kind of strip planking that larger ships have - that's a whole other skill. The rigging on the Sherbourne is "novice" but way more complex than the Pram or Smack (Dory has no rigging). I've also built the Vanguard Ranger and am currently building the Vanguard Zulu, both of which are also "novice" kits. Still challenging. I haven't built an Occre (have one in my stash) or AL. I think Vanguard's engineering (design) is much better. I saw a YouTube video of someone building an Occre kit and the frame rattled like castanets. The frame on a Vanguard hull is like a tank. The Vanguard instructions are also the best. Not just arguably. They're the best. Another great thing about Vanguard kits is that you have a great YouTube build series by Jason on Modelkit Stuff. He did the Sherbourne. He's currently doing another "novice" Vangard kits that's the somewhat smaller little sister to the Ranger and Zulu (all "fishing" boats - but larger boats, almost ships, compared to the Model Shipwright small boats you built). I originally bought - in my stash - the Vanguard Duchess of Kingston to be my second kit (my first was the Sherbourne but built the Model Shipwright boats and the NRG half hull in parallel). I now realize while I could have built it (after the Sherbourne and the Model Shipwright boats) it was a far better decision to build some additional novice Vanguard models. After the Zulu, I have the Erycina in my stash (an "amateur" kit). From what I've seen of a current build of the Erycina, it's a more challenging hull from the novice kits. I'm probably going to do the Grecian and maybe the Adder (also "amateur" kits). With each of these, I've tried to hone some skills. Like on the Zulu, I worked harder to get the planking right. So I've been able to leave the top part of the planking bare (shellaced and varnished) wood rather than painting it. I'm also going to be using Syren rope and blocks rather than the kit-supplied ones (which are very good in Vanguard kits - much better than anything in a Model Expo kit - just not as high end as the Syren products). I have the Model Shipworld Syren in my stash (my sons bought it for me). It was designed by Chuck Passaro and has great instructions - I'll probably replace a ton of the wood and all of the rope and blocks. I'm not ready for that kit because it requires a ton of scratch building. I think the Rattlesnake is the same. I like working on kits right now that might take months to build so I can try things and hone my skills and some of my models have turned out better than others. I think something like the Rattlesnake or Syren or other large models (Constitution or Victory) are multi-year endeavors that I'm going to wait to tackle until maybe retirement.

It took a few models before I didn't regularly put my hand or my head through some rigging. Especially problematic when wearing magnifiers on your eyes since they completely screw up your depth and peripheral vision. Just know that if you ruin some rigging you won't be alone there either.

Added the metal work to the rudder and started to add the deck fittings. To add the rudder hinge (which for aesthetics I decided to keep brass blacked rather that paint over with hull color) I used a Tamiya clear acrylic paint as the “glue” and then added a couple of layers of airbrushed matt varnish on top. I learned that trick on a Finescale Modeler YouTube channel. The clear paint works like glue with flat pieces and gives you a lot more time to carefully position a piece and less mess than using CA.

I think it depends on the model. Vanguard Models have two layers of planking and two layers of the keel. The first keel is added, then the first layer of planking, then the second layer of the keel. The second layer of the keel means that you don’t need to chisel a rabbet. Then the second layer of planking.

This is how I did mine (the middle option). From what I recall, there’s a fair amount of sanding (faring) to get the planks to lay flush. I don’t remember if there are later instruction steps that might help make it clearer.

I'm no expert by any stretch. The quality of the wood certainly makes a big differences - basswood (from Model Shipways / Midwest) kits does not produce the same finish as higher quality pear (from Vanguard kits). In terms of planking and decking, it's the quality of the wood work that seems to determine the quality of the final product - if you're painting, it doesn't much matter how much wood filler you use, but that won't cut it if you're planning to keep the wood unpainted. I've recently discovered making my own shellac from flakes and alcohol, which ends up with a much better product than using pre-made canned shellac. On a current model I used shellac on the bare wood at the top of the hull, with the bottom painted, and after it was all done and dried I applied a couple layers of a Vallejo matte varnish on top. I'm sure others have more sophisticated approaches and answers.

I think I broke pieces at the stern three times on my Sherbourne. Good experience in the kinds of repairs possible with a wooden model ship. Good reminder too that these little models are fragile.

Even though this is only the first planking, the better you get this one, the better the surface will be for the second planking. And careful work on the first planking is good practice for the second planking. Note that working with the lime wood (first planking) is a bit different from working with peat wood (second planking).

I buy compressed air cans in 6 packs - take them outside and blow everything clean. Of course that only works with sanded hulls with no rigging or delicate pieces.

Interesting experiment. I'm going to follow along to see the progress. There's certainly no shame - and no one will shame you here - in setting the Indy aside should the experiment prove overly challenging (i.e., not fun). I know there's someone here who started on the Sphinx - just a step below the Indy - and at some point in their build they decided to take a step back and do the Vanguard Sherbourne, on the other end of the Vanguard skill continuum (still a challenging model, even with the excellent instructions and materials and design). For myself, I picked the Vanguard Sherbourne as my first model and when I got to the rigging stage felt a bit overwhelmed so I did the Model Shipways Shipwright models (Dory, Pram, Smack), which has no rigging on the Dory, some very simple rigging on the Pram, and only a bit more complicated on the Smack, and I felt much better prepared to take on the rigging on the Sherbourne, which is orders of magnitude simpler than the Indy; it also helped that Modelkit Stuff (Jason) had gone past me on his Sherbourne build on Youtube that I could learn from. Best of luck in the experiment!

After anything that needs to be glued I’d say.

After sanding the hull, I decided to paint the bottom and leave the top unpainted and shellaced. Here I have also added the rub rails and I’ve worked on some pieces that will be added to the deck. (I used a clear shellac, which nicely darkens the pear just bit.)

Great job! I was recently at a great display of model ships (all of them historic models) in Toronto and a large proportion of them did not include masts or rigging - saw the same at a display in Scotland last summer.