CharlieZardoz

So now the keel fits. The hull is around 10.5" and for now is roughly shaped.

So after that came modifying the length. The front was relatively easy I then used the dremel to shorted the back and took off about an inch from the top and half inch from the bottom. The square tuck stern will of course be smoothed out but for now it gives me the angles which I can line up with the rudder and keel as so.

Greetings all! So just a quick status update as I've spent the week sanding down the 51 ton hull, which for now we will call Dallas. My first order of business was to sand the sides down and match the deck outline. This means lots of sawdust as you can see. Cover your eyes and mouth see how fashionable I look! (me doing Brundlefly impression "heeeelp me"!)

It is kinda sketchy. I'd be fine with calling this a kit log however I sort of feel that would be almost dishonest since what I plan to finish with won't really be what the kit as advertised though I'll happily defer to the moderators for advice.

Thanks Mark! It came from the kit. I'm debating whether putting it through the laser was even necessary since as you saw the keel
s via the plans came out just fine (and the bow part was shaped funny). That deck also came from the kit as an etched veneer you can just slap on. The deck lines are worth saving though I plan to do the deck planking with strips but will use the resized image as a guide.
 
Again I've debated on whether to put this log in the kit or scratch section. Sultana honestly is 90% scratch this one is like 99.9% lol

The 51 ton ship at 1/64th scale produces a model at around 10.25" (between perpendiculars) or 10.5" (deck length) and a width of 3 3/16". Not sure what the overall length will be as I have no basis to go off but I imagine it will be somewhere between 18-19" This one will be built using the hull block provided by the kit. The main adjustments will be to account for less drag in the larger ship and about an inch size between the 1/48 31 ton and 1/64 51 ton which will be shaped via a dremel. I am also using some plans from the modelshipwright site which had the Doughty plans in 1/72 scale which I simply blew up to the appropriate scale.  I don't plan on building the 80 ton at this time but someday perhaps
 
 
Again this attachment is to scale with the model I am making for anyone wishing to do the same!  The accuracy of the scale is within 1/16" of an inch (that's me doing it by hand not at a print shop), but close enough that no one would notice

So first the basics. The revenue cutter designed by William Doughty came in 3 sizes described in Chappelle's American Sailing Ship's book as 31, 51 and 80 ton. These ships were in service directly after the war of 1812 (1815 to 1825?) and were intended to replace those ships lost in the war. The 31 ton was about 46.3' long, the 51 ton 52.6' and the 80 ton 67'. There have been many models of these ships on the market and most have various levels of inaccuracies leading to quite a few unfinished logs on this site. From what I can see the Bluejacket kit did a reasonably good job of creating a kit from the 31 ton plans at 1/48 scale. At this scale the hull length is roughly 11.5" and 19" in total. Resizing the ship to 1/64th scale the hull length becomes about 8.65" and the overall length 14.25". This model will be built from scratch (using the block of wood done in a bread and butter fashion) however certain parts and plans from the kit have been scanned and then resized accordingly as were the Doughty plans from the book. The process took me little more than an afternoon to calculate and convert at home and the plans below are to 1/64th scale.
 
No ship names have been recorded from this tonnage however many names could be applicable as it seems the coast guard at the time would resure names repeatedly once a ship would go out of service a new one would promptly take it's place. Plausible names could be Active, South Carolina, Gallatin and Lookout.

Hey there fellow builders! So I finally had a chance to start cataloging all the work I have been doing on my revenue cutters alongside Sultana. Sultana is proceeding slowly but surely as will soon be updated, however as some of you may know at the last ship model convention in Connecticut I won a kit of Bluejacket's 31 ton revenue cutter. From the moment I got it I couldn't help but start tinkering with it. The reason why I put this in the scratch section is because I plan on building all my ship models (at least for the moment) in 1/64th scale since I like to be able to make size comparisons. Therefore this log will be an exercise in how to properly resize a kit to a preferred scale. So what of the kit itself? Fortunately the ship comes in 3 sizes and at 1/64th scale the 51 ton falls in a similar size to the 31 ton at 1/48 scale. So in addition to a smaller 31 ton I am going to scratch build, I will also use the wood hull and some of the kit materials to also build the 51 ton ship. The wood block and plans must be modified but let's go over the details and I will show you how I have been proceeding
 
Also if for whatever reason this log should be moved to the kit section then by all means as I wasn't sure which section to put it.

Haha cheers! Well it was touch and go there for a bit I realized this was a tad more challenging than I expected. But I'm very pleased with the result and learned a lot and yes have been wearing a mask though initially I didn't realize how much dust this can create so I started doing the sanding by the window and that helped.

And so here we are. I've gotten one half sanded perfect to the templates. Now onto the second half. You can see in some of the pics the difference between sides especially at the stern. Also look at the design such a streamline shape so different to Sultana.

The keel now fits where it should. Notice the beak overhangs a bit. This is correct and in the proper keel (made in cherry?) I will have the beak extend about a quarter of an inch onto the top deck. The lines on the hull will be redrawn a few times but they help me know where to sand. The xxxx's are where the templates brush into the wood incorrectly so those areas are where I sand next. EzPz!

So then came the sanding process. You can see the tools I used starting from the bow and working my way back. The shaping templates helped me to refine the form and were invaluable. You can see the various bit I used to sand roughly then refine and the smaller ones for curves and detailing.

Using a slicing style blade for the dremel I sliced about a quarter of an inch off the keelson. In hindsight it should have been from the deck however it ultimately worked out just as fine even if I now have lungs full of sawdust lol.  The box shows what fell in the rest blew out the window using a reverse fan

So here is my newest update. I spent a week or so reshaping the hull from the 31 ton at 1/48 scale (the kit) to a 51 ton 1/64 scale. This was a bit more challenging than one might think while both look similar there is actually quite a bit of difference in the incline. The 51 ton is flatter at 27 degrees while the 31 ton has more drag at 30 degrees. Fortunately the templates at modelshipwright are perfect as they indicate the height as well as correct shape. Also for a bit of fun I put the Sultana template next to the revenue cutter so you can see how different the shapes are.

And so here we are. I've gotten one half sanded perfect to the templates. Now onto the second half. You can see in some of the pics the difference between sides especially at the stern. Also look at the design such a streamline shape so different to Sultana.

The keel now fits where it should. Notice the beak overhangs a bit. This is correct and in the proper keel (made in cherry?) I will have the beak extend about a quarter of an inch onto the top deck. The lines on the hull will be redrawn a few times but they help me know where to sand. The xxxx's are where the templates brush into the wood incorrectly so those areas are where I sand next. EzPz!

So then came the sanding process. You can see the tools I used starting from the bow and working my way back. The shaping templates helped me to refine the form and were invaluable. You can see the various bit I used to sand roughly then refine and the smaller ones for curves and detailing.

So here is my newest update. I spent a week or so reshaping the hull from the 31 ton at 1/48 scale (the kit) to a 51 ton 1/64 scale. This was a bit more challenging than one might think while both look similar there is actually quite a bit of difference in the incline. The 51 ton is flatter at 27 degrees while the 31 ton has more drag at 30 degrees. Fortunately the templates at modelshipwright are perfect as they indicate the height as well as correct shape. Also for a bit of fun I put the Sultana template next to the revenue cutter so you can see how different the shapes are.

The bobstay was rigged today.   I used a length of .025 dark brown rope that was served its entire length.  A 3/16" single block was seized to one end while the other end was placed through the hole in the stem.  That end was seized to itself as shown in the photos.
 

 
The bobstay tackle was set up with .012 light brown rope.  The running end of the tackle being brought inboard and belayed to the pin rail at the bow.  I did not glue the belaying point at all.  It is simply fixed on the belaying pin by using a simple twist of the loop around the pin's bottom.  I will leave the running end a bit long for now as with all of the other lines.  This line may go slack depending on the tensions from other lines etc.  So not using any glue until much later (if at all) will give me an easy opportunity to loosen it at the belaying in and re-tension to suit.  
 

 
This will be extremely important when I turn in the deadeyes for the shrouds and set up the backstays.  Once the backstays are rigged it has a tendency to make the aft shrouds go a bit slack....being able to re-tension is a huge factor so no lines will be made permanent until much later if at all.  The rigging is not pulled to tight at this point.  Just enough tension so it doesnt go slack.  I see so many models with teh rigging so tight it causes big issues.   
 
I have restored many models that were 100+ years old and the lines were never glued permanently.  This made fixing them and re-tensioning so easy that I have decided to give it a try on my models.  Just pull out the belaying pin and the line is free to be re-tensioned.

To make the bowsprit....start with a square stick of boxwood 5/16" x 5/16".  The inboard section will remain square.  The outboard side is rounded off and tapered.  There are three square holes on the inboard sides.  But these start out as round holes made on the drill press while the entire stick is still square.
 
There is also a sheave on the outboard end.  The holes for this simulated sheave are also drilled while the stick is square.
 

 
Then the outboard end is measured and marked for the 7-10-7 ratios to make it an octagon.  From an octagon it is then made round.  There are many way to do this.  Mini-plan...files...by hand....then rounded off on a lathe or even chocked in your hand drill.
 

 
Then I made it round...in my hand drill...and taperred it to match the plan while doing so.
 

 
Once that was done...the simulated sheave on the outboard end was detailed.  I used a #11 blade to connect the holes and carve it out a little.  Then mini-files were used to round off the simulated sheave.  Later I will darken it with pencil.
 

 
The three inboard holes need to be made square...again there are many way to do this.  I decided to just use my #11 blade to carefully square off the corners.  The inboard portion will eventually be painted black.
 

 
The outboard end also has a metal band with four eyes around it.  This was made from paper.  You could use art tape or even brass if you wanted.  Again there are so many choices.  It was painted black and weathered so it looked differently than the wood elements painted black.
 

 
Then it was mounted in the hole at the bow and the fit tweaked.  Once it looked good,  the bowsprit step was slid onto the inboard end.  You wouldnt be able to slide the bowsprit in position if the step was already glued in place.  So this is a bit tricky.  But soon after I was able to get it all in position and glued securely.  Then I touched up the paint and cleaned it up.
 

 

 
Next up the long guns can be positioned....but I am unsure of I will add them.  They will look very crammed in there.  I will have to contemplate that for a bit.

I put some primer on the parts I posted last time. The main reason I am posting these is because I bought another camera and hopefully will be able to get better close up pictures with it. Just testing it out here to see if the picture clarity is any better.
 


 

 

 

And so here we are. I've gotten one half sanded perfect to the templates. Now onto the second half. You can see in some of the pics the difference between sides especially at the stern. Also look at the design such a streamline shape so different to Sultana.

Looking good Charlie.  At first I did not think you could pull off the modification with the supplied hull.  But you are doing it.  Kudos.  I hope you have been wearing a air mask to protect yourself from the sawdust.
David B

And so here we are. I've gotten one half sanded perfect to the templates. Now onto the second half. You can see in some of the pics the difference between sides especially at the stern. Also look at the design such a streamline shape so different to Sultana.

And so here we are. I've gotten one half sanded perfect to the templates. Now onto the second half. You can see in some of the pics the difference between sides especially at the stern. Also look at the design such a streamline shape so different to Sultana.