thomaslambo

Really nice design....and I prefer option 2 as well. 

Hi Wayne,

This is a wonderful Ship....and without a doubt a masterful challenge....I look forward to following your build 

Hi Charlene, 

Nice to see you back on the build   

It's looking great so far....keep up the good work    

This has been one of the more educational build logs for me.  I really like Jay's suggestion for tapering planks...it sits well for those of us that like doing things by hand and using the eyeball

However, with that said, I'm pacing myself to hit hull planking just after Xmas (the Admirals been given a link to the Byrnes site with specific instructions) 

The main deck planking is shaping up nicely Tom   

Nice job on all the fabrication...and the mast work/spars look awesome    

Hi Harry,

This is one amazing Ship, I'm really looking forward to following your build log my friend 

A belated congrats on the avatar 

And Wow...nice rigging 

No problem, now that you mention it my folded Bounty plan sheets from AL are coming apart....live and learn (when I get the Cutty I'll have prints made)   

Nenad,

I've been following your amazing build and it's been quite a journey 

Thanks for answering my question, and I shall take your advise on scanning and using these plans more efficiently   

Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion....I just purchased a copy of "China Tea Clippers" which has wonderful reviews on the site where I purchased it.

Regarding the plans from the Royal Museum; they sent them rolled up in a tube as opposed to folded.  Can you verify the size of a full size sheet, these are 33 x 23 1/2 inches?

Mike,

I hear you on the AL rigging thread, I'm trying to use all the materials supplied in my kit as well.  But I'm definitely going to replace most of the thread as it's such a key aspect of the build....right in your face so to speak    

FYI - I ordered some samples from Syren and I really like the quality. 

Hi Mark,

Thanks so much for the reply back and I really appreciate your comments/suggestions.    

I’ve read almost every MSW current build log on the Cutty Sark…..always a great source of information.

In addition, I’ve been researching (which I really enjoy) the Cutty Sark for several months now.  I recently received the books “The Cutty Sark” and “The Log of the Cutty Sark”, as well as the Royal Museums Rigging and General Arrangement plan sheets.  Any other suggestions for reference materials would be welcome?

So, I’m really looking forward to taking on the Cutty Sark build once I finish the Bounty.

Have you seen Salty Dogs finished Cutty Sark pictures in the Gallery….It’s a beautiful piece of work but I don’t believe there’s a build log on her.  

My AL Bounty kit has weak instructions as well (the pictures are good but the narratives are lacking).  I think this sort of thing goes with the territory and is just one of the many challenges you face when getting into this wonderful hobby. 

I tend to think building these ships is like taking on a massive jigsaw puzzle and a good game of chess at the same time.  It’s a challenge but a heck of a lot of fun 

Thanks again and I look forward to seeing your Cutty build log in the near future 

You can get similar results (or better) with hand drills and files - there are plenty of examples of that on these forums - but I'm lazy and impatient, so I like the power tools.  

Brian,

I'm glad you made this comment. Even though I have many power tools I rarely use anything other than my lathe and power drill on occasion.

I much prefer using hand tools as you mention.  I have over 50 precision jewelers files, many hand drills, a myriad of X-Acto knives and blades, razor saws and miter boxes and good old sandpaper to make almost all my detailed parts 

Every tool has it's place (power and hand)....but many of us just prefer to do it by hand    

Hi Bob,

Thought I'd jump into this build as well....very ambitious running two build logs my friend   

Nice job on the sails....something I doubt I'll try anytime soon     

Dimitris,

You continue to amaze us....beautiful work     

Hi Bryan,

Welcome to the AL Bounty club....looks like you're off to a solid start.

So far I'm fairly happy with the instructions, just a few errors and omissions that will be obvious as you run into them    

Beautifully precise and very creative work on the mortars    

Question for you Chap,

What method did you use for your Caulking and Tree Nails on your decks? Looks good!!

 

In the past, I have coated my Decking strips with Sanding Sealer, when dry I run a Black Marker down one edge.

I also drill the ends of the Deck planks and inserted Bristles from a Hearth Brush, Tedious.

Once sanded smooth it looks o.k. though.

 

Cheers....HOF.

Hi Harry,

Regarding caulking and tree nails: I’ve used two similar methods on the lower and middle decks. If you backtrack on my log (pages and pics listed below) you’ll see the subtle differences between the methods used on both decks.

In both cases for the caulking I spray painted the top of the false decks black and then spaced the planks with a .5mm gap as I glued them down (viola – simple and easy caulking).  Also, both decks were given two coats of clear matte water based poly finish.

Lower deck, see post # 9 on page one of this build log which describes in detail the steps I used.  Then look at pics, 1 (all the tools I used), and pics 3 and 4 (showing the results).

Note; I wasn’t happy with the nail holes as the sharpie tends to blead into the wood.  As such, I changed the process slightly with the middle deck nail holes and IMO it came out much cleaner.

Middle deck, see post 66 on page 4 of this build log which describes the change I made, basically replacing the sharpie with a Pentel P205 mechanical pencil using .5mm fine 6H led.  It came out much cleaner IMO (see pic 2)

However, with that said, I’m going to take a completely different route on the main deck.  Keeping in mind this is my first build so I’m evolving/testing different methods along the way (subtle differences that only builders like us will notice).

Main Deck, First off I will use a number 2B pencil to coat the sides of the planks and then glue them closely snugged together on the deck (much more subtle caulking look – the technique was used, and can be seen, in all the pictures of the middle deck cabin walls I installed (page 5 of this build log).

Next I will adapt a hybrid of master craftsman Chuck Passaro’s method for simulating tree nails.

In a nut shell, holes are drilled in the planks with a #72 drill, lightly sanded (320 grit), cleaned with the sharp point of an awl (gently just to rid the fuzziness) and then filled with a wood colored filler (I’ll use Elmer’s wood filler with a touch of wood stain).  Then I’ll finish with sanding and two layers of clear matte poly finish.

FYI - If you haven’t found Chuck’s current build log in the “scratch build” area I would highly recommend that you read it post for post.  It was an eye opener for me (he sets his bar at a level few builders ever reach) and would be well worth the effort to follow his absolutely magnificent build 

Link to Chuck's build http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/99-hms-winchelsea-by-chuck-1764-english-32-gun-frigate-pob-164/page-1

On another subject, I’m still wrestling with choosing a Cutty Sark kit…thanks for all your help and correspondence 

Harry,

Just beautiful work....seeing you in the picture brings everything into scale.  

She's really quite large, which should be an asset during construction as you mentioned 

Hi Denis,

Simply beautiful work/detail....I look forward to following your log.

Hi Mark,

I have a couple questions if you don't mind.

How did your order go with Sergal and Ages of Sail (I'm hoping to place the same order)?

I'm leaning toward a purchase of the Sergal kit #789, can you give me some info on why you choose this particular kit?

Any help would be appreciated.

Tom,

Very nice job and it looks like you got the dead eyes set correctly....I've seen a few builds lately that had them upside down (I had no idea about the correct position of dead eyes two weeks ago....gotta love MSW)  

The summer is slowing me down as well     

Good catch on the angles Marc.  I'm probably wrong about this, but it looks like the orientation of some of the dead eyes' holes are upside down. Aren't the holes supposed to be "one down-two up" on the channels, and vice-versa, on the shrouds, and accordingly lined up with the angle? 

 

Cheers 

Yup, I've seen that pointed out on a few builds before...good catch

Matt,

Simply amazing work on the blocks....definitely a trip to the dark side that came out with excellent results....looking forward to the finish product 

Really love the new platform....is this the final look on the cannon color (looks like you applied more black).  In my book the color looks great....in fact I'm going to try my hand at achieving the same color on my cannons 

Hi Marc,

Just caught up with your build as a result of researching the Cutty.

Superb work on your first build....thanks for taking the time to maintain the log