john2013

With 16 more shroud lines to serve, my poor finger was getting tired turning the serving machine, not to mention, I  was getting a blister on the side of my finger.
Soooooo  .... I  chucked my drill on the end of the machine and now I can serve 16 inches of rope in 3 minutes instead of 25 minutes. 😆

Your explanations are why your logs are so useful to those of us with less experience. I usually pick up something new - most recently your use of microporous tape to simulate mast coats in Post 55. 
Keep up the good work!
 
Derek

Thanks Rusty, I sometimes wonder if I give too much information in the log, but I use the text as an aide memoire to myself, I still refer to my previous logs as I often can't remember how I did things.🙄
If others find this stuff of use all the better.😃
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.
 

really good work. Thanks for taking the trouble to share with us the process as well as the result

Cheers Guys, and thanks Don for looking in, glad you're finding the log of use.👍
 
B.E.

Then vote as you like based on your experience.   That is what the poll is about.   Based on your experiences select the MFG you are familiar with.   Everyone who voted the way they did were not lying.   This is what they believed and it was their opinion and just because it doesnt match yours you can not disregard them.
 
Just vote for what you believe!!!!  I just dont understand these people who dont believe the results........they are honest and true.   You dont have to agree with it.  To say it is untrue is just plain idiotic!!!!
 
Model shipways uses both plywood and basswood for the bulkheads depending on the model....also they DO NOT use boxwood,  They use basswood for planking which is the same as limewood.   You are just wrong about that....sorry.
 
Chuck

That is not a very educated and well thought out comment.  👎🏻  Thanks for explaining why.  A “nonsense” comment.

I think Kolderstok deserves to be on the list. 
 
http://www.kolderstok-models.com/index.en.html

I understand,  but you need not actually build some of these kits to know about their details.   For example,  I have never built a Dusek kit before.  But I have seen them up close, both here on MSW and in person.  The quality of the laser cutting and the materials supplied is excellent.  Some of the best I have seen in a kit model.  So I would be very comfortable voting for them.  
 
Other than that I think folks should just vote their experience....whatever the reason.  For example,  if you did buy an AL kit because its all that was available to you and you found the plans and instructions terrible,  dont vote for them.  A "NO" vote is just as important as a "Yes Vote"
 
I have never bought or seen a Soclaine kit up close.  I dont know anything about them.   So I will not vote for them but instead I will just vote for what I do know about to the best of my knowledge.  You dont need personal experience with all of the brands on the list.  These results shouldnt correlate with the number of build logs for that exact reason.  More of one brand in a lot of build logs could be about availability while this poll is about other aspects for the brands based on the best of your knowledge,  whether from online viewing or from personal experience.
 
In addition,  the internet allows us to buy other brands that might not be available locally.  Hopefully that will help give folks an introduction to these kits.  As far as Australia is concerned,  that explains a lot about why the Chinese kits are so prevalent there.  Right or wrong but availability is a huge consideration and the expense to ship products there.  In the states here I have not bought a hobby kit or product in any brick and mortar store for ten years.  I have always bought them online and had them shipped.  There are zero hobby shops within 100 miles of me that actually carry anything ship model related.....
 
I think it is understood that most people wont have experience with many of the brands listed.  Rather than have them list which ones they have had experience with I think maybe a question asking which kit brand you have had a bad experience with would be better.  You can select those you thought had poor materials, plans and instructions.
 
 

Next was the tack and sheet lines from the lower sail on the fore mast and the main sail on the main mast.
 
The tacks from the sail on the fore mast went under the beak and through the small piece I had attached there earlier before going to a belaying point on the rack in the bow. 

 
 
The sheet line was attached to an eyebolt on the side of the hull, passed through a block attached to the sail and belayed in the waist (highlighted in blue).


The tack line from the main sail went through the fairlead I made in the hull and to the belaying point next to it.

 
 
The sheet line was attached to an eyebolt on the side of the hull at the stern, passed through a block attached to the sail and belayed on the quarter deck. (highlighted in blue)

I think that is all the extra's I put on the ship, the rest of the rigging was on the plans. (as far as I can remember, it was about 8 years ago!!)
 
The finished ship

Post 35
Perhaps the most eye-catching deck fitting on a cutter is the Windlass and Carrick bitts.
I rather like making up these parts and Chris has provided in the kit the makings for a good set.
The laser cut wooden parts are cleanly cut and have a good surface for painting.
The kit provides a resin windlass spindle which is nicely formed and requiring very little clean up.
It is also a good match for scale against the Alert Book drawings.
Unlike wooden versions where the option is to varnish or paint, paint is the only option. If it is to be painted red, as often represented on models, no problem, otherwise getting a good colour mix is the main issue.

3479
I wasn’t too keen on the suggested dark wood colour, but not quite sure what I’m after; perhaps a sort of washed out salt stained wood colour that will provide a contrast to the Carrick bits (Red) and other woodwork. Fiddling around with paint mixes is the only way to go.

3478
The final addition to the Carrick Bitts are the straps that secure the cheeks to the Bitts. Nice brass etched well scaled items are provided.

3476
One addition that can be reproduced are representations of the iron hoops at the outer ends of the warping heads on the Windlass. These are made from my old standby of heat shrink tubing.
Jeer and Topsail Bitts
This is the remaining significant centre line deck fitting.

3460
Cleanly cut, easy to assemble parts with a resin windlass complete with pawl drums.

3461
The only extra which may be considered are tiny pawls, but they are very tiny.
 
Pumps
In the kit the elm tree pump casings are represented by some 4mm dowel into which the multi-part pe Brake handle mechanism is glued.

3459
Strictly speaking the casing should be octagonal in section and I prefer to make mine from square section Boxwood.

3467
One of the things to note when fitting these to the deck is that they are not vertical but angle outwards very slightly.

3471
Not too sure from the kit instructions how high above deck the pump casings should stand. The instructions indicate gluing the pump handle assembly into 40mm long dowel but doesn’t elaborate further.
 Taking my guide from the Alert book I have settled on a length of 14mm above deck.

3466
To finish the pumps, I added the discharge ports and the iron bands top and bottom.
 
Coming together now, but still too early to fix these deck fittings.

3483

3485

3490
Back to the guns I think.
 
 
B.E
11/11/2019

Hi.
I started the relations of the model HMS fly. 
I try to make caulking with the black cotton thread.  Two first rows of the planks are bad, but on this will be deck and it will not be seen. 
http://www.koga.net.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=47195&p=84654#p84654
 
 
 

Originally my plan was to use some walnut sheets as a veneer over the MDF, but veneer always looks like veneer and I wanted something a little different. So I decided to take the veneer idea one step further and plank the case as if it were a deck and hull.

I chose Maple for the horizontal/deck surfaces and Walnut for the vertical/hull surfaces.

I started with the base,

 

 
I thought that the top of the case would need a bit more than just decking so I purchased a couple of AL grating kits. These were made up and edged with some spare stock.



I painted the top black where the gratings would sit and marked the centreline and the perpendicular lines for the butt shift guides.

Here are the gratings and the centre plank glued on. Throughout this build I used Aliphatic carpenters glue which meant that very little clamping was needed.




One half planked in a 4 shift pattern.



The top completely planked and scraped and sanding underway.



I used a standard double edged razor blade for the scraping, which proved that I need to invest in a good cabinet scraper. I also debated whether to indicate treenails. In the end I was worried that it would look too busy and that along with my fear that I couldn’t get them neat enough convinced me that for now I wont show them.

The top was finished with Danish oil and a good buffing with a protective wood balsam/wax.




I made a little box to display a name/detail piece and placed that and the kit flag on the base



The completed display;







 Her home for the moment;

Well, I've finished at last.

Thanks for reading this log, I hope it has been of interest and helpful to anyone thinking of building this kit, even if only to show which mistakes to avoid!

Now to start my next build……

Cheers, and Happy Sanding!

Hello all, and thanks for the comments and likes throughout this log.
As promised here are the pictures of the finished model.











This has been a fun build, even though it has taken three years!

This kit is an interesting introduction to wooden ship building, especially for someone who is used to step by step plastic models. It is a real shame that this is a kit of a “boat that might have been” rather that a real boat. Having said that it allowed me to do a bit of kit-bashing. I have made some really obvious schoolboy errors, like the stitching on the sails and the use of poor materials in the chainplates. The kit instructions are poor when it comes to the rigging so I had to learn rigging from scratch - not easy when it seems like a foreign language.

However, I’m glad I chose this kit as my first, I have learnt a lot about ships and shipbuilding and will stand me in good stead when building my next model, and eventually my ambition of building the Bounty.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this log, and please, if you have any criticism let me know - its all a learning experience.

Cheers

Paul

 

The final;

The last steps have been completed;

The nameplate on the stern of the boat; (needs repositioning to cover the holes drilled for the horse)



The nameplate had already been fixed to the stand - both nameplates came with the kit;


I read on here a while ago about how to make fenders, so I thought I would add some to the boat. I wrapped some coarse rigging line around a shaped dowell. I cant remember the author of the article on here but whoever you are a huge thanks!

The fenders rigged up (I had always thought that these were called bouys)



And fixed onto the boats rail with a Fishermans Bend (Anchor Bend), although my knots book informs me that it is not actually a Bend but a Hitch.




The completed Boat;



I have taken more pics which I will add tomorrow along with my thoughts and conclusions on this build.

Cheers

Paul

Here are a few more photographs.

Thanks, Nils and Dirk,  once they've been adorned with Chuck's little Royal monograms, and blackened I think they'll look spot on. 🙂
 
Post 30 - Bits and pieces.
The Rudder coat
If I am to fit one of these it is best done whilst I can still invert the hull free of all the deck fittings.
I fitted one to Pegasus and I thought one would be appropriate for Alert. I am thinking of water constantly entering the space below the platform deck that would be inevitable without one.
These are tricky little additions to visualise and there is an element of trial and error involved in their making.

This is a shot of the Rudder coat on Victory.
Not of a particularly aesthetic appearance they attach around the rudder head below the counter, and spread out to cover the rudder port, whilst retaining an element of bagginess to allow the rudder movement.
I make mine from fine handkerchief cotton, the initial pattern is sort of light bulb shaped and having drawn out the pattern the edges are sealed with pva to avoid fraying when cutting out.
The difficult part is building in an element of ‘bag’, as the natural inclination is for the coat to cling too tightly to the counter.
I try to get around this by using cotton wool to fill out the coat before I seal it down.
I remember thinking when I was building Cheerful that those little fibre Horseshoe plates supplied by Chuck may come in useful when fitting a rudder coat to secure the edges to the counter.
Now is the time to find out.

3321
Stage one is to glue the horseshoe to the outer edges of the coat, whilst pulling up the centre to provide some bag.
Stage two is to use strands of cotton wool to partly fill out the bag.

3323
Stage three is to glue the assembly thus far to the counter. Once set one side of the bag is glued to the rudder head.

3326(2)
The bag is then carefully manipulated adding further strands of cotton wool, before gluing the other side to the rudder head.
 Any excess of cotton is painted with diluted pva, and when dried a scalpel blade is used to trim the edges on the rudder head.

3337

3333

3329
The coat can then be painted with diluted black paint to represent the tarred surface.
 
Where there’s a rudder coat there is a helm coat, I made mine using microporous tape, useful stuff where small areas of tarred canvas are required.

3357
The photo also shows the Transom Knees, and Mizen Mast Steps. The kit provides these together with brass etched brackets.
 
The items are well shaped and represent a combined step to the counter deck and support for the Mizen Mast.

3354(2)
I slightly modified the bracket to suit a 3mm ø Mizen mast. According to the detail in the Alert Book, the mast is given as  37’ 2” height with an 8”ø
This equates to a scale 177mm length with a 3.1mm ø
I will make the mast and store it on the deck.
 
Scuppers.
To scupper or not to scupper
No scuppers are shown on any of the drawings in the Alert book, and there is only a passing mention of them in the narrative relating to the deck pumps.
Likewise, they are not included as a feature in the kit.
The only model I have seen showing Alert with scuppers is a beautiful 1:48 scale scratch-built version completed by Daveyjones back in 2014; that really is a very fine model, check it out in the Gallery.
I think I will defer the decision for while even tho’ logic tells me that even a low freeboard boat such As Alert would have them.
 
 
B.E.
03/11/2019
 

The summer sun might be more of a distraction but there will definitely be periods where I cannot venture into the bowels of my dwelling to spend time in the play room as I will need to avoid dusty environments.
 
Getting old is a bummer.

Thanks Steve,
I must admit to looking at the later pics and thinking 'what rubbish planking'.🙄 It is my first attempt at clinker, and I think I could improve on the technique were I to tackle it again, a task I have little enthusiasm for.
Still it doesn't look too bad to my eye from 12" or so, but then my eyesight is not what it was.🙁
I always hope the bashing I do on these kits does provide  a few ideas for those following on, and doesn't add to their frustration.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Post 25
Guns Part 2
Moving onto the carriages;
The carriage design has been taken from the Alert book and is a good representation for shape.
Each carriage consists of five main parts plus the wheels.
Cleaning up the parts consists of a light sanding of the laser burn but be careful with the axle pieces they are quite fragile.

3167
I found the carriages easy to assemble, more so than many other examples I have done in the past. I didn’t even need to make a holding jig, just used a barrel to ensure squareness of the setup before the glue dried.
 
There are pre-drilled holes to take the two eye/ring bolts, and the Transverse bolt which spans the two carriage cheeks.

3182(2)
The eyebolts and transverse bolt are part of a pe set, but for me the eyebolts don’t work that well looking too chunky for the carriage cheek.

3168
My own preference is to use Amati fine copper eyebolts and rings for carriage fittings at this scale, and I have included additional eyebolts, or hoops as they properly are called, and the ring to carry the breeching rope.

3172(2)
Some extra effort is required to make up and blacken twelve sets of ring bolts, and five eyebolts per carriage, but for me it’s worth it.

3170(2)
Once assembled a coat of paint is applied and the transverse bolt is blackened and glued into place.

3205
The next somewhat tedious job is to attach all the iron work to the carriages.
 
A puzzling feature for me are the square cut holes in the wheels (trucks) to fit over the axletrees.
I expect axletrees to be square but the ends being rounded to fit the wheels.

3009(2)
Here the Alert laser set is overlaid with a Syren set, the axle holes are round, and a slight rounding of the axletree allows for fitting.
It makes sense to me that the wheel hole is round and the axletree is then carefully rounded to give a good fit.
 
Never mind, for the purpose of the exercise I went with the kit arrangement.

3207
I added the wheel bolts or impressions of them by the simple expediency of marking them using a sharply pointed 9H pencil.
On my kit at least the axletree and wheel mortices were not universally a good fit, and I will have to use a fine filler to rectify the issue.
 
This is as far as I am going with the guns at present, there is still a fair bit of fettling to do, and I need to decide on the barrels.
 
B.E.
23/10/2019
 
 

Also love your 'handle'. I laughed out loud when I read it. Welcome! Good for you both. I'm sure you'll find the support you need here on this site.

Hi again folks, another small update.  I have started work on the anchors - Trotman Pattern.  The contract for Victoria specified 3 of these, two as Bowers and one as the stream, with the latter a little smaller/lighter.  These anchors were assessed by a Committee in 1852 and rated as the strongest/best holding anchors (28% better) yet the Admiralty did not deviate from their "Admiralty pattern".  These were an enhanced version of the Port/Hornibal pattern
The earlier style of this anchor had the rounded/ovalish shank and the straight iron stock; the bent arm iron stock was not introduced until about 1860.
 
The following photos show the construction of the first anchor from cut raw materials through to completed item.  The shank was shaped from a single piece of thick brass then the holes drilled and the slot cut.  The flukes were silver soldered to the shank then cleaned up.  the stock was made in two parts to enable the ball ends to be turned as they would not fit through the 1mm hole; I don't know how they did this in real life as the is a conical stopper on one side of the stock and a pin on the other - if you look real close you can see I managed to add that detail.  The hex head bolt and nut, and the shackle, were some purchased stock from another project, but fit perfectly for this job   The anchor was blackened with Birchwood Casey Brass Black (diluted to 25%)
 
The photos are in extreme close up as these are only 21mm long overall and as such show all the early scuffing from my filing before cleanup.  The next two should look a little better as my technique improves.
 
cheers
 
Pat
 
    
  

Slow progress on second planking. Someone advised using 0.5 mm planks so I bought  some 5mm during our vacation in Stockholm. It is much easier to bend. I do not have any good clamps for this stage so I glue with CA glue. 
The first 4 planks was easy to fit but then it got more difficult to make planks follow smooth In the stem. I can not see how to do that correctly. Anyway I had to end the planks as in the photo. I figure the wale will cover the ugly joints.

Hello and thanks for all the replies and support!  
Here is a small update on my slow progress.

I fitted the middle sternposts first after the first planking was sanded.
At this point I noticed that the outer stern timbers where in the wrong angle so I removed them with the help of some methylated spirit (technical alcohol in english?), which dissolved the PVA glue like a charm. Then fitted them again with the middle stern timbers as guide.
 

Next step was to plank the stern. There was a gap between transom and the planking which I covered with a bullnose batten. Would that be historically out of line?

I dry fitted the stern post to achieve a snug fit for the stern planking. I will fit it permanently after the second planking (which I am a bit afraid of)
 
I hope my writing is comprehensive as I have to learn what the parts of a ship is called, not only in english, but also in Swedish 😉

Sails are going in. Seems to easy, must have done something wrong. 😉