AJohnson

Hi Keith, good to see you back and making progress on your Erebus. 

That is really good first planking, very neat.  

A great looking model Richard, so delicate. 

58 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Thanks guys, I’m glad you’re finding reasons for me to justify adding the Hurricane! 
 

Also, the Hurricane is from 1940, and the Bomber from 1941… must have been some pretty rough weather to divert that pilot a year forward in time…😜

 

Andy

Who needs an excuse to add a Hurricane to anything! 🤣

But you are right 1941 era, a tired Spit V maybe returning to any friendly airfield after meeting a new  “Butcher bird” might make a more contemporary addition.

Andy your models are definitely deserving of their own settings. 

On 1/12/2024 at 4:19 PM, chris watton said:

OK, just a little update.

 

I have been very busy, if not producing stuff, then trying to carry on with my next two smaller developments.

 

Today I finally completed the hull detail for kit number 15, the gun brig Adder of 14 guns (1797 - Acute Class). 12 x 18 Pounder carronades and 2x24 Pounder carriage guns. I think this has taken three weeks in total to get this far, perhaps two weeks for masts and rig.

 

Size wise this fits neatly in between Alert and Speedy. The designs were a lot more involved than I initially anticipated, with the bluff bow and foredeck drooping down as it goes forward, presumably to help negate the recoil of the large 24 Pounders.

 

As with Trial Cutter, it has drop keels, and all hull detail above main wale is pre cut and engraved, meaning very little planking required, which is also painted (or coppered) anyway.

 

This was meant to be a nice cheap and simple kit, but as usual, I went too far, and ended up with a very detailed little kit with many laser cut and engraved sheets.

 

Scale - 1:64th (of course..)

Hull Length - 406mm

Overall Length (Rigged) - 606mm

Height Overall - 464mm

 

This class was a Henslow design, and if you don't like the name, there is quite a choice:

Acute

Adder

Asp

Assault

Biter

Blazer

Bouncer

Boxer

Bruiser

Clinker

Contest

Cracker

Crash (!!)

Sparkler

Spiteful

 

All ordered and built in 1797

 

Adder was actually lengthened in 1798 to 97' along the main deck, so I doubt she was ever coppered in the as built guise. Most seem to have been coppered at a much later date after their launch, hence the white bottom.

 

No idea how well this will sell....

The Kent history forum is a treasure trove of info for many things nautical. This link might be useful for anyone tempted by the Adder and her sisters. 

https://kenthistoryforum.com/index.php?topic=111.0

Welcome to MSW! 

49 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

The seizing and (fake) splicing on your rope work is exceptional.  Well done!

Yes, thanks for sharing all these great details. I will be trying to replicate them later this year hopefully on my Trial. 

Stopping by your website watching for Adder/Sherbourne updates and spotted you have a “Customers models” section, a nice touch. Are you actively wanting those sending or you approaching builders directly?

Hi David,

Glad you back safely from the ‘wilds’ of Scotland and hope not all your birds were blown to cover and you managed to spot some. 

Like you I have been puzzling over the rigging of the RMG model and trying to work out what to do, but fortunately I’m a bit behind you in my build, so will shamelessly copy you when the time comes!

For instance the RMG model doesn’t have yard braces running to the stern, only the ones running to the bowsprit, though many other cutter models do have these both fitted, is that right, or is it a case of either/or?  There are triangular fillets at the stern that in other cutter model have belays for the main sheet, yard braces and flag halliards. What do you think of those David. 
 

Very nicely done rigging, looking forward to seeing the “pointy” end done. 

A really interesting build Richard, very delicate and intricate looking. 

Well done Alan, that looks spectacular, I have really enjoyed following along on this one, what next?! 

That is outstanding, you have the patience of a Saint! 

Welcome to MSW John. 

14 hours ago, hollowneck said:

One of the great things about Vanguard's kits is that they easily invite the kind of small, enhancing upgrades like you've incorporated into this excellent build. I am also a fan of subdued paint tones like those you've used in this model. Impressive.

Thanks Ron, I agree about Vanguard kits, as the basics are so well taken care of for the builder and the instructions/plans so comprehensive, it makes "assembling" the kit straight forward; I won't say "easy" as that could be misinterpreted by the newcomer.  This frees up energies often absorbed with rectifying short comings of other kit manufacturers and allows the builder to go off in whatever direction they desire.  The fact so many of us modify and even mildly "kit-bash" Chris's kits is a compliment I think to his designs.

Some progress on smaller items over the weekend.  Including belay pin racks, side steps, a scattering of hull eyelets, standard and cavel cleats.  Additionally after looking at it a while I decided the lead roof of the cabin skylight I built in post #89 would look better if sectioned with join strips rather than as one big sheet of lead, which may have been made from smaller sheets anyway.

Additionally I thought it was high time to give the crew an airing, just so they can get used to their new berth.  They look a little too big on their stands at the moment, but they will all be painted and have the bases removed in due course, with the canons aboard it is going to look crowded and that is just under half the actual compliment. 

Thanks for looking in 👋

Lovely looking finish Craig! 

14 minutes ago, Craigie65 said:

Very nice work.

Mind you that water looks fresh, cannot have been at sea too long.

I am sure your tars will prefer rum 🧉

 you are right Craig, a bit too blue, I shall sort that and make more brown/rum looking 🤣

Evening all and thanks for the comments and the likes. This small update, now the stern trauma has been put behind me, is the completion of the small skylight above the Commander's cabin, based on drawing ZAZ6418 dimension.  Scratch built as the companionway further forward, from left over 0.7mm wood from the kit, with additions of acetate windows and a lead roof.  Finally a whimsical detail of a water butt and ladle was added for the exercising gun crews; when finished the model will show some of the larboard guns being "exercised" I have got a set of crew figures from Chris, including officers, Marines, seaman and a couple of gun crews, so around 20 figures, just under halt the Trial's actual compliment.

Thanks for looking in and your continued interest. 

Welcome to MSW! 

Welcome to MSW! 

Hi Chris, if I’m reading @Maciek right he is asking about the square sail/yard. I am also interested in what the answer is, did yards run on the shrouds and is this why the front ones were served?

I think that the darker rim is laser cutting char Alan, a manufacturing process by byproduct, not a deliberate addition of metal rims. It’s a pain to sand off and leave a round wheel, I spin trucks on a cocktail stick held in a Dremmel and spin them while lightly sanding with sanding stick. 

A really nice looking cutter you have built there! 

I would be very interested to see what people say about yards fouling standing rigging and shrouds!  I'm also building a cutter and like you want to add sails but not have the yards/sails perpendicular to the keel, partly for looks and partly for a narrower model so it can fit in a smaller display box and shelf!  I have looked at several model, including contemporary ones and the topmast and main shrouds appear to foul the yards if they are rotated by even a small amount.  hope one of MSW resident gurus can help.

Update on the repairs and modifications I made to the stern after dropping the model a few weeks back.  It's taken a while to decide what to do, but in the end for an unplanned detour, it's turned out okay.

After breaking the stern transom and counter and then marking the wood in the the process of gluing back together, I knew I was going to have to make the decision of painting the damaged wood and this took me a while to come to terms with as the bulwarks look so nice with just Danish oil applied. Given the boom supports were snapped I decided to fashion some of my own with thicker wood from the kit to try and match NMM drawing ZAZ6418 as best I could, but with a nod to the contemporary model referenced elsewhere on MSW, I shaped them to give a slightly curved profile and added some inlaid pear strip to side profile to mimic the ZAZ6418 details.

Having painted the transom and counter, the lower stern counter rails and transom framing did stand out better than I hoped against the black paint.  So overall; with the caveat that I'd rather not had to do it, I'm happy with my repair job.  Some final touching up and a flat coat needed, but that can wait until the hull is nearly complete and I can do all that stuff in one go.

Other little details completed at the weekend was the galley chimney, traversing tackle ring bolts and mast coat from lead foil.

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

 

It is -- I already built it! Well, the original Caldercraft version, that is. At the time, I didn't know I could build the new, revisited version if I just waited 23 years. 😉

Snap! love it @chris watton Caldercraft’s Sherborne was my first wood model, still here gathering dust on the shelf of shame. 🤣