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Hot on the heels of my Trial build, I'm starting a log for my next build, @chris watton's latest kit the Gun-Brig Adder. Though I will be building it as one of the others in the Acute class - Sparkler! The Admiral and my daughter looked through the list of fifteen names available in the class and said "Make it as Sparkler!" so this is what was decided and I mentioned this on Chris's Vanguard news and updates thread a while back, little did I know someone was was taking note and I received a lovely surprise inside the box when I opened it and it contained a custom nameplate emblazoned with the name "Sparkler" 😁 . Thanks again Chris! I won't do an unboxing as such as there are already three other Adder logs on the go by @DB789, @ECK & @Glenn-UK so I will try to avoid repetition. I will however try to build on what I learned on building Trial and will be adding sails again. The scene I want to have a go at recreating is of the Brig hove-to and handling a boat. There are some wonderful drawings and sketches available as references; a few below to give you a flavour of my ambitions for this kit (whether I get there time will tell! 😉) The last two are taken from E. W. Petrejus's book "Modelling the Brig of War "IRENE" " (one of my favourite refrences.) Enhancements planned and bought so far include pear blocks from Vanguard and an 18ft. cutter, I also think @BenD at Ropes of Scale will be getting an order for more of his fine products.... Updates in due course for those interested. 👋

Okay Ron, I’ll watch out for your results in the Gallery hopefully and your Harpy log after. Chris is really spoiling us for choices of our next projects. I wonder what his “big” one will be for 2025… 🤔

I agree Ronald, your deck does indeed look very good.

You made a really smart one, that looks very good, interesting subject.

I do, they will be fiddly to add later. Just make sure they are fully seated so enough pokes out of the underside for you to wrap your rigging around. Something I didn’t do with a few on my Trial build on a couple of them. Your build is looking very good, like how neat it looks on post #59.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on with those markers, they seem an attractive method in principle.

Thank you Ron, my next project is going to be Adder, but as "Sparkler" - are you doing a log I can copy from?! 😁

Well here we are folks, I'm calling this one finished. I made the Ensign and Pennant using tissue with a wire edge to shape them over the last few days, hand painted with acrylic, though I think @dunnock daughter is better at them! 😁 Again a few dicey moments getting the crewman to hold the ensign halyard without breaking him! It has been great fun doing this and I have learned a lot more to take forward to the next build. It has also been a great distraction whilst continuing to recover from my heart attack and other health issue over this summer. Thank you all for following along and for the comments and help as always and to @chris watton for another superb kit. In a while I will be starting a log for HMS Sparkler 🎇 (a sister ship of Vanguard's HMS Adder) Here are some final pictures. Until next time shipmates!

Hi Dan, that planking does look good! and a nice smooth curve at the bow, that is hard with the inner bulwark pattern wanting to bend sharply where the gun port is, had that issue on my Trial build. What planking have you got coming for the deck?

- won't you get withdrawal symptoms? 🤒 I hope you continue to lurk around MSW anyway...

Hi Doug, congratulations - she looks really good! So whats next?

That rudder coat looks good and a great tip on using old lens cloths, I have loads of those hanging around.

Good evening, we are getting close to the finish line! Rope hanks and the crew added! The figures from Vanguard @chris watton are just great, I only wish my shaky hands could do them justice, a miniature figure painter I'm not! But I'm happy with the overall look from normal viewing distance, macro is so cruel! 😬 This was a delicate process (and painful for some of the crew), as I performed surgery on a few of them to re-pose them for my take on "gunnery practice" and drilled out a few hands for the Carronade training tackles. Think they add to the impression of a busy deck, but the real Trial must have been very crowded as this motley bunch are only about a quarter of her complement. Only the port main yard counter brace to add (I dare not add it before I had got the crew on board for fear of snagging it as I reached in to place them.) Then the flag & pennant to make and add with their halyards. Then a final clean up and touch up with matt varnish where recent glue added. Thanks you all for the like and comments.

That does look fantastic Jim, I'm going to have to evict one of the kids to make room for more shelves! 😆

Welcome to MSW!

Welcome to MSW Vytautas!

Congratulations, that’s looks very goood!

Glad you are both on the mend, didn’t realised you had consumables on a laser! Got some Pear blocks ordered to pimp-up my Sparkler (Adder) and a few spares. Will you be doing printed blocks like Syren once these have gone?

Hi Stuka, Craig is right, a simple bit of card is fine for transferring tick marks. I’m not holding my efforts up as “expert” advice, I did describe my planking efforts on my Cutter Trial log from post number #34 using tick marks etc. There are also many more better examples and tutorials on MSW, you don’t need to spend money on fancy tools or books, a flat board, some clamps, a travel iron, rule and good knife is about it. Good luck, keep us posted. 👍

That’s the natural order of things for rigging isn’t it, well it is for me as well! 🤣

Thank you all for the likes and @jpalmer1970 @Oboship @Ronald-V @Charter33 @Nipper @Craigie65 @Dave_E @BrochBoating @Danstream for your kind words. More work on the main sail, laced it to the gaff, amazing the number of times the lacing needed tightening before it seemed to grip the sail to the gaff right. Also added inhaul and outhaul tackles on the boom, I had to dip in and out of many reference books to decide on how these were going to be done. Also added brails and tackles for these, again, the variation in the sources for these is amazing, I just went with what was achievable with my skills and what would look okay against the sail. There has also been plenty of shaping of all the sails using the wire in the edges and plenty of time online looking for how gaff sails look for real (one of the best sources I found was Gaff Rig World, a group on Facebook.) I have done my best to make the sail bend naturally, as though filled with wind and allowing some deflection in profile caused by the boom lifts. It is okay, not entirely happy, but there is NO way I am redoing all that lot! 😆 Good lessons learned to be applied to the next build... Finishing touches to be done are the addition of Reef tackle, pendants and such. Then a whole load of rope hanks are required, a tidy / touch-up, varnish session, then all that remains is the motley crew and flags. Thanks again for following along.

Great job Dan! Think the planking looks very good. 👍

Congratulations Alan on wrangling this mini “beast” into shape, looks very unusual, nice to see a rare bird like the Argosy.

Don't worry Dan you are in very good company! (We even have a whole thread dedicated to the phenomenon!) You are making excellent progress! 👍

Update and a change in plan, I decided after all to complete the main sail. Thinking about it, I thought whilst I was in the mood for sail making and undaunted by making 200 reef points I better get on with it, before I found excuses to avoid making further progress. This is probably the largest tissue sail I will ever make, so overall pleased with how it came out, but learned a lot more in the process of making this monster. Followed the same process as before:- paper template for shape and size, then construct the sail with a one piece core and strips glued front and back, with wire trapped in the edge for shaping later. I found using a rule helpful to fold the tissue in one piece around the wire as I went. The gluing the bolt rope along the edge to hide the wire; forming beckets etc. as I went. Reef points were actually split in two and glued separately to each face, rather than trying to tie knots flush to either face of the reef point hole to minimise handling the tissue paper -that entailed making nearly 400 of them! 😬 - but worth it not to risk trying to pull knots tight through fragile tissue! I did contemplate only adding one per. sail panel, but I knew someone would spot that and so took a deep breath and did two; have also punched in two per. panel for the robands when I get to those. Have now begun the process of adding the sail to the model. Starting with the mast hoops, so it will take it's own weight. the hoops are extras bought from Vanguard. A few shots below show the sail as it looks now, temporarily held in place with various bits of tape and temporary rigging held by clips to provide tension, but it gives an impression of the look I am aiming for eventually. Thanks for keeping me company with this experiment and the likes and kinds words! 😁