Thukydides

That looks really good. I have been considering the possibility of doing furled sails for my alert build using silkspan, but I am a bit nervous it is a bridge too far for a first build.

That makes sense why I ended up with more planks as the kit ones are just shy of 4mm. One question I had for you was the process for cutting the steps in the margin planks when you actually do the planking. You glued down the margin planks long before you actually laid the rest of the planks. Did you just cut the notches out with a hobby knife? Is there anything I need to be careful of when glueing down the margin planks?

I don't think I really appreciate the detailed work on rigging I have seen on these forums until I opened up the fittings box for my alert and saw how small all the bits really were. It looks good.

They look amazing. I would never have guessed they were made out of card.

Log #3: Designing the Deck Though I largely intend to follow the instructions as written, there are a few places where I want to make some minor adjustments based on some ideas from other build logs. The first of these adjustments was the deck planking pattern. The pattern is largely a replication of the excellent work that blue ensign did on his alert kit. I would highly recommend you check out his post on the subject here. It was not clear to me from the pictures what width of planks blue ensign was using and since I was planning on using the planks that came with the kit, I needed to rebuild the pattern from scratch using the picture of his finished pattern as a guide. The first step was to mark out where the margine planks would go. These will be cut out of a boxwood sheet I have ordered. I used a compass, setting the width to match the distance the bow cuts into the deck, keeping this width constant all the way round the outside of the deck. Next, I measured and drew the plank lines down the length of the deck. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to do this precisely until I realized I could just lay the boxwood strips next to each other to make my tick marks. Then, I marked where the planks would but into the margine planks. Finally, using the beam positions that blue ensign used, I marked the plank ends using a 4 plank shift pattern. This had to be adjusted slightly near the center to avoid any of the planks looking too short or too long. I would love some feedback on any issues anyone might see with the planking pattern. It turned out a little different than the one blue ensign did, likely due to differences in plank widths. Next up, final assembly and faring...

I love dollar store clamps. If the break you can always just get more.

I have a question relating to photos. I have been doing my log in Google docs (just so I have a record) and then copying and pasting it into my log her on msw. I have noticed that when I view the log on mobile the pictures appear squished. Is there anyway to fix this?

Log #2: Assembling the Frame Having checked that all the pieces appear to be in the box I proceeded to dry fit the frame. I also took the opportunity to mark how much I had to thin the keel using a 1.5mm strip I cut off some masking tape. This is one of those places where the knowledge shared on build logs here at MSW has been invaluable. This is the sort of thing that would never have occurred to me, but likely saved me a lot of hassle and I suspect the thinning would not have been nearly as even. Having done this I then drew in an estimate for the bearding line and sanded it down to prepare for planking. Based on what I had read I figured this was easier to do at this stage before I assembled the frame. After that assembly was straightforward. I know that it had been mentioned in a few logs that the pieces fit together well and should hold themselves straight, but given some of the problems I had read about in other (non-alert) build logs I decided to be extra careful and ensure each bulkhead was square using the tried and tested lego block method. It was at this point I finally understood why everyone keeps saying you can never have enough clamps... As many of the other Alert logs have mentioned I had some trouble fitting the stern frames into position. The problem is the outer two frames. The inner ones slotted in fine, but the outer ones required a slight bit of bending to get them to fit. I was worried they might break as I was doing this, but managed to get them in fine and the rest of the assembly proceeded without incident. The final piece to add to the puzzle before beginning the faring of the bulkheads was the false deck. However, that will have to wait till the next log as I decided I wanted to try and replicate the deck pattern done by blue ensign so that needed to be measured and marked out before I could proceed. Next time on Thukydides’ Alert Build Log: A novice tries to draw a deck planking pattern...

I am certainly enjoying it so far. We will see how I feel when I hit the inevitable first major problem.

Do you have a build log going?

Thanks for the advise. I do plan to take this very slow.

Log #1: And So It Begins I have always had a keen interest in model ships, but never realized that kits existed or that there was ever the possibility of me making one. A few months back a video popped up on my youtube feed of the Amati Lady Nelson being built in a timelapse. This was my inspiration to start researching the subject and I discovered the wealth of information available online and in particular I discovered MSW. Over the past month or so I have been reading many of the build logs on this site and trying to absorb the wealth of information here. I had originally wanted to start with a more ambitious project, but a number of posts on the subject here on MSW convinced me to start with a more modest one. My model making experience has tended more towards things like this: So this project will represent a bit of a departure for me from my normal hobby activities and I fully anticipate making many mistakes over the coming months. Hopefully as I document them in this build log they will be of use to those that follow afterwards. Please feel free to critique any mistakes you might see as I progress through this build as I suspect I will need all the help I can get :). I would be remiss if I did not mention up front how thankful I am for all the completed Alert build logs on model ship world that I have to follow along with. I found the logs by Blue Ensign and glennard2523 particularly helpful. I know that one of the selling points of Chris's models is the lovely big build manual. But I guess I never really grasped how nice and big it is till it was there in front of me. Every part is clearly labeled and numbered in the manual making everything nice and clear. Having double checked that the contents of the box were all there, I was ready to begin. Unfortunately it was at this point that I ran out of time and the start of construction will have to wait for the next log.

Table of Contents Welcome to my build log for documenting the making of HM Cutter Alert by Vanguard Models. In order to keep this organized I have reserved this first post for a table of contents in order to allow future readers to jump ahead to sections they are interested in if so desired. Log #1: And So It Begins Log #2: Assembling the Frame Log #3: Designing the Deck Log #4: Final Assembly and Faring Log #5: Planking and then Re-Planking Log #6: Lining Off the Hull Log #7: Fixing More Errors Log #8: The Stern Bulkhead and Counter Log #9: Lining Up the Wales Log #10: Concerning Drop Planks Log #11: Adjusting the Second Band Log #12: The Garboard Strake Log #13: Planking Retrospective Log #14: Building the Transom Part I Log #15: Building the Transom Part II Log #16: Building the Transom Part III Log #17: The Margin Planks Log #18: The Inner Bulwarks and Fixing the Boom Crutches Log #19: Cutting the Gun Ports Log #20: Preparing the Hull Log #21: Painting Styles Log #22: Painting the White and Blue Log #23: Painting the Inner Bulwarks and Edge Highlighting Log #24: The Margin Planks Log #25: The Cap Rail, Timberheads and Catheads Log #26: One Step Forward Two Steps Back Log #27: Fixing the Transom Log #28: The Rudder Log #29: Blackening and Bending Log #30: The Cannon Carriages Part I Log #31: The Cannon Carriages Part II Log #32: Painting the Deck Fittings Log #33: Fixing the Railing Log #34: The Pumps Log #35: Cannons and Other Fittings Log #36: Rope Log #37: Painting the Transom Images Log #38: Painting Complete Log #39: Rigging the Guns Part I Log #40: Rigging the Guns Part II Log #41: Odds and Ends Log #42: Mass Production Log #43: Rigging the Guns Continued Log #44: Hiding the Super Glue Spots Log #45: Blocks for the Gun Tackle Log #46: Blocks for the Gun Tackle Continued Log #47: The Gun Tackle Log #48: Hull and Fittings Complete Log #49: The Mainmast Log #50: First Attempt at Serving Log #51: The Shrouds and Standing Backstay Log #52: Running Backstay and Fiddle Blocks Log #53: Puzzling about the Mainmast Standing Rigging Log #54: The Mainstay and Preventer Stay Log #55: Preparing the Mainmast Log #56: The Boom and the Gaff Log #57: The Shrouds Part II Log #58: Revisiting the Rudder and Windlass Log #59: Finishing the Mainmast Log #60: Shrouds Complete Log #61: Shroud Batons & Running Backstays Log #62: Rigging the Mainstay Log #63: Rigging the Preventer Stay Log #64: The Bowsprit Log #65: Tying of the Stays and Shrouds Log #66: Year End Review Log #67: Ratlines, Ratlines & More Ratlines Log #68: Master & Commander Log #69: Ratlines Complete Log #70: Rigging the Gaff Log #71: Raising the Boom Log #72: Tying Off Lines Log #73: The Yards Log #74: Painting the Yards Log #75: Odds and Ends Log #76: Anchor Cable & Rails Log #77: Experiments in Lashing Log #78: Methodology for Preparing Small Ropes Log #79: Rose Lashings Log #80: Raising the Squaresail & Spreadsail Yards Log #81: Squaresail Bowlines Log #82: The Topsail Yard Log #83: Tying off the Ropes Log #84: The Topgallant Yard Log #85: The Anchors Log #86: The Cat Falls & Topgallant Backstays Log #87: The Anchor Buoys Log #88: Hoisting the Anchors

I think Chris (Vanguard Models designer) is working on a sub £100 ship at the moment if you want to wait. Not sure when it will come out. Also welcome to the forums.

We do get a lot of rain drizzle and fog 😃.

This is my latest project that I am trying to finish up. Almost done, just a few minor bits then I need to assemble them and add a dash of snow. Then on to the alert.

Not really, I have always had a keen interest in history and many years ago when I played computer games I needed to pick a character name for an MMORPG I was playing. I had been reading about the peloponnesian war at the time and so the combination of Thukydides being a bit obscure (so was not already taken) and me being fascinated with the melian dialogue tipped the scales. Since then I have consistently used it as an alias.

By plastic varnish I just meant the primary audience is for plastic models (see the picture below). I wouldn't use "wood varnish" on plastic models because the only ones I am familiar with are designed for use on say furniture. In a pinch I could use a spray can of clear varnish from the hardware store but where it is not specifically designed for small models the results might not be as good or I might get a bit of a tint etc... I guess my question relates more to if I can use many of my acrylic based products that I already own on wood such as the below Vallejo product.

Hi everyone. I figured I should do a new member post as I have been hanging around the forums silently watching for a while. I hail from the fishing grounds of the North Atlantic near where the HMS Pegasus went down. Though I am new to building wooden ships, I have a lot of experience in plastic models particularly on the painting side. I have ordered the vanguard models alert kit and am planning to start a build log once it arrives.

I. Very familiar with the processes for getting a good finish on plastic, but what to do on wood at this scale is a bit new to me. Do I need to use a wood specific primer or can I use a plastic model primer I have on hand such as vallejo or badger stynalrez? For vanish again do I need to use wood specific ones or can I use hobby plastic model varnishes such as vallejo?

It looks awesome Derek. Also as a new entrant to the hobby the log is really helpful in breaking down some of the many challenges that are faced in completing a project like this.

Looks awesome, I just ordered the Alert as my first attempt at a wooden model (have done lots of sculpting, painting and modeling in plastic up to this point). I will be following along with your log as I attempt to build it.