DB789

Thanks Rick.

Ratlines complete. Stays, except for backstays added. Left backstays off whilst I’m setting the mainsail so they’re not in the way.

Topsail added too. All fairly straightforward, just followed the excellent Vanguard plans.
 

The most challenging element is adjusting the lines to achieve as uncreased sails as possible - this boat has big sails compared to the rest of the Vanguard fleet. 
Most of the lines are not fully tied off or glued as I’m still adjusting for position. 

My sails are a paler, pinkier colour than most fishing boat builds on here - I’ve avoided the RIT dye Wine colour and tried to mimic the trawler Vigilance’s sails which I saw and photographed in Brixham in 2022.

Shrouds fitted. Starboard ratlines done, port ratlines in progress. 

Just a quick update. Decided on a colour for the sails, RIT dye tan (mixed quite strong) and after that the sails dipped for a minute or two in weak RIT dye scarlet mixture, the latter to give the sails a less bland brown colour.

Fitting out below. First two shrouds on each side being added. The instructions say add the main topsail to the first first, I’ve decided not to as it will be in the way for the shrouds and ratlines and I’ll risk breaking the topsail yard. 

34 minutes ago, chris watton said:

One of my aims (as well as making a little profit) has always been to encourage new modellers to the hobby, and not put them off with crap.

I can attest to your success there! It worked for me. 

Simon,

She looks super, I really enjoyed building this one too. Such a great kit. you’ll enjoy Nisha too, similar size and rig and I thought a little bit easier to plank. 
 

I’ve done a log on all six Vanguard fishing boat builds (Ranger still under construction + Alert and Grecian as my skills have slowly improved) as a relative newbie to boat building it’s been wonderful to have such a wealth of experience and advice available plus some encouragement - so i’d recommend a log if you can face the work! Also we get to enjoy reading it. 
 

Dan 
 

Beautiful model and case. I’ve really enjoyed following your build! 

Ranger’s hull and spars are now complete. 
I can’t do anymore until I make a decision on what colour to have the sails. I had originally intended the undyed white straight from the packet. 

Is that just too white? It’s a starker white than the photos convey. 
 

I had some spare Saucy Jack sails so I dyed one of these with tea. 

Not sure I like the faintly orange tinge that the tea gives them? 
 

Or do I stick with the red / pink sails of the rest of the fishing fleet despite having promised my wife I wouldn’t? 

Alongside Nisha to give an indication of how dark red sails would look. 
 

Or the paler sails Saucy Jack has. I reached this colour by accident and may well not be able to reproduce it. I’m thinking this last might look the best and also be a bit different from Nisha and Erycina. 
 

For the sake of completeness here’s some photos of Erycina with Ranger. She’s an almost identically sized boat although with a different rig. Incidentally, Erycina started off life with a cutter rig before being cut down to a ketch and the mizzen mast added. 

Any thoughts welcome! I’m stuck on Ranger until I can make a decision on sails. 
 

Thanks

Thanks Rick, this is an easy boat to make and look good thanks to Chris’s excellent design. I’d like to think I’m getting better at building them, but in reality this is by far the easiest of the four non-lugger rigged fishing boats from Vanguard. 

Thanks for all the likes. 
 

PE on the hull fitted and looks great. Bowsprit and much of the deck furniture now in place. Still the channels to add an a few other bits and pieces. Tidied up the paint a bit too. 

Etched maple deck fitted. Needed a little sanding as usual to ensure a perfect fit. Timberheads representing the tops of the frames were added too. 

Then painting the hull started. First I painted the upper bulwarks black by hand using the AK black that came as part of the Grecian paint set. Then followed the instruction on where to draw a line and masked the upper bulwarks and a strip below the bulwarks which will be unpainted wood. I used a thin Tamiya tape to form a line then the Tamiya tape with plastic bag attached to protect the top of the boat. 
The rest of the hull was sprayed white with a rattlecan. Then using the waterline marker a further line was added on the white and masked which is the red oxide paint below the waterline. 

Once the paint was removed she looked like this. Note there is a random piece of painted PE on her deck and blu-tac still around the hole for the rudder.

Then the wales were painted black and added as was the white painted rail on the side of the hull. The really nice thing about these is that they cover up two of the three lines of paint on the hull where there’s a possibility of bleeding under the masking tape, giving instead really sharp clean lines. The only painted line is that between the white and red oxide. What a great design Chris! 

Worth noting that in terms of paint scheme there is a difference between the plans which specify a 3mm wide white bootstrap above the red oxide, and the prototype / instructions where the whole area above the red oxide and below the wales was painted white. I decided the latter looked more interesting so that’s what I went with. 
The photo etch name at her stern was added and looks great - so much better than a decal!
 

There a little bit on the waterline I’d like to respray to improve the run of the line on the starboard side (where the masking tape is) not sure if I dare and if it’s worth risking getting red oxide paint elsewhere. 

Also the black painted rails along each side and at the stern. 

I think she looks excellent. If I didn’t already have a new version of Speedy waiting to be built, I’d choose Adder for my next build after Ranger. 
 

I hope she sells well for you Chris, I find the more unusual boats really interesting and appealing. 

Despite Ranger’s forgiving hull shape, second planking didn’t go as smoothly as I’d expected. The problem was my lack of patience and not the kit. Plenty of filler used on the lower hull.

Generally I don’t mind what the planking looks like under paint, especially below the waterline, the exposed wood areas are those that matter and they’ve turned out well I think. 

Top of the stern counter broke off (as usual for me on these fishers) but fixed back on easily. 

Then removed the bulkhead ears. I also decided to paint the inner stern area black as the stern timbers are MDF and I prefer not to leave any MDF areas exposed and unpainted. 
Once the paint was dry I fitted the engraved Maple deck. This needed a gentle sanding at the edges to get a perfect fit. That’s clamped down and drying now. 

Other than the black inner stern area, I’m planning at the moment to stick to the kit’s suggested colour scheme. 
 

Although, I may consider white / tea stained sails instead of red brown on request from the Admiral who who says she already has five fishing boats with “steak” coloured sails floating around the house. Looking at the plans I think Ranger may have the biggest sail area of them all. 

They’re fantastic kits and the end result looks so good even when built by someone with limited model making skills such as me. That’ll be why I’m currently building my sixth Vanguard fishing boat and eighth Vanguard boat. 

18 hours ago, woodartist said:

I finished the fairing and inserted the extra blocks on bulkhead 7 that supports planking. I must have bought one of the early models because my parts numbers are not consistent with the instruction manual. I glued the center section of the keel. The little block clamps work really well.

Looking good. 
 

I think that the numbers were wrong on these parts in my Zulu kit too, but clear enough what parts went where from the photos in the manual. Funny that this was the Vanguard fishing boat that i was the least interested in building, but now she is complete she is one of my favourites…

First planking complete. This continued to be easy and straightforward. I could plank her with no edge bending or soaking of planks. Probably would have resulted in a tidier finish if I had edge bent a few of the tougher planks and will do so for the second planking. 
Then nails removed and sanded. No filler yet. 

Then the rabbets and inner stern board fitted and clamped to dry. 

I found that I needed to unglue and sand the tops of the outer stern frames so these were the same shape as the stern board. 

I started Ranger a month or so ago whilst stuck staying in a hotel for a fortnight’s business trip in one of the UK’s less attractive locations.

Made a start, but not a lot of progress and then back on the shelf once home whilst finishing Grecian.

This will be my sixth fishing boat from Vanguard and the last of the Vanguard fishing boat range. They are a lovely range of kits. Ranger at first glance seems very similar to the others in terms of being exceptionally high quality, very well designed, superb instructions and an excellent prototype build log on MSW. 

Ranger is similar in length (both hull and overall) and also width to Erycina, but has a much higher single mast to carry a great deal of sail area as her purpose was not to do the actual fishing but return the catch from the fishing fleet back to port as quickly as possible. Her lines, whilst longer, are not dissimilar to those of Saucy Jack. 

The MDF skeleton of bulkheads, keel and deck is wonderfully over engineered as usual to give a very robust framework with no risk of warping. Hull was faired, but the curves on this one are very gentle and do not require a lot of sanding. 

The only thing to note is that the slots in this construction do need a gentle sand to get them to fit properly. I have been spoilt on other Vanguard builds being able to do this initial construction without any sanding, I suspect it’s the norm for most manufacturers. I did, stupidly, try and force a couple of the bulkheads on snapping both a bulkhead and the keel itself - an easily avoidable mistake. They’re all glued back together fine now. 

Lower stern counter went on well without soaking. Just clamped and glued with PVA. 

Deck clicks in as usual into the helpful slot at the bottom of each bulkhead ear. 

Then the bulwarks fitted, as per the instructions with a small nail at the bottom, clamped and glued with PVA, although no glue above deck level as the eats will be removed. Again, no need for soaking due to the gentle shape. 

Once both sides done, time to start the planking. There’s tapering at the bow but not stern. 

Only a few planks in, but so far this has been the easiest boat to plank. I think Chris or Jim promised this in the instructions or build log! 

That’s all I did whilst away. Will restart construction shortly. 

Grecian is finished and in her display case. Rope coils fitted. A few final pics. 

The case is from DSC Showcases who if you’re in the UK I highly recommend. I have one of their cases for Alert. Despite being handmade from wood and glass they’re much cheaper than the acrylic alternatives. 
 

DSC usually make the cases bespoke, but in this case they had this one already made and offered it at a big discount so I bought it. It’s the perfect length, but with hindsight a bit too wide and a bit too tall. Grecian looks a little lost in it, partly due to that huge bowsprit. I suspect that when I eventually build Sphinx I’ll eventually put her in it, her overall dimensions are similar but she’d fill the case better. 
 

I’ll probably need some anti-UV film on the case or window to protect against fading. 
 

Thanks again for all the advice, encouragement and support on this log, it’s been invaluable! Thanks to Vanguard for yet another wonderful, extremely high quality kit. 

4 hours ago, Glenn-UK said:

Hello Dan

In the past I have used a very small micro drill around the edges of a glued in part which normally enables me to release CA glued in parts. Once the part have been removed a bit of diluted filler can be used as necessary before the new part is fitted.

 

Glenn-UK

Thanks so much Glenn. The end of the yard has a metal collar on so I wasn’t able to drill enough around to remove the old PE but I could get the new piece into the yard alongside it. It’s not absolutely at the centre of the yard, but once painted it will be almost invisible. 

Whilst working on the rope coils, Grecian took some light battle damage from the children. The starboard stunsail boom was knocked off. It has survived but the PE metal mounting for it that comes out of the fore course yard has snapped off. 

Really bad iPhone photo below, I don’t know how to get the phone to focus right in. 

The brass dot in the middle is the stump that remains of the original PE-4. Vanguard are amazing in that they supply extra parts with each kit - so I have a replacement. 
To fit the original piece I drilled a hole in the end of the yard and glued the PE in place with CA. 
 

Can anyone advise me on the best way of gently removing the old stub of PE which is superglued in pretty tight? 
 

I’ve tried using a little acetone around it but without success. I can’t remove the yard as there’s so much rigging attached to it. 
 

Any advice would be hugely welcome! 
 

Many thanks 

Dan 

Thank you all for your very kind comments. 
 

Craig - I followed Jim’s very useful guidance in the Grecian prototype log regarding the flag. I used the starch product below. 

It comes out as a thick opaque white goo which you soak the flag in for a few mins before wiping off with a damp cloth and then I hang the flag on its line between two arms of the quad hands and squash to shape using crocodile clips. 
 

I didn’t quite wipe enough off and there’s a mild residue on the surface. Also the crocodile clips can leave dimples that will need working out. But the overall effect looks good I think. 
 

It’s the flag that Vanguard sell as an extra for the kit and is both very high quality and period correct for the number of stars. 

Grecian is complete, except for the rope coils. I’ve decided in the end to leave the front two gunports empty as the prototype does. You can just squeeze in two of the smallest cannon there but it’s a squash with the anchor cable too. 
 

I’ll do those and Alert’s rope coils over the next couple of weeks and then mark both boats complete. 
 

I haven’t varnished the copper tape either. I thought I’d leave that and see if it tarnishes a bit before doing so. 
 

Some photos. 

Yet another excellent kit from Chris and Jim. Thank you. She’s a lovely looking Baltimore clipper and I’m very pleased with how she has turned out. I’m ordering a very large case for her to accommodate that huge bowsprit. 
 

Ranger next for me, then likely the new version of Speedy. 
 

Thanks for all the encouragement, advice and likes. Much needed! 

On 12/1/2023 at 8:59 PM, chris watton said:

I lied!

 

I did add Clews, sheets and tacks for the square sail yards! I didn't mean to, must have got carried away....

I did mean to leave them off completely...
 

I was wondering how I was going to fit more lines to that mast and belaying points… somewhat relieved it wasn’t the simplified version! Thanks Chris. 

17 minutes ago, chris watton said:

According to my photo etch suppliers, copper is not available right now, and hasn't been for almost a year now.

Chris,

The world is short of copper and the situation is likely to be tough for the foreseeable future. There is huge growing demand for copper globally from the drive to net zero and electrification. Electric vehicles (which use 3-4x the copper of an internal combustion engine vehicle), decentralised renewable generation which needs to be connected to electricity grids (both of which are copper intensive), etc. Whilst copper supply is under pressure with few sizeable new ore bodies being found or new mines being developed; existing mines are experiencing significant ore degradation and do not have infinite mine lives. Most commodity experts I meet forecast the copper market being in material deficit from 2026 and with the deficit getting worse each year to 2030.
 

Sure Tesla are doing some clever stuff with 48V and reducing the need for copper in EVs, but it’s unlikely to be sufficient or soon enough. Short of a major macroeconomic event such as a major recession or collapse in Chinese demand, I don’t see what derails the scenario outlined above. 

The current inability of your supplier to source copper may be due to post-covid supply chain and inflation related dislocations, so near term supply of copper sheets to your supplier may return, but longer term, high quality copper sheets are likely to become unavailable again or very expensive. 

Grecian rigging now complete and the boat fitted. Tightening the rigging whilst keeping the yards square was less tricky than I expected. 

I’ve kept as true as I could to Chris’s plans and Jim’s prototype, both of which are excellent. Only notable differences, other than a much less skilled builder, are: 

- no tack toggles in rigging and a few lines tied off to the wrong belaying pins

- different paint scheme for the boat - I couldn’t get a good faux wood finish on it.

- green vs black skylight - I preferred green. 
- slightly different cannon layout

Only remaining jobs on this build are:

1. Anchors

2. Flag halliard and flag aft

3. Rope coils 

4. I need to find a way to repair the broken winch handle (lost the part and tried CA to attach another piece of brass, but without success so far - I’ll add a photo later)
5. General touch up of paint plus waiting for a delivery of Vallejo ultra matt varnish to remove some spots of shiny CA. 
 

Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement. 

1 hour ago, chris watton said:

For the Grecian (and Duchess of Kingston) the rigging is simplified, as I left off clews, sheets, tacks, leech and bowlines, so the spars only have ties, lifts and braces, the bare minimum.

Thanks Chris, I thought that might be the case. I’m very glad that you have as Grecian is pitched at just the right level for me. Pushing me, but not defeating me! 
 

I was planning Speedy next, not DoK (2 masts vs 3, both on a small hull) but based on your comment above, would DoK be a more sensible natural next progression for me. I’m planning to build both at some point? 
 

Many thanks

Dan