Craigie65

Gregory,
You are absolutely right for a cutter, but I think Speedy and Flirt are square rigged?

Gregory,
You are absolutely right for a cutter, but I think Speedy and Flirt are square rigged?

The rigging does look daunting when it is complete.  But building it up line by line, mast by mast it becomes relatively straight forward.  Vanguard instructions will keep you right.  
 
If you don’t have it Lennarth Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models is a good investment.  Whilst there is no text the drawings are very clear and are a good supplement to kit drawings. 

The rigging does look daunting when it is complete.  But building it up line by line, mast by mast it becomes relatively straight forward.  Vanguard instructions will keep you right.  
 
If you don’t have it Lennarth Petersson’s Rigging Period Ship Models is a good investment.  Whilst there is no text the drawings are very clear and are a good supplement to kit drawings. 

Ratlines and backstays now complete. The two forestays that run to the stem post also in place. Rigging fairly straightforward so far, although there’s plenty I need to improve in terms of technique. 

 

One thing I learnt on this build, which gave me better ratlines than on my fishing boats was to tie all the ratlines in place with no glue, just lots of clove hitches and then adjust them all and tighten them when complete and before any glue. I’m sure that’s obvious to any experienced builder on MSW, but it wasn’t for me. 
 
I also made the mistake of adding the shroud cleats before the ratlines - thought it would be easier - then struggled to get the lower two ratlines on each side straight. 
 
Time to rig the bowsprit next. Hope to finish her by the end of next week. 

And so it begins.  Having arrived back to an empty dry dock in Durham, NC, it was time to fill the vacuum and put the shop to work.  I will do some research and try to add some helpful or informative content to this topic as time permits.  I will say that the kit arrived in a timely fashion, in perfect shape, well packaged and prepared for the builder.  It is a big box, and the parts all look to be of high quality.  The manual is spectacular in detail, and the pieces fit together with amazing precision.  Here is a sneak peak of my progress.

Thanks for the encouragement and comments are welcome. Work done for the day as lots of glue needs drying. Hull supports quite a bit of weight that I placed on the gundeck to dry. Also finished the day by adding the stern supports.
 
Gunports
 
Wei
Weighted deck

 
Stern
 

Work continues this weekend. A palm sander made fairing the bow and stern pretty easy

 
The stern came out pretty well.The
 
The hull continues to fit together smoothly but really have to be careful with some of the parts. Already sustained some battle damage but easily fixed.  Can never ave to many clamps.
 

I bought the Proxxon lathe for my Alert build as well - it certainly makes mast and spar shaping much easier. 
Looking forward to seeing your future Vanguard builds!

good morning everyone
thank you for comments and likes
day 95-2 test fitting, cabin and 1/4 galleries
 
after completing the knees the deck went down without any issues at all, the original bulkhead spacers did their job in ensuring everything stayed in place, i decided to repaint the deck beams in red all over rather than keeping the tops naked

 
 
cabin
not much to say about this, the test fitting is just a slight trimming the ensure the cabin bulkheads fit, the paint in the cabin is AK Air  AK11817 RLM65 (1938) and  AK11002 off-white, i have kept the window PE without paint

the rudder post box, i decided to do in white, and run a ink pen around the compass markings

1/4 galleries, 
i thought this would cause me some agro, but so far without any issues, hopefully thsi will all come together over this weekend
 
 

That lathe is a godsend!
 
not sure I would have taken the fixtures off, may prove tricky to get back in.
 
looking forward to seeing the Grecian taking shape.  This and the new cutter are soooooo tempting, but I will never get them past the Admiral!

That lathe is a godsend!
 
not sure I would have taken the fixtures off, may prove tricky to get back in.
 
looking forward to seeing the Grecian taking shape.  This and the new cutter are soooooo tempting, but I will never get them past the Admiral!

Well here we are the end of this build.  Thank you all for following along on the two part adventure! 😁
 
Some final pictures of the S2C in its place on the shelf, next to the dusty old S2B (Airfix 1990's mould.)  

Making progress on the masts, yards, etc.  I have learned a lot, and have hacked a few items (e.g., the main yard) to the point where a redo might be appropriate.  It might not be so obvious when they are painted black.  It is slow going, lots of other tasks to address, etc.  However, all the channels and deadeyes/chainplates are pinned to the hull and ready to be nailed down, and the main mast top has gotten its finishing coats of wipe-on and is looking pretty good.  Slow and steady as she goes.

I presume you mean on warships? Depends on the ship and nationality, but I believe it was to hide the blood. Not sure how effective that was as they did not paint the decks red!

An Enforced Break - Planning Ahead
I am in the unfortunate position of taking an enforced break from the Indy as I have suffered a relapse of prolapsed disk in my lower back last week. I first suffered the prolapsed disk around 20 years ago when I bent over an desk to look at an engineering drawing. This time it was due to over extending myself whilst in the garden trimming a large hedge, bending over as I was sweeping up the debris. The back is now starting to respond to the rest so hopefully I can return to the shipyard in the next few days for short periods of time.
 
The time away from the Indy build means I am spending more time thinking of my next course of action with regards to the gundeck planking and spirketting which is to be added to the bottom of the inner bulwark patterns. I have the option of either fitting the laser etched deck pearwood part or to plank with the 4mmW box wood planks.
 
I could take the easy approach which is to fit the laser etched deck followed by the spirketting. If I take this course of action the first task would be to paint the inner bulwarks (except where the spirketting would be located). Once the inner bulwarks had been painted the laser etched gundeck pattern would be fitted followed by the spirketting. The spirketting would also need to be painted. I have already made a cardboard template of the bow area which I can use to check and trim the laser etched deck part as necessary should I opt to fit this part.
 
Alternatively I could start by adding the spirketting. The laser etched gundeck would then be added after the bulwarks and spirketting have been painted. The task would be completed by adding a waterway using some rounded 2mm square timber.
 
Another option I have been considering, after adding the spirketting to the inner bulwarks, is to use the boxwood timber to plank the gundeck, using a 3 or 4 butt shift pattern. I would have to look at adding a margin plank to the edge next to the spirketting. Once the planking is complete I would then add a waterway with some 2mm rounded material. This option would be much more challenging as I would need to bend the margin planks laterally for the bow area. I am also going to laterally bend a plank to see if I can get the required amount of bend.
 
Given the bow area is more or less hidden by the forecastle deck I could probably get away without adding a laterally bent margin plank and to simply butt the plank edge to the spirketting. The other challenging aspect with this approach would be to include the cannon locating slots. I would need to assembly one cannon to ensure the locating slots are correctly sized. Of course I could simple plank over the slots and to remove the tabs from the cannons. The cannon could be glued in place with a flat edge added to the bottom of the wheels.

I presume you mean on warships? Depends on the ship and nationality, but I believe it was to hide the blood. Not sure how effective that was as they did not paint the decks red!

Grecian is now available and in stock.
 
All Grecian printed materials arrived yesterday, and my large photo etch shipment arrived Tuesday (Sphinx, Duchess, Fifie, Zulu, Grecian and new Speedy production PE sheets)
 
Yesterday I finished all 'woodwork' for the Trial Cutter, leaving only the rigging to do to complete this model. before starting the masts and rig, I always draw the full mast and rig plans, so I can work from them. I think this one should be ready in around 8 weeks. The only power tools I have used during the construction of the Trial Cutter is a small sanding mouse for sanding the first and second planking. The rest has been simple hand tools, David Plane for masts and spars, pin vice for hand drilling (only around 16 holes are required to be drilled, mostly for masts and yards, the rest being pre cut), needle files and my trusty Stanley Knife.
 
After this, I will sort out the refreshed Speedy designs, and get the new Speedy kit back into stock. Once done, this leaves me free to concentrate on my 15th medium/large kit.

Wales – Completed
Blue Ensign did suggest that I should consider using a top and butt interlocking planking arrangement below the first wale. This would require 2 pairs of strakes to implement the interlocking pattern, 4 planks in total per side.
 
I calculated that it would be necessary to taper the planks down to 10mm overall for a good fit around the stern area. After careful consideration I decided it would not be practical to implement the top and butt interlocking planking arrangement as I would have to taper the 4 planks down to the required 10mm. I therefore decided to add 3 x 5mm planks as per the build manual requirements. I used a simple 3 butt shift arrangement when adding the wales. Each wale full plank was 192mmL which equates to 12m planks when scaled up to full size.
 
After giving the completed wales a light sand, I brushed the excess sawdust away with a damp brush before taking the attached photo’s.

good evening everyone
thank you for comment and likes
day 79-2
i have now put another couple of coats on the yellow banding and repainted the gunports linings

all the gun carriages have been made up, but only six have been fully completed with wheels and metal fittings the tabs that enable accurate fitting onto the deck were removed as the boxwood deck was to hard to get a decent slot, so the wheels have now been sanded slightly to enable a good 4 point contact to the deck and will be held in place with PVA


the ships oven is a lovely piece of resin and Photo etch, primed and black painted


forward deck beams, sanded to remove the char, and painted on the forward and after sides only, as some of these will be exposed, on test fitted they just dropped into place
 
nothing is fixed, but a few shots of how she is today

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

one side in the correct colours,, although more coats are required, also the banding has gone a bit narrow at the bow above the cheeks, to be sorted 

OK, Grecian is now fully complete and available for pre order:
The Baltimore privateer schooner Grecian 1812 – VANGUARD MODELS
 
I also have some extras for the Grecian kit, pearwood blocks:
Grecian Pearwood Block Set – VANGUARD MODELS
 
US Flag:
Grecian flag for US service – VANGUARD MODELS
 
PE copper plate set (to replace copper tape that is standard in the kit)
Grecian Copper Plates set – VANGUARD MODELS
 
And finally, a Grecian paint set:
Grecian paint set – VANGUARD MODELS
 
A big thank you to Jim for the superb build, pics and text for the manual!
 
I have attached a pic of the box label. Like the actual model, the box is long and sleek..
 
Now, I continue to work on Trial Cutter, the 14th kit. Next week, I will receive a truly massive shipment from Italy of photo etched sheets for almost all of my range (Fifie. Zulu, Sphinx, Duchess, Grecian etc.) plus my Trial Cutter sample sheets, so I can continue with this model.
 
Also included is a new set of Speedy PE. This kit will be out of stock (I think we have one left) until I have completed a little re design and updated the plans and manual, which I shall do once the Trial Cutter is complete. 

COMPLETED!
 
Hope you like her. On sale very soon  
 

Lovely clean work.
Hope you are enjoying the change up from fishing smacks!
 
Nearly time for the mast and those lovely ratlines 😜

I think you will get an acceptable  finish  Glenn, well done.
For those minor gaps in the strakes, run a bead of pva along the gap, sprinkle Boxwood dust over it, smear with your finger, and sand. Repeat as required.
 
B.E.