Jean-Pierre

Isn't this cutter based on the "Cutter Alert" plans, a ship that has been described in an"Anatomy of the Ship" book? JP

This is not the only Artesania kit where the lateral deck camber has been omitted, I'm afraid. Suppose they do so because their plywood (?) false deck would be difficult to bend in both directions. I suppose that the upper deck definitely should be cambered, but the lower deck could stay flat, except if you are building the model with the open side. Anatomy of the ship is a generally most reliable source, I think. Happy modelling JP

I suppose everyone has met them at some point: these commercial model parts or accessories which for me are a pain to look at. I would really like other modelers to tell me what they think about them. Ship wheel: it seems pretty impossible to find a wheel of the right thickness: I just saw in the build logs an absolutely beautiful model built with extreme care and attention to detail, but with a thick, clumsy white wooden(?) wheel. Then you have the metal wheels in the Caldercraft kits: beauiful kits of course, with a wheel in the right size, but much too thin. Barrels: their metal bands are molded in relief but could better be replaced with black paper strips (at least three each side of the barrel. And yes, this is fairly easy to correct "Bubble" pins: Caldercraft seem to have delivered thinner items as from their Victory kit, but it seems to me that all commercial items are way too thick not only to look good, but also allow lines to pass between them easily. OK, it is possible to sand them a little, but it would be damn difficult to make a full row of them exactly the same size, I think. Gun carriages: I will not comment on the metal items that are almost impossible to rig, but rather on the wooden items one finds in most kits, the sides of which are parallel, which is a gross and quite visible mistake. It seems to me that this would be quite easy to correct, but I have never seen a build log description of, it, and never have done it myself. I suppose one could cut the bottom of the carriage lengthwise, and reglue it after inserting a (very) thin triangular strip. Anchors: while most manufacturers have excellent anchor parts in their kits, some still deliver items which are either out of scale (ex.: Sergal's Dutch Whaler) or very clumsy (ex.: Euromodel's Renommée, an otherwise superb model. Red lights and blue windows: these definitely should look transparent (ship lights) and gloss black (windows) Has anyone comments? JP

I agree with your choice. Caldercraft would certainly be well inspired to change their Mary Rose according to the last findings: I suppose this would require added superstructures both fore and aft, and also a revised beak. What would also be a big (but expensive) modification, would be to correct the gunnery in accordance to what is on display in the Mary Rose museum at Portsmouth. Now I wonder if the original Mary Rose kit could not fairly easily be modified as required. Have you considered this, or would this be beyond feasability? JP

Nice pictures of what is becoming a great model. Special congratulations for the slightly curved waterline, just as it should be!

you're right. It's about time some etchings specialist finds a way to produce lengths of linked chain at 1/200 and, why not, at 1/350 scale. Plastic modelers would be thankful. My model was in fact a Victory Ship, a superb ship that was both larger and faster than the Liberty's. But their general arrangement was similar. They were discarded mostly during the sixties because they rusted very fast, and their turbines used huge quantities of fuel (some 75 tons a day at sea!). But their speed of up to 18 knots would have made them a tough challenge for U-Boats. The Bluejacket kit I bought had its superstructure made of mere blocks of wood that had to be piled up, and the general detail was rather simplistic. I suppose the kit was (is?) a reissue based on plans by a Mr Boucher. As a collector, I had bought in the past plans of this ship, which later appeared to be the ones of the kit. And I was lucky to have done that, because the toner used for the plans in the kit was not burned in thoroughly, and I soon had large blind spots on my plans. I'm sure Bluejacket would have replaced them, but I then used (much more carefully) the other set of plans.

you did a super job on your gun and on the windlass (as well as the rest of your build of course). I think I remember that there are some linked chain available for a reasonable 1/100 scale. Didn't you consider this? I used some on a Flying Fish model at scale 1/96 and they look great (better than the rest of the (unfinished) model. I'll love to watch the rest of your project. I personally started a Victory Ship by Bluejacket but I got stuck although I had already corrected quite a few inaccuracies (prow is wrong, chimney as well, railings not the right type, correction of the half finished one piece hull a pain for me (partly due to poor tools on my behalf). A plank on bulkheads would have been far easier to build I think. But you are doing a great job on this one!

Nice job! A little question. Doesn't your plan show an access to the latrines on the beak. You know, all that gaspacho, and zarzuella and paella and bocadillos have to find a way out, caramba. (As you can see, I am revising my spanish

Another "touch of class"!!!

Thanks, gentlemen, for your replies. Your advice for the paint makes sense. In any case, some serious trials for the "blurred" effect will be necessary.

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I thought these 3D copies were always made of resin, but now I'm not sure any more. Is it so that copies made out of metal (soft aluminium, for example) or maybe even wood, are possible?

I don't know if the subject has already been treated before. If not, I really think this is worth looking at. To duplicate guns, or gun carriages, or ornamental figures, make extra anchors, or to replace a lost, missing or broken piece. The first "3D copies" I saw were rather rough looking, but I am sure the technique has improved in the meantime. One question though: how small duplicable detail can be rendered? At what cost? I recently was rather surprised to see such a printer on sale in a warehouse (Makro in Belgium) at around 1000,-€, but I have no idea what the actual cost of materials is. My questions: has anyone tried this new technique? Are there any 3D copy shops, and was is the resulting quality?

I'm not sure, but I think that while the Lady Nelson is a little more expensive than the Sherbourne, it had a wooden base included, which I think is worth considering. There is also a nice Anatomy of the Ship book named "The Cutter Alert", which allows fantastic super detailing of either kit. Ther are (were) several build logs of the SQherbourne, some going to the extend of making a clinker built hull which most cutters seem to have featured. There is yet another kit by Euromodel of Como, which has a lovely shape, but I wonder about its authenticity. Happy modelling! JP

I still have in my waiting room a rather nice half built model of a 17th century Dutch whaler, based on Sergal's Baleinera Olandese. One of my first jobs will be to paint the lower hull off white. I know that the waterline will NOT be parallel to the keel (the stem should be a little higher) and I will also try to have the waterline a little curved, that is raising fore and aft. I have been studying some paintings of Dutch merchant ships (especially flutes, as this is the type of ship I'm building, and indeed, the waterline is a little lower amidships. Now I also took the precaution of looking at paintings by different artists, and also noticed that the waterline is always blurred, not sharp like the one I would obtain with masking tape. I've never seen this done on a model, but I would find it another challenge to try to realise this curved, blurred line. Biggest problem for me is that I do not work with a spray, only with brushes, and I suppose I shall have to make quite a few trials before I start on the hull. Another problem is the colour: I am aware of the poor coverage of white (or off white) paints, and would like to try with acrylic "one-layer" wall paint. Has anyone tried this? Any tips from other happy painters? Thanks in advance. JP

Hard to imagine that their top selling item (considering the number of models built over the forums) would be discontinued. I also checked on Artesania's site, and was pleased to notice that they, at last, seem to have decided to depart from their reddish / yellowish wood finish, so typical of Artessania and Occre. For instance their new Hermione looks much more convincing than their prior offering. Good job on their part. Maybe there will come a new San Francisco as well.

This is still a very nice model, although it is more than half a century old. By the way, in my teenager years, I got interested in ship modeling by this model, which was on exhibition on an advertising display for... Cutty Sark Whiskey. I was then particularly impressed by the brass chains on the bowsprit. But of course I have improved my criteria since then. So did you as you tinted those chains. Excellent job. Special thanks for sharing this one. JP

This is a great build indeed. Well, I assume this is not a scoop, but I just wanted to check in on a very good build JP

Looks like a fine kit. Were the frames precut? Could you post a picture of the box art so we can figure out how much better your build will be Drying wood can indeed become a problem, especially on old kits. I did that experience with an old Mamoli kit of the Yacht Mary for which I had to replace most of the walnut for the second planking: it had become very brittle and would break or split at any attempt to curve it. Hope this time Bilings will have provided a better wood quality, or your stocking conditions will be better. Will gladly follow your build. `Thanks for sharing your experience. JP

Gets better and better, Jack. Always a pleasure to follow your build. Thanks for that!

one idea would be to use transparent wood tint, which would allow all the wood detail to be seen. But as the other modellers said, you are at the steering wheel. I'm so glad I signed in to this build log! (this is where I wanted to put a happy emoticon, but did not find them (sad emoticon!))

An exquisite model on its own. I also love your oars: I haven't often seen such realistic tiny items before. Are they made of one single piece? Wonder what beauty comes next!

I don't know the name of that wooden v-shaped blocks they used to put under the gun barrels, but if you decided to add them, you would have the guns pointing horizontally like we use to represent them. But whatever you decide to do, the whole model, and in particular the guns, look fantastic. Congratulations. JP

This build is too beautiful to miss. Congratulations for these tiny items. I'll follow this log, if you don't mind.

Wonderful, really! not only is the build of pristine quality, but somehow, you managed to get beautiful wood tints that enhance the details of your build. I look forward to the next Congratulations. steps.

I'm sure you will come up with a beautiful model. I suppose your problem of detaching the pieces can be helped by cutting half way on both sides of the sheet, or at least the tab will be weakened so that the piece could then be snapped off without breaking. Now as far as glueing broken pieces is concerned, there are now PVA glues, CA gels or epoxy glues that are literally stronger than the original, so any accident could be remedied. The only problem is when you want to dye the wood as apparent glue stains won't take the colouring material, of course. By the way, the model from Master Korabel which had impressed me was not an armed ship: it was the St Gabriel: superb detail. And the other Swedish gun boats are made by Amati (a small, simple model) and by Mantua (a well detailed model that needs quite a bit of rework to make it look like a wooden model rather than an assembled "laser saw" puzzle. Have fun with your build. JP