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Hello, with my Triton and Winchelsea builds on hold, I am going begin on one of two models of a naval Cutter (the other one being about 1:32 scale from the same plans with some differences). So I used the Caldercraft Sherbourne plans of the kit I made last year, I scaled up by hand for the bulkheads and former, so the scale is not exact. I used some pieces of 4mm ply left over from other projects. Next up is fairing the hull, squaring and glueing. Bulkheads just fitted to check, not glued. Cheers

The Le_Cerf's keel was laid in my shipyard in June 2014. In AutoCad I drew the bulkheads with steps in them for the clinker planking, which speeded up the planking with narrowing only in the bow and stern. To provide a larger area of adhesion, the spaces in the stern and the bow are filled with alder wood. First were planked the transom and the stern counter. I decided not to use paint, but to make all the details of artificially blackened hornbeam. Clinker planking is made of swiss pear. The carvings will be made from European boxwood. As this will be my first attempt at carving, I hope my deer will not look like a cow. I made the mistake of listening to the older generation of shipmodelers who argued that using the steps in the bulkheads will not let me lay the planking fairly. For this reason I cut the half-finished clinker planking (as it turned out, my method of planking was very strong - barely managed to remove the strakes) and completely filled the spaces between the frames with alder. Following the advice given me, I also cut off the notches for the planking strakes from the bulkheads. Now, in order to glue one strake of planking, it was necessary to use a bracing timber to clamp the plank and prevent it from slipping. Because of this planking became a very slow process. No more than one strake a day could be made, as I had to wait for it to dry completely. Also, the gluing area has decreased, because each board no longer lay flat against the bulkhead, but only a narrow edge bore upon it and on the previous strake. Only in the bow and stern, where the clinker planks lie flat on the frames, did they have enough surface for the glue. My experience convinced me that that the first variant is stronger and more reliable. I ought to have followed through with my original plan and learn from my own mistakes, instead of listening to the advice of the older generation, which does not have experience of AutoCad and laser-cutting. At the same time began to work on the keel, the stem and the sternpost. For these I again used Asutrian (pink) pear and blackened hornbeam. I am using a table saw for this, though, of course, this could be done with AutoCad drawings for laser cutting. However, the laser doess not give a 100% perpendicular cut and for this reason I decided to make the details by hand. Besides, this proved to be a very interesting process of fitting the scarphs and faying the pieces together. At this stage work on the model was interrupted in January 2017, as I was commissioned to build a large model on a tight schedule. After a break of more than 3 years: Work on the model was renewed in March 2020. This stage of the work on La Cerf is already being carried out in a new country, in a new workshop. The work will follow a new methodology and will tell about it in the proper order. At last I completed the clinker planking and replaced the walnut gunport frames with pear, as the grain of the walnut did not match well with the pear. I used a soldering iron to remove the old pieces and glued in new frames. The pear I used was kiln-dried with oak and had obtained yellow-brown color. The cills will be installed after the completion of the outside planking. Then began building the transom with the help of a frying pan, which had the right radius for bending the planks. For the construction, I used soft poplar and built a support structure which will hold the transom in the right position until the completion of planking. I have begun mounting the wales and clean the planking from glue remains and fairing the surfaces for attaching the stem and sternposts. The wales are made of hornbeam, a hard, but workable material that acceptable bending characteristics. During the long interruption in construction, the transition to the new place, a few pieces of the stern post and the blank for the stem were lost... At the same time I was building the longboat of Le Cerf. You can see the whole process in the video. After the completion of the clinker planking and the wales, I finally added the keel and the stern post. Only part of the stem was mounted at this time. The rest will be added when the planking is completed. It was time to nail the planks and for this I manufactured 3500 naisl. Hopefully this will be enough for the entire hull. Before I could turn over the hull, I had to drill for and drive 2175 spikes (this is only for the clinker planking and the transom). Placing the hull right side up in the stocks is a key moment when the model finally begins to look like a real ship. The next stage of planking would be more easily accomplished with the vessel being right side up.

I do hope I've titled this right. I can't toggle twixt typing here and checking the rules without losing this page completely, so if it ain't right, moderators, please correct the order. Well It's a model of the boat I used to live aboard in Burnham-on-Crouch in a line of similar-ish vessels, one of which, Ann Marie, a yawl, was successfully restored and went off chartering. Vanity, alas was moved to Bristol where I believe she has been destroyed for want of somebody with a piddling million to restore her. A few weeks of a footballer's salary would have secured her future, then the footballer could have been thrown away. SO....I figured it fell to me to make a decent model of her for posterity. Because I don't have huge amounts of time, despite being retired, I had to knock this thing up a bit sharpish. I found lines for Clara in Traditions and Memories of American Yachting, which has plenty of English yachts in with lines. I had the lines enlarged on a photocopier and transferred them to 3mm ply to make the bulkheads. Then cut them out on a bandsaw. A strong back style building board was made, the bulkheads glued to upstands representing a line above the vessel when upright, purely arbitrary. These upstands were then glued to square bars which were bolted to the strongback. The keel, which varies in width along the length of the boat (I should say the sided measurement) was drawn out to a plausible shape on the enlarged drawings and cut out of 3mm ply twice, as it would go from being stuck to the other one fore and aft, but have hardwood sandwiched in between along the middle portion of the vessel where the real one had 12 tons of lead. Once that was in place in slots pre-cut in the bulkheads, planking began. Now here I should say despite copious amounts of reading, I had never planked a model boat before, apart from a large clinker planked electric canoe model of a Peter Freebody craft that was done for a lady in Cincinatti. That was planked in veneer over a thin strip-planked hull which was completely lined, so no need to see the clinker inside. Also, I had given my son some old chairs my Granddad made in the 20s, but which had fallen to bits in modern central heating and asked him to rip them up into 2.5-3mm thick strips. These he did. I don't ave a full sized table saw. They ended up about an inch wide, so that's where I began. I cut the stem angle and bevelled that off behind then took it round to the sternpost, which was extremely raked being the rudder post effectively. The first 5 or 6 planks went on like that unfettled each side. Then as the bilge (such as it is on a plank-on-edge cutter) was rounded there came a need to shape them a bit here and there, but still not a huge amount. Only a few part-planks where I'd run out of full length planks and the final few each side up to the counter stern were awkward. The time came to take it off its building board. Bolts were removed and the upstands broken away. The amazing thing to me was how light it was! Even with some re-inforcement, it is stupidly light, which augers well for internal ballast only as the hull is very deep. It is now at the stage where I have glued in some deck supports and have to add supplementary deck beams to give the camber as I hadn't built that in. Weather has dictated that little has been done on the hull while I can't get the bandsaw outside, so I have made spars. I've used dowel as I didn't fancy the time it would take to do it by hand. But the surprisingly straight grained stuff from B%Q (yes really) still has to be tapered here and there. Mast and spar bands are made from strips of brass, bent round and silver soldered together or brass bar turned to fit with lugs soldered in to pre-drilled holes. For a complete change I started the after decklight. That was made in more Cuban Mahogany strip as the colour was gorgeous and the finish possible was hard and smooth. Here I should say that apart from using a small plane on the hull, I use metalworking tools almost universally on the quality woods I like. I cut using a jeweller's piercing saw against the metal vice jaws and clean up with Swiss files. I rarely use a knife and only for bigger jobs, a chisel. Even then that's likely to be a reground and honed Swiss file. I don't possess a razor saw. I tried one once, it stuck, I threw it away. Perhaps a life time of making brass patterns for the model industry has given me this preference. The casing has dovetailed corner joints and the lids have mortice and tenon joints, so that the whole thing effectively held itself together before gluing! Well, that's enough waffle. Please don't judge the hull too badly. It will be finished to a gloss black by the time I've filled and planed and epoxy coated it. The gaff jaws are made of Steamed Pear, a favourite timber of mine, fixed to flats on the spar, then drilled and pinned with brass rod. Currently this weekend I'm making a ropemaking machine from Perspex offcuts. I bought a random set of cheap nylon gears off ebay in order to make my own design of sail winches and I found just enough to make the ropewalk. It will be hand wound as I believe a man should suffer for his art<G> Cheers, Martin

Hello everyone, I'm happy to have come across the modelshipworld website and feel less lonely in my interest for model boatbuilding, in which I'm a complete novice, albeit with some basic manual skills. A few photos of my first model boatbuilding project, a bit unorthodox but for some reason I wanted to carve a hull from a solid piece of wood, I had oak on hand. Length 25 cm, scale 1/68 (?). Progress has sufficiently encouraged me to go forward with a complete build from scratch, I'm now pausing for research and finishing the hull so it truly fits the plan, using card cutouts of the frames for visual reference. I wish to build her historically correct from the time she was a pilot in le Havre, France. If you have any advice or tips, I'm all ears. Well done to all model builders who posted their projects, it's inspiring and encouraging, daunting sometimes when I see the superb detail.

hi . its now time to start the build log for the us coast guard cable steam boat. a wil write more soon how its going to be built ! here ate some photos of the frame for now! svein erik

Here is my long time build (> 10 years) . I'm going to pick up work on her by the end of this year. Basically its's my first ever scratch build after initial two kit models. Still a lot to do, but I enjoy very much thus being compelled to learn lots of new technologies and skills, materials and manufacturing know-how. With the support of this Forum I'am sure to come up with a nice model some day. 😉

Hey there fellow builders! So I finally had a chance to start cataloging all the work I have been doing on my revenue cutters alongside Sultana. Sultana is proceeding slowly but surely as will soon be updated, however as some of you may know at the last ship model convention in Connecticut I won a kit of Bluejacket's 31 ton revenue cutter. From the moment I got it I couldn't help but start tinkering with it. The reason why I put this in the scratch section is because I plan on building all my ship models (at least for the moment) in 1/64th scale since I like to be able to make size comparisons. Therefore this log will be an exercise in how to properly resize a kit to a preferred scale. So what of the kit itself? Fortunately the ship comes in 3 sizes and at 1/64th scale the 51 ton falls in a similar size to the 31 ton at 1/48 scale. So in addition to a smaller 31 ton I am going to scratch build, I will also use the wood hull and some of the kit materials to also build the 51 ton ship. The wood block and plans must be modified but let's go over the details and I will show you how I have been proceeding Also if for whatever reason this log should be moved to the kit section then by all means as I wasn't sure which section to put it.

Hello all. In 2019, I bought the damaged and unfinished Alert hull via Allegro on the Internet. Cutter very nicely made sewn in difficult technique until he begged to finish it. Since May 2020, I have been trying to renovate and finish the construction of the Cuter Alert from 1777 based on the plans from the book Anatomy of the Ship by Peter Goodwin. Greetings, Piotrek PS. Sorry for the English but I use Google translator.

Good morning Gentlemen, Well, for those of you who may not have read my previous thread (below), this is my first attempt at a scratch-build, using Goodwin's (extremely helpful) guide for the Cutter Alert of 1777. I have drawn out each individual scantling/rib (whatever you may call it) on paper, then card, using the plans illustrated in Goodwin's guide. If using the traditional method of paper/pencil, be sure to have a waste paper basket nearby I watched a video of a card build of the Alert (this one manufactured by Shipyard models), just to see the method of construction and how to go about it. Each scantling was then glued to the main section using PVA. So, as you gentlemen see below, I have now begun this wild project and so far, I am quite pleased with it. I look forward to hearing any advice you chaps may have for me. Cheerio, Caleb

Well that certainly was a bit of a shock. I will not try to rebuild everything back to the begining but here is a brief overview of from there to here. This pilot cutter is based on some plans that were published by MAP (Model and Allied Press) back in the early 70's and those plans were actually based on the fishing smack CK482. Those of you who have seen the build in the past will already be familiar with what I have done so far. The model is LOD 63 inches LOA 84 inches Beam 18 inches Draft 10 1/2 inches My intention is to sail this model here are a few pics of the build The frames are Jellutong, and the planking on the hull is Cedar. The roller reefing is custom built around a worm gear on hand. The mast is Clear Fir and the boom is Spruce. The deck is double planked the lower planks are white pine glued and treenailed into place the top planks are clear Fir the caulking is coloured Carpenters glue the top planks will also be treenailed in place. The cockpit surround is Honduras Mahogany as is the forward hatch and the cabin sides. The underside of the cockpit coaming the walls will drop into the opening 2 1/14 inches and there will be a gasket around the edge of the deck under the coaming. The cockpit will be fixed into the hull with a couple of brass machine screws then a teak floor grate will cover those. this way I can access the rudder controls and keep the water I have learned form this experience to back up everything and am now building my log in MSword and posting to the site. It is great to have the site back. Michael

In order for me to understand better the rigging practices for cutters of the 18th Century, I wrote to the National Maritime Museum asking if I could see some of the cutter models they have in storage, now that they no longer have a model display at the Museum in Greenwich. Nick Ball, the Assistant Curator of Ship Models, wrote back very quickly saying that I would be welcome to visit and could see all of the models I had requested which are now stored at the Royal Historic Dockyard in Chatham -- except for one which was stored in another location less accessible to the occasional visitor. He, together with Dave Lindridge the Store Manager, gave me a very generous amount of time to look at and photograph the models that they had taken out for inspection – during which they provided a lively discussion about their jobs and the models they were showing. In fact Nick said he was pleased to show visitors the models because it gave him more of an opportunity to review models in their vast collection. I asked Nick about permission to post my pictures and he told me it was fine as long as I made it clear the pictures were from the NMM collection. He also asked to be provided to the links of the photos as he himself (as a trained naval archaeologist) was very keen on the details and would enjoy any discussion that ensued. I will post the photos of the individual models under different messages, this post deals only with the first of the models. I just need to add that I am enormously grateful to Nick and Dave for their patience and generosity with their time for this visit, which for me was invaluable. 1763 cutter NMM ID SLR0510 First off is their cutter referenced in the NMM as Object ID SLR0510. It is described there as “a full hull model of a cutter (circa 1763) Scale: 1:48. The vessel measures 53 feet on the main deck by 20 feet in the beam and is armed with twelve 3-pounders. The model was donated unfinished and was completed in the Museum in 1960”. For me there were four main points of interest, apart from the fact that it is dated the same year as my Sherbourne. The first is that the fore belaying pins are arranged fore-aft beside the bowsprit. Gregor, Dirk, Kester and I have been trying to figure out how the belaying pins would be set given that the kit of the Sherbourne provides no plans for such a belaying rack. Each of us have provided our own particular possibility – with Dirk going for an arrangement such as that on the AOTS book of the Alert, and Gregor going for a rack right on the stem. I had made a rack that was parallel to the windlass. However, now I have seen the arrangement on the NMM cutter SLR0510, and, as you will see, the 12-gun cutter I saw had the same arrangement, I have changed my own rack accordingly. The second is that the topmast is fore of the main mast. I had understood that earlier in the century the practice was to place the topmast aft of the main mast. In fact the cutter Hawke (which I also saw at Chatham and whose pictures follow in a subsequent post) was the only one of these models to place the topmast aft of the main mast. The third point of interest was the windlass. The original NMM plans for the Sherbourne showed this type of windlass, and Gregor has already made one in the same style, and I followed his example – rather than following the type of windlass provided for in the Sherbourne kit. The fourth point of interest is that, like the Trial that you'll see in a subsequent post, the lower hull is painted up to the wales, and not to a waterline. The following were the other pictures I took of the1763 cutter, all of which will have details which will be picked up by those more knowledgeable than I am! Tony

As usual, once I arrive at the point of making a particular part, I find the details confusing. This time it's about the mast tackles. The Sherbourne kit that I have doesn't illustrate or mention mast tackles or Burton pendants. Similarly, the 1763 cutter model I photographed in the Royal Dockyard doesn't have any. On the other hand, one of the cutter models (1790) I photographed does show a similar tackle hooked to the base of the mast as follows: Furthermore, Petersson in his book 'Rigging Period Fore and Aft Craft' shows what he calls a Burton pendant and tackle as follows (though I have added text to point out the difficulty I have with his diagram): This made me think it might be a good thing to set up mast tackles. However, the moment I started looking at this, I thought that the diagram didn't make mechanical sense. It shows the runner going through what looks like a hook without a block -- which would mean it would have to run through a thimble. When I looked up Marquardt's book on Eighteenth Century Rigs & Rigging, he shows the following arrangement: This is very similar to that shown by zu Mondfeld and is clearly more sound (to my mind) in terms of mechanics. Marquardt also supplies the following information about cutter rigging (following Steel) -- the last two paragraphs of which I am at a loss to understand: "The mast tackle pendants were wormed, parcelled and served over their whole length. Each was doubled, and the bight was seized to create an eye which fitted over the masthead. The ends were then spliced together, and a single block was seized in the lower bight. The ends of all splices were tapered, marled down and served over with spun-yarn. The tackle runners had a hook and thimble spliced into one end and were served over. They rove through the pendant blocks and were spliced round the strops of long tackle blocks. The tackle fall was bend to a becket at the lower end of a long stropped single block, with the ends seized. The long strops, with hooks and thimbles spliced in, were hooked to eyebolts in the sides." Here, I don't understand the terms 'served over' and 'long tackle blocks'. I also don't understand which 'long stropped single block' is being referred to as having the becket for the tackle fall. As a result I don't really know whether it's right to put mast tackles on, and, if I do, whether to try to mimic Petersson's diagram, or whether to go for the kind of picture Marquardt shows. Any advice, comment or other will be, as usual, very welcome! Tony

At the moment I am puzzling over the Truss pendants. Which yards were equipped with one for a cutter with this "older" rig? On the rare contemporary models and drawings I almost never see ANY rack. I am quite sure the Cross Jack Yard should had one but what about the Spread and Topsail Yard? I would guess that at least the Spread Yard should have Truss pendants... any insight would be helpful and very much appreciated. Gallant Yard I guess were "flying". My Cross Jack Yard:

1:64 H.M. Cutter Alert 1777 Vanguard Models Catalogue # VM-01 Available from Vanguard Models for £180 The Alert, built in Dover by Henry Ladd and launched on 24th June 1777, was the largest class of cutter in the Royal Navy. Alert originally carried ten four-pounder carriage guns and six to twelve half-pounder swivel guns. She was one of fifteen cutters built for the Royal navy between 1777 and 1778. Smaller cutters were often purchased or built by private yards and then purchased by the Navy, but Alert was purpose built from the keel up. In February 1778, Alert docked at Plymouth for an overhaul, to which some alterations were made to her hull and the ten four pounder carriage guns were replaced with twelve six pounder guns, raising her broadside weight by 30%. The guns were changed because six-pounder shot was more commonly available and, of course, they were more effective. Because of the increase in ordnance, the crew of the Alert was increased from sixty to eighty men, and recommissioned under a new commander, Lieutenant William George Fairfax. In May 1778, Fairfax was promoted to Commander and Alert was re-classed as a sloop to comply with Admiralty requirements. (Although always remained cutter rigged) On 17th June 1778, the Alert, in company with the frigate Arethusa, spotted and intercepted the French frigate Belle Poule and the armed lugger Coureur, with the latter overhauled by the Alert and surrendered, returning to Spithead after the action with her prize. On 8th July of the same year, whilst on an independent deployment, searching for the enemy fleet, Alert was taken by surprise and captured by the French frigate Junon. Alert is reported as lost without trace on 15th December 1779. Alerts sister, Rattlesnake lasted a little longer, being wrecked on the island of Trinidad on 11th October 1781. The model kit of the Alert is depicted after her refit with twelve six-pounder guns and a full complement of twelve half-pounder swivel guns, giving an ordnance total of twenty-four guns. Although not stated in the records when researching, it is possible that the upper bulwarks were fully planked, rather than having the open drift. The decoration that adorns the upper sides and stern is optional, as it is unlikely that the original vessel, when in service, would have had such decoration. This is inspired by the two paintings of the vessel by Joseph Marshall, which formed part of the George III collection of ship model paintings. It is possible the decoration would have been painted on during launch day, or if a prominent (Royal) figure visited to review the fleet. The kit H.M. Cutter Alert 1777 is the very first kit from Chris Watton’s own brand label, ‘Vanguard Models’. Of course, you will have heard of Chris’s name from kits released under the Amati (Victory Models) and Caldercraft/JoTika companies, as well as some magazine part-work stuff etc. I’ve bbeen watching this project come together both on and off Model Ship World, and the sort of effort that goes into producing a model kit. Vanguard’s new kit comes in a reasonably large box which is adorned with photos of the completed model, and some profile illustration too. Guess what? I got kit #001!! I’ll not claim any preferential treatment though! Lifting the lid and the first layer of bubble-wrap reveals a personalised customer letter and also a MASSIVE A3-size instruction manual which is spiral bound. We’ll look at this again a little later. Fittings A neat little labelled box contains all of the fittings for Alert, carefully kept in one place, and very professional-looking too. Cutting the tape tab reveals a series of labelled bags. Everything in this kit is also labelled in the same way and easily cross referenced against both the parts inventory and during construction. It really does appear to have been made as intuitive and easy to follow as humanly possible. The fittings are generally a mix of either resin or white metal. In the first pack we have the large winch which is cast in resin. This was originally intended to be white metal, but the quality of the parts was poor, so a new part was 3D designed and cast in light grey resin. Only a little clean-up is required to push this into service on Alert. Also in resin is the smaller windlass for the topsail bitts. The anchors are cast in white metal, and these look great. Very little preparation will be needed before they can be used. More white metal fittings are supplied for the twelve 6-pounder cannon and the twelve half-pounder swivel guns. I would give these a clean-up with a file and some steel wool. Another pouch is supplied for the cannon shot. One of the next packs contain steel pins for assisting with the first layer of planking. These look very nicely made and are sharp, with nothing malformed. It could be an idea to pilot drill the plank before using these, so as not to split any of the MDF frames or the planks themselves. The next two packs contain deadeyes and deadeye sheaves. The quality of these is very good, and definitely some of the nicest I’ve seen recently. Three more packets contain two sizes of single block and one size of double block. Again, quality is evident here. In the last three packets in the fittings box, you’ll find triple blocks, parrel beads and also the mainstay ‘mouse’. Rigging A zip-lock wallet contains six spools of very high-quality rigging cord in natural and black colours, as well as a sleeve of thicker natural thread which I think is for the anchor cables. This latter is handmade by Syren in the US, so you can be assured of its standards. Also note how each spool is labelled and inventoried so you won’t accidentally use the wrong cord when rigging. Timber strip Onto the timber strip. This initial release of Alert contains boxwood for the deck planking and pearwood for the hull. This sort of timber isn’t normally found in kits, with the recent exception of Master Korabel’s Avos kit’s XS Edition. It certainly is very welcome to see, and the standard of timber is excellent. I do believe that Chris will be releasing a slightly cheaper version of Alert with Tanganyika instead of pearwood and boxwood. Chris hopes this will retail for around £155 and is actually the same as he used in the prototype model you can see on the box lid and the photos in this review. All timber strip is packed into thick, sealed plastic sleeves, and clearly labelled so you can cross reference with the inventory to make sure you are indeed using the correct wood for the specific task. Timber standards are high with a nice uniform colour per batch, no coarse grain or split ends and fuzziness. Sail cloth is supplied too, just in case you do indeed want to display in this manner. The material is provided as sheet, and you will need to use the drawings to draw out the shapes on the cloth and cut/sew. Sails aren’t really for me, but the option is there, should you want to display her in all her sheets to the wind glory! Sheet material Now we come to the sheet material. There are two thick, clear sleeves containing laser-cut material. This first sleeve holds all of the main constructional elements plus something rather unusual for a kit like this, and that’s a clear acrylic display base! The base is a simple but attractive slot-together affair whose parts just need to be gently removed from the sheet. They are also covered in a protective film that makes it look dull in my photo. Rest assured that the material underneath is crystal clear. To assemble this, you could either use an acrylic cement such as Tensol, or an epoxy that will also dry clear. One such product that comes to mind is from HpH Models in the Czech Republic. You can of course use Cyano glue, but make sure it’s the odourless variety so it won’t cloud the clear plastic. The constructional stuff here comes in two sheets of 3mm MDF and one sheet of 2mm timber, all nice and warp-free. On the MDF, you’ll find the false keel, bulkheads, inner and outer bow patterns, stern planking and securing patterns, and the ship’s stove flue. The timber sheet contains the lower deck pattern (constructional element), and stern frames (middle, inner, outer). Laser-cutting is nice and neat with almost no localised scorching. It wouldn’t really matter either way though as these parts will be either hidden or bevelled. Our second sleeve of parts are all laser-cut from timber, with no MDF. Here, we have a combination of 3mm, 1.5mm and 1mm sheet material, containing parts for absolutely everything else timber-related on Alert, from gun carriages, hatch coamings, keep parts, cap rails, transom rails, tiller arm, trestle trees etc. You name it, it’s here. There are a few parts on the 1mm sheet which are hanging by only a few tabs due to the relative fragility of the tabs on a thin sheet, but all parts are perfectly fine. This material isn’t too rigid either, so those parts that need to be curved, such as the transom, will do so without any problem whatsoever. Photo-etch The inclusion of photo-etch in models these days is almost de rigueur, and Alert is no exception. Three frets are included in 0.2mm, 0,4mm, and 0.6mm bare brass, and all as good as any such material that I’ve used in any of my magazine and book work over the last 10yrs. As well as the obvious and intricate outer hull scrollwork embellishments, you’ll find metalwork here for the bowsprit and masting, cleats, windlass parts, stanchions, rudder gudgeon and pintle brace, eyebolt rings, deck grating, anchor ring, rigging components, and even a neat nameplate for the clear acrylic stand. All parts should be nice and easy to remove with them being held with thin, narrow tabs. A jeweller’s file will be needed to clean up any nibs remaining from the tabs. Instruction book This is epic in size! Printed in colour on thick paper stock in A3 size, the manual us spiral-bound instead of just being stapled. This means it will be easy to turn pages over, and the size is good for the eyes for those of us of whose youth has long since slipped away. The manual is 56 pages and begins with a side and upper elevation drawing of Alert, followed by a history and building tips/suggested tools and materials list. A full inventory is then supplied, along with images of the various sheets and PE frets. As the timber elements aren’t numbered on the sheets, you are advised to number each yourself before removal from the sheet. Construction sequences are given in photographic form with crystal clear English explaining everything along the way. All illustrations are also clearly annotated where required. The photographs are interspersed with more drawings of the vessel in various profiles, clearly showing the task at hand. A good example of how comprehensive the instructions are is the inclusion of a deck plank showing the planking format and the shift between the planks. When it comes to masting, drawings are supplied for this with accompanying dimensions and diameters. As I always find masting the most frustrating task, the drawings are a big help and clearly mark out the plan of attack. Excellent rigging illustrations are also supplied, showing everything clearly, including seizing, ratlines etc. A guide to exactly which rigging block to use is also provided. No guessing like on many of the legacy kits that got so many of us started in this hobby. As also mentioned, sail plans are supplied so you can make and add these from the cloth that’s provided. Conclusion What a great start to Chris’s new venture, Vanguard Models. He does keep telling me that he’s learnt so much from this that he will change in future releases, but he does sell himself short, dramatically. If you know of Chris’s work from his previous designs with Amati and Caldercraft, then you will know his own personal style comes through in attention to detail and design approach. This is a gorgeous kit that will present many hours of fulfilling bench time. Materials quality is what what we have come to expect from high-end kits. All in all, a fantastic package! My sincere thanks to Chris Watton for getting this out so quickly for me to feature as a review here on Model Ship World. To purchase directly, click this link at the top of the article.

Ok. Am starting this log because I have deside to build this steam cutter , am still working on the plans , in 1:48 scale this ship vil be about 105 cm long and about 20 cm wide the hull wil be made of wood and planking , the orginal is steel but I wil use silver tape for the steel plating with nails. there wil also be alot of metal sheets to soldering . for now I orderd the book, us.coast guard and revenue cutters 1790-1935.by Donald L.Canney and orded som birchwood plywood for the frame (6mm) Here is the first photo of my big prodjekt Svein.erik

Hello everyone Today is a good day to start my scratch build log. Maybe this Tableboat would be something for a scratch build log ... Seriously, i wish you all a happy new year! Cheers : ) Mike

Hi all I started making the Sherbourne about 4 years ago and wasn't particularly impressed by the swivel guns that came with the kit so ordered some Caldercraft brass ones which appeared to be about the right dimensions as those in the kit. In the last few months I've restarted the model (I'm sure like a lot of other modellers, real life sometimes takes over!) Anyway when I came to construct the swivel guns, I realised that I had only ordered 6 instead of 8. Fortunately I'd kept the original packaging and ordered an extra 2 from my normal supplier. Unfortunately when they arrived they were considerably smaller. When I queried this I was told that Caldercraft had changed the guns following further research to make them more accurate. Whilst striving for accuracy is always welcome, the brackets and handles which come with the kit I bought 4 years ago, whilst not entirely accurate anyway, are now way out of proportion to new sized guns. This leaves me with a dilemma but before I set about the task of making the kit swivel guns look consistent with the brass ones I'm wondering whether anyone has, or knows where I can source two of the original sized swivel guns. The original guns are 17mm long: Caldercraft Part no: 85005A 0.5lb Swivel Guns 1:64 C1790 I've attached an image to illustrate my point. Extremely grateful if anyone can help me.

Greetings to all. My name is Tomek. For some time I have been working on my next card sail ship the British cutter HMS "Fly". I build my models only from paper and cardboard without painting (of course masts and rigging are made of wood and thread). I will honestly admit that "Fly" is my 20 cardboard model of a sailing ship so it looks much better than my first models from 15 years ago. The "step by step" how I design and build card sailing ships... 1. Frames made of 1mm card. The model is really small (about 16 cm long) 2. The first layer to strengthen and stabilize the hull 3. The second layer made of 0,5 mm card. The glue is applied only in places where the edges of the frame are located . Thanks to this the hull gets soft curves without visible "cow's ribs" ... 4. Attaching the third final layer on a well-prepared hull is a pleasure. 5. The deck equipment and artillery 6. The current stage - the mast and the bowsprit with standing rigging Regards Tomek

Hello, while rummaging through a drawer, I found a long-lost tool set -- a linoleum cutter and interchangeable blades for incising lino blocks for contact printing. The price is right at less than $10US, the blade steel is acceptable and they can be re-sharpened , the handle holds the blades securely, and there are a variety of blade shapes available. It works for me. https://www.artistsupplysource.com/product/804451/inovart-lino-cutter/

Earlier here was a folder for finished scratch built projects. This does not exist any more, so this is why I have to introduce my completed project at this folder. I am sorry that I didn`t issue any building blog about my project, but in the beginning I was not sure at all, if I ever will finish this project. So, during about two years I have been building a model of French cutter Le Cerf, and finally a few days ago it could be regarded as finished. When searching a new project to build, from the beginning I somehow liked the one mast cutter Le Cerf, issued by French Ancre. So I purchased the documentation package, which included much information about French Navy in general, and especially about the vessel itself. Included were also 12 sheets of plans, which were drawn in the scale of 1/48, which suited me very well, because my previous build was also made at this scale. After having studied the documents and plans for a couple of days, I started the project by making the bulkheads out of plywood. Hull & deck planking were made using strips sawn of abachi wood, which was a positive surprise for me, because it was very easy to work with and to bend the strips and attach them in place. The hulls of French cutters were made in clinker method, and after first difficulties it seemed to me easier to make than "normal" smooth hulls. Gun carriages and othe small details were made of cherry wood, and decorations at the stern were carved of boxwood. Gun barrels are made of brass, together with the blocks and rigging threads they were the only purchased parts. Sails were made of thin Egyptian cotton. It was colored with acrylic paints together with a small amount of white glue diluted in water. I am quite happy with the result. Now again I am in the situation of trying to decide what to build next.

Hello everyone, This is my modest attempt on the excellent HM Cutter Lady Nelson kit. At this stage, the hull is almost ready. Inspired by some outstanding examples in this forum, I decided to add some nice little details. I do not have much time to send many posts to show all progress. So, the next post will take a while... Enjoy the pictures! Peter

Hello all;

Hi I have been lurking on this forum since just after V2.0 came to life. I really love the ships that come to life on this forum, created by some very skilled and talented people. My hat off to all of you. :) (You know who you are) I believe that I have learned a lot by reading and watching. I did not say anything because I did not believe that I had anything to add. I have been doing a lot of scratch building of RC aircraft over the years and also enjoyed flying them. But after losing most of the use of my right thumb after a motorcycle accident I could not fly anymore. I have finally decided to take a plunge into the deep water. I have ordered Chuck's laser-cut short kit of the HMS Cheerful and I'm now waiting for it to arrive, should be here early to mid January 2016. I have already made a mistake Only after the order was shipped did I see that I could have ordered it in Swiss Pear - Bummer. (Chuck, I will be contacting you shortly again for the keel and transom parts in pear.) My plan is to build the Cheerful in different woods as I find ships build from contrasting woods to be subtle yet bold. A good example of this is the HMS Vulture by Dan Vadas. I want to build the keel, visible parts of the frames and rails in Swiss Pear. Planking is to be in Castello Boxwood and deck in Holly. Deck furniture will most probable be a mix of pear and boxwood. Well, that is it for now, back to waiting Cheers Deon Engelmann

Hi, First posting trial to join this community!

This is my first time posting here. I am currently working on a model of the Harvey that my Grandfather started many years ago but died before he could finish. He was a very talented engineer who wanted to build it scratch. So, he bought the kit and only left the store with the plans. Soon afterwards they discontinued production. Luckily I was able to find a kit on e-bay which gives me some hope of finishing it. As an avid sailor, I have my own sailboat but due to career implications I am forced to sell. So, I have decided that I will attempt to build a model of her. My way of keeping a piece of the little ship that will forever haunt me. However, no plans exist so I have had to take hundreds of measurements and draw up my own plans. This will clearly take a long time, probably many years. The photos here are the begining of the plans and a photo of the boat (not a very good one unfortunatly, my disk with the good photos is packed away).