CUTTY SARK by keelhauled - Mantua - kit bashed - First wooden ship build

[keelhauled]

Gyula,

Thanks for the comments!

 

George,

As always, thanks for the likes and keeping up with my progress!

 

Marc

Edited June 30, 2015 by keelhauled

[NenadM]

Marc, if you are interested, I could send you a link to my Gdrive where is my collection of CS photos ( couple od hundreads)

Edited June 30, 2015 by Nenad

[keelhauled]

Thanks Nenad,

The photos were much appreciated!!!

[keelhauled]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been running into issues trying to buy 1/64" x 1/64", 1/32" ,x 1/32" and combos of those size strips. The two sources that I've used in the past no longer make them.  I tried cutting those sizes from walnut with an xacto knife and razor blades without much success.  too much variation in widths.  so I decided to by a table saw.  I wanted the Byrnes, but didn't think I could get the support to drop the $600-$800 for the loaded saw.  So I bought the Proxxon Saw.  Also after drilling all of the holes for the belaying pins in straight rows, I decided it was time to get an x-y table.  I know that I'll be making fairleads with holes somewhere ranging from #60 to #75 holes (not sure what size yet) and I didn't think that I could hand drill the holes close enough and consistently enough.

 

I received two Proxxon tools: an table saw and an x-y table.

 

I ripped a stack of 1/32"x1/32" and 1/32x1/16 walnut strips.  worked great with the fine tooth saw.  

 

 

I ended up creating a stop, mainly because I was worried about getting the fence too close to the blade. 

 

 

 

I don't have a nice drill, just an old minicraft drill press and the x-y table didn't bolt into any of the holes.  Since I wanted to be able to easily remove the x-y table I created a wood sled that the drill press slides into.  I was able to get it to where the drill press slides in and out of the x-y table easily and index drill sizes 60-75 lined back up to holes previously drilled across 6 inches.  The alignment held in the extreme x and y directions in those same drill size ranges.  good enough for what I need.

 

Here are holes drilled into a 1/32"x1/32 walnut strip. 

 

 

Drilling test holes for the fairleads .  The holes are too large - I won't be able to fit enough holes in for the number of lines. So I'll have to go down probably 5 sizes.  The good thing is that with this large of a hole it shows that the x-y table is aligned well.  The slight variation in up and down position is becasue of the grain.  I tried it with other woods and they were dead-on straight.

 

 Notice how small the little 2 inch blade is compared to the razor blade   

 

 

Marc

Edited July 25, 2015 by keelhauled

[GLakie]

Yup --- I can definitely see a real "need" for an X-Y table.    So ah--Christmas in July? 

[NenadM]

Ahh what toys ....

 

Be very carefull, even you have to make 1cm only, and use always protective glasses and glowes

 

Keep always in mind that rotary tools has their own will, even small Dremell. I learned it in a harder way. Making beds for kids long ago, my circular saw suddenly decided to send for a walk piece of wood throught double glass window in february and -15℃.

 

Repairing my terrace and cutting stone, I forgot to wait this beast to stop turning before I laid it down. Next scene was watching it running after my dog ...

 

 

No damage, but I learned my lesson, and three basic laws: always work with full attention and full concentration; always use all possible protective equipment; never think - I know that, so nothing will be wrong

 

Nobody wants to be hurt, but sh*** happens

Edited July 25, 2015 by Nenad

[keelhauled]

Thanks George!

 

Nenad,  Thank you for the advice!  Sounds like very sound advice.  I want to make sure that I keep my fingers and my eyesight!  thanks for the examples, I'm very glad no one got hurt.  

 

When I was a teenager I worked for a metal repair shop sanding the items.  I forgot to put on my thick leather apron once and the orbital sander bounced and hit my leg.  the paper cut right through the canvas apron, my pants and luckily only my skin.  Amazing that paper cut through the thick canvas in a  split second.  I was lucky.  

 

Marc

[keelhauled]

So using my new saw and x-y table I made the fairleads and the bolsters for the masts.  I've found that I love ripping wood.  Took me a few attempts before the 1/32" x 1/32" came out clean.  I think the answer was feeding the wood very slow and not pressing it against the fence.

 

Had to make the fairleads for the fore mast twice.  I couldn't fit enough holes in the length that I had available.  I also made sure that the lines would actaully fit through the tiny holes.  They do, but I think that I'm at the limit.

 

fore mast fairleads

 

 

Mizzen mast fairleads

 

[GLakie]

Very nice Marc!  It's always good to have the right tool for the right job, at hand when you need it. 

[gjdale]

I agree with George, Marc - having the right tool for the job brings a whole new degree of satisfaction to the work.

[thomaslambo]

Hi Marc,

 

Just caught up with your build as a result of researching the Cutty.

 

Superb work on your first build....thanks for taking the time to maintain the log 

[keelhauled]

Nenad, George, Grant and Thomas,

Thanks for the comments.  Having the right tools definitely reduced my frustration and waste and allowed me to make what I needed.  It sounds like I might be getting the Byrnes saw for Christmas - Fingers crossed .

  

I was able to get the lower dead eyes mounted for the fore and main masts.  Had to re-drill the holes on the deck for most of them.  I don't know how I screwed up the angles a few months ago when I drilled the deck holes.  This time I checked and rechecked the plans and ran dummy shrouds for each position to check the angle.  I finished drilling holes for the belaying pins (wish I had caught that they were missing back before I had mounted the rails).

 

The fore deadeyes

 

 

 

The main deadeyes

 

 

I need to finish the mizzen. Also, I noticed that the entrance to the aft deck house was too tall, so I've started ripping that apart to rebuild.  I'll post photos next time.

 

Thanks

Marc

[GLakie]

Good catch on the angles Marc.  I'm probably wrong about this, but it looks like the orientation of some of the dead eyes' holes are upside down. Aren't the holes supposed to be "one down-two up" on the channels, and vice-versa, on the shrouds, and accordingly lined up with the angle? 

 

Cheers 

[thomaslambo]

Good catch on the angles Marc.  I'm probably wrong about this, but it looks like the orientation of some of the dead eyes' holes are upside down. Aren't the holes supposed to be "one down-two up" on the channels, and vice-versa, on the shrouds, and accordingly lined up with the angle? 

 

Cheers 

Yup, I've seen that pointed out on a few builds before...good catch

Edited July 26, 2015 by thomaslambo

[NenadM]

Extra good work. And look very well. I like it, and I'll try to reproduce it

[keelhauled]

yep George, you're right about the dead-eye orientation.  good catch!,  the dead-eyes are just loose enough in their brackets to rotate. I was concerned about not getting the exact angle orientation for the holes, so I made sure that I could rotate them if I needed to.  When I was placing them, I ended up rotating some of the dead-eyes.  In fact most of them are rotated to some degree. 

 

Thanks for the catch, George!  

Marc

Edited July 26, 2015 by keelhauled

[GLakie]

Wasn't really sure Marc, but I thought I read it someplace here in this forum. Couldn't find the article though. 

[keelhauled]

Here is the work on the stern deck house.

 

The previous entrance was too tall.  I had the height the same as what the current height is.  

 

 

 

 

So I gave it a hair cut!  I took the measurements off of Campbells plans, made a template and cut the top off with a dremmel cutting disk.  I did ware safety glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

[keelhauled]

Here is laying down the roof.  

 

 

 

And here is the new entrance, complete with booby hatch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2015 by keelhauled

[GLakie]

Nice work Mark.  So Mantua's plans were that far off from TFFM's plans? 

 

Cheers

[keelhauled]

Hi George

 

Mantua's model has the ship as she is now.  So the stern deck house entrances are completely different.  There are three entrances.  The incorrect entrance shown in my first photos was scratch built.  Just built wrong.  The whole deck house with the exception of the compass, bell and windows were built from scratch.  I built the skylight from wood and brass.  I turned the balusters and buckets and made the rail from scratch.  The buckets don't actually taper toward the deck and the tops aren't actually all the same size, but I don't think anyone would notice.

 

Actually, I stopped using the model plans shortly after planking the hull.  I've been using Campbell's plans and filling it in using Longridge's book on the Cutty and Campbell's book on clippers.  Also I use as many photos as I can look at.  Much of my model is scratch built (except the blocks and dead eyes).  It seems the more I build, the less I use of the model.

 

However, I don't think that the model as built by the directions is bad at all.  I just kept finding that I could do better. Although it takes much more time.

 

Thanks for the feedback

Marc

Edited July 27, 2015 by keelhauled

[GLakie]

I'll say one thing Mark. For a first-time wooden ship build, and a kit-bash besides, you're doing a h**l of a job on her. I'm still contemplating how much of that I'll be doing on my first, outside of replacing all of the wood except the keel, bulkheads and the filler-blocks. If I go with the "as launched" version, it's going to take a lot of extra work, especially at the stern, going from 3 to 8 windows. 

[keelhauled]

Thanks for the compliments George.  The more I scratch build things the more confident I become to tackle other projects and the less concerned I am about damaging stuff, or ripping it apart and redoing it, like I did with the bow and stern ornamentation.  To date, I think the ship's wheel was one of the most challenging projects that I tackled.

 

Can't wait to see you start your build, George.  I appreciate you keeping up with what I'm doing.  Even as slow as I am showing progress.  Unfortunately, my job keeps me traveling.  And when I'm home I'm often busy doing stuff around the house that should have been done while I was one the road.  Hopefully, I'll have some relief from travel this winter, If I can get another body hired.

 

Thanks

marc

[GLakie]

Even though I'm "retired" now, I still manage to keep busier than I'd like, doing side-line projects for myself, and other people, besides the normal house-hold responsibilities. So, for a while at least, I'll be juggling what I need to get done for me, with what other projects I have to do. Sooner or later, I'll have to put the brakes on it though, and just start saying "no".

 

I'm pretty much on schedule as far as starting my build though, as I've made good progress in getting things set up here, and should still be starting this winter. I can't wait either!   

 

Cheers

[popeye the sailor]

doing some catch up Marc......I must say you've done well with her progress!      the deadeyes and the structure work is really super....very well done!

[keelhauled]

Thanks Popeye!  

 

I still have the mizzen dead eyes to install.  I discovered that I screwed up and drilled the holes in the deck the same as they are on the rails which leaves no way to secure the eyes.  Luckily I can get to the area beneath the poop deck, so I can glue some wood down there to solve the problem.  Hopefully.

 

Marc

[hof00]

Hi Marc,

Looking really good.

Your Dead Eyes look good with the White Strops.

 

Had the same issue as you with the Mizzen Dead Eyes, I drilled the appropriate holes and Epoxied Dead Eye Strops into the holes. (Was far too late for me to think about fitting extras under the Deck....)

 

The Epoxy worked o.k. but care had to be taken that none of this gets anywhere near the dead Eye, should you need to adjust its orientation in its Strop.

 

My solution to the problem anyway.

 

Cheers....HOF.

[keelhauled]

Thanks for the feedback HOF.  nice to know I wasn't alone on dealing with those dead-eye issues!

 

More updates to posts that i made somewhere else in the site about sources of blocks and sails.

I found a great source for both: www.radekshipmodels.cz

 

The owner is Radek and he is great to deal with.  Through emails, I've found him to be very concerned about the accuracy of his products and care for the customer and their models.  He has shared with me several discoveries in his research for understanding more of the historical construction of the sails.  He produces blocks (very clean and available at very small sizes) as well as his sails using CNC machines.

 

I received my sails and they are great!  The material is thin and the sewing is dead straight (where it should be).  night and day difference between the Mantua sails that I purchased.

 

This is the Mantua mizzen sails

 

These are Radek's  Difference is amazing

 

Here are the mains

 

The jibs

 

A couple of detials

 

Beautiful work!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2015 by keelhauled

[GLakie]

Those ARE nice!  Wish all kits offered them. They look great the way they are, but I was wondering if you were planning on weathering them at all?  I know it's somewhat "shady" territory, if they don't come out right, but just wondering. 

[keelhauled]

Thanks George,

The sails aren't from a kit.  They are aftermarket from Radek.  Check out his site  www.radekshipmodels.cz,  He has sails for a lot of different ships and scales. Also, the price was very reasonable.  

 

I don't think that I will be weathering the sails.  If it were a war ship, I probably would.  But I think that the clean sails on the Cutty is appropriate.  Maybe I'll change my mind.  Also, I would be scared that I would end up ruining these beautiful sails.  I would be devastated If I changed their dimensions!  They fit perfectly.  I'll try to take a shot of all of them laid out on a table when I get back in a week or two.  I have go out on travel.

 

I have been working on the ship and have photos.  I'll post when I get back.

Thanks