Cutty Sark 1869 by rcmdrvr - Artesania Latina

[rcmdrvr]

Well I took the plunge and purchased the Cutty Sark by AL.  This looks like a very complicated build so I am hoping that I am not getting in over my head.  The materials in the kit look very good but I will update everyone further as I go along.

 

I am going to head over to Amazon and see if there are any books about the Cutty Sark with lots of good pictures.  I visited the museum website and they offer a book; but it might take a few weeks to reach me from from the UK.

 

I want to put down my "building philosophy" so you can better understand some of the decisions I will make as I move along.  First....have fun.  I love working with my hands and this looks like a lot of hand work will be involved.  Two....I will never reach the skill level to build "museum quality".  This model will end up in my house and the quality I look for is enough to make me happy and get my guests oooh and aah.  Three....have fun.

 

First photo, the box and its contents.

[rcmdrvr]

The following photos cover the first week of building.  First is attaching all the bulkheads to the keel and getting everything lined up and straight.  You notice that I cut a bunch of wood triangles which are into the structure to ensure that the bulkheads stay at 90 degrees to the keel.

 

First I fitted all the bulkheads to the keel and made sure that they would slide into the pre-cut slots.

[rcmdrvr]

After the bulkheads were glued to the keel, there were four "sub-decks" that I planked and glued into place.

[rcmdrvr]

The next step was to glue the main deck to the keel.  This is when you can carefully align the keel and straighten any warps.  Once that was done, I then sanded the edges of each bulkhead to make sure that the planking will lie smoothly along the sides of the hull.

[rcmdrvr]

Now I can begin planking.  This will take some time.  I use a permanent marker along the edge of each plank to simulate caulking.  The nails are done with a pin and a very sharp pencil.  When I get farther along I will use a single edge razor as a scrapper.

[NenadM]

I am glad to find your log. Wellcome to CS fleet

 

If you become interested for particular detail, let me know, and I'll be glad to try to help you looking for it in my CS photo album, with near 500 photos I collected in last three years of my CS build. Some of them are attached to posts in my build log, some are not. I think I have catched all important details of hull and decks. Not the same about masts yards and rigging segments. It is not allowed to climb on museum exponats, so there are only a few photos on net

 

Nenad

Edited September 15, 2016 by Nenad

[rcmdrvr]

I have looked at your log and I think the photos of the Cutty Sark you have provided will be useful.  I did order the museum guidebook from Amazon.  It is described as having quite a few detail photos.

[EJ_L]

Hi Don! Just found your log and thought I would follow along. I built a small, simple plastic version of Cutty Carl about 5 years ago. Nothing special but she did make a nice decorative ship that found a home on a small shelf.

 

Looking forward to seeing how your turns out!

[civilian]

Good start. I am currently building the Constructo's Cutty Sark, and I will follow you along.

Edited September 20, 2016 by civilian

[rcmdrvr]

Continued with the planking of the rear and main decks.  This is a long model, measuring almost 24" in length and 6" wide.  My decking plank are 4 mm wide and 120mm long.  This is going to take quite a few evenings work.

[EJ_L]

Your planking is off to a great start! Looks nice and even, joints in line and good job on the caulking.

[rcmdrvr]

With the deck planking almost completed (I only have to simulate the tree nails); I move on the hull planking.  The wood provided has a cross grain at about 30 degrees so it wants to splinter when bent.  I am soaking for about an hour which gives me about 20 minutes work time.  Since the hull will be painted and coppered; the planking does not have to be pretty.....just shaped correctly and smooth.  I am using a CA gel to affix to the bulkheads.

[NenadM]

Putty and sanding are powerfull way to fill gasps and to get her nice and smoth hull lines.

 

Do you plan coopering and second layer planking on hull?

Edited October 1, 2016 by Nenad

[rcmdrvr]

I am continuing to make progress with planking the hull.  I am soaking each plank about 2 hours.  My "soaker is a capped 1 inch PVC pipe filled with water.  I have two so I can soak about 10 to 12 planks at a time.  I live in So. California and it has been about 95F lately so I have to work quickly.  The planks dry out in about 10 to 15 minutes.

[rcmdrvr]

Completed basic planking so now to add bulwarks.

[rcmdrvr]

After the bulwarks the keel was added.  I was a bit disappointed.  AL had used a laser to cut the parts.  Since the wook was over 6mm thick, they must have really turned up the power because it was charged.  It took a lot of sanding to make it usable.

[rcmdrvr]

Now comes the time for sanding, putty and more sanding.  I am using a palm sander for most of the work.  The putty is spackling paste so it sands easy.  After I get the finish I want I will seal everything in a polyester varnish.

[rcmdrvr]

Here is one side almost complete.

[rcmdrvr]

Nenad.  I do plan to paint and copper the hull so I do not feel that double planking is necessary.

[EJ_L]

Nice work on your planking Don. She is starting to show her shape now and it is looking good. That is one of the nice advantages of paint and copper plating the hull is that you don't have to worry as much about smaller imperfections or double planking. Just sand smooth to the right shape and cover. It is still a lot of work but it looks like you are handling it well.

[rcmdrvr]

I have not posted since early October so I thought that I should bring you up to date.  In my last post I had installed the bulwarks.  Following installation I painted them white and then installed the bracing which was made from brass wire.

[S.Coleman]

On one of your sub deck hatches it looks like part of the false keel has steps actualy cut into it. Am I correct?

[rcmdrvr]

S. Coleman, I believe you are correct but I have not actually looked farther into the instructions to be sure they will be used to simulate steps.

[Elijah]

Good job! Are the bracings considered stanchions?

[rcmdrvr]

After completing the bulwarks; the next step was the decorative railing on top of the bulwarks.  I have included a photo of a little jig I created to ensure all the decorative inserts were the same size.

[EJ_L]

Those inserts look sharp. Well done!

[NenadM]

Very nice. Go on !

[rcmdrvr]

I decided that I would paint the hull above the waterline next.  After the paint dries I will begin copper plating below the waterline.

[rcmdrvr]

I have no idea why the upload procedure reverses the order of the photographs.

[rcmdrvr]

I have been away from the modelling table for a while.  I did get some work done on the coppering of the hull.  I cut the copper tape into 4 inch long pieces.  I then used a spoked wheel(which you can see in the first photo) to simulate rivets.  I was happy with the adhesion of the copper strips to the hull.  The extensive rubbing did flatten the riveting a bit; but I think the effect is there: