Revenue Cutter by sjanicki - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - Scale 1/48

[sjanicki]

Thanks so much @vossiewulf for the suggestion. I’ve ordered a roll via your link. The masking tape was a pain around those curves so I am sure the 3M tape will be a huge improvement. 

[sjanicki]

Made some great progress painting the hull tonight. 

I’ve switched the Great North paints and I find them much easier to airbrush than Testors. Not sure if I have gotten better with the airbrush or just the better paint. 

[MrBlueJacket]

Did you mean True North paints? We like them a lot.

[sjanicki]

32 minutes ago, MrBlueJacket said:

Did you mean True North paints? We like them a lot.

@MrBlueJacket yes, I had meant True North paints.  They were the paints included in the Revenue Cutter paint kit

[Cathead]

Looks real nice so far. I love this style of ship and BlueJacket makes a far better kit than the Corel version I built.

[sjanicki]

On 3/20/2019 at 6:35 PM, Cathead said:

Looks real nice so far. I love this style of ship and BlueJacket makes a far better kit than the Corel version I built.

Thank you! The kit is actually super well done - I am definitely learning a ton on it though

[sjanicki]

Starting the copper plating today! I did a bunch of reading on the forum and found this nice thread about plating: 

 

 

My current plant is the follow the instructions in the thread and make three rows of plates parallel to the waterline and the rest based on the keel.  I should hopefully get some progress photos by the end of the day.

[sjanicki]

Making slow but steady progress.  I began with plating the bottom of the keel.  I used a small amount of super glue and then rolled the plates flat with the metal handle of an x-acto knife.  I also used an x-acto knife to cut the plates from their sheet. Definitely a learning experience! 

 

[vossiewulf]

15 hours ago, sjanicki said:

I also used an x-acto knife to cut the plates from their sheet. Definitely a learning experience! 

The best way to cut those plates cleanly and this is also true of photoetched brass, is to cut them on glass. Get a small piece of 1/8 tempered glass with nicely rounded edges and it's a perfect surface for making those kinds of cuts. Also, both cutting the metal and running into glass is hard on Xacto edges and they're expensive, so the best thing to do cost-wise is to buy a nice cheap pack of 100 single-edged razor blades and use those for thin metal cutting. 

 

[sjanicki]

14 hours ago, vossiewulf said:

The best way to cut those plates cleanly and this is also true of photoetched brass, is to cut them on glass. Get a small piece of 1/8 tempered glass with nicely rounded edges and it's a perfect surface for making those kinds of cuts. Also, both cutting the metal and running into glass is hard on Xacto edges and they're expensive, so the best thing to do cost-wise is to buy a nice cheap pack of 100 single-edged razor blades and use those for thin metal cutting. 

 

Thank you! This is a great idea 

[Griphos]

A good pair of xuron flush cutters will do the job well if placed correctly during the cut. 

[sjanicki]

Was traveling for work for a couple weeks so glad to be back at it on the Revenue Cutter. 

 

Made some more progress this evening on the plating. Using a clamp to keep things flat as I glue the plates on. 

Any my recommendations on how to do this on the main part of the hull? 

Also, cut a ton more plates out  

[sjanicki]

Have been crazy busy busy this summer but made a bit of progress on the plates tonight.  I know they don’t look perfect but I am learning a ton!

 

[sjanicki]

Applied a few more plates tonight along the keel. I have found that getting them to set flat is actually a bit of a pain. What I have been doing to fix this is dry fitting them and bending them more or less into shape before gluing them on. Do people have better thoughts? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

 

[RichardG]

Is the copper fairly hard then and so a bit springy?

I don't have any brilliant ideas. Would contact adhesive work?

 

Richard.

[Cathead]

I've never done coppering, so I have no advice, but your approach makes sense as it's basically the same idea as proper planking. If an item already has the shape it's supposed to, it'll be more likely to hold that shape when being glued. My other suggestion would be to read through build logs of similar kits using that style of plates and see what they did.

[ESF]

Great job progress.  Xuron also makes scissors specifically for PE.  Tiny little hardened edges let you get really close and they go through PE like the proverbial hot knife.  I'm doing a bunch of PE trimming and have found them to be indispensable.

 

Steve

[sjanicki]

Thanks guys for the tips! I'll see if I can get some of the cutters that were recommended.  Going to try and make some more progress tonight 

 

[sjanicki]

Made some more progress this weekend on the plates. I feel that as I continue I keep getting better at shaping and applying the plates. When the intersect at the bow and stern they need to be cut to match properly which takes way more time than I would have guessed. 

 

Anyways, learning a ton and looking forward to putting plates on my next model I work on as well. 

[sjanicki]

Finished half the hull of copper plating and started on the second half. I suspect the second half will look much better (it’s already looking better) so I may have to be clever in displaying the finished model. 

 

Honestly its it’s very rewarding to look at the completed plates. 

[Cathead]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:54 PM, sjanicki said:

I suspect the second half will look much better (it’s already looking better) so I may have to be clever in displaying the finished model

 

I like to decide early on which side of a model is the "display" side and always work on the other side first to ensure I figure out any bugs before doing the "good" side. Your work certainly looks nice to me.

[sjanicki]

Thanks @Cathead! I totally will be doing that on future builds. 

 

Made a a little more progress this weekend. The first pass on both the top and bottom take the longest. Also, cutting the plates along the keel takes a while because of the various curves. Overall happy with the progress! 

[sjanicki]

Had some unexpected time this evening and finished the plating! 

 

One major difference I made this time was starting in the middle and working my way out to ensure an even overlap between each set of plates. 

 

For my first time ever copper plating and only my third model ship I am pretty happy with it  

Edited July 15, 2019 by sjanicki

[MrBlueJacket]

And well you should be! Good job, Stan.

 

Nic

[sjanicki]

Thank you! @MrBlueJacket

[sjanicki]

Made some more progress this evening on some small details.  

 

The first detail was sanding the cradle a but a bit so the keel would fit in again. The keel is now a little bit thicker because of the copper plates. 

 

I bent and and installed the brass boom traveler into place. I have a cutting mat with one inch squares on it so it made bending the corners at an inch per the plans super easy.  I also cut off the extended bass on the backside and used a bit of touch up paint to cover the brass. 

 

Next was painting the copper part of the rudder to prepare for the copper plates. I should have done this earlier but forgot.  I held it upright with a clothes pin for easier painting. 

 

I then measured, cut and began priming the wales. They are laser cut to shape and match the hull and deck perfectly when bent - a great touch by Bluejacket. 

 

I then applied a couple copper plates to the rudder being careful to cut, bend, and dry fit each plate before gluing. After coppering the hull I feel like I have learned a ton in the skill. 

 

 

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

Hello what a great work so far. Wolfram zu Mondfeld recommended to clean the coppering with a kind of benzol wash (I donnot know the exact English - ask at you local drugstore so the superglue isn't effected by the cleaning!) So with this it would be possible to clean away all the fingerprints and than handling the hull per rubber glooves - to spray over the copper a row of layers of clear colour. After some years you do get the right warm and nice copper red tone - but be precisely with the cleaning!!! For the FBI 

guys standung beside your showcase it will be of highest  intrest to catch any good fingerprint under the clear firnis!!!

 

Please do not forget the prepare drillings for the adding of the (blank wooden) "wrong keel" under the right keel and copper plating. I have got no idea what the way of fixing was like in the USCG - but there must be some information at Chapelles THE AMERICAN SAILING NAVY or at AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS to this topic - together with the HISTORICAL MODELSHIP book of Wolfram zu Mondfeld three high recommended books (-> low price used ones at Ebay) to read to get some further information. So you will swim free from the Bluejacket instruction and enter the ocean of information to become a historical modelshipbuilder.

Perhaps Alexa can read this for you on your job's journey in the car  *

 

Nice to see you doing the right overlapping of the copper plates. Thanks for sharing and stay model building!

 

______

*Me personally you can distinguish on an international airport by a pile of books under the arm lashed together by some old worn out belt and some muleskin notebooks within; for secutity I have allways to open this pile and you allways have the chance to bring some friendly interruption into their dayly live - some of them took a smartphone shot of the titels. So modelshipbuilding is an epidemic! 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by Heinrich der Seefahrer
Books tip integrated

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

2 hours ago, sjanicki said:

Made some more progress this evening on some small details.  

 

The first detail was sanding the cradle a but a bit so the keel would fit in again. The keel is now a little bit thicker because of the copper plates. 

 

 (...)

 

 

You may dinstiguish the singular planks from.each other by taking a pruch and paint with a veeeery light yellow-brown ("sepia" from Citardel or a ligther one?) ink. So you interrupt the monstructure of the grain an bit and the deck doesn't look like a lasered vaneer plywood. Try out on a rest pice first to apply one layer on the next plank a double and next 1/2 a layer (by adding water).

You are on a very good track with your kit!

[sjanicki]

9 hours ago, Heinrich der Seefahrer said:

Hello what a great work so far. Wolfram zu Mondfeld recommended to clean the coppering with a kind of benzol wash (I donnot know the exact English - ask at you local drugstore so the superglue isn't effected by the cleaning!)

 

Please do not forget the prepare drillings for the adding of the (blank wooden) "wrong keel" under the right keel and copper plating. I have got no idea what the way of fixing was like in the USCG - but there must be some information at Chapelles THE AMERICAN SAILING NAVY or at AMERICAN SAILING SHIPS to this topic - together with the HISTORICAL MODELSHIP book of Wolfram zu Mondfeld three high recommended books (-> low price used ones at Ebay) to read to get some further information. So you will swim free from the Bluejacket instruction and enter the ocean of information to become a historical modelshipbuilder.

Perhaps Alexa can read this for you on your job's journey in the car  *

 

Nice to see you doing the right overlapping of the copper plates. Thanks for sharing and stay model building!

Thanks @Heinrich der Seefahrer for all of the great advice! I was going to ask for what to do with the tarnished plates on the hull.  Do you have a link to the benzol wash you are thinking of? Maybe Amazon link? I think that would be super helpful in restoring the luster to the plates.

 

I have a copy of Chapelle's book (which I believe the plans for this kit originated from).  I'll read through it to see what I can find as it relates to the false keel. Thanks so much for the pro tip!

 

8 hours ago, Heinrich der Seefahrer said:

You may dinstiguish the singular planks from.each other by taking a pruch and paint with a veeeery light yellow-brown ("sepia" from Citardel or a ligther one?) ink. So you interrupt the monstructure of the grain an bit and the deck doesn't look like a lasered vaneer plywood. Try out on a rest pice first to apply one layer on the next plank a double and next 1/2 a layer (by adding water).

You are on a very good track with your kit!

Thank you for the compliment and the advice! I'll try the recommendation for emphasizing each separate plank.

 

Also, everyone else, thanks for all of the likes!!

[Heinrich der Seefahrer]

 

 

The English description is

"Isopropyl Alcohol 99.99% ACS Reagent - 1 Gallon *"

 

Have fun with your kit!

 

 

P.S.: Best wishes from the USCG-Band: https://archive.org/details/YellowRoseOfTexas

 

* https://www.amazon.com/Isopropyl-Alcohol-99-99-ACS-Reagent/dp/B00DUGMVC6/ref=sr_1_9?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=6HHRO02DZPVQ&keywords=isopropanol+alcohol+99%&qid=1563899173&s=gateway&sprefix=Isopropanol+%2Caps%2C567&sr=8-9