HM Cutter Alert by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 scale

[PhillH]

Congratulations on building a fantastic model I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your Alert take shape and will be refering back to your build when mine hits the blocks.

 

[glbarlow]

9 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

fake it and form hooks out of very fine eyebolts

That's a good idea, thanks!

[glbarlow]

On another note, like Chuck you have a very pristine way of seizing blocks - I've seized hundreds of them but my method (actually Bob Hunt's I learned) leaves the ends of threads and ropes hanging there. If I cut them off too close the whole thing unravels (though I do use diluted white glue).  Can you share your process or point me to a tutorial?

[Chuck]

Unfortunately my suppliers of hooks went belly up!!!  The last guy shut down after I placed and paid for a huge order.  Needless to say I never got those hooks.  

 

I have however just found one stray package of 3mm hooks laying around.  I will throw it in with your recent order Glenn.  I usually make my own hooks out of brass wire.  They look the best when you make them yourself.  You can make them any size and length you need that way.  But it takes practice and a lot of time.

 

 

Once all of this virus stuff is over I will look into finding another supplier or figure out how to make them myself.....but that is a long way off.

 

 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

18 hours ago, glbarlow said:

On another note, like Chuck you have a very pristine way of seizing blocks - I've seized hundreds of them but my method (actually Bob Hunt's I learned) leaves the ends of threads and ropes hanging there. If I cut them off too close the whole thing unravels (though I do use diluted white glue).  Can you share your process or point me to a tutorial?

 

Hi Glenn, I can’t imagine that I can achieve anything as ‘pristine’ as Chuck but I do try to follow his example. 😃

As I'm virtually in lock down I'll knock up a little pictorial to explain my approach, something to keep me busy.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[chris watton]

Amazing build, very well done.

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

knock up a little pictorial

That would be great, thank you!  I’ll enjoy it while I’m in our lock down.  

[captain_hook]

Too occupied with my build it seems that I have missed this one. Congratulations, she is a beauty. Really good work as on your Pegasus before.

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Phill, glad you found it of help.

@ Chris, - Phew, it's always an added incentive when you have the  designer of a kit looking at a build,  I hope I've done your creation justice.

@ Cap'n Hook -  Thank s for looking in, much appreciated.

 

B.E.

[Blue Ensign]

23 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

knock up a little pictorial

That would be great, thank you!  I’ll enjoy it while I’m in our lock down.  

Stropping Small blocks

My approach to block stropping differs depending on the block purpose, and of course the smaller the block the trickier it is.

I am going to concentrate on the smallest of blocks used on gun tackles at scales of around 1:64.

4909(2)

The now defunct 3mm plastic block set, I’ve only a few left.

 

This is my approach to stropping a Syren Boxwood 3/32”  (2.38mm) block using one of Chucks bijou 3mm plastic hooks.

I am using Syren 0.20mm ø line.

 

Blocks with hooks attached are the most fiddly, particularly in relation to the gun tackles, where overall length is critical and it is difficult to reproduce effective looking arrangements at scales of 1:64 and smaller.

4907(2)

The block is held in a third hand tool, a smear of pva drawn across the strop grooves, and the line passed around the block and held until the pva grabs.

 

4908(2)

I can then tie the ends with a simple square knot (In larger blocks I put a small seizing (0.1mm line) to secure the two ends of the line.

4912(2)

One strand of the line which consists of three strands is then unravelled up to the point of the seizing. A spot of ca is then applied to this point and the strand is cut away, to allow fit thro’ the small eye on the hook of the remaining two.

The ends are passed thro’ the eye of the hook from opposite sides. (I usually have to enlarge the hole slightly (and very carefully – these things are delicate.)

 

4918(2)

The ends are then again tied above the eye, a spot of ca, and the ends trimmed away.

4921(2)

For this exercise I use a new No 11 scalpel blade, nothing gets closer or cuts cleaner.

4922(2)

The completed block and hook cover an overall length of only 6mm, which allows a reasonable lanyard length between the two blocks that make up a side tackle.

4925(2)

The lanyard also of 0.2mm line is attached thro’ the top of the strop using a needle

4932(2)

and secured with a false splice.

4933(2)

I apply a smear of pva to the splice and roll between my fingers before trimming the short end.

4039(2)

The tackles can then be made up on a little jig.

4177

At normal viewing distance these are very small but can be clearly seen as a tackle with two blocks and hooks, but which don’t overwhelm the scale, and well worth the fitting in my opinion.

 

Prior to the advent of Chuck’s little hooks I also used an alternative method.

This involves drilling a micro hole in the block and inserting a hook made from a fine eye bolt.

4939(2)

I insert a drill bit into the sheave hole before ca’ing the hook to prevent it being blocked.

At this size I dispense with any notion of making an eye on the hook, to save length. In the case of Alert the overall length of the combined block/hook should be no more than 6mm.  

4940(2)

The line is passed around the block as before.

4941(2)

This time the line is passed around the stem of the hook and secured with a square knot. A spot of ca is applied to the knot and the ends cut off.

4943(2)

The overall size is the same as with the little plastic hooks.

An alternative method would be to insert the hook stem thro’ the line into the block and secure the strop at the other end. This would work where a lanyard was not required to be fitted.

 

One other method which I used on my Pegasus build is good for smaller scales.

Here I use thin wire to strop the blocks, forming the ends into hooks.

003

Wire stropped blocks on Pegasus.

This method does entail painting the wire strop rope colour and the hook black, but it works just fine.

So there it is for what it’s worth.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

 

 

 

 

[Chuck]

I think I have a few partial sheets of those black hooks laying around too.  If you like them that much I can send them to you at some point.  I have to look around in case I threw them out.  But I think I have at least one or two partial sheets of hooks somewhere.  B.E...next time you order something remind me and I will toss them in the package.

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Chuck, I will have an order shortly🙂

 

B.E.

[glbarlow]

I’ll take some. 🙂

 

Thanks for the tutorial. I’ll do a little practicing following your approach. I appreciate your doing this. 
 

I’ve printed this to put with my building reference documents 😊

Edited April 2, 2020 by glbarlow

[Blue Ensign]

Alert is completed but remains uncased as this is presently stuck down in Devonshire for the duration. Not too much of a problem as Alert is not so heavily rigged as to present dusting  issues.

To amuse myself during this covid19 lockdown I put together a build album. Something I also did for Pegasus, and Cheerful.

5208(2)

5200(2)

5206(2)

Passes the time  and creates  a nice record of the build.

5214(2)

These are three pocket sized albums that I usually order along with the larger versions.

 

 

B.E.

22/05/2020

 

[captain_hook]

Nice idea! Good addition to the beautiful model.

[VTHokiEE]

This is such a great idea! I’ll have to keep it in mind for my next build and take better quality photos along the way.

[egkb]

What a lovely memento of a Wonderful Build ! in fact three wonderful builds  

 

All The Best B.E.

 

Eamonn

[Voyageur]

Beautiful! Thank you for such great and informative build logs. The tutorials along the way will be a reference for me  that will certainly improve my model building

[rkwz]

14 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Alert is completed but remains uncased as this is presently stuck down in Devonshire for the duration. Not too much of a problem as Alert is not so heavily rigged as to present dusting  issues.

To amuse myself during this covid19 lockdown I put together a build album. Something I also did for Pegasus, and Cheerful.

5208(2)

5200(2)

5206(2)

 

Passes the time  and creates  a nice record of the build.

5214(2)

These are three pocket sized albums that I usually order along with the larger versions.

 

 

 

 

 

B.E.

 

22/05/2020

 

 

I would pay for that. You should get them published ! Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this amazing forum.

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

Hat off Sir this is wonderful craftmanship and build. Simply beautiful.  Congratulations. 

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Guys,

 

2 hours ago, rkwz said:

I would pay for that. You should get them published ! Thank you for sharing your knowledge on this amazing forum.

Nice of you to say so rkwz, but I think it would be too expensive, and besides you get access to all the photo's in the build log for free, glad you like them.😃

 

B.E.

[Malcolm Greig]

fantastic build and log, thanks for sharing. I have this kit on the shelf and your efforts are both inspirational and a little bit intimating. Well done and lots of help for the novice.    

 

Malcolm

[jurgisnemickas]

Just reviewed this build. I'm thinking of building the Mamoli "Alert" scale 1/45 does anyone have any comments, please advise.

[Blue Ensign]

1 hour ago, jurgisnemickas said:

Just reviewed this build. I'm thinking of building the Mamoli "Alert" scale 1/45 does anyone have any comments, please advise.

 

You could try asking your question in the general kit questions section, more appropriate than this kit specific build.

 

B.E.

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post build follow up.

Since I finished Alert she has been sitting nicely on a chest of drawers measuring only 16 x 24” quietly gathering dust.

6309

6307

Sitting pretty but she really needs to be protected.

 

6304

I had always intended to encase the model given the delicate rigging, but delivery of the case was delayed due to covid, and it has been sitting in Devonshire for the past four months.

 

6322(2)

It has now arrived, but with the passing of time I am surprised at the size of the beast, necessary because of that very long bowsprit.

 

6321(2)

The case measures 30” long x 11.5” wide x 22.5” high.

I could have shaved an inch or so off the length of the case, but some leeway has to be allowed for aesthetic reasons.

I am now faced with a rearrangement of my office to accommodate the now covered Alert, and a slightly disappointed wife who rather liked it as it was.

 

6330

All sorted, at least for the present.

I now need to build a mini bookcase to raise up the now displaced Victory, still I can always use some extra book storage.

So, if you’re thinking of putting your Alert in a case beware it will take up more room than you may initially think, something I singularly failed to do on this occasion.

 

B.E.

24/07/20

[PhillH]

Alert is set of well by that case Maurice where did you get if from?

 

Phill

 

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Phill,

 

I got the case from Just Bases, here's the link.

http://www.just-bases.co.uk/

 

Maurice

 

[PhillH]

Thanks for the link Maurice, I will store that away for when I need a case for mine. 👍

 

Phill

 

 

[VTHokiEE]

On 11/18/2019 at 7:35 AM, Blue Ensign said:

I've finally gotten around to my cannons. In trying to increase my knowledge; how did you know to paint the wheels red? I originally was thinking of leaving them natural, but I assume red is more historically accurate based on your build so now I'm contemplating painting them red. Thanks!

[Blue Ensign]

 There was a protocol for carriage and inboard works, red Ochre mostly up to the late 18thc , with yellow Ochre coming in around the start of the 19thc.

 

I don’t think there was a strict protocol for truck colour, on my Pegasus build I left them natural, as they are on Victory today. On Alert with the shade of red I was using I just thought they looked better painted, nothing more involved than that.🙂

 

I also painted them red on my Cheerful cutter build, for the same reason.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.