HMC Sherbourne 1763 by Gregor – FINISHED - Caldercraft – Scale 1:64 - first build

[Gregor]

Most of the NNM’s many cutter plans of 1763 show a peculiar type of windlass; an octagonal boom (?) resting in heavy chunks of wood mounted on the bulwarks.

 

 

 

My windlass is not finished yet, I’m still working on it. 

The hardest thing (morally) was to drill two additional hawseholes as shown on the plans. But it’s the easiest thing to bring my Sherbourne a little nearer to the plan of 1763.

 

Cheers, Gregor

[Gregor]

Just a small update: I finished the channels. Once I figured out how the deadeye strops should be inserted in the channels, it was easy to do (again, the Badgers plans available online were helpful: after destroying one of the spares I learnt that the ‘nubs’ are meant to anchor the strops in the channels).

 

 

As shown in the NMM plans, I tapered the chain plates. I hope I got them right so they will align with the shrouds (I stepped the mast and used a thread to find the positions, as described in various postings in the forum). 

I also added small knees. They are not on the plan, but Badger has them, and Molfram zu Mondfeld almost insists that they should be made.

I discarded the short-lived idea to position the channels according to the NMM plans (integrated in the upper wales). This would mean to make them wider, so that the shrouds don’t touch the capping rail. I always seem to feel the urge to do things that are out of my league…

I also finished phase one of the deck planking, but have to wait for the sun to come back to make some pictures.

Cheers,

Gregor

Edited March 19, 2014 by Gregor

[tkay11]

I'm glad you posted this about the chain plates, Gregor, not because of the chain plates, though -- although I really appreciate the detail and will do the same for mine when I get round to it -- but because of referring back to the plans in the earlier post. When looking at the plan I noticed for the first time the side-opening gun port doors. Are they like that for all the gun ports?

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[tkay11]

OOOPS! Sorry, Gregor, I just realised I could look at the small photo on the NMM website again. It only shows doors for one of the ports. But I suppose that might be illustrative of them all. What are you planning to do about the doors?

 

Tony

[Gregor]

Hi Tony,

I’m planning to make my Sherbourne to look a little like the Cutter Fly (1779), with “real” gunport lids (and sometimes I’m thinking about painting mast and yards, too).

On the plans there is only the one example of a gun-door. Being Swiss, an alpine hut came first to my mind…

But that’s not the only reason I’m sceptical about side-opening doors: The wings just beside the channels could not be opened completely. If the guns were a little shorter than ours (we discussed that earlier), the muzzle would be dangerously near the wooden door.

Then there is the upper wale in the kit. It’s standing out rather far, we would need special hinges do open the door-wings so that they could lie flat against the hull and not stand out parallel to the gun barrels. Gun port lids would avoid these problems - for sure in the model, and probably in a real cutter, too. I’m not an engineer, but I guess he would choose the simplest, most efficient solution to a problem.

There are also several beautiful pictures of cutters to be found in the online collection of the NMM, all of them showing gun port lids:

• (1783)
• (1783)
• (1785)
• (1788)
• (1794)
• (1794)
• (1795)
• (1796)
• (1818)
• (1821)
• (1826)
• (1830)

 

While browsing through the collection I’ve found not one example of a cutter with side-opening doors. So I think I will make gun port lids as shown in these pictures.

Gregor

[Gregor]

Oh, something I forgot to tell about the channels: The kit’s plan instructs to use a 1.5 mm square walnut strip as a cap edge of channels. But the channel pieces in the kit (No 39) are 2 mm thick (the plan is obviously not precisely drawn). When I see the result, I think I should have made the cap also 2 mm. I won’t take it down for fear of breaking off the whole thing…

[tkay11]

Yes, indeed. Excellent analysis and answer. The idea of the side opening doors didn't really make sense. I was trying to imagine how they'd be opened when a lid is so much easier, and I hadn't seen such doors in any other model of the period.

 

Thanks also for all those great links. They certainly make the cutters look quite elegant.

 

As to the 1.5mm square strips they were exactly that in the kit I had. It was the planking strips that were much more variable in my case. I had to be really picky for the maple deck planking -- although I ended up buying wider strips for the second hull planking.

 

Tony

[Gregor]

Phase one of deck planking done: After admiring many beautiful examples and experimenting on paper with various plank lengths and shifts I always came back to Tony’s 12 cm, 3 shift pattern. I think it’s adequate when using the 4 mm strips provided with the kit. Shorter planks and more than 3 shifts provided very strange patterns, not at all aesthetically pleasing.

 

 

Learning from Tony’s experience, I struggled with the symmetry of my hull, which I neglected in the early days of enthusiastically gluing together bulkheads, keel and false deck.

That’s why I didn’t cut out the holes for the scuttles behind the main hatch (I will have to paint the planks black under the gratings). I also had to bend the planks laterally to achieve the impression of a symmetry that is not there. One can hardly detect it, but it was a struggle, working with dividers, paper strips etc.

 

 

For the caulking I used the black pencil method. The strips in the kit had to be sanded heavily; their edges were very rough. Because of my impatience the planks are not always of the same width …

The finishing is not what I wanted to achieve: After scraping the planks with a sharp blade and sanding I used linseed oil again. It highlights the structure of wood, but here this effect was not what I wished for (it shows also pencil dust rubbed in while sanding). Again, as on the hull, I will have to learn to select the wooden strips very carefully or even be prepared to replace them.

It seems my crew did not religiously holystone the deck and flogging it dry every day before sunrise, and my deck has the worn look of twenty years of honourable service.

 

 

To console myself I finished the deckhouse. Now my CO has a place to hide when somebody makes unfriendly comments about the state of the deck.

 

I will adapt the gratings to the deck and do other small things while thinking hard about treenailing methods. I already tested the hot syringe needle and nearly destroyed my deck (it looks exactly like it sounds: spots of burnt wood). I will try to “heal” it with the toothpick method.

Gregor

[Gregor]

Phase two of deck planking also done: The healing process (no pictures of small burn holes, sorry) was quite successful. I drilled 0.5 mm holes and filled them with the points of toothpicks, snapped them off with pincers, scraped and sanded and then oiled the deck.

 

 

Cheers,

Gregor

[tkay11]

Great progress. Very neat. I love the accurate lines.

Tony

[Siegfried]

Hello Gregor,

 

just have seen your log today. Very nice!. Your windlass is looking great. 

 

You are living in Lucerne? I actually are living in Brunnen. A stone's throw on the opposite of the lake.

 

Cheers, Daniel

[Gregor]

Thanks, Daniel; I will work on the windlass this weekend (the weather will be too bad to do much outdoors on or around our lake, where you might have seen my 1:1 diving ship cruising in front of your windows). 

Cheers,

Gregor

[Siegfried]

Hi Gregor

 

May be. I am living directly on the Platz der Auslandsschweizer. So I have a good view across the lake and try to be there each day. Especially on 1st August we always have a little Armada on front with fabulous fire works in the evening. This week it is misty but looks mystic. during the last weeks we have had great sunny weather, first snow on the Bristen and Mythen. If the weather becomes a bit better I have planned to do a hiking on the peak of the Mythen. I did this trip last year with a friend of mine who actually is a mountain-maniac. You can imaging I as an amateur was dead and completely knocked out. :mellow:

 

Cheers, Daniel

[Siegfried]

...and how often are you on the lake with the Kon-Tiki?

 

Daniel

[Gregor]

Oh yes, Daniel, we live in a beautiful spot. I love hiking, too, but I usually prefer to go down the mountains, where they continue in the lake. That’s what our Kon-Tiki is for, when we don’t use her for work. But we all have daytime jobs, so lake-time is limited, sadly 

 

But here is what you can find under water: Traditional transport vessels, very modest crafts, over centuries virtually unchanged till the industrial revolution arrived (the paper is in german, but with a lot of pictures in low-res, sorry). My inability to make a model of the vessel we researched (early 19^th century, 38 m under water, of a type you find far back in local medieval picture chronicles) finally brought me to this hobby.

Cheers,

Gregor

[Gregor]

This weekend I finally managed to finish the windlass. The supports for the spindle are probably a bit too massive. I used the kit’s original pawl bit post, “repaired” it by filling the pre-cut slit and then carving out the room for the rod.

 

 

 

I think this is a nice detail to have, as it is shown on several 1763 plans.

 

 

There is also a picture of HMC Hawke in Peter Goodwin’s Alert book (thousand thanks to Tony for showing me this treasure), here a grainy picture taken from page 36.

 

 

I fear I will miss two windlass bitts when I do the rigging…

I made some other things: a chimney with a cover (from a brass sheet; super-glued, as I have not yet learned to solder) and a mast ring, covered with canvas (like the one on the rudder coat: paper tissue and pve diluted with walnut stain).

The catheads are as yet unfinished; here I’m following gratefully again Tony’s tutorial.

Gregor

Edited October 7, 2013 by Gregor

[tkay11]

That windlass is really excellent, Gregor. It makes so much sense that it should be a feature of any serious Sherbourne build. Thanks for doing it and showing us!

 

Tony

[Sumner]

The windlass looks great. Nice job!

 

Sumner

[Jay 1]

Your windlass looks really great, Gregor; likewise, I like your chimney and mast step--very nice! Silver soldering isn't as daunting as it may look/seem (Russ wrote a good tutorial in the downloads section)--the hardest thing sometimes is figuring out how to make a small, fiddly piece.

 

Jay

[nheather]

Hi Gregor,

 

Hope you don't mind me posting a question here but as you have first hand knowledge of the Sherbourne I am very confident that you could lend some advice.

 

I am a complete beginner with wooden ship models - I have experience with plastic, engineering and radio control aircraft so plenty of general modelling experience.

 

I decided to start with the Caldercraft Sherbourne cutter but I am stuck, perhaps I am over thinking it but I'd appreciate some advice.  I have broken out the false keel and formers and laid out the hardwood keel and rudder post and noticed some discrepancies.  I have tried to capture them in the photos below.

 

 

In this first picture you can see that if I lay the hardwood keel and rudder post against the false keel they are too short.  Note the gap where the two keel parts should join.

 

Is there something wrong - if so what would be the best way to resolve it - I intend to paint the hull white?

 

 

 

In the this picture it looks like the rudder post is too low - see the red line that follows the line of the deck.

 

Is it incorrect?  If so should I trim it before assembly or wait until the build progresses.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

Edited October 14, 2013 by nheather

[Gregor]

Nigel, I'm sorry to see that your keel seems to have shrunk both in length and height (and the stern post seems to be a little too short). This was not the case in my kit, nor can I find anything about a shrunken keel in the other build logs. As a fellow beginner I can imagine how you feel, it's not something we like to fix just when we are about to start.

In Sumners log you will find a better image how it should look like.

What would I do? I would contact the producers directly, since I ordered my kit online. I remember postings here (and maybe in MSW 1.0, now lost) saying that jotika has an excellent customer service (a phone call should be more efficient as they are said to be overworked).

Alternatively, you could replace the shrunken parts (but I think a polite feedback to the producer or seller of the kit is necessary). Since you will paint the hull anyway, it doesn't have to be walnut if you find a replacement locally where you are. But it should be hard enough to hold the nuts and bolts for the mounting of pedestals (something I forgot to do, see Tony's log and Sarge in Jay's log).  

 

Don't rush with the stern post, its upper part should be flush with the upper side of the stern counter. I found it easier to do the planking first and to fit in the stern post last.

I hope other builders with more experience and better English can help you to find a more elegant solution. But most important: don't give up - the kit is a good start to a wonderful hobby. This is fixable!

Cheers,

Gregor

[tkay11]

There's a faint possibility that Jotika provided parts from a different model. Their Chatham and Balahoo are in the same size range. Part 12 is on a different sheet to parts 21-23. So I agree with Gregor that the best thing would be to contact them and ask them to let you show them the photographs if necessary. I can attest to their very good customer service and to the need to make the first contact by phone (I only had responses to emails after initial phone contact).

 

I presume you did check the diagrams of parts against the parts you received, as that might tell you if they were from a different model.

 

Good luck with sorting it out! It must be very frustrating for you.

 

Tony

(Oops! Sorry, Gregor, I didn't mean to butt in on your build log!) [EDIT]

Edited October 14, 2013 by tkay11

[nheather]

Hi,

 

Thanks very much for the advice.  I did check all the parts when I received the kit.  But your words have made me go and double-check, but I can confirm that the sheet of 4mm walnut in my kit matches the diagram in the instruction manual.

 

I have spoken to JoTika and have emailed photos including an additional photo that they wanted me to take alongside a ruler.

 

I await to see what they say.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[Gregor]

Tony’s update motivates me to make a picture of my interpretation of the shot racks, made from 4mm spare wood strips, sanded down to 3mm to follow the curve of the deck. Even using a stand for my proxxon mini drill, getting a centre line and even spacing proofed very difficult to achieve (at least I tried).

 

 

Also, I drilled my holes too deep, so that the balls almost disappeared in them. I had to fill the holes with toy clay before inserting the balls in the holes. There is a metal band (black paper), giving more strength, and two 0.3 eyelets in each for the gun tackles.

 

 

I used a paper template to find the spots for drilling around the gun ports. Each has now two holes for the breeching ropes and two for eyelets to make fast the lanyards from the (planned) gun port lids.

 

 

I have finally decided not to make a deckhouse – I shortened the sliding hatch I made earlier following Tony’s tutorial to the proportions shown in the NMM plans and glued it to the correct position.

I was a little disappointed when I belatedly realised that my planking pattern does not fit the positions of the main hatch, scuttles and mast, which are cutting through the deck beams. Now I understand why and how Dirk has made his deck plan (another lesson learned …).

Cheers,

Gregor

[Gregor]

It’s rather quiet in the Sherbourne yards at the moment, certainly it was in mine. Over the last few weeks I took tiny steps towards the bowsprit. A lot of small things hat to be finished (the rail, catheads, stairs) first. 

 

 

I used the dowel provided in the kit, but added a piece of square wood at the rear end (a cheap thing I found in a local hardware store – too soft and too easy to bend to use as bowsprit) with a small round dowel glued inside for stability. The tapering was made by hand. Adding a piece of wood was no problem because I wanted to paint masts and spars anyway, so several layers of yellow ochre cover up nicely.

 

 

The bowsprit support was made with the parts provided in the kit. I cut away the “connecting pieces” and added two holes for the iron strongback and the retaining fid (1mm square brass rod).

 

 

To complete the bowsprit assembly I finally had to learn soldering. The iron hoop, the cranes iron and traveller were made with copper strips and eyelets. I had to remove a lot of molten pieces before shooting these pictures…

 

Cheers to all,

Gregor

Edited March 19, 2014 by Gregor

[Stockholm tar]

Gregor,

 

Really good work on your Sherbourne, she looks magnificent. Nice job on the research front too, and I especially like your windlass. I went with the original idea, but made my own better-shaped one.

 

Yes, you're right, it is rather quiet on the Sherbourne yards at the moment. I'm afraid work on mine has come to a temporary halt, as I'm just getting over a rather bad cold. I'm feeling better now, and hope to be making another post soon.

 

Looking forward to seeing more.

[tkay11]

Quiet as far as the forum goes. I've been very busy with supporting a music festival run by my son as well after having returned from a long trip abroad, but I've also been re-thinking how to make blocks as I discovered that my method of attaching hooks to the blocks made the whole unit (block + hook) so large that there was no room for the ropes between blocks! All the same, it's lovely to see your bowsprit, Gregor. Now that you're ahead of me in construction I can learn from you -- so that's a real bonus!

 

Tony

(hoping to have something to show by the end of the year!)

[Jay 1]

Gregor, your bowsprit looks wonderful--excellent work!  Likewise, your soldering work looks very nice and your catheads look great! 

 

Kester, I hope you're feeling much better (I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post on rigging your Sherbourne )!

 

Tony, looking forward to your next update and seeing what you come up with for doing your blocks--I know it'll be another great innovative solution!

 

Must report that my recent work in my Sherbourne yard doesn't make for very exciting posts for the time being.  Additional plans from the NMM recently arrived, so am back to slowly re-drafting the draughts (my drawings are still a bunch of horizontal and vertical lines at present); likewise, I have some research coming that may hopefully shed some light on a couple of issues. 

 

It's always a treat to see how everyone's builds are progressing and yours is looking very crisp and sharp, Gregor!  Again, well done on your recent work--I like it very much!

 

Cheers,

Jay

[Stockholm tar]

Jay,

 

Thanks, I'm more-or-less back in the land of the living, and hoping to get back to my Sherbourne soon, other things – wife, cats, Christmas, etc., permitting!   

 

Glad you liked my log on the rigging, and as said another should be up soon. Just finishing it off and a couple of pics to take.

 

It will be interesting to see to see how your draughts turn out, with the help of the drawings from the NMM. I'll bet it's quite a bit different from the kit – and I'll probably be continually saying, 'Now why didn't think of that?'

[Gregor]

Thanks, Jay, Kester and Tony for the kind words, and good health to you all.

I'm really enjoying how every Sherbourne builder makes his or her own choice of how far he or she will go to get nearer to the no longer existing and somewhat elusive original (Jay's decision to build a Sherbourne from scratch is the ultimate consequence of this quest).

For me the kit provides a solid beginners platform which can be altered or improved individually to an astonishing degree, as you and other builders here demonstrate.

With the best wishes,

Gregor