HM Cutter Alert by VTHokiEE - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Blue Ensign]

Nice tackle work Tim. 👍

 

B.E.

[VTHokiEE]

Thanks BE and Edward and everyone for the likes; I’m really enjoying myself 🙂!

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice work indeed  - the rats and the stays look perfect to me  - I would be more than happy with those.

 

OC.

[VTHokiEE]

I'm not certain how to approach the bowsprit yet - follow the kit directions or try to get closer to the details in the AotS Alert book. Since I'm undecided there I thought I'd try making a mouse. I turned a small wooden shape in my drill with files and sand paper, but once I put a weave (tights material) on it, the shape seemed to disappear. Then to make matters slightly worse I've never mixed my own paint and found out that I'm not so great at color matching (it is close, but I think it needs a touch of red). I am currently planning to redo it, but I thought I'd show a picture of my first attempt (in the hopes that my next one is much better).

 

I also found out, upon closer inspection, that the paint didn't get into all the crevices.

[Edwardkenway]

It looks fine to me and with your homemade rope too, better than my effort on Sherbourne, but then I did a lot of things that are best forgotten on my first boat!😂 I think you're doing  stunning work with your Alert 😉

Edited December 16, 2020 by Edwardkenway

[VTHokiEE]

1 hour ago, Edwardkenway said:

It looks fine to me

Thanks Edward, it means a lot! I’m starting to think that I need to see the mouse in place with the stay collar and see how it looks. Of course I also “need” (maybe want is more appropriate) to try repainting the mouse and see if I can get a better match (and fill in those darned crevices 😂).

 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by VTHokiEE

[Blue Ensign]

At 1:64 scale the mouse is very small and  it is a good idea to see how it looks on the model with the stay collar against it. You have achieved the 'weave' look, and I think it will look  good.

 

B.E.

[Old Collingwood]

I agree  with  Edward and B.E    that looks fine to me mate  - to be  honest it looks  pre made  to a high standard  and not  a first time  go,     you are making a loverly build mate.

 

OC.

[VTHokiEE]

2 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

you are making a loverly build mate.

 

12 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

You have achieved the 'weave' look, and I think it will look  good.

Thanks OC and BE! I placed both in-situ and I think they will do nicely. I repainted the first one (and I would've said I mixed it the same as the second mouse) but the color still seems slightly off but I think I'm going to press on. Of course during this exercise I decided I should install the boom's first so I have nothing in the way of the parrel beads. 

I'll detail my indecision on the bowsprit incase anyone has any thoughts on it while I continue. I'm trying to reconcile two blocks on the bowspirt, the instructions show 5 blocks, but the AotS book depicts 3. The instructions use two of these blocks to run the topgallant yard bow lines. As far as I can tell the AotS does not include these lines and thus doesn't include the blocks. Does anyone have any idea what could cause the discrepancy? I understand that the AotS book is not perfect, so should I run these lines?  

[Blue Ensign]

On my build I used three blocks, a central double for the topsail yard braces (I didn’t fit a T’gallant stay otherwise it would be a treble block.

 

Two single blocks either side of Bowsprit to take the Bowlines - they are covered in the AotS book.

 

Hope this helps.

 

B.E.

[glbarlow]

This is really good work Tim.  Rigging is fun for me, it means you’re close to the end.  I thin your mouse and stay collar look fine, as BE points out you won’t notice it once you step back other than seeing it as a unit. The rigging and deck looks great, you’re going to finish with a fine model.

[VTHokiEE]

2 hours ago, glbarlow said:

This is really good work Tim

Thanks Glenn! I am enjoying the rigging - but still finding my footing. It doesn’t feel quite as straight forwards as building out the hull. Every time I think that I know what my next step is I change my mind 😂. That said I think I’m starting to see a plan formulate for myself. 

[VTHokiEE]

Raising the booms - pretty much stuck to the plans. I will note that I got ahead of myself and forgot to attach the iron bands on the main boom before installing it . I thought about leaving them off completely (they aren't part of the kit instructions) but it is one detail that I (for whatever odd reason) really wanted to add. After sleeping on it I decided to use the black card in the kit to cut thin strip and glue them onto the boom while it was in place and I think they came out well. I originally was planning on using heat shrink tubing, but the card worked great.

 

Some lines I've trimmed off and others I have kept long. Since redoing a few lines I think I may trim the remaining ones "closer" but leave some length for a little while in case I need to tighten or redo anything (and do that going forward).

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by VTHokiEE

[Rustyj]

She's looking really good Tim! 

[Old Collingwood]

She is looking Superb mate.

 

OC.

[glbarlow]

Very clean crisp work.  Nice job on the rigging, the seized blocks look great. 

[VTHokiEE]

Thanks a lot @Rustyj @Old Collingwood @glbarlow! and everyone else thank you for the likes!

[DelF]

Just catching up. Superb work Tim, a model to be very proud of!

[Rik Thistle]

You've got her looking quite immaculate.

 

A well balanced looking ship.

 

Richard

[BobG]

She looks fantastic, VTHokiEE!

[VTHokiEE]

Thanks Bob and Richard!

 

Quick poll/question:

 

I was working on the preventer stay and mistakenly made the lanyard way too long.

While discussing this and looking at the AotS I thought that may I should swap to more accurate closed hearts instead of the kit supplied fittings shown above. Unfortunately, Syren is closed for the holidays so I decide to try making two from scratch. Initially, I rescaled the plans from AotS from 1:24 to 1:64, but they looked too small to my eye (and I couldn’t make a good one). Oh I’m using some Hard Maple by the way for these (and man a band saw is looking useful compared to what I had to go through to get a small sheet).

So I rescaled the plans to 1:48 and tried again. The picture below shows the large hearts to be made.

Finally, here is where the rubber meets the road.

What do you all think? Should I make a second heart? Wait for Syren to reopen? Or stick with the kit supplied fitting? My thought is that the scratch built heart is passable (and the more I look at it the more it is growing on me), but the wood is significantly lighter than the rest of the build (aside from the deck) and I may consider trying to stain it 😬.

[DelF]

I think that's a very creditable effort. The shape looks right to me, and with a darker stain will be fine. If I was being picky I'd suggest smoothing it slightly with a fine file or sanding stick (although close up photos are notorious for magnifying the slightest thing - I suspect the heart looks fine in real life). 

 

Although I'm reluctant to take sales from Syren, you can't beat the satisfaction you get from crafting your own parts. If I were you I'd stain the heart and pat myself on the back.

 

Best wishes for the New Year

 

Derek

Edited January 1, 2021 by DelF

[VTHokiEE]

Thanks Derek! I’m going to see if I have a file small enough to touch it up (or maybe trim down a sanding stick) and see how it looks with the stain.  It does really feel good to craft your own parts.
 

I was also very generously offered a few closed hearts from another member with a laser cutter. This forum really is a wonderful place. 
 

This experience, even if I end up with the laser cut parts, was a very good exercise. Slowly demystifying scratch building for myself 😁.

 

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

[VTHokiEE]

While I was waiting to receive the offered hearts I decided to take a crack at the bowsprit since it had been bugging me a little (should I go with the AotS configuration or the instructions?). I currently am planning on going with the AotS configuration for no real reason. Instead of using the kit provided PE for the cranse iron I decided to follow in BE's footsteps and use heat shirk tubing and some eyelets. I realize that some of this (all of this) would probably have been served but I left it unserved for no real reason.

I cut a thin strip of brass sheet, silver soldered it together, then added an eyelet for the traveller (instead of the kit PE). This is my second attempt, in the first I mistakenly drilled the hole for the eyelet about 90 degrees away from the solder joint and the solder joint was not as well done. That made the joint to be too visible and I decided to redo. In this version the eyelet is 180 degrees away from the solder joint which made the joint much less visible.

Here is the bowsprit dry fitted in all its glory. I then removed it so I could raise the yards without it in the way.

Returning to my heart dilemma and in the end I couldn't say no to the hearts that I was given. My scratch built hearts would certainly have worked, but these looked much better (and the were in pear which matches my build!). I cleaned them up, added some WOP and away I went. 

Next up was raising the spreadyard and apparently I'm following too many of BE's build logs because I ended up going off piste. It seemed like the arrangement for the spreadyard tie tackle fall could be done in a handful of ways. It appears that the kit pictures (but not instructions) attached this line to a cleat on the mast (but I'm not 100%) while the kit instructions say to attach this to the jeer and topsail bitts cross piece. I decided to attach a block and tackle arrangement and connect it to a ringbolt on the deck. The line from this arrangement was then tied off on a cleat on the mast. My reasoning was that raising the yard seemed like it could benefit significantly from this arrangement (the winch on the jeer and topsail bitts probably would do the job as well, but here we are me without any experience deciding how it should've been done 😄). I haven't trimmed the lines in case I am way off base, but I like it so far.

Oh, I did pin the yard to the mast, but I didn't glue it (...yet).

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by VTHokiEE

[Gregory]

Nice looking hearts!  😁

[Old Collingwood]

Gorgeous work mate  absolutley nothing wrong with your rope works.

 

OC.

[DelF]

Great rigging work Tim - looking superb!

[drjeckl]

Yeah, the hearts look great!

 

John

[Blue Ensign]

Liking what I see Tim. 👍

 

B.E.

[glbarlow]

Expert work all around, and using all that cool nautical terminology. I had to buy a nautical dictionary to follow Derek’s build. I’ll have to pull it out to follow yours now too😂🤣

 

You should build Cheerful for your next cutter.