Cutty Sark by Bill97 - FINISHED - Revell - 1/96 - PLASTIC

[Bill97]

Continued some work on both ends of the ship today. On the back end I added the black rope rail around the top of the deck house. On the bow I added anchor supports, rail poles with rope to be added later, and the red and green lights on the side. I have continued to refer to the older assembly instructions provided by Arctic37. So much better than what Ravell now includes with the kit. Had an oh *^#% moment today.  As some know Ravell now includes decals for the name and decorative scroll work on the bow. I definitely don’t like it as much as the molded form on other ships like the Constitution. On the Constitution I carefully painted the raised design and name with a fine point brush. On the Cutty Sark it is just a peel and stick decal that looks like a peel and stick decal. Since that is what was provided That is what I applied. Well, somehow today moving the ship around and leaning it over to touch up paint I accidentally damaged the decal.  So I just sanded it off and will either try to hand paint something in that area or just leave it black. I know I can find new decals on eBay but don’t know if I really want to put decals back on it. 

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

On 6/13/2020 at 11:28 PM, Bill97 said:

I built the Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark some 50-55 years ago as a teenager. After recently finishing the Revell USS Constitution I decided to do the Cutty Sark again using the skills I have refined over the years as well as the patience that comes with age. This time I decided to work with acrylics as well as enamels to achieve the effects I want, or hope for. Will include more pics as I make my way. 

I like how you treated colors on deck planks Bill. 

Really nice progress on this lovely but yet unforgiving vessel. revell did many things good on this model. . looking fwd ahead. Vlad 

[Bill97]

Back at it a little today. Had to step away a few days because of busy schedule. Nice way to relax and spend part of Independence Day. Working today on life boats and davits. Weathered the davits, life boats and top of deck house with some black and white wash. Instructions simply had the 3 pair of oars glued in. I added tan thread as tie downs for a little more realism. Instructions showed rope (tan thread) attached at ends of life boats and then running to davits. However there was no place on the life boat ends to connect a pulley so I fabricated a set up using left over parts from previous builds. 

[Ian_Grant]

Hi Bill,  my guess is these are water butts for the crew, up high out of the seas washing through the waist. (Sorry I couldn't figure out how to do one of those "quotes" so I just cut and pasted from your earlier post):

 

"......Something I am curious about and someone may know. On the deck house in the back there are two elements that look like upside down baskets near the front. No idea what they are..........."

 

 

 

 

[shipman]

53 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

Hi Bill,  my guess is these are water butts for the crew, up high out of the seas washing through the waist. (Sorry I couldn't figure out how to do one of those "quotes" so I just cut and pasted from your earlier post):

 

"......Something I am curious about and someone may know. On the deck house in the back there are two elements that look like upside down baskets near the front. No idea what they are..........."

 

 

 

 

I think I'm correct in remembering that the tall 'baskets' on the stern deck house ('monkey poop') were for the crews use; one contained apples, the other water. I assume they were at that location so the captain could monitor their consumption. They would have been strapped to the deck.

The ones at the break of the poop were fire buckets, much like the leather ones on the 'Victory'.

[Bill97]

 Began the mast construction over the last few days. Worked with several color and pattern ideas before deciding on the one I used. Took some ideas from other CS builders on this blog and went with a color combination that matched the deck houses. This is probably not authentic in actual color scheme but I think it makes for an attractive display. Anxious to get the yards on to see the full effect.  Mast are currently just setting in place and will come out to attach the sails. Curious about the studding sail booms. Not sure if i should add them or not?

[Bill97]

Spent some time preparing all 16 yards for painting today. The Ravell 1/96 Cutty Sark is in pretty good shape out of the box, but still some areas need to be cleaned up of stray plastic left by the molds. Since I am airbrushing the mast components I sprayed a surface primer on all the yards and will let them dry overnight before spraying them black tomorrow. I thought it wise to leave the plastic scrap piece on the end of each that has the molded piece number. Would have been crazy trying to find which goes where after painting if they were to get accidentally mixed together. 

[Bill97]

Assembled the masts and yards today. Since I will be adding sails (Rob’s paper technique I hope) I set the yards at 25 degrees. Always a bit of a challenge to get all the yards level. Getting them set at the consistent degree is not to tough using a protractor but getting them all level requires me using clamps, tape, and or string. I ultimately go with “eyeballing” to get them as close as possible. The connection points on the yards are not substantial and in fact seem as if they will be fragile. Will see after the glue drys. I know it is not authentic but I painted the molded connection points for attaching the yards to the mast metal gray. I like the visual interest it adds. 

[Bill97]

Began working on the ratline assemblies today. Since Ravell has these as molded replicas of the actual ratlines it was not necessary to rig the actual blocks and eyes. I have seen a number of builders on this site create them with excellent results but since I have yet to attempt that I stuck with the molded pieces. 

[Red Rhino]

Bill the painting and weathering especially of the deck is remarkable!!! While I have used some of the Vallejo products, I was unaware of the Weathering paints that you used. Thanks for the tip.

 

Best Regards,

Dave

[bonedoctor51]

Cutty Sark under construction.  Started as a Mantua Sergal kit many years ago, modified according to Longridge and Underhill.  Ten years into the project, expect to finish in another year.  Lou

[Bill97]

Lou that looks incredible!  Are you building it from wood?  It looks way to sharp and clean to be a plastic model, or my skills are needing some work. 
One thing I noticed on your Cutty Sark, and have noticed in photos of other builder’s ships, that I am curious about. It looks as if you used a tan thread to make a the lower deadeyes. I like the looks of that and wanted to paint the molded rope in the plastic deadeyes on my Cutty Sark a rope tan color. Everything I read says the standing rigging was all black. Is it just a preference thing and OK to do it that color?  

[Bill97]

A few days since my last update. Have been able to spend some quality time in my Cutty Sark. Have have finished the Backstays and Forestsys. It is hard to imagine how long the actual back stays are on the ship, especially on the main mast. Those are some long ropes. Now beginning the running rigging. As you all know this is where things get tedious. It is always so tricky to make sure no lines are crossed or twisted as they are fished down through the ship other rigging to its appropriate pin. I like to use a small level to make sure the yards are all rigged level. 

[Bill97]

Ok anybody that can supply some advice. I have reached the point on my Cutty Sark where I start rigging for sails. When I built the Revell USS Constitution the instructions went two different directions. One way of rigging if I was adding sails, and another way of rigging if not adding sails. The instructions for the Cutty Sark are not that way. The only reference to any difference in assembly is position of yards on the mast. Up higher for sails, lower for without. I have several pages of rigging instructions remaining. Some rigging appears as if it would not be possible if sails were on the masts but nothing instructs otherwise. I uploaded the remaining pages. Obviously the ones showing sails is with, but do any of the steps pertain to a without sail assembly?

[Bruma]

I'm building the same kit and the rigging plans are difficult to understand, quite simplified and in some case just wrong…
I ended up by not using them at all.
The older instruction where a little bit better, at least they where understandable.
You can find them here: https://cuttysarkdrydock.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/the-cutty-sark-rigging-sheets/
In any case they are just a pale representation of what the real Cutty Sark was.
If you relly want to have a grasp of the real beauty and complexity, I suggest you the rigging plans from Campbell, they are available here:
https://shop.rmg.co.uk/products/cutty-sark-rigging-plan-50-x-70cm
But be aware: if you star to dig into the rigging of a tea clipper, you will never go back! 😂
Hope this can help and sorry for my bad english

[Bill97]

Hello Bruma. How is your build coming along?  I have set mine aside for a few days while I work on making my own sails. Once they are done and ready to go I will start the running rigging. I also have the old rigging instructions which, like you said, are a bit more understandable. Those are the ones I plan to use. I looked at the Campbell instructions. Wow! That is intense. One thing I noticed right away when I started the rigging was in the new instructions   In Step 95 you are instructed to tie the ends of the yards together with black thread. That step is not in the older instructions, and it does not seem to carry over in subsequent steps. I did it and for now it has been helpful keeping the yards parallel, but I wonder if I will need to remove it later. 

[Bill97]

Ok after experimenting with the different sail making techniques, both paper and cloth, I settled on cloth. I drew out and cut paper patterns for each sail on the plastic form including the lines. I found an old cream colored bed sheet and stretched it out tight. Next I drew in long rolls of lines On the sheet with pencil matching the spacing on the patterns. For a bit of simplicity I spaced the lines a bit further apart then the molded forms. Next I drew all the patterns on the sheet matching the paper and cloth lines and included the sail number on a side tab. Then in a time consuming process I hand stitched all the lines within each pattern. After I finished sewing all the lines I cut out each sail. Using a 3 to 1 dilution of water and white glue I painted each sail formed over the plastic molds. When the glue dried I had a perfectly molded sail. I waited 24 hours to make sure sail was solid. I will now come up with a satisfactory color to lightly hit them with my airbrush. I think I will reinforce the bottom corners for rigging before I attach them to the yards. I am happy with them. As a purest I know the stitching is out of scale but I am willing to except that. 

[Bill97]

Spent a good part of a couple days modeling time adding all the blocks to the yards for rigging the sails. After all the blocks were added I touched up a few marks and blemishes on the yards and then began attaching my handmade sails on the foremast. I left the bottom (fore course) sail off for now. Debating maybe furled sails at the bottom of each mast. Not sure yet. If so, will need to remake those 3 sails furled instead of unfurled. 

[NenadM]

Bravo !

[Bill97]

Decided to move the studding sail booms inboard since I will not be adding those sails. Removed them from the yards and now debating if I will reattach them in the inboard position or just leave them off all together. Completed the running rigging on the backside of the foremast sails and began attaching the mainmast sails. Have yet to attach the bottom sails on both masts since I am thinking I may furl them. 

[Bill97]

Here is an interesting question maybe someone knows the answer too. I have tried Google and other sources but can’t find a good answer.  
 

What uniform did the crewman on the Cutty Sark wear?  I enjoy painting the little crewman characters that come with the kits. Give me a fine tip brush and lighted magnification lens and I am good to go for a few hours. When I recently built the USS Constitution  I was able to research military uniforms (Navy and Marine) for the area and easily found color pictures I could refer to. I know the Cutty Sark was a civilian ship with a crew of around 25-30 civilian crewman. Need color references if anyone has an idea. 

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

Very nice work Bill, superb looking lady. i like the sails particularly  . 

[Bill97]

After a mild disaster where I accidentally hit and broke off the job boom 😫(which I was eventually able to untangle the chains and ropes in order to repair) I have rigged the jib sails and some of the staysails. Moving right along with my progress. 

[Veszett Roka]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:25 AM, Bill97 said:

Here is an interesting question maybe someone knows the answer too. I have tried Google and other sources but can’t find a good answer.  
 

What uniform did the crewman on the Cutty Sark wear?  I enjoy painting the little crewman characters that come with the kits. Give me a fine tip brush and lighted magnification lens and I am good to go for a few hours. When I recently built the USS Constitution  I was able to research military uniforms (Navy and Marine) for the area and easily found color pictures I could refer to. I know the Cutty Sark was a civilian ship with a crew of around 25-30 civilian crewman. Need color references if anyone has an idea. 

 

Hi Bill,

 

first of all, amazing build. Cutty Sark is one of my favorite ship, been on her deck in 1994, before the restoration and i've built the 1:220 Revell kit too.

 

The crewmen had no uniform. They wear their own clothes all time, usually light brown or white trousers and some shirt. The officers had a blue coat and blue trousers set, but they wear that ocassionally. By seagoing, they used the same garment than their crew. So no worry about the colors - all color is good.

As reference, you might want to watch the series of 'Onedin Line' on youtube, their costumes accurately represents men's fashion of the era.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Nick

[Red Rhino]

Hi Bill: Great job on making the repair to the Jib Boom. How did you make the repair? Did you drill out each end and insert a pin and glue it back together? The alignment looks spot on!

 

The sails look so much better than the original ones which come with the kit.

 

Dave

[Bill97]

Thanks Dave. Yes that is exactly the way I repaired the jib boom. Did not think just gluing it would have held. Drilled both pieces and used a match stick. Finished rigging the 3 masts with all sails. Furled the bottom sails. After seeing other builder’s take on the Cutty Sark, I really like the white railing on the back and front instead of black. I removed the black thread, repainted the posts, and replaced the thread with white. Like it much better. 

[Veszett Roka]

On 9/5/2020 at 1:06 AM, Bill97 said:

 After seeing other builder’s take on the Cutty Sark, I really like the white railing on the back and front instead of black. I removed the black thread, repainted the posts, and replaced the thread with white. Like it much better. 

 

Hi Bill,

 

actually the real railing is white.

[shipman]

I've never been a big fan of (naff) thread for the rails, whatever the colour. One cheap alternative (which I've never seen) would be stretched sprue.

[Veszett Roka]

3 hours ago, shipman said:

I've never been a big fan of (naff) thread for the rails, whatever the colour. One cheap alternative (which I've never seen) would be stretched sprue.

I'm using thin copper wire, salvaged from a chunk of electrical cable.

[Bill97]

It is Finished!  I have come to the end of this labor of love. My Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark is done. Many enjoyable hours spent engrossed in her build. My first attempt at making my own sails. Even though my stitches are out of scale I really like the look of them and will employee the same technique on my next build. Also liked furling the bottom sails. I want to thank everyone in this incredible site for your comments, suggestions, and answers to questions. I especially want to thank Shipman, Bob Fraser, Popeye, Rwiederrich, and mtaylor. Your help at times when I was stumped or needed advice was extremely helpful. Thanks again everyone. Now on to my next build the English Man O War.