Kit recommendations based on a request.

[Guybrush]

Hey gang, 

 

I'm looking for a specific kit recommendation that will satisfy the request I've received for model that I plan to give to my dad.

 

At the moment my only completed model is Model Shipways Armed Virginia Sloop. But I feel confident in my grasp of the techniques needed for that model and similar. I'm looking to pay back my dad in kind for many pieces of handmade furniture I've been gifted. I've offered to construct a model. His request is as follows:

 

"A smuggler's boat, something sleek, not too big."

 

I know many kits are based on real ships, often times military craft. Smuggler's ships are not usually the kind where plans are preserved. I'm not ready to scratch build a ship so a kit is key. To the chagrin of purists I'm not too strict about repurposing an existing real life ship or modifying one to suit my purposes.

 

Any recommendations based on this requirement is very much welcome.

 

Thanks

Sean

[ccoyle]

Smugglers tended to use any craft that was fast. In the latter half of the 18th century, cutters were a common choice, and Vanguard Models has a very good kit of one in 1/64 scale. Their banner is on our home page.

[glbarlow]

I agree with Chris, Vanguard Model's Alert is a cutter and would be typical of smugglers - certainly a great starting point.

 

https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product/alert-order/

 

Vanguard models are the best kit in the industry in my opinion, well designed, using pear wood instead of cheap walnut, with excellent plans and instructions.  I highly recommend anything designed by Chris Watten.  There are a number of nice build logs already on Alert, a search will lead you do them and give you a great start to how this model looks. It would be easy to make it less British warship and more smugglers.  It was a fast ship, the prerequisite of any smuggler. 

 

On another note as a dad, that's very kind and an exceptionally nice thing to do for your dad.

Edited December 3, 2020 by glbarlow

[Guybrush]

Thanks Chris and Glenn, the Vanguard Alert looks like a good option!

 

What kind of changes could be made to give it a "less of a British warship" look?

 

Sean

[ccoyle]

44 minutes ago, Guybrush said:

What kind of changes could be made to give it a "less of a British warship" look?

 

Good question, and one I'm not entirely certain about how to answer. It was commonplace for small warships like these to be sold out of service, but I'm no expert on how their private owners would have fitted out such a ship. 

[glbarlow]

1 hour ago, Guybrush said:

What kind of changes could be made to give it a "less of a British warship" look?

I think you'd have to do the research on that and decide what you wanted to do. It's an armed fast cutter, likely what smugglers would have had. As you noted there likely isn't any quality model out there that is "smuggler's vessel." I'm only offering a likely representative vessel that as I noted, an excellent kit with quality parts, design, wood, plans and instructions.  It could be as simple as how you paint it.

[lmagna]

Don't narrow your search too far Sean.

 

Like has already been said, almost any ship being built from row boats to large cargo ships have been used as "Smugglers" by one party or another at almost any point in time you might want to choose. You can add to that in that in some cases the ship used could wear many "hats" throughout it's carrier. As an example, one of the first vessels purchased by the American Colonial Government in the Revolutionary War was the Providence, or ex-Katy owned by John Brown of Rhode Island. As the Katy it is clear that at one point or another she served her owner as a merchant ship and whaling ship. If even a slight thought was given to the matter, it can almost be certain that she also did her fair share of smuggling as well. It is pretty clear that John Brown tried to avoid British taxes whenever possible in the years before the actual outbreak of war. Also as John Brown was an active slave trader there could be some assumption that she could have been used in that trade as well. Then of course there is the definition of "Smuggler"  One person's  smuggler is another's Patriot. Ask any Star Wars fan!

 

So having said all that, in as much of a condensed and general form as possible, it could be said that most smugglers would have been smaller, possibly lightly armed, fast ships that could get into and out of small ports or unattended coves where they do their work and escape without attention. Speed would also be an asset as the smuggler almost never wants to confront the authorities usually preferring throwing the cargo overboard than armed conflict.  Taking that thought in mind here are a few of my suggestions for types of ships that may fit your criteria.

 

First off the Armed Virginia Sloop you have already built fills the profile almost to a "T" as does the Alert that Glenn has pointed out.

 

Some other kits out there that I consider to fit the profile of "Smuggler" include the following:

Corel King of Prussia https://modelexpo-online.com/Corel-SM62-King-of-Prussia--Wooden-Ship-Model-Kit--Plank-on-Bulkhead-_p_2025.html

Mamoli Hunter  https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV35-Hunter--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Ship-Model-Kit--Scale-172--Length-440-mm-18_p_3104.html

Mamoli Portsmouth  https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV45-Portsmouth--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Ship-Model-Kit--Length-685-mm-27-Height-550-mm-22_p_3232.html

Mamoli Black Prince     https://modelexpo-online.com/Mamoli-MV46--Black-Prince--Wood-Plank-On-Frame-Model-Ship-Kit--Scale-157--Length-520-mm-21_p_3107.html

Corel Scotland  https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-SCOTLAND164-SCALE_p_965.html

Corel Shendoah https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-SHENANDOAH-CONFEDERATE-SMUGGLER_p_977.html

Corel Resolution   https://modelexpo-online.com/COREL-RESOLUTION150-SCALE_p_976.html (Nice kit at a little larger scale)

Master Korabel Avos  https://modelexpo-online.com/Master-Korabel-MK0303P-Tender-AVOS-1806-and-Dinghy-Wooden-Kit-172-Scale_p_3525.html

 

This is by no means what could be considered a comprehensive list of possible "Smugglers." You could pick almost any Schooner, Brig, Brigantine, Sloop/Cutter, or Yawl rigged ship or any of a number of other rigs like Chinese and Middle East, they have all been used at one point or another.

 

Good luck on you build no matter what you pick. Please let us know and start a log so we can follow along.

Edited December 5, 2020 by lmagna

[Guybrush]

Thanks for the detailed reply Lou. I also had the thought that the Armed Virginia Sloop was a perfect smuggler type. I appreciate the work you did providing links to all those kits. I'll check them out and report back.

 

Perhaps you could provide insight into what modifications (if any) could be made to a ship to make it more conducive to smuggler practices. Only relevant of course if it's external and thus apparent.

 

Thanks,

Sean

[Jaager]

In my imagination

Speed and cargo capacity would be the primary objectives.

Guns are heavy, expensive, and are in the way until needed. They are a negative price point.  I see no percentage in shooting it out with the RN or revenue service.

Who would they need the guns for and what would be the minimum needed to discourage that opponent.

Once these questions are answered, then the equipment should match.

  

[GrandpaPhil]

Guns make good ballast according to a lot of period fiction.  Which would make sense.

 

The Model Shipways Sultana would make a good colonial era smuggler, too.

Edited December 5, 2020 by GrandpaPhil

[lmagna]

15 hours ago, Guybrush said:

Perhaps you could provide insight into what modifications (if any) could be made to a ship to make it more conducive to smuggler practices.

Grandpa Phil and the others have already kind of said pretty much the same thing, all of these ships would have looked much the same no matter who their master was. The needs off service pretty much dictated the design an looks anyway. One who chased smugglers had pretty much the same needs as the smuggler themselves.

 

While it is true that many small ships would carry their guns disassembled in the hold or even as ballast this was not easy on the iron guns and in many cases the cargo area was really needed more than the guns. In the case of the Sloop Union, John Boit, her 20 year old captain, placed her cannon in the hold for most of her trip from New England to the west coast of the American continent. This was his second voyage to the Pacific Northwest and he knew he would need the guns when he reached the Colombia River and Puget Sound, but not in the trip getting there. He ended up sailing around the world before getting back home to Boston two years later. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875950892/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

On the other hand, if we look at the Providence/Katy, roughly of the same time period, she was originally set up to carry possibly six or more 4 pound cannon as I said before with the possible intent of using her as a privateer. But at some point in time she off loaded these cannon and they were placed into the fort that was at the time located on Goat island in Rhode Island. In 1774 it is pretty certain that Captain Whipple snuck in during the dead of night and stole these cannon back. Captain Wallace of the HMS Rose was quite upset and suspected that Captain Whipple, a long time adversary, of the theft.

 

As the Katy had originally been designed to carry these guns it is almost certain that she had also been pierced with gun ports to use them. But in her years of merchant work, whaling ship, and possible smuggling/slavery work there would have been little or no need for these gun ports so it is almost certain that they were boarded over for better sea keeping. It was probably not a major alteration as it did not take long for the guns to be reinstalled and put to use. 

 

Other aspects of a smuggler were also exhibited by reports of the Katy/Providence, but also served her well as a warship. There appear to be two reports by the British that say she was all black and had no figurehead. After being purchased from Rhode Island/ John Brown by the Continental Congress, she was up graded to 12 cannon but it appears that she was little modified other than that, including her color.

 

So your smuggler would be mostly that same kind of vessel most commonly used at the time and location by both the Government and merchants. It may be armed but only enough to protect itself from other civilian raiders of the time, not as a rule against even a smaller military vessel. It would possibly be painted in subdued colors or even black as in the case of the Katy to blend into the darkness. Remember, in many cases the smuggling ship was known by the authorities. Captain Wallace had no doubt in his mind of what John Brown and Captain Whipple were up to. But he was never able to prove it in a court or catch them in the act. The same held true for another ship/owner on the list I made up in my last post. John Carter, The King Of Prussia, and his brothers were well known by the authorities. Enough to be given the title but knowing and proving are two different things even in the late 1700s. Some proof of this lay in an earlier letter from Captain Wallace to Captain Whipple, not long after the theft of the cannon from Fort George in 1775.

"  You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned His Majesty’s vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the yard-arm." --James Wallace

To which Whipple replied;

" Always catch a man before you hang him." --Abraham Whipple

Whipple and Wallace came into contact several times in the course of the Revolutionary War but he was never able to make good his threat. He came close with John Brown though. But that is yet another story as they say.

Edited December 6, 2020 by lmagna

[Edwardkenway]

In one naval/seafaring novel I've read the smugglers kept one or two long guns on deck as chase guns probably 6 or 9 pdrs to try and disable the chasing revenue or RN vessel, but otherwise I would think a few swivels would be adequate to give a smuggler a bit of firepower. 

My twopence worth🙂

[glbarlow]

So with the Alert or others on this list, you could build it without gun ports and paint the hull a subdued color.  From an on the shelf model perspective  I’m not sure a hull painted black would be very appealing though.

 

From the little I know I’d think their would be very little difference for a repurposed ship.  Not many if any were built to be smugglers. Aside from subtle differences to make it quieter and faster it would look much like the original commercial or war ship. Britain’s cutter fleet like Alert were in part to chase smugglers so .....

[Cathead]

Seems to me that a topsail schooner could be a good choice. It's a step up in complexity from the Armed Virginia Sloop, so would be a new challenge. Lots of blockade runners and smugglers used such craft. You could adapt something like BlueJacket's Revenue Cutter to play for the opposing team, so to speak.

[Thunder]

I would take a look at the 'Modellers Shipyard' kit range. Their Mary Burne ketch or mermaid cutter would be good options and less war like. Never seen one of these kits to say how good they are but subjects look good. I think there is a Mermaid build on here. 

[grsjax]

You don't say what time frame you are interested in.  Mid 18th century I would think a sloop would be appropriate.  Late 18th or early 19th century a fast schooner would be about right.  The Model Shipways "Dapper Tom" kit might be a good choice.  The Nautical Research Journal had a couple of articles about making this kit more realistic.  The original lines are shown in Chappell's book "The Baltimore Clipper".

[Roger Pellett]

The Schooner Yacht America was actually a smuggler at one time.  During the Civil War she was a Confederate Blockade Runner and Federal Blockaders found her in a river in Florida where she had been sunk to avoid capture.  She was refloated and placed into service with the US Navy.

 

Those who attended the 2019 NRG Conference and visited the Naval War College Museum will have been treated to a spectacular model of her in her naval guise.

 

Roger

[lmagna]

4 hours ago, glbarlow said:

I’m not sure a hull painted black would be very appealing though.

I agree to a certain degree. I have seen pictures of models done in this way and when you add the tan of the unpainted decks and the almost white colored lower hull they are not too bad. The lighter colored running rigging, masts and bowsprit also helps.

 

By the same token I have also seen these same kinds of models where they painted the hull black and then scraped it down along the bulwarks until it was an almost dark wood color. I would think that almost anything would work so long as it was not light and bright. Think of a small ship running close to shore at night with no lights and the land behind it when viewed from the sea where most of the patrolling ships would be.  

 

Also I stated that the Katy/Providence was reported as being black. Other ships in the same reports were noted as being a number of different colors. If the reports were correct, and there is no reason to believe they are not, then it is clear that there was no homogenous color scheme to similar ships of the time like in almost all of the more formal navies of the world. I was also referring mostly to the American Colonies of pre and early Revolutionary War. Smugglers in the UK and France or other countries could have been done in a much different manner. I kind of doubt it personally, but it is possible. 

 

The very question of what would a smuggler look like is almost a oxymoron. No smuggler would want to draw attention to itself by "Looking like a smuggler." It was more of a practice, where the ship would make land outside of normal locations and unload it's cargo in secret, or hide additional cargo amongst more common items. The hole idea was to sneak it through the tax process, or prohibitions imposed by the Government in power. Still an interesting topic in my opinion though.     

Edited December 6, 2020 by lmagna

[mtaylor]

The only thing I see with suggestions here is maybe painting them all black.   The goal of a smuggler would be to look normal to any revenue types.  Look like a fishing boat or common trade craft.  The worse thing they could do would be to draw attention to themselves either by color or number of guns.  

[lmagna]

So why not black?

 

I think it was a pretty common practice with merchant ships for quite some time. It was an inexpensive and readily available treatment for the raw lumber used in construction to preserve it from the elements and prolong the life of the ship, just as the various lighter colored coatings did or tried to do for the below the waterlines areas. 

 

I agree that for modeling purposes black may not be all that inviting, but in real life period ships I think it was pretty common.

[mtaylor]

That's true, Lou.  I need more coffee.

[grsjax]

Hulls may or may not have been black but the masts were probably painted white.  A white mast is the least likely to be spotted against the sky and sea.  Not sure why but I have seen this mentioned a couple of times.

[lmagna]

It probably would not have mattered that much anyway as at least in European and American waters, most ships carried white sails, well at least gray or tan over time. I have always wondered about that as there are a number of accounts of ships slipping past a blockade at night while under sail. The only way I thought this would be possible would be if there was bad weather or no moon at all. Or possibly both. I know that at sea, light upper works over a dark hull is considered a form of camouflage, but if the hiding ship is close up against the shoreline trying to avoid detection by ships further out at sea,. would all that white upper works still be the best way to go?

[Roger Pellett]

Before the advent of steam power small fast vessels relied on Superior ability to sail to windward to avoid capture by larger square rigged vessels.  This accounts for the popularity of Sloops and later Schooners by Americans and cutters by the British and Luggers by the French.

 

In a downwind chase in a strong wind there is no way that one of these small sailing vessels could escape from a frigate or large sloop of war due to differences in maximum hull speeds imposed by waterline lengths.  Their only chance to escape was to sail to windward.

 

Roger

Edited December 8, 2020 by Roger Pellett

[lmagna]

Another advantage of the small vessel was the lack of draft. They could sail in waters where the larger heavier ship would not dare to try and follow.

[EKE]

I love black boats.

 

Over in the working boat forums we’ve been looking at black boats for a while.  Here’s a Scottish Zulu herring drifter, in progress.  
 

 

[lmagna]

Not what one would normally think of as a smuggler, but then fishing boats have probably been used often for that purpose just for that reason.

[EKE]

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m certainly not saying that fishing boats were commonly used as “smugglers”. I’m just saying that black boats existed, and that they could be appealing to look at.  

[lmagna]

I think that there is very little disagreement about black ships/boats existing. After giving it a little thought it becomes somewhat obvious. As for them being appealing vs. more colorful ship choices I think it depends on the beholder. Your drifter looks very nice in black, but it would also be good looking and much brighter in say blue or something.

 

I used the Colonial sloop Providence as a possible example as she has been documented as being black in at least two historical accounts, and suggested that could be because she possibly had been painted that way do to use as a smuggler and the new owners felt no reason to go through the expense of changing the color. In fact it may have been beneficial in her new role as a warship. But both the full sized "reproduction" and almost every model I have seen use the natural or light colored bulwarks in their choice of coloring. In that case, it could be said that this is done in spite of historical accuracy favoring aesthetics. 

 

A good reference for appealing colors would be to look at Mark Moltin's build of a cutter in the gallery today. This is exactly the same kind of vessel we have been talking about here. It looks absolutely fantastic in copper, blue, and yellow. It is almost impossible to determine if any British cutter was painted in that combination but there is no doubt it is very striking. By the same token I have my doubts that if the cutter had been owned by a smuggler it would not be so brightly colored.

 

Just some of my personal opinions and observations put out there for discussion value. Doesn't make them right.    

Edited December 8, 2020 by lmagna

[EricWilliamMarshall]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:30 PM, grsjax said:

The Model Shipways "Dapper Tom" kit might be a good choice.  The Nautical Research Journal had a couple of articles about making this kit more realistic.

@grsjax, you would happen to know (at least, roughly) which issue(s). Dredging through the multiple indices of the NRJ yielded nothing for 'baltimore',  'tom', or 'dapper' except for 'Mast and Spar Dimensions for an 1835 Baltimore Clipper, 2/107' and hits on someone's first name or parts of other words (like 'Anatomy'). If you don't, no worries.