Cutty Sark by Sailcat - FINISHED - Revell - 1/96 - PLASTIC - Rescue kit bash morphed to Dame Tisane

[popeye the sailor]

your doing well Kats.....keep going!   great job!

[michael mott]

Kats, what a tremendous difference from the mess you inherited. Your diligence and patience are showing in the superb job that you are doing.

 

Michael

[Sailcat]

Popeye & Michael - Thanks for the kind words and encouragement 

 

Stays and shrouds start being added.  Because the Cutty had steel cables instead of hemp rope I chose black nylon and because these were cables their diameter was thinner than it would have been with rope.

 

Mast head strops.  Instead of trying to replicate the 'real' method I came up with something that I felt would be 'close enough.'  Step one was to 'seize an eye' on one side using a needle as the gauge.

 

Secured the needle to the mast and I also secured the strop with a touch of CA, this helps simplify the tying of the second eye.

 

The result ... ready for the lifts.

 

More stays added.

 

Colour experiments after discovering that seizings would have been black and not tan/brown.

Edited March 3, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

The seizings darkened to black.  The method I chose after experimentation was to dilute PVA with black China Ink and water.  You don't need much ink to make the PVA quite dark.

 

'Doubled' forestays joined with seizings.

 

The number of stays grows.  Please note at this point I have yet to 'step the bowsprit' because I was leaving that off for as long as I could due to logistical issues (read: I kept seeing myself snapping it off by accident).

 

Close up of shrouds.  I was quite pleased with the 'evenness' of the seizings.

 

A couple of 'view shots' for moral boosting 

 

Attaching the crosstree shrouds.  Again these were all 'cheated' - the rest of the shrouds were rigged in a more 'realistic' fashion.

 

And the oh, so enjoyable Ratlines ...

[Sailcat]

Shrouds and ratlines.

 

The question of the backstays came up and I discovered that I should have modified the crosstrees.  Too late at this point but the little 'tabs' moulded onto the parts didn't interfere.  Although the 'real' rigging would not have had these 'angles' I have noticed in photos of the restored Cutty that her backstays are angled at the crosstrees.  Irony ...

 

Ratlines on the mast top shrouds.

 

And ratlines on the crosstree shrouds.

 

The 're-aligned' backstays.  Looks much better when they're as straight as possible I think ...

[popeye the sailor]

your making some good ground getting caught up Kats.......you'll be caught up in no time!  lots of good info for all who look

[keelhauled]

Wow.
Awesome work! looks like you are building most things from scratch. really nice!

Just a note, the spreaders on the trees are supposed to move the stays out and it does angle them.  Just like you have it and it's the same on the real ship.  modern small sail boats use the same principle.

 

[Jim Lad]

You've done really well with your reconstituted log, Kats - almost caught up now!

 

John

[Sailcat]

Popeye, Keelhauled and John - Thanks for looking in and for the support

 

Keelhauled - I understand that the 'modern' application is as you described, however my perusal of old photos of the Cutty show that her backstays were indeed 'straight' rather then 'angled' so I chose to try and replicate that 'look' as best as possible.

 

A 2 week hiatus due to 'stuff' ends with a touch of spare time.  My back is still out so sitting for extended periods (like, say, working on the build) is still not quite possible but soon ... I'm now at the stage where I stare at the Dame and try not to forget all the stuff I was researching before the whole sciatica/slipped disc episode ...

 

The Mizzen backstays in their 'straight' arrangement.

 

Working on the Shrouds.

 

Stays and Shrouds progressing.

 

Some detail shots of the Mast Top and Cross Tree sections.

 

Top down view.

[Sailcat]

The progression of the Standing Rigging.

 

 

Some close ups of the Mast Top and Cross Tree Ratlines being worked up.

 

Further work ... a bit at a time ...

[Sailcat]

Ratlines - I referenced 'Danny's Method' and copied it as best I could.  Because I haven't mentioned it before, the Ratlines are a thin waxed cotton thread tied with clove hitched and the ends are 'spliced' then seized with 'really thin' nylon.  Finally the seizings are sealed with diluted PVA.

 

After putting it off for as long as possible it became time to 'step' the bowsprit and start the rigging at the front of the ship.  This is where the 'nervous sweats' began in earnest as the vulnerability of the ship suddenly jumped by a factor of ten or so ...

 

Re-emplacing the forward Fife Rail which had been removed to facilitate attachment of the forestays.

 

Catheads being emplaced.  These were affixed with 2 part slow cure epoxy.

 

A view of the dolphin striker/martingale before and after paint.

 

The Dame finally finds her spot.

 

Bobstay chain in place - here I 'recycled' an almost unmodified kit part (the 'bulls eye').

 

Forestays in place.

[Sailcat]

Stays and Guys slowly being emplaced.

 

The Fore mast portion of the rigging which was left until the Bowsprit was in place.

 

Around here I started thinking, "It looks like a ship now."

[hopeful]

Hey Katz,

 

Just rejoined MSW and saw you are reposting your Cutty build log. Thanks, its a treasure trove for us all!

 

Will follow you from here.

 

Best wishes,

Hopeful aka David

[popeye the sailor]

she's looking great kats........you take care of yourself.....back problems are not good to ignore.   My admiral is disabled due to back problems.....I know how you must feel.   do a little at a time........don't rush.   don't worry about forgetting stuff......by now,  it's engrained into your memory......that is, if the ship isn't already built in your mind    always a treat to see!

[Shipyard sid]

Greetings

Here is a refurbished ship you may recognize , on a overcast day in Greenwich , keep enjoying your build DAVID

[Sailcat]

David, Popeye & David - Thanks for your kind words and support     

 

And thanks for the photo 'Sid' David - it is an inspiration.

 

To continue with the reposting ... here are some views of the Fore and Aft standing rigging.

 

Attaching the chains aft ... these turned out nice.

 

Rigging lines in process, before dyeing and after in some cases.

 

Comparison of the sizes of the rigging lines.

[Sailcat]

Producing 'home made' decals turned out to be involved but not impossible.  I first 'set up' the images using GIMP (a freeware version of Photoshop) and this involved lots of printing and checking.  Once I was satisfied with the 'templates' I then printed them onto 'printable' transparent plastic sheets (available at stationary and craft shops).

 

Because I was dealing with 'gold' and ink jet printers have issues with gold I chose to utilize the transparency and add the gold colour behind the printed image.

 

Scale view using a Canuck dime and (what else?) a Tic Tac.  For reference purposes - the 'surface' of the transparency where the ink jet ink was printed was 'sealed' with a carefully applied coat of clear matte.

 

Somewhere along the line I decided I wanted to include the bowsprit footropes.  At first I was worried but it turned out to be not too difficult, just touchy.  Here's the stirrups being 'tied on.'

 

"Seizing' the 'eyes' in the ends using needles.

 

Footropes passed through and then 'weighted' to create the proper hang effect.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

The Bowsprit Footropes in place but I have yet to add the 'foot knots'.

 

Working on the 'name plates' on the sides of the Wheelbox.

 

And affixing the nameplates on the breadboards.  This is where I made the Huge mistake of Trusting my first set of measurements and Not doing a 'dry fit' test ... big oops but one which I was not able to correct.   You will see later why this is a mistake.

[Sailcat]

Starting to think about Yards and the rigging attachments.

 

Stern decal in place.

 

The 'misaligned' breadboards once again.

 

A 'natural light' shot of the Wheelbox.

 

The re-do of the footropes on the Yards (these are the Mizzen yard set).  The blue stuff is 'hard' insulation foamboard - kind of like 'dense' styro and it proved to be a great working surface for this kind of stuff.

 

'Flash light' shot of the stern decal to highlight the difference between the ink jet and the paint.  Somehow this contrast disappears in natural light - a 'Happy Accident' which was not planned at all.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

Views of my placement error on the breadboard decals.

 

Additional rigging 'eyebolts' attached to the mast tops.

 

Putting on the 'footknots' for the bowsprit footropes.

 

The 'Yard Rigging Jig' which is a platic clothes pin affixed to a bolt clamped into a Dremel vise.

 

Blocks ready to be tied and seized to the Yards.

 

Attaching the blocks to the Yards.

[Jim Lad]

Thanks for persevering with completely rebuilding this great log, Kats!

 

John

[hopeful]

Katz,

 

Its so good be watching you build again. Wish you well from here.  BTW what happened to the terrific shirts you used to wear?

 

BFN

 

Cheers,

Hopeful aka David

 

“there is wisdom in many voices”

 

Completed: Sharpie Schooner (Midwest) Posted on kit build log.

Current: Sultana (MSW) Updating the build log and continuing on with the build

 

Next: Lady Nelson (Amati Victory)

Edited March 25, 2013 by hopeful

[Sailcat]

John & David - Thanks for looking in and for the kind words of support 

 

As for my 'Loud Shirts' I have chosen to stow them for a time ... I was receiving complaints from Chris Hadfield on the Space Station that I was glaring out their cameras 

 

And here we are at the stage where I started attaching the blocks to the Yards.  Some were tied around the jackstay lugs, others were tied around the Yard itself.

 

A view of my little 'rotating' table work area (this table has since been re-assigned as my nightstand).

 

So many little blocks.  I was working off the diagrams in Underhill's book so I went for the whole 'shooting match' including blocks for bunt lines ... which I didn't need to add in retrospect ...

[Sailcat]

Close up of the ringbolts attached to the hounds (?) which I should have put in earlier.

 

Someone asked me to post pics of how I 'tied' the blocks for attachment.  Basically I secured the line around the block with diluted PVA first then seized the lines atop the block.

 

The pretty much complete Yard sets - Fore, Mizzen and Main.  The Stuns'l booms are still not attached.

 

The ringbolt for the Chain Sling.

 

Tying blocks to the mast top.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

Somehow I had forgotten to drill a 'sheave hole' for the Halliard through one of the mast portions.  This is an image of the delicate process of correcting that error.

 

The original kit came with only two sizes of chain but the first builder of this one had added very thin chain which I recovered and chose to use for the Topsail yard Halliards.  On the kit only the Fore and Main Topsail yards had the set up for chain halliards attached to a purchase.

 

'Test fit' of the Skysail and Royal masts.

 

Setting the Stuns'l booms in place.

 

Test fit of the Fore Course.

 

Affixing the chain sling.

 

Attaching and seizing the lifts.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

Hoisting the Courses and Cro'jack.

 

Belaying the lifts.

 

A little 'doctoring' of the footropes for the proper 'hang look.'

 

And here is where I was suddenly informed by the Admiral that we were moving ... 'suddenly' meaning this was a spur of the moment decision and I had not been consulted in the matter.  The story of this saga can be summarized as, "A mad dash to prep for moving, finding new tenants for the mid-month to try and save a full month of 'double rent', the revelation that the new place would not be available until the next month due to a clerical error on the part of the landlord, finding alternate accommodation and storage for all our stuff, moving in and discovering how much work needed to be done to make the place liveable, counting the days until I could set up a workshop area for myself."  The discontinuity in building due to this was about 6 months.  And here's the last shot of the Dame in the old place.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Sailcat

[riverboat]

awesome work Sailcat, just awesome, great work on the decals too!! Who would've thought that wreck you started with would turn into a masterpiece !!

 

Frank

Edited March 30, 2013 by riverboat

[Sailcat]

Frank - thank you for the kind words   And to be honest, I had no idea what I was getting into and any preconceptions of how far I'd be going on this have been tossed aside.  Of course with all the knowledge I've gained through this there's absolutely no way I'd ever try something like this ever again, lol.

 

Well, here we are approximately 6 months later - new abode settling in enough for me to stake out a claim on a corner of the 'den' to set up my workshop.

 

Having set the stage it was time to get the Dame back from her temporary berth on a friend's mantle.

 

Playing around with rope coil jigs - again thanks to the members of MSW for doing a lot of the legwork in advance.

 

Placing the rope coils ... I know some prefer to do them all at once after the rigging is complete but as a newbie I chose to put the coils in as I went along.

 

'Bracing' the coils until the diluted PVA cured.

 

Affixing the Lower Topsail Yard and attaching the crane.

[Sailcat]

Another shot of attaching the crane.  I don't have photos but I fabricated the cranes from 20 gauge brass wire and blackened them.  I used 2 part slow cure epoxy for the affixing.

 

Lower Topsail Yards in place.

 

Now for the Upper Topsail Yards.  Affixing the Mizzen Upper Tops'l to the mast - you can see the Lifts have been attached and seized to the mast top ringbolts.

 

Lifts attached and seized to the Yards.

 

The Main Upper Tops'l Yard - repeat procedure.

 

The Fore Upper Tops'l in place ... awaiting the Lifts.

 

Attaching a block to a chain for the Halliard Tye.

 

The Mizzen Upper Tops'l wasn't set up for a purchase and chain tye so it's just a 'rope' passed through the mast sheave.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Sailcat

[Sailcat]

A few shots of the Tye being set up.

 

Running the line for the Purchase.

 

The deck block for the purchase.

 

The other end of the Purchase tied to a deck ringbolt.

 

The 'two eyed' single sheave block for the Purchase.

 

Tying off the single 'rope' Halliard for the Mizzen Upper Tops'l Yard.