Revenue Cutter by Josh Williamson - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - Scale 1/48

[Josh Williamson]

Unboxing day:

 

For my second kit model, I chose the Revenue Cutter by Bluejacket Shipcrafters.  Was really happy with the Spray model I chose prior, so I wanted to follow it up with something slightly more complex rigging-wise.

 

No building today, just taking in the kit:

 

Excited about this one!

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Josh Williamson

[Josh Williamson]

Getting started on the Revenue Cutter.

 

As per the instructions suggest, I started off with building the cradle and mounting the hull-shaping templates to some card stock.  Had to give the cradles a good sanding as the laser cutting leave a pretty good char on the edges of the thicker material pieces.  Got them cleaned up and dried - now will be choosing a stain to apply to the mounting cradle (more on that later). 

 

 

 

Marking out the guide lines for the hull pattern shapes (as well as marking the center line on deck).  

 

Started some preliminary work on the stern shaping using a Dremel and sanding attachment.  I got the shape close, and will likely transition to hand sanding with a fine grit.

 

 

 

I'll need to work out some of these larger pits:

 

 

 

[Josh Williamson]

Hello again!

 

It's been quite the busy several months for me since the last post: working on getting a new business up and rolling, multiple summer projects around the house, and general cleanup around the shop...

 

Nevertheless, I spent some time yesterday to pull out the model again, dust off the instructions, and get my head back into the game with the "Revenue Cutter" 

 

I had left off just completing shaping the bow and stern areas; and the next move was to start the hull shaping using  the templates.  

 

 

For the majority of the shaping, I am using the Dremel tool with sanding head and extension.  This is still a rather slow process, as I am taking little sections at a time, and verifying constantly with the template references.  As others have noted, the bulk of the material to be removed is at the stern - and it takes a good amount of time to get there.

 

 

Constant checking of the hull templates...  The small drill holes are visual indicators on where the centerline of the keel strip goes (per the Bluejacket instructions).   My general process was to place pencil marks where the template hits, works those areas down, and then repeat.  I started at the stern, port side, and worked templates T, 8 and 7 for some time, before moving to midships.  I would periodically bounce back and forth from the bow to the transom.

 

 

As the instructions explain, mark 1/16" to the left and right of the centerline holes to give indication of where the keel strip is to be placed.  

Here is a dry fit in progress.  Still much more sanding to do!

 

 

 

Dry fit at bow:

This is probably about 4 hours of sanding in at this point. 

 

 

More sanding and finessing to come.  

 

 

[Josh Williamson]

Today was more sanding and shaping of the hull.  I am realizing there are some areas that I am going to need to fill with putty as they are a bit low.  Overall, things are getting closer to the specified shape:

 

 

 

 

More on the previous process:  

Set the template against the hull, mark the places that touch with a big X at the location the template hits most prominently, then a small X where it hits less prominently.  Attack the large X places a bit more aggressively... repeat process.  Again and again. 

 

 

The stern taking shape:

 

 

And it's a wrap for the day...

I will leave the hull with some notes for next time:

 

[Josh Williamson]

I seem to have sanded a little bit more than I needed to on the stern, as others have done.   Ugh.

 

In the dry fit of the rudder, I determined that I would  trim about 1/8" off on the length of the keel, and then plan to fill the gap with some wood filler.  I think this may be the best "middle-ground approach." Hopefully it doesn't mess up too much down the road...  The test fit suggests everything should align well:

 

Below in blue, is the area I will fill...a little further on. 

 

 

Similarly, there  are some low spots at the bow that will need to fill in.  Overall not much on this one.  I think this is in the realm of workable to move forward. 

 

 

 

Since I recently did a countertop clean -off and reorganization, I thought I would provide a shot of the work station and layout of my modeling area.  

I am always interested in seeing everyone's different setups.  

 

 

 

 

 

Here goes the first coats of wood filler...  Using the Goodfilla wood filler, which seems to set up rather quickly and maker for a hard, sand-able surface.  

 

Will document how the sanding goes in a future post!

 

 

 

 

 

[Josh Williamson]

Here is first pass sanding after the filler layer. 

 

 

The stern filled out nicely, as did the gap I had between the hull and the keel here. 

 

Gluing down the deck after checking the fit once last time:

 

Ended up using the Minwax "Provincial" wiping stain for the deck surface.  

 

After the deck was on, I found I needed a small 1/8" added section to the forepeak to raise the level back with the top of the deck.  

 

Side view:

 

Deck masked off and dryfitting the wales.  

 

Some prep to the pintle and gudgeons before spraying them out black...

 

Had to re-mask the deck. 

 

Here's the first coat of the black primer at hull.  I'll need to fill some blemishes and hit it again a few times I am seeing...

[SkiBee]

Very nice work, I just started my first solid hull and wished it looked as good as yours.  Keep up the great work.

[Torbogdan]

I just found this blog. Interesting to follow. I would like to build solid hulls as planking is far from my favorite. And planking is almost 50% of building

 

I agree with black being good to find blemishes. it really brings them out, unfortunately.

 

Excellent work so far!

[Josh Williamson]

Just getting to posting a few more entries into the build log:

 

The hull took several coats of rattle can flat black since I last posted - and below is the result of those passes.  I buffed the hull out a bit using some steel wool in between coats; yet there are still some small blemishes.  In marking the waterline, I gave up on the supplied WL marking tool, and opted for setting up my laser level and then just tracing the beam onto the hull.  Of course, I made sure the boat was correctly level both fore and aft, as well as at midships port/starboard. 

 

 

Below, is coat one of the copper paint after the waterline had been taped out. 

 

...and after two or three coats of the copper paint, some buffing, and repeat...

 

Still visible, some blemishes even with the multiple paint coat layers.

 

 

Dry-fitting the pintels and gudgeons...obviously before any trimming had been done. 

 

The final result of the fully assembled rudder system as seen below.  I opted to leave the top-most portion of the rudder (where attaches to tiller) as natural wood.  I liked the idea of keeping that in a finish consistent with the deck stain (i.e. Minwax Provincial wiping stain in this case).

 

Another view with the rudder deck plate glued in.

 

And finally, the deck un-masked.

I had some small touchups in the stain necessary as some tape pulled up some of the finish.  I must have not waited long enough with the wiping stain.

 

I deliberated on whether or not to blacken the brass fittings with some patina, but I opted to stay with the bright brass look for cleats, eyelets, rods and other brass hardware as a rule.  (My rationale being that almost certainly, the proud crew of any vessel in the Revenue Cutter service would be proudly polishing their fittings to a mirror shine...)

 

[Josh Williamson]

Hello again - So next up on the log:

 

Aft cabin, stanchions prep and carronade...

 

First up on the aft cabin, I opted to not paint the styrene for the skylight black as the instructions propose.  I preferred the look of being able to see down below into the cabin and giving the skylight a sense of depth... so dremelled out the layer of the  basswood roof so that it was completely open to the deck below. 

 

 

Further progress on the Dremel process with the skylight opening:

 

Completed skylight hatch well, dry-fit on to the unpainted cabin roof.

 

On the hatch of the aft cabin, I could not (for the life of me!!)  find the hinges for the hatch...so improvised with some of the scrap brass from the eyelets and made two brackets that would approximate the hatch hinges.  In keeping with the polished brass look of other fittings, I opted to keep these as polished brass. 

 

(* I am determined to find these hinges, but I do not think they were included with the cast fittings).

 

 

 

Side note on the color of the cabins: I like the supplied color of the "Flat Roof Brown" as is included in the Bluejacket kit.  For larger surface areas, I still prefer the look of a spray-applied finish.  Not having an airbrush, I took to looking for the best approximation of the flat brown in a readily-available Rustoleum color.  Ended up with was "Dark Walnut" which after spraying out some areas seems to be darker than the "Flat Roof Brown," and fairly close to flat black when seen next to the black pumps and carronade track...  Overall, I am happy with the overall color palate, albeit a little different than the kit instructions, and others' models of the same variety. 

 

Oh yeah.... also placed the pumps:

 

With the grates for the foredeck...when I dry fit them,  I did not like being able to see the light wood of the decking just below....

So, I opted to mask off and paint the area below the grates black, so as the better approximate some depth below the grates.

Here are some photos of that process:

 

Liking how the black below the grates adds depth...........

 

 

Measured and drilled for the stanchions...

 

 

Stanchions - 

Carefully cut those to the proper measurement, and did a fine tuning sanding on all of them to get them closer to the mean length (Around 7/8")

 

So, this process on the stanchions was fairly tedious.  Not sure if I was just not as dexterous this day, but the drilling of the small hole in the flattened end of the stanchion took some practice.  I probably ruined 4 or 5 of them (drilling out and through the side of the material)...but ultimately found a good method using the vise and dremel/drill to SLOWLY cut the tiny hole in the 3/64" material.  

 

 

Here's my large-scale setup for tiny work....

 

Then finally got to some rigging with the carronade. 

Rigging the smaller of the blocks on this one was extremely tedious for me.  I think I may just need to put this down for the day and start fresh tomorrow!!

 

This will take some fine-tune adjusting and some touchup paint I am already seeing.  

 

 

 

Thank for looking!

 

-Josh

 

[Josh Williamson]

Hello again,

 

Made some progress on shaping the main, and foremasts; as well as dry fitting the upper and lower mast caps.  

Method for these was probably as many have done: dowel in a powered drill...sandpaper and constant checking to the plans.

 

The squared portion of the top of the mast was a little tricky, but started by penciling in the bottom line of the step, then cutting that line with a blade.  I marked the front of the mast with a dot, then correspondingly, the aft, and beam sides each with their own dot for reference.  With a hobby knife, I cut the majority of the material away, then transitioned to an emory board to fine tune the shape (turning 90 degrees to the next face with dot facing directly up after about 30 passes on the emory board).. Then repeating until the mast cap fit snuggly...

 

 

 

Before starting on toe rails, I inspected the gunwales-to-deck gap and noticed some larger gaps at the bow where the bowsprit attaches.  I'm not positive if the bowsprit or toerails will completely hide these gaps, so I chose to carefully cut little wedges to affix in these gaps.  Once dry, I'll mask and paint them black:

 

 

Next post will be some more progress with the masts, mast hoops, spiders, and topmast assemblies...

 

At this point, this is the condition of the vessel (see below) :

 

(I did some fitting and shaping of the cradle to better accommodate and seat the hull by the way).

 

[Friday Dog]

Were you able to see the "lost" hinges in your unboxing day photos?

[MrBlueJacket]

Hi Josh,

 

The hinges are cast pieces. They look like this and you will need to bend them into hinge shape.

 

Nic

 

[Josh Williamson]

Thanks Nic - I did end up Finding these. I mistook them for one of the rudder assembly pintels and gudgeons and had painted them and set them aside (possibly thinking they were a spare). I have them now, and am deciding if I want to use them, as I have come accustomed to my brass solution. 

[Josh Williamson]

It's been a little bit since I last posted, but here's a quick update on the Revenue Cutter Build:

Spent some time shaping and building the boom, yards and gaffs:

*On the boom, had the sized-down section of the dowel where topping lift attaches snap off, so needed to carefully drill out a pocket for a smaller diameter dowel to be glued inside.  

** The stain used was consistent with what was used on the decking and masts: "Provincial wiping stain"

 

In the meantime, worked on the mast hoops.  The instructions say to remove the char from these pieces, but I felt I would only break them if I worked them much with sandpaper or other means.  So, opted to give them a good coat of some dark brown paint.  I like this  shot of the process...

 

 

Some bowsprit work, and start of the stropping which secures jib pole:

 

Rigging the first of the deadeyes for the mainstay.  Watched a few tutorials on "rigging lanyards" on Youtube by Donnie Driskell to remember the basics of this.  Had a few goofs with this first one until I fell into a rhythm.  The "helping hand" tool is useful, and the tweezers are a necessity.  I'll paint the deadeye black later...

 

 

So, I am sure there are better ways to plum up the mast, but this was just what I thought of...

I set a small level on the deck to ensure the model was level about the beam.  Then, shot a straight line laser from the base of the mast up...

Having the two stays loosely tied at the masthead, made a few adjustments and then made the final tensioning at the deadeyes.

The two angles that I built (visible lower right) serve as a 90 degree, and one for the proper rake of the mast.  I used those to verify correct positioning as well:

 

 

Here, the two masts are stepped and temped in place.  Will be gluing and finalizing the tying off on the rigging next...

Also, some work on the boom and topping lift in progress, but not complete. 

 

Until next time!

[Josh Williamson]

Posting a few images from the last 2 week's work on the Revenue Cutter:

 

Rigged the gaff yards for both the fore and main mast...  found that with a little downward weight on the gaff yard, it made it easier to apply tension to the line, so put one of the little clamps on the gaff (see below)

 

 

 

Boom set in place, topping lift and main sheet rigged to traveler; main stays loosely tensioned:

 

In rigging the various halyards and lines, I found it helpful to affix a clamp to the bitter ends to better organize the tail ends.  It also makes it easier to visually follow the  lines when adjusting.  

 

 

Yards hoisted, and braces rigged and run to the spiders.  Final adjustments still needed (at which point, I will apply a drop of CA to fix their tensioning before adding some rope coils to the belaying pins). 

By the way, Rigging diagrams are very detailed and easy to follow (plus, having other build logs to refer to has been helpful).

 

In the meantime, I'm working on preparing the ensign and flag halyard, as well as developing some thoughts on the mounting base!

 

More to come!  This build is getting close!!

 

 

[Josh Williamson]

Another update on the Revenue Cutter build:

 

Found a scrap piece of Ipe wood from a summer deck project to use as a base for the stand.

Routed the edges with a Roman ogee bit, and did a little bit of hand finishing on some of the sharp edges. Applied a poly oil finish and worked on dry-fitting the stand:

 

 

A close up of the base and stand dryfitting:

Some carronade control lines prior to fastening..

 

Began mounting the carronade, and saw from various drawings, that the cannon was mounted pointing directly forward (pointed directly at the foremast).  I just didn't feel great having the cannon pointed at the ship, and opted to set it pointed abeam...thus projecting fire towards the starboard side.

 

Closer view of the deck:

 

Up close view of the upper portions of the masts, showing yards, lines and halyards:

 

 

More to come soon -

 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Josh Williamson

[dsmith65]

That base looks sharp.

 

[Josh Williamson]

Hey everyone - a couple updates on the build:

 

Was on a great sailing vacation in French Polynesia for the last couple weeks, but finally getting back to further completing the Revenue Cutter Build:

 

LAST DAY OF BUILD:

I spent some time to make up the dozen or so hanging rope coils, as well as the several coils of lines for the decks.  The helping hand tool with the alligator clips really make this easier, and gently affixing them to their final locations only takes the smallest drop of CA.

 

Here's a pic of the deck with the coils made up.  (Note: the positioning of carronade - mentioned in previous post.  Still not sure if I am correct in my reasoning, but I just don't like the look of a cannon pointed straight towards the mast!).

 

 

I had left the Ipe base for a few weeks with one coat of Poly oil on it, and when I returned, the wood had sucked up most of the oil and there were some dry areas.  I reapplied the poly, and waited another night - finishing the base with a final coat of  spar varnish spray.

 

Once the base cured, the next tasks were to start laying out for the mounting cradle.  On the Spray Build, I used a system of affixing the the cradle to the base using friction fit and pins, and similarly affixing the boat to the cradle also using small pins (actually nails with the nail heads cut off).

 

With the general location of the cradle figured, applied some masking tape so that I could make some reference marks, and drill out for the pins.  

 

 

 

With the pins (nails) set into their holes, I placed the cradle over top (referencing my pencil marks), and gently tapped with the rubber mallet to make a dimple where the nails were.  Drilled out those marks, and then pulled the tape.  Tapped the cradle in using the mallet again, and that's it!

 

 

And that's more or less it!  I did about 30 minutes of detailed brush touchups (mostly flat black on the blocks, and another coat of the brown on the cabin)

 

The cradle sits towards the stern of the model, but the overall length is centered within the length of the base, with about 2" of jib pole extending past the base edge, and 2" of boom extending past the other edge.  The open area on the base off the port bow will be where the little brass plaque will be mounted.

 

 

 

I am super happy with this model (not just the kit itself, but also with my being able to keep it clean and true).  Overall, the detail and precision was an improvement over my Spray model, and the rigging being more complex, gives me some confidence to try something more involved down the road.  Being a solid hull, there were different techniques learned that I didn't encounter with the Spray's plank-on-bulkhead construction.  Also, working at a smaller scale (1:48), improved my dexterity overall.  I found the plans to be detailed and accurate, and the several build logs on this forum of the same kit proved to be very useful!  

 

NEXT UP, SOME FINISHED PICTURES!

 

[Josh Williamson]

Completed pictures of the Bluejacket Shipcrafters Revenue Cutter:

[Friday Dog]

Wow, Josh.  Looks great.  I am with you on the cannonade positioning, btw....

 

Congrats and look forward to following your next build.

 

[gsdpic]

Congrats on finishing the revenue cutter....it looks fantastic.   Those are some of the more dramatic model ship photos I've seen.  I really like the first one and the last two.

[Josh Williamson]

1 hour ago, gsdpic said:

Congrats on finishing the revenue cutter....it looks fantastic.   Those are some of the more dramatic model ship photos I've seen.  I really like the first one and the last two.

Thanks Gary.  This really was a fun build.  

[Josh Williamson]

1 hour ago, Friday Dog said:

Wow, Josh.  Looks great.  I am with you on the cannonade positioning, btw....

 

Congrats and look forward to following your next build.

 

Thanks!

[aaronc]

Enjoyed the pics,..great build man. 

[dsmith65]

Very nice Josh, looking forward to following your next build.

 

[BrianK]

Josh,

I just bought this kit today. Will be referring to your awesome build photos and techniques often as I hope to build it soon.

 

Happy New Year,

BrianK

[Hubac's Historian]

Nice work!  Revenue cutters have sweet lines, and you did her justice.