28 foot American cutter by druxey - FINISHED - 1:48 scale

[AON]

People confusing him with his older brother.

 

😇

[druxey]

Moving on, the details at the bow have been completed. I noticed on the photographs of the actual boat that the flanges on the inner sides of the hawse pipes were larger than those on the outer sides. A protective  metal strap extends down the face of the stem as well.

 

I'm now working on the wash strakes. First the stub timberheads were sanded to uniform height. Short lengths of plank are being added and then reinforcing pieces of mini in-rail. There are pieces of timber with a gap between tholes 1 and 2 on the prototype. I have no idea what their purpose was, but copied them here.

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by druxey

[wefalck]

Looks as if some sort of cross-piece would slot into the gaps of the re-enforcements of the washstrake. Perhaps for the slide-mount of a light boat-gun. Not sure, whether the Italian navy of the time would have something like this, but the contempory Prussian navy did. This guns could be mounted on three-wheeled carriages for use in landing operations.

 

 

[Maury S]

I keep having to remind myself this is 1:48.  Simply beautiful.

Maury

[druxey]

The wash strakes are now complete with their reinforcing pieces of in-rail. The in-rail is trapezoidal in section. I cut strips wider than the finished rail, beveled the outer edges, glued the pieces in, then trimmed the inner edge with a sharp blade and sanded. It is surprising how solid the structure of the model is. I'm in the process of fitting the last two knees at the stern, uniting in-rail with the transom. Again the knee is fitted and glued in over-size and the inner face shaped once it is secured.

 

Although there are still quite  few details to make, it is time to start considering how to mount and display the model. I'm favoring a similar base to that of other open boats that I have made, featuring burl veneer. However, a final decision is still pending.

 

(The pencil included for scale has been requested!)

 

 

[AON]

Had you considered mounting her suspended from davits?

 

😇

[No Idea]

What an amazing build - that is absolutely beautiful 👍

[shipman]

https://www.arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/mitglieder/modelle/kutter-kl-1/

 

Ah, but druxey's is to a much smaller scale!

 

The pencil says it all (and there's still some lead in it 😆 !!

[dvm27]

You should mount her...in my study!

[Keith Black]

One runs out of superlatives to lavish on this model. David, outstanding job!  

[Maury S]

Oars? 

Maury

[shipman]

And an outboard? 😆

[wefalck]

Steampunk-outboard ?

[shipman]

What else could I mean? 🎩

[druxey]

Sweeps? Yes, there will be. Davits? No - then I'd have to build the ship the davits are attached to. "Ain't got no time for that!"  Thanks for the kind comments and for looking in again, everyone.

[Roger Pellett]

For a delicate model like this, I that slender simple brass rods wood look good.

 

Roger

[Bob Cleek]

Will she be mounted with her sailing rig in place?

[Thistle17]

Maybe I should rethink modeling and go back to bagging groceries as I did when I was a teenager! Just 2 months stem to stern David. You are driven.

Joe

[michael mott]

Models like this from you Druxey is why we turn to you for advice and inspiration. simply outstanding workmanship raised to the level of fine art!

 

Michael

[Hubac's Historian]

Everyone here has said it all, but I’ll say it again.

 

Extraordinary!

 

[druxey]

Thank you again, everyone, for following along and for your kind comments.

 

The seat back held several challenges. It curves, is tilted and has to fit properly. The shape was determined using card patterns. A two-layer veneer of Castello was laid up on a one quart paint can. This, 4" in diameter, was exactly the correct radius - sometimes the gods smile upon us. I noted two supporting battens on the rear of the seat back, just visible in one of Eberhard's photos. As it turned out, constructing the back was the easy part. Much more challenging were the two 'horns'; the supporting timbers on the fore side of the seat. Compound curved surfaces and compound angled scores were needed. It took a very long full morning to successfully complete these. These completed the internal woodwork on the cutter.

 

Next will be finishing the exterior: rudder, rubbing strake, tholes and decorative roundels at the bow.

 

[Chuck]

Really looking nice Druxey.  What a beautiful model.   Will you be painting any parts or will you leave it all natural wood?  

[shipman]

druxey already said he's not going to use paint.

Such a masterpiece needs no embellishment.

Subtlety is the key here.

[VTHokiEE]

I'm simply blown away; such beautiful detail, accuracy and craftsmanship. Bravo!

[druxey]

Now on to the tholes. These look to be either bronze castings or of lignum vitae on the actual boat. For contrast, I'm using pear wood. The photo shows three stages in making these. It is much easier to shape them in situ than hold them in a hand vise. One done, eleven to go!

[wefalck]

On German boats they use bronze inserts. Less wear and need for greasing, I suppose.

[Tigersteve]

Just caught up. Nicely done as usual!

Steve

[Moab]

This is an inspiring build. No paint...just beautiful wood crafted at its best...Moab

[druxey]

Thanks for looking in, everyone.

 

The tholes were completed and the rub strake installed. The rub strake profile was rounded using a molding scraper and lengths then cut off using a slitting blade in the saw.

 

The last challenge was the roundels at the bow. The lettering was too small to paint by hand, so I created the roundels in PhotoShop at 600 dpi and printed multiple copies. The rope ring was beige thread. I formed the rings by wrapping thread around a drill bit shank, stiffening them with white glue. When dry, the rings were sliced off and glued to the roundels. The roundels were then cut free of the paper and the cut edges match painted. 

 

The rudder is next, as this completed the boat itself.

 

 

[michael mott]

Beautiful work Druxey!

 

Michael