HM Cutter Alert by Thukydides - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - first build

[Thukydides]

Table of Contents

Welcome to my build log for documenting the making of HM Cutter Alert by Vanguard Models. In order to keep this organized I have reserved this first post for a table of contents in order to allow future readers to jump ahead to sections they are interested in if so desired.

Log #1: And So It Begins

Log #2: Assembling the Frame

Log #3: Designing the Deck

Log #4: Final Assembly and Faring

Log #5: Planking and then Re-Planking

Log #6: Lining Off the Hull

Log #7: Fixing More Errors

Log #8: The Stern Bulkhead and Counter

Log #9: Lining Up the Wales

Log #10: Concerning Drop Planks

Log #11: Adjusting the Second Band

Log #12: The Garboard Strake

Log #13: Planking Retrospective

Log #14: Building the Transom Part I

Log #15: Building the Transom Part II

Log #16: Building the Transom Part III

Log #17: The Margin Planks

Log #18: The Inner Bulwarks and Fixing the Boom Crutches

Log #19: Cutting the Gun Ports

Log #20: Preparing the Hull

Log #21: Painting Styles

Log #22: Painting the White and Blue

Log #23: Painting the Inner Bulwarks and Edge Highlighting

Log #24: The Margin Planks

Log #25: The Cap Rail, Timberheads and Catheads

Log #26: One Step Forward Two Steps Back

Log #27: Fixing the Transom

Log #28: The Rudder

Log #29: Blackening and Bending

Log #30: The Cannon Carriages Part I

Log #31: The Cannon Carriages Part II

Log #32: Painting the Deck Fittings

Log #33: Fixing the Railing

Log #34: The Pumps

Log #35: Cannons and Other Fittings

Log #36: Rope

Log #37: Painting the Transom Images

Log #38: Painting Complete

Log #39: Rigging the Guns Part I

Log #40: Rigging the Guns Part II

Log #41: Odds and Ends

Log #42: Mass Production

Log #43: Rigging the Guns Continued

Log #44: Hiding the Super Glue Spots

Log #45: Blocks for the Gun Tackle

Log #46: Blocks for the Gun Tackle Continued

Log #47: The Gun Tackle

Log #48: Hull and Fittings Complete

Log #49: The Mainmast

Log #50: First Attempt at Serving

Log #51: The Shrouds and Standing Backstay

Log #52: Running Backstay and Fiddle Blocks

Log #53: Puzzling about the Mainmast Standing Rigging

Log #54: The Mainstay and Preventer Stay

Log #55: Preparing the Mainmast

Log #56: The Boom and the Gaff

Log #57: The Shrouds Part II

Log #58: Revisiting the Rudder and Windlass

Log #59: Finishing the Mainmast

Log #60: Shrouds Complete

Log #61: Shroud Batons & Running Backstays

Log #62: Rigging the Mainstay

Log #63: Rigging the Preventer Stay

Log #64: The Bowsprit

Log #65: Tying of the Stays and Shrouds

Log #66: Year End Review

Log #67: Ratlines, Ratlines & More Ratlines

Log #68: Master & Commander

Log #69: Ratlines Complete

Log #70: Rigging the Gaff

Log #71: Raising the Boom

Log #72: Tying Off Lines

Log #73: The Yards

Log #74: Painting the Yards

Log #75: Odds and Ends

Log #76: Anchor Cable & Rails

Log #77: Experiments in Lashing

Log #78: Methodology for Preparing Small Ropes

Log #79: Rose Lashings

Log #80: Raising the Squaresail & Spreadsail Yards

Log #81: Squaresail Bowlines

Log #82: The Topsail Yard

Log #83: Tying off the Ropes

Log #84: The Topgallant Yard

Log #85: The Anchors

Log #86: The Cat Falls & Topgallant Backstays

Log #87: The Anchor Buoys

Log #88: Hoisting the Anchors

Log #89: Mainmast Finished

Log #90: The Bowsprit Shrouds

Log #91: The Topgallant Stay & Topsail Braces

Log #92: More Rope Hanks

Log #93: Rigging Complete

Log #94: The Ensign

Log #95: The Swivel Guns & the Pennant

Log #96: Concluding Thoughts

[Thukydides]

Log #1: And So It Begins

 

I have always had a keen interest in model ships, but never realized that kits existed or that there was ever the possibility of me making one. A few months back a video popped up on my youtube feed of the Amati Lady Nelson being built in a timelapse. This was my inspiration to start researching the subject and I discovered the wealth of information available online and in particular I discovered MSW.

 

Over the past month or so I have been reading many of the build logs on this site and trying to absorb the wealth of information here. I had originally wanted to start with a more ambitious project, but a number of posts on the subject here on MSW convinced me to start with a more modest one.

 

My model making experience has tended more towards things like this:

So this project will represent a bit of a departure for me from my normal hobby activities and I fully anticipate making many mistakes over the coming months. Hopefully as I document them in this build log they will be of use to those that follow afterwards. Please feel free to critique any mistakes you might see as I progress through this build as I suspect I will need all the help I can get :).

 

I would be remiss if I did not mention up front how thankful I am for all the completed Alert build logs on model ship world that I have to follow along with. I found the logs by Blue Ensign and glennard2523 particularly helpful.

 

I know that one of the selling points of Chris's models is the lovely big build manual. But I guess I never really grasped how nice and big it is till it was there in front of me. Every part is clearly labeled and numbered in the manual making everything nice and clear.

 

Having double checked that the contents of the box were all there, I was ready to begin. Unfortunately it was at this point that I ran out of time and the start of construction will have to wait for the next log.

Edited April 19 by Thukydides

[Chuck Seiler]

    You have selected a great model.  Don't worry about making mistakes.  That is how you learn.  Rubbing alcohol is your friend.  I have used it many times to unglue a mistake and make it right. 

[jpalmer1970]

Good luck with the build. I'm in the middle of making mine and have found the instruction manual to be very very helpful!

[Eurus]

Good luck, and have fun. Following!

[Eurus]

5 hours ago, Thukydides said:

Table of Contents

Welcome to my build log for documenting the making of HM Cutter Alert by Vanguard Models. In order to keep this organized I have reserved this first post for a table of contents in order to allow future readers to jump ahead to sections they are interested in if so desired.

Log #1: And So It Begins

 

Excellent idea!

[Blue Ensign]

Cutters make fine looking models, and I think you will enjoy the experience of building this kit.

Chris has done a great job in simplifying those areas that may present  difficulties for those new to kit building, but the main challenge remains the hull planking; take your time with that and make as good a job as you can with the first layer planking as a rehearsal for the top layer.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Thukydides]

3 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Cutters make fine looking models, and I think you will enjoy the experience of building this kit.

Chris has done a great job in simplifying those areas that may present  difficulties for those new to kit building, but the main challenge remains the hull planking; take your time with that and make as good a job as you can with the first layer planking as a rehearsal for the top layer.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

Thanks for the advise. I do plan to take this very slow.

 

[Thukydides]

5 hours ago, jpalmer1970 said:

Good luck with the build. I'm in the middle of making mine and have found the instruction manual to be very very helpful!

Do you have a build log going?

[jpalmer1970]

32 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

Do you have a build log going?

No sorry. I'm not sure I'm competent enough at either the building of the model or the writing about it to tackle a build log yet!

[VTHokiEE]

This is a great kit and builds into a very nice model. I hope you enjoy it!

[Thukydides]

5 hours ago, VTHokiEE said:

This is a great kit and builds into a very nice model. I hope you enjoy it!

I am certainly enjoying it so far. We will see how I feel when I hit the inevitable first major problem.

 

[VTHokiEE]

38 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

We will see how I feel when I hit the inevitable first major problem.

If you do hit a major problem be encouraged that you're in good company; I lost sleep (to put it mildly) over my first try at planking the hull on my Alert (detailed in my log). This forum is a great resource to help get you over the hump of whatever seemingly insurmountable obstacle you encounter.

[killickthere]

I ordered my Alert kit Tuesday. I'm finishing up my Bounty launch, (the small amount of rigging). Looking forward to starting the Alert.

Good luck on the build.

 

[Thukydides]

Log #2: Assembling the Frame

Having checked that all the pieces appear to be in the box I proceeded to dry fit the frame. 

 

I also took the opportunity to mark how much I had to thin the keel using a 1.5mm strip I cut off some masking tape. This is one of those places where the knowledge shared on build logs here at MSW has been invaluable. This is the sort of thing that would never have occurred to me, but likely saved me a lot of hassle and I suspect the thinning would not have been nearly as even.

 

Having done this I then drew in an estimate for the bearding line and sanded it down to prepare for planking. Based on what I had read I figured this was easier to do at this stage before I assembled the frame.

 

After that assembly was straightforward. I know that it had been mentioned in a few logs that the pieces fit together well and should hold themselves straight, but given some of the problems I had read about in other (non-alert) build logs I decided to be extra careful and ensure each bulkhead was square using the tried and tested lego block method. It was at this point I finally understood why everyone keeps saying you can never have enough clamps...

 

As many of the other Alert logs have mentioned I had some trouble fitting the stern frames into position. The problem is the outer two frames. The inner ones slotted in fine, but the outer ones required a slight bit of bending to get them to fit. I was worried they might break as I was doing this, but managed to get them in fine and the rest of the assembly proceeded without incident.

 

The final piece to add to the puzzle before beginning the faring of the bulkheads was the false deck. However, that will have to wait till the next log as I decided I wanted to try and replicate the deck pattern done by blue ensign so that needed to be measured and marked out before I could proceed.

 

Next time on Thukydides’ Alert Build Log: A novice tries to draw a deck planking pattern...

Edited August 7, 2021 by Thukydides
Fixing the pictures

[Thukydides]

Log #3: Designing the Deck

Though I largely intend to follow the instructions as written, there are a few places where I want to make some minor adjustments based on some ideas from other build logs. The first of these adjustments was the deck planking pattern.

 

The pattern is largely a replication of the excellent work that blue ensign did on his alert kit. I would highly recommend you check out his post on the subject here.

 

It was not clear to me from the pictures what width of planks blue ensign was using and since I was planning on using the planks that came with the kit, I needed to rebuild the pattern from scratch using the picture of his finished pattern as a guide.

 

The first step was to mark out where the margine planks would go. These will be cut out of a boxwood sheet I have ordered. I used a compass, setting the width to match the distance the bow cuts into the deck, keeping this width constant all the way round the outside of the deck.

 

Next, I measured and drew the plank lines down the length of the deck. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to do this precisely until I realized I could just lay the boxwood strips next to each other to make my tick marks.

 

Then, I marked where the planks would but into the margine planks.

 

Finally, using the beam positions that blue ensign used, I marked the plank ends using a 4 plank shift pattern. This had to be adjusted slightly near the center to avoid any of the planks looking too short or too long.

 

I would love some feedback on any issues anyone might see with the planking pattern. It turned out a little different than the one blue ensign did, likely due to differences in plank widths.

 

Next up, final assembly and faring...

Edited August 7, 2021 by Thukydides

[Blue Ensign]

Looks good to my eye, 👍and as the build progresses and deck fittings are added the butt shift  becomes less apparent.

I used 4.5mm wide Boxwood strips for the deck planking which is what I had to hand at the time. (Post15)

I would otherwise have gone with 3.4mm strips equating to planks of 8.5 inch widths.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Thukydides]

Just now, Blue Ensign said:

Looks good to my eye, 👍and as the build progresses and deck fittings are added the butt shift  becomes less apparent.

I used 4.5mm wide Boxwood strips for the deck planking which is what I had to hand at the time. (Post15)

I would otherwise have gone with 3.4mm strips equating to planks of 8.5 inch widths.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

That makes sense why I ended up with more planks as the kit ones are just shy of 4mm.

 

One question I had for you was the process for cutting the steps in the margin planks when you actually do the planking. You glued down the margin planks long before you actually laid the rest of the planks. Did you just cut the notches out with a hobby knife? Is there anything I need to be careful of when glueing down the margin planks?

[Blue Ensign]

As I recall, the Margin planks didn’t cause much difficulty. I cut them out in one single strip on the jigsaw having used the deck edge to give me the profile.

The margin planks can be put down once the inner planking has been completed. If you do it before, extra width will need to be allowed for the thickness of the internal planks.

I marked and cut the joggles into the margin using a scalpel point and micro chisels.

 

B.E.

[Thukydides]

Log #4: Final Assembly and Faring

Having laid out the planking pattern it was time to install the false deck and begin the faring process. However, before I could begin this I needed to make sure I had a way of making templates for theargin planks. The boxwood sheet I ordered won't get here for another week or two and once the deck is installed, the tabs would get in the way of me double checking the template.

 

To create the template I used the sheet the deck came in. I cut off the tabs used it to draw the outside edge of the template. I then used the compass to draw the inside edge of the template.

 

Everything appeared to match so on to the final assembly.

 

After gluing on the deck and adding the final pieces of the frame I fared the hull using sandpaper. This wasn't as hard or as time consuming as I had expected. Just letting the sandpaper run down the natural lines of the hull took off the parts it should without me having to think to hard about it.

 

Finally I attached the front end of the keel. The instructions indicated that I should attach the whole keel at this point, but I decided to leave off the back end of it to make the sanding stage after the first planking easier. I can always dry fit it when attaching the garboard plank.

 

Next up, I get to see if all the reading I have done on planking taught me anything...

Edited August 8, 2021 by Thukydides

[Thukydides]

Log #5: Planking and then Re-Planking

I must admit that the planking was one of that parts of the build I was most apprehensive about. I planned to treat the first planking as if it was the only one in order to practice the techniques for the second planking. This might result in a slower build, but hopefully will allow me to work out all the kinks before I get to the part that everyone will see.

 

I used Chuck's edge bending method on the planks. You can learn more about it here. However, what appears simple in theory was much harder in practice.

 

First I struggled with how much and where to make the center of my bend. Then I discovered that sometimes I needed more than one bend. However, by the time I got to the 4th strake I was feeling much more comfortable with the process. I then bent the strakes round a curved wooden block again using the iron and a tiny bit of water to get them to hold their shape.

 

I attached the strakes to the model using pva. After much humming and hawing I decided to go in this direction as I felt it would be easier to remove strakes after the fact if I messed up. This thought turned out to be rather prophetic.

 

Feeling pretty pleased with myself, I set the model aside to dry. A few hours later when I went back to examine it I noticed this.

 

The problem had not really been visible when I attached the first strake, but now that the second was on I could clearly see a gap between the false deck and the planks. The problem was that I had not adequately fared bulkheads 2 and 3 causing the plank to bulge out between them.

 

I was of two minds what to do about this. I considered posting about it to see how much of a problem you all thought it might be, but in the end I decided to go ahead and correct the problem. This was the moment I became very glad I had decided to use pva for the first planking.

 

I dabbed a little bit of isopropyl onto the joints on the first few bulkheads and then gently used my hobby knife to pry the planks off.

 

Then after sanding down the bulkheads (this was an awkward task where I had only partially removed the planks), I reattached the planks to the hull.

 

In the end I was glad I took the time to go back and correct the issue even if it might not have been a big deal. It would have messed with the fit of the margin planks on the deck and I would have been forever bothered by it if it had resulted in any visible distortion, no matter how minor.

 

Lesson Learned:

Be much more careful about checking the faring before attaching any strakes. This will ultimately save a lot of time and headaches.

 

On to lining off the hull...

Edited August 9, 2021 by Thukydides

[Blue Ensign]

That's the way to approach a build 👍

 

B.E.

[jpalmer1970]

Well done. Good fairing is key for making the planking go as easily as possible. I spent a lot more time fairing this model than I did on my first build and it made a big difference with the planking process.

[Thukydides]

Log #6: Lining Off the Hull

I decided to add an additional strake bringing me down to just below the wales before beginning the lining off process. I tapered both ends to two thirds of the original planks width.

 

I also discovered another earlier error. When I attached my first planks I thought I would be clever and use a piece of plank to mark how far down to place the plank. However to do this I used one of the limewood planks for the first planking not the 4mm ones in another bag. As a consequence the first plank is about 1mm lower than it should be. I have a plan to try and account for this, but first I need to finish the planking.

 

Lesson Learned:

The first plank is really important for positioning everything. Next time I need to take more care with it.

 

But before I got to lining off the hull I got distracted by the idea of scribing the keel. In retrospect if I was going to do this it would have been a much better idea to do this before the keel was attached to the hull.

 

In any case I think it turned out ok. Certainly it looks fine from 3 feet away and once it is painted some of the minor imperfections will hopefully not be visible.

 

Finally, on to lining off the hull.

 

I attempted to follow Chuck's lining guide and for the most part I think it worked. My main problem is I had trouble telling if the string was in the right place or not. I guess it doesn't matter too much since this is the first planking.

 

The lining off took a lot of time so I didn't have time to do any more planking.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Thukydides

[Thukydides]

Quick update, the first planking is progressing and I am now more than half way there. I had some issues at the bow (mostly related to how I didn't fare enough/tapered/positioned the first few planks, but I have managed to push through. There are a few gaps I will need to fill. I see a lot of sanding in my future.

 

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Thukydides

[Thukydides]

Log #7: Fixing More Errors

Work on the first planking continues and I am starting to feel much more comfortable with the process. I am certainly more pleased with the last few strakes I laid as opposed to the first.

However, I decided that I wanted to correct the issue I alluded to in the previous log. When I attached my first planks I thought I would be clever and use a piece of plank to mark how far down to place the plank. However to do this I used one of the limewood planks for the first planking, not the 4mm ones in another bag. As a consequence the first plank is about 1mm lower than it should be. Additionally, I did a poor job of lining the first plank up and the amount it is off by changes depending on the point you look at.

 

As a side note, part of my problems with getting the strakes to look right stems from this issue of the first ones not being in the right place.

 

I considered two options to correct the problem. The first was to simply use a 5mm plank instead of the kit suggested 4mm ones for the top strake tapering it as necessary. Then a thin piece of scrap would be used at the bow to raise it to the correct angle. This was my initial plan until I considered that getting the bow right would be very difficult. So I went with the second option.

 

I once again removed the front part of the top strake and using the 4mm plank as a spacer, I correctly positioned it 4mm below the ends of each frame.

Now with the run of the plank corrected I used thin pieces of limewood that I had trimmed off while planking to fill the gap. It doesn’t look pretty, but once it is sanded and filler added, I am hoping it should serve as an adequate base for the 2nd planking.

[CaptnBirdseye]

Great solution to your problem. By fixing now no one will ever know once second layer of planking is laid 👍

[Thukydides]

1 hour ago, RockinBudgie said:

Great solution to your problem. By fixing now no one will ever know once second layer of planking is laid 👍

I am hoping so, it is the little things that you don't know are important until it is too late that trip me up :). I am optimistic that with a lot of filler and sanding it will be smooth by the time I am done.

Edited August 17, 2021 by Thukydides

[jpalmer1970]

When you get down to the keel area I would suggest you leave your run of planking short of the deadwood area. I planked all the way to the stern and even though I had thinned the false keel originally I basically had to sand the ends of the planks away to get them to be thin enough once the second layer is added. It doesn't say it in the manual but if you look carefully at the top left picture on p20 you can see where the run of planks in the first layer ends short of the stern.

[Thukydides]

24 minutes ago, jpalmer1970 said:

When you get down to the keel area I would suggest you leave your run of planking short of the deadwood area. I planked all the way to the stern and even though I had thinned the false keel originally I basically had to sand the ends of the planks away to get them to be thin enough once the second layer is added. It doesn't say it in the manual but if you look carefully at the top left picture on p20 you can see where the run of planks in the first layer ends short of the stern.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I already planked that area (see the first picture in my last post). However I suppose it doesn't really matter, just will result in more sanding :).