Cutty Sark by Kevin-the-lubber - Revell - 1:96 - PLASTIC

[LeoM]

That is wonderful, Kevin, this is a treasure I will cherish.

Thank you so much!!

[Kevin-the-lubber]

You're welcome Leo.

 

In other news, I've had my ankle fused this week, ever worsening arthritis from a climbing accident in my youth which was taking all the pleasure out of physical activity, so I'm hoping the 2 or 3 month lay-off will see me finish modelling and making the masts. They've required a mixed media approach - some resin printing, carbon fibre stiffeners, wire eyebolts etc - and the cold winter has made this heavy going. Resin doesn't like being printed cold, paints don't like it either, and the failures/poor results get a bit exasperating after a while. So, I'll spend a few weeks doing all the remaining 3D work and resume the 'making' in the spring, when I'm weight bearing again.

[Ian_Grant]

Sorry to hear that, Kevin. Hope it heals quickly for you!

[VitusBering]

I'm following your work with great interest - it is very inspirational. I'm motivated now to delve into 3D printing, something I've never done but it appears to be in the cards. The photos you've posted have been an invaluable resource, thank you profusely for those.

 

I do hope you recover quickly and as comfortably as possible. Best regards.

[shipman]

Fused ankle?

Did they leave the blue touch-paper sticking out!

Wishing you a rapid recovery.

[LeoM]

I am hoping for a quick and full recovery for you.

Take care

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

28 minutes ago, shipman said:

Did they leave the blue touch-paper sticking out!

Not quite, but he did give me some very expensive hardware that should make it fun going through airport security 😁

 

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

1 hour ago, VitusBering said:

I'm motivated now to delve into 3D printing

Vitus, there’s a lot to be said for 3D as part of the toolkit. Feel free to ask for tips, I’m no expert but I think I’ve probably travelled the main learning curve now.

[Bruma]

Get well soon, Kevin! 

I'm really curious to see the new resin parts on your beautiful model! 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

On 2/19/2023 at 7:47 AM, Bruma said:

I'm really curious to see the new resin parts

It'll be a little, I think, while until I'm ready to 'show & tell'. The masts and yards are the final bit of 'making', other than blocks etc, and are a kind of gateway to finishing off quite a few other things.

 

I've been looking at your sails - they are simply fabulous. I've only had one brief play around with the modelling tissue and didn't really get anywhere useful, so that's something where I'm still very undecided.

[Bill97]

Wow! Kevin. I dropped by to see how your build is going. Had no idea you had your ankle fused. Hope you heal quickly and have less pain now from the arthritis. As always I continue to be very very impressed with your CS build. 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

It's been quite a while since I posted but I've now picked up where I left off, so here's a brief update.

 

I've remade all the masts, yards, bowsprit, jib boom etc. At the moment it's still the case that the only parts I've used from the revell kit are the two hull halves and rudders halves. I still have a lot of work to do on these  (masts and spars) and will do detail photos as and when. Right now the white is too white, I need to paint the tops, make a decision whether to copy the real thing and red ochre the topmasts, etc etc. And then rig them. I'll be doing all that off the ship, I have a dummy rig that helps avoid me breaking bits every 5 minutes.

I've continued to add detail - here, it's the salt water pump on the side of the port WC. Tricky to print!

New bower anchors. As with most things now, my new parts are a mixture of resin print, brass or steel wire, carbon fibre and whatever else I need to achieve the objective.

 

 

Bumpkins. Mostly because the revell one's are too simplistic, when you look at the real thing you realise the lugs are orientated to their respective tie points.

Davits. These are made using 1mm brass wire, I found the kit parts too chunky. I'm working on the philosophy that, if I reduce everything I can to be more in scale, there will be a greater sense of how large the ship is and how enormous are things like the lower yards

jackstays on the main and mizzen masts. 0.2mm brass wire running through miniscule brackets. I've used much the same approach on all the yards.

A random shot of the wool bales in the main hold. The plan is to, in due course, rig one being lowered into the hold via a hoist .

A shot showing the re-profiled foredeck and more imposing capstan, as I don't think I ever showed that in situ. I have work to do on the fore rails, one of many outstanding jobs.

See the crack in the crane below? If you look very carefully, you'll see a tiny pinhole in the centre of the crane, this is where a brass rod runs through both crane and mast as the crane breaks so easily. Consequently it doesn't matter that it got broken, the yard is supported by the pin. The yellow stain is some super phatic glue, I'll cover it up when I finish the paintwork. I've used this method in quite a few places. Resin is good, but resin stiffened by CF or brass rod is better.

Here's a case in point: this dolphin striker is made as two almost mirrored halves, glued together with a 0.5mm brass rod in the middle. The overall diameter is 1mm and less chunky than revell. I found it impossible to print a 'tube' of these dimensions, but two halves was okay - you just have to have the lightest imaginable touch when handling the prints, until everything is glued up. (I was very glad to have some acetone to hand when doing this - I needed to 'roll' the parts between my fingers to get a nice tight joint, using CA glue, and of course managed to well and truly glue my fingers together in the process).

As ever, 3D is great for adding micro-detail. While I haven't yet started to count them, I do like to add rivets every now and then 🤪

 

So, that more or less brings me up to date. There's not much 'making' left to do now, it's mostly small fiddly bits and blocks, but there is still a lot of finalising / finishing off and then phase 2, the rigging. I found it very necessary to make more or less everything before I could confidently screw or glue things in place. Re' rigging, I suspect that will be a long job so I might pace myself and start another model to avoid boredom.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Kevin-the-lubber

[VitusBering]

Amazing work and very inspirational. The detail is phenomenal.

I hope to start on my own soon - still awaiting parts from the Czech Republic and elsewhere.

[Ian_Grant]

Wow Kevin you have been busy! She looks amazing; incredible printed details! 😲 👀 You have become an expert 3D man.

 

ps have you ever tried printing human figures?  ... asking for a friend.....😏

Edited May 8, 2023 by Ian_Grant

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Hi Ian, I haven’t really got to grips with modelling figures. I struggle with the most common platform, Blender, as the tutorials seem to be orientated towards producing virtual product rather than objects for printing. I do also have access to an app that is specific to creating and dressing figures but haven’t given it a proper go yet. For some reason I can’t get excited about doing figures, possibly because this is where it all starts to become more art than engineering and I don’t have an artistic bone in my body!

[Ian_Grant]

I'll need a crew for my galley. I think I looked at Blender, or something, but it was geared to making wargaming figures with exaggerated bodily proportions.  I'll look again; what is this other app you mentioned?

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Ian, the programme I looked at was Daz 3D. It allows you to create a few figures for free. I haven't really tried it yet, just skimmed the front end but from what I've seen (I think on one of Patrick Matthews logs) it's pretty good. Blender is one of the apps where you basically start off with a round ball of 'clay' and somehow turn that into a figurine. That does my head in 🙂

 

[Bill97]

Hey Kevin so glad you are back. I have been checking your build from time to time to see if you posted. I was thinking you and the new King were off somewhere on holiday! How is the ankle feeling?  As always your 3D work is impeccable. I admit have absolutely no idea about the process and can only imagine crafting the entire ship (except hull halves). Very impressive work my friend!

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Hi Bill, the one thing Charles & I have in common is we both like cruising holidays - the difference being, he has an entire ship at his disposal, I have to make do with a cabin 🙂. I did take quite a break after surgery. I thought I'd be able to do a bit on a laptop while loafing with my leg up in the air, but that became boring quite quickly. It's not the same as being sat in the workshop surrounded by tools, paints, all that stuff.

 

Anyway, back on the job now. It’s funny how you can think there’s almost nothing left to do or make and then that ‘almost nothing’ takes weeks and weeks to complete. It turns out I have a whole list of small but essential jobs to do before I fit the masts and start rigging. I’m now well and truly into the ‘fix one thing, break something else’ phase of this model. I seem to break something or other every couple of days and I’m becoming quite good at running repairs. Yesterday, I decided to remove the bowsprit assembly while working on the fore railings as I could foresee the dolphin striker getting broken (again). Of course in the process I managed to catch a whisker boom on my sleeve and snap it clean off, beyond all repair. I've been fearing this since glueing the catheads in place so I’m kind of glad that’s out of the way. It’s given me enough reason to remake the fore rails, which were always a bit wrong, sort out the knightheads, which on revell are a bit strange, and change the design of the catheads so the 'sticky-out' part can be added only when necessary. This allows me to fit and finish the rail and add the outer section of the cathead when I start rigging. 

 

Otherwise, I'm working on the railings. This photo is from a few days ago and is a trial fit, while I shape the wire, especially those end bends. It helps that I can easily make formers, which means all of the ends are identical. At this moment in time I'm intending to use brass-coloured stanchions and leave the wire unpainted, as I like this look. However I could easily change my mind by tomorrow and make it all white!

 

 

You're continuing to make great progress on your SR - I also check in regularly and you'll probably finish that before I finish this! That said, I'm content to plod along, I think this is my pace and trying to speed up would be a mistake.

 

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Quick question, friends: what would be the 'correct' or, from a modelling perspective, nice way of tying on the boats? As you can see, I have provided a generous number of rings to tie to (tiny twisted wire rings), as I'll be adding boat masts, spare yards etc presently, but I'd like to use a pretty method for tying on the boats rather than completely fudge it. A sketch, however crude, or link to a build log would be appreciated. Obviously it doesn't have to be a CS. I know how I'd do this when tying a load onto my roof rack, though I don't know the name of the knot!

 

 

In other news, yesterdays damage repaired, complete with detachable whiskers. I also dug into my reserves of courage and applied the draft decals. I have been ducking this for ages as it's one of those things I felt sure I'd mess up, but I just about got away with it.

 

 

[VitusBering]

Did you make those wonderful catheads? They're very cool. I can't help with the boat tie-downs, I have no clue about that, sorry.

I am jealous of your boat racks though. I need to get a 3D printer someday. I'll do that for the next build (which will undoubtedly happen, but this build will not be truncated as was the last one). Sorry for the self-reference, your model looks absolutely great.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

17 minutes ago, VitusBering said:

Did you make those wonderful catheads?

Thank you, I did indeed. I noticed the stepped boat supports during my last visit, liked that and replicating it is straightforward in CAD.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Ps.I’ll get in there first - the whisker booms are upside down. I can’t believe I’ve done that twice now. Remakes in process, easily corrected.

[Kevin-the-lubber]

I managed to grab an hour today to work on the anchor chains. I have to say I'm deeply unconvinced by the chain running to the bollard; would any self-respecting sailor ever trash the rail or stanchion like that? I don't think so. I'm not going to move the bollard or rail now, but I might yet put an eyebolt in the hull aft of the aft of the flukes as that's how Campbell has it. Half the problem is that plate where the fluke sits (I've forgotten the proper name). When I altered the foredeck to match Campbell, I ought to have also moved that. Such is life.

 

[Ian_Grant]

Looks really nice Kevin!

 

There's also been a debate about the moving anchor chains tearing up the hatch cover; can't remember the verdict now.

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Kevin,  That's one reason why my building takes sooooo long, in that I'm trying to think ahead many moves (as in Chess) as to what has to be done and the order things should be done in ... and what has to be changed, then how will that change affect other stuff ... and so on.  But I always miss SOMETHING - we all do.  So I'll end up doing the 'next best thing' to get past the issue and forget about it.

 

   I used to be a Manufacturing/Industrial Engineer (before  a lot of industry was world-sourced), and was at a conference for problem solving.  One attendees explained a particularly knotty factory problem to the moderator and asked what was the best thing he could do.  The moderator said, without hesitation, that the best thing he could do was to marry a rich woman and get the heck out of the factory.  Then he said the group could start brainstorming the 'next best thing' he could do (presuming the first option was not available).

 

  Now sometimes a mistake I've made (or a problem not yet worked out) will have me tossing and turning in bed until exhaustion brings on slumber ... and as often as not, the next day an idea of something to try will just pop into my head - as if my brain has been working on it while asleep.  There's a guy on 2nd shift in the Pharmacy where I work per diem (that evening I was on duty)  who asked me (as he always does), "Got any jokes today, Johnny?.  Well, I'd been pondering late into the night a couple mistakes I've made recently so I told him that I hadn't slept well recently.  He asked me what was keeping me up at night.  (Now this is a true story.)  Thinking fast, I answered back with a grin ... Viagra.   I guy can dream, can't he?

[Kevin-the-lubber]

Re the chains ripping up the hatchway, my personal view is that we're all a little misled by some erroneous drawings by the likes of campbell. All of the plans I've seen so far have been, essentially, artistic interpretations rather than engineering drawings. I think that engineering drawings would have shown what any engineer would have done with this hatch, and shipbuilders were nothing if not engineers; they'd have done what the restoration team did, as per the photo below. A small hatch in between the chain pipes. There's a much larger hatchway forward of this but that also doesnt interfere with the run of chains. I say all this because, as an engineer by trade and nature, I would never have been able to do something as stupid as having a chain this big run like that!

Johnny, I do the same, to the death, and in the interest of not being struck by paralysis through analysis, I'm now just committing and, as often as not, almost immediately uttering expletives when I realise what new but utterly obvious thing I've missed. There's probably some kind of existential law around this, that says it is physically impossible to see the looming error until you've made it.

 

The other thing that now does my head in is breaking things. As I withdrew my forceps and tweezers from slipping that tiny chain into the real, actually working, release mechanism on the cathead, smugly thinking 'nicely done, sir', "ping", off snapped the tip of the jib boom, never to be seen again. It'll be with the hinge brackets for the spanker yards, the previous versions of the catheads, numerous stanchions and countless other parts that are a right pain to remake. How did I snap the jib boom tip from there, you ask? Well, if you can figure it out please do let me know because I'm damned if I do 🙂.

 

 

[VitusBering]

It is a bit difficult to see in this pic but on my Revell kit there is a cleat on the rail that I use for keeping the chain off the stanchions. I doubt it was meant for the chain. Because of the scale, it is marginally effective.

 

 

 

 

[edit] wow this is an old pic of a deceased model.

Edited June 11, 2023 by VitusBering

[Kevin-the-lubber]

8 hours ago, VitusBering said:

It is a bit difficult to see in this pic but on my Revell kit there is a cleat on the rail that I use for keeping the chain off the stanchions. I doubt it was meant for the chain. Because of the scale, it is marginally effective.

I’ll probably mull on this for a while and perhaps make some modification - at my current rate of progress I have about 15 years to think on it before declaring the ship finished 😃.

[Bob Fraser]

11 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

There's also been a debate about the moving anchor chains tearing up the hatch cover; can't remember the verdict now.

On the forward winch behind the hatch there are two 4 spoke "cogs" over which the chain was placed, matching the "cogs" on the winch under the foredeck.

This lifted them over the hatch and made for an easier run into the chain pipes behind the winch.