Ranger by James H - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - A Barking Fish Carrier - prototype build

[James H]

Ranger was a Barking Fish Carrier of 52 tons, built in 1864 at Barking, and replaced the old well smacks like Saucy Jack. Fish carriers were always driven hard, and with such perishable cargo as fish, the minutes counted, and these cutters like Ranger could sail to windward faster than any other vessels then afloat. After the cargo had been landed at Billingsgate, the holds were packed with empty fishing boxes. One interesting feature of Ranger was that many of her cross section closely followed those of Saucy Jack, but the length of hull had been greatly increased. A sort of 'stretched' version of her. Length overall was 74 foot, with a beam of 16 foot, 6"

 

The kit
This is my sixth fishing boat for Vanguard Models, and the last one for the foreseeable future. It's been a 2yr ride to get to this point with the fisher series, peppered along the way with a few other little projects such as Flirt, Duchess, and Sphinx. Ranger is designed for the total beginner to the hobby as well as those who want to do something a little different and make it 'their own', so to speak. Out of all the fishers, I perhaps feel the curves on this are just right, and the inner bulwark depths, to count this as one of the easiest to fair and plank, if not the easiest of them all. 

 

The core of Ranger, like the others, is a combo of 2mm and 3mm MDF. The parts are a cinch to remove from the sheets.

 

 

There isn't too much pre-bevelling to do on Ranger, but the bevel lines are etched there for you, to make it easier. I always opt to use a Dremel to bevel this stuff, simply because it takes less time when I have deadlines. 

 

 

The bulkheads are now slotted onto the keel. The keel itself has numbers engraved per slot, identifying which bulkhead needs to be inserted. All this is done dry at this stage as glue will be painted into the skeleton later.

 

 

 

The sub deck is now slotted into position as shown. 

 

 

Both bow and stern have fairing patterns installed. These are for the box, now shown bevelled. You can see there's not too much work involved in pre-bevel. 

 

 

These are now glued into position up against the keel, but not the bulkheads at this stage. 

 

 

MDF alignment pegs are used to make sure that all it as it should be.

[chris watton]

For clarification about lines, it should be mentioned that I used the line drawings for Ranger, and not Saucy Jack, for the designs. I did not 'stretch' the lines of Saucy Jack to produce this - the plans I worked from are completely separate...

[James H]

Fairing patterns are now added for the stern. Again, these are pre-bevelled, glue up against the keel, and are aligned with pegs.

 

 

 

The stern timbers are now added. There are three sets of these which are clearly identified (INNER, MIDDLE, OUTER) and they slot into the bulkheads as seen here.

 

To help brace the bulkheads, lock in alignment and create rigidity, two longitudinal beams are added. 

 

 

Bulkhead 7 (midships) is padded out with a part either side. This is there to help the modeller with the two-part inner bulwarks, and also aids the first layer of planking which can be split into sections to make it easier for the beginner. 

 

 

Slightly diluted glue is now brushed into the frames and then left to thoroughly dry. I quite like this approach. It doesn't compromise and strength in the frame, and caters well towards the many slots that the design has. 

 

 

The ply 'under-deck' is now to be added, noting that there is a top side to this!

[James H]

Adding the deck is easy as it bends enough to be able to slot it into the bulkhead ears and into the little slots at the base of them. Those lock the deck into place and with it lying flat across all bulkheads. 

 

 

Fairing took my only about 20 to 30 mins on Ranger. Nice and simple with no double-guessing anything.

 

The 2mm pear prow and keel are now glued into place. These can only plug in one way, so no mistakes can be made.

 

 

On Ranger, the inner, lower counter is maple veneer. This needs no soaking to fit the curves, and just wraps around the area as shown. In fact, there's NO need for any parts soaking on Ranger. She's a water-free zone during building.

 

 

The inner bulwarks are supplied in halves. These are nice and shallow and you'll find no tendency for them to veer away from the bulkheads, fore and aft. This is why Ranger is most definitely idea for a total beginner. I marked the bulwarks with the bulkhead positions so I could pre-drill some holes, ready for pinning to the bulkheads. Also remember NOT to glue to the model above deck level as those MDF ears will later be removed for the timberheads.

[James H]

Another quick update to bring the hull to date with where I am. I have done loads of other stuff, but I'll keep this log in chronological order.

 

Onto planking. One untapped row, and then onto tapering. I split these lengths in half to show a beginner that they can do this if they wish. You really don't need to otherwise.

 

 

 

The inner bulwarks are now trimmed back to the stern timbers and then sanded flush to the stern board can be fitted. This is then sanded flush with outside of inner bulwarks (not shown in this log).

 

 

If you've followed any of these build logs or built a VM kit, you'll be familiar with how the keels are then faced with another layer of pear, creating a ready rebate for you to neatly plank up to. 

 

 

The outer stern board frame is temporarily clipped into position (NO glue!) so that I have the position to fit the pear lower counter. The counter is then sanded flush with the sides of the hull.

 

 

Now, the outer bulwarks can be glued into place, and then sanded flush with the stern fascia. 

 

 

One of the bits I like doing. The MDF bulkhead ears are now twisted on pliers and the remnants sanded flush with the deck.

 

 

Ranger comes with an engraved maple veneer deck. This is test fitted to the model and adjusted (if necessary) so it lied flat on the ply deck and across the camber. This is then glued into place and a 'few' clamps used to hold it down around the edged while it dries. These little 2 inch clamps are great for this. 

 

 

More next time. 

[No Idea]

Such lovely clean work - nice one James! 

[James H]

The hull is now very much complete and the next stage is to building the mast etc. That's only a quick job so there'll be another post in the next week, but here's my 3-part update on model so far.

 

Once you have the deck down, the timberheads need to be added. These are so easy to do as each one is cut for you, labelled from A - Y, with four on each side being temporarily interconnected. Engraved letters in the hull explain position. No underside bevelling is needed either as the bulwarks are 90 degrees to the deck. Here you see the connected timberheads. These are done so the spacings are right for the belaying rack. Once installed, the tops of the bulwarks are sanded evenly.

 

 

 

All painted areas are first coated in many polyurethane varnish, The model is then masked off in readiness for the black upper bulwarks.

 

 

The bulwarks are then masked to protect the new paint, and the hull is filled and sanded.......repeatedly, until I am happy that it's as good as I can get it without checking under primer. There is no natural wood shown below the wales, so was happy to fill and sand this, masking to roughly where the bottom of the wale was to be later fitted.

 

 

PE is now fitted for the rudder hinges, and the rudder glued into position. The rudder itself is a 3-layer sandwich with engravings on the outer faces.

 

The hull is now masked again and white primer sprayed before small refills and sanding sessions. The final white coat is then applied. When dry, a waterline is added to demarcate the area under which will be red oxide.

[James H]

I like Plastikote red primer spray. It coats so very easy in a few passes. This is now added in a few thin coats, and when dry, the model is then unmasked.

 

 

 

The upper rails are added as halves, with the join line hidden under the channel position. I'm careful not to poly and paint that area so there's good adhesion when the channels are fitted. That rail is fitted up to the engraved line at the bottom of the bulwark. That also hides the joint between bulwark and planks. 

 

 

The single-piece wales are now glued into place with CA gel. The wales are placed 14.6 - 14.7mm down from the very top edge of bulwark. This means they'll be in the perfect position for the chainplates later.

 

The side gunwales are also two-part, and easily fitted. The stern section is separate too.

 

 

Time to fit out the decks. As I've had so much of this stuff ready since the beginning of the build, it's real nice to see it being used at last.

[James H]

The winch is now built. The drum part is 3D print and first primed then painted in Tamiya flat green. Just remember to put the engraved faces of the winch sides on the outside of the assembly. Some PE is used here for gearing etc.

 

 

 

That nice little companionway is now fitted, as it the smoke stack. Provision is also made for pinning the channels. Those are now added too.

 

 

 

A smattering of PE is added, such as eyelets and belaying pins.

 

 

The bowsprit entry hole is filed to allow the down to pass through the bulwark and neatly into the bowsprit support.

 

 

Some decorative PE work is added. There is some stern work but I won't reveal that until the model is complete  

 

 

A good friend painted this little cutter for me in oils. This will be included in the kit, so I thought I'd lash this down to the deck to complete the ensemble. 

 

 

More next time...

[James H]

Ranger is now completed. It's taken me well over 2 weeks longer than I expected due to illness, hospital etc!

 

This has been a beautiful model to build and very, very easy. Nothing here is at all taxing and she's perfect for anyone who's never built a model before, as are all the fisher kits. I do very much like this one though. I do find them easy after doing six of the fishers though! Anyway, here we go. These photos are very self-explanatory. 

 

 

 

 

 

Here she is, now finished. The little boat on deck does come with the kit too. 

 

 

[Glenn-UK]

This is one I thinking about doing after Sphinx and before the Indy. Looks a very nice one to build.

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, James H said:

I do find them easy after doing six of the fishers though!

 

Dude -- we have an entire continent's worth of indigenous workboat types that Chris hasn't touched yet, should he ever get the urge to try something different.

[thibaultron]

James, you never did the stern reveal.

[Prairie Sailor]

14 hours ago, thibaultron said:

James, you never did the stern reveal.

He included it in the finished build gallery - https://modelshipworld.com/gallery/image/26593-ranger9jpeg/

 

 

[Prairie Sailor]

James, I'd love to see a photo of the full fleet of fishers! 

[James H]

1 hour ago, Prairie Sailor said:

James, I'd love to see a photo of the full fleet of fishers! 

 

I will do some day, but they are all in attic storage at moment and its more effort than I have strength for at moment.

[Prowler901]

Lovely job!

Todd