Lady Isabella by DB789 - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - Zulu

[DB789]

This is my third build and third Vanguard fishing boat, having previously built the Fifie and Nisha.  
 

Another beautiful kit arrived from Vanguard full of excellent high quality parts and superb instructions. 

The build logs on here from Blue Ensign, Eke and James H are so impressive and thorough that I don’t know if this log will add much. Maybe just the perspective of someone at beginner level on this build.

 

There is the added complication that this model has been commissioned by my four year old son. Annoyed that I named the Fifie after his sister he demanded that I build a “bigger” boat for him and named it after him. I offered him Nisha during construction but she was dismissed for being “too small and I don’t like the colour black”. I showed him the Vanguard models webpage and asked him to choose one and he selected the Zulu - well second choice was the Zulu - he really wanted the Sphinx painted a lurid bright blue, a few tears later expectations were suitably managed and the Zulu accepted. The owner has agreed to an unpainted upper hull but I hope to persuade him that black or dark green might look better. 

So work started. Bulkheads, inserts, lower deck and false main deck slotted together perfectly and were glued. In my typical clumsy way I managed to break the aft bulkhead 14 and the adjoining insert part #19 whilst test fitting them. Despite the parts of the Zulu being large some of the parts have very narrow “bridges” that break easily. Neither snapped off entirely and both have glued fine.

The hull was then faired 

Stern post and keel were glued on using the ingenious alignment pieces. 

The stem post was dry fitted. The distinctive Zulu lines are becoming apparent. 

The superstructure was prepared up to the end of step #2 but not yet faced with outer panels. I’ll do those whilst the bulwarks are drying to shape.

 

 

[James H]

You going for the full set of fishers? 😁

[wool132]

If he is it certainly won’t take long!

 

Jonathan

[DB789]

3 hours ago, James H said:

You going for the full set of fishers? 😁

That’s the plan. These are great kits and your instructions and build log are superb. I don’t see the point of trying other kit makers with worse instructions and lower quality materials.
 

I never thought I’d find fishing boats interesting but they’re great looking boats and I like that I can build them quite quickly. I don’t know if I’ve got the patience to build something really impressive such as Sphinx or Indefatigable - we’ll see - maybe the former one day! 

[DB789]

First planking is complete. What I found tricky with the Zulu was whether to taper the planks at the stern or not. The raked sternpost is much longer than either the middle bulkhead or the stem so if the hull side was flat you would taper from the stern (wide end) towards the bow. But there’s significant curvature towards the stern of the Zulu and the planks fit around this curve much better if tapered at the stern end (they need edge bending too). I’ve been experimenting and my first planking is untidy but as a smooth base for the second planking will do the job. 

 

Any guidance on how to approach this better would be much appreciated. I’m still very much learning as I go along. I don’t know whether to taper the second planking at the stern or not and then just add stealers below the waterline. As the owner still wants an unpainted upper hull, I’d like to make sure I do a better job on the second planking.
 

The end result is smooth to the touch although it doesn’t look that way in the photos. 

With stem post fitted. 

I haven’t tried fitting the rabbet patterns yet, so the first planking may yet need some more aggressive sanding at bow and stern to ensure the rabbet is deep enough. 
 

Thanks

 

Dan

[DB789]

Second planking is now complete. I’ve continued to find the stern of the Zulu tricky to plank (my lack of skills/patience, nothing to do with the model). 

On the port side the upper hull was looking quite good and I used a mixture of PVA and sanding dust from the pear wood as filler which looked good. However, I have a rule that I can experiment on these smaller boats to increase my skill and knowledge. I wanted to apply Danish oil to the bare wood hull but this came up very blotchy, not being absorbed by the areas which had glue filler on. 

The Danish oil effect together with needing more filler at the stern meant that bare wood was no longer an option above the waterline. Luckily the young owner has finally agreed to a black painted hull. 
 

First coat of paint showed up quite a few big blemishes. I want some planks to show through the paint as they would have done on the original boats, but not too much or two messy. 
Above was too much and too messy. So back to filling and sanding. 

Another coat of paint and I’m happy. 

The attractive lines of the Zulu are now clear to see. Annoyingly the carpet monster gobbled one of the brass PE rudder hinges but I’ve substituted a spare from Nisha, it’s smaller but barely noticeable. 
 

In other news, Vanguard’s Saucy Jack turned up today together with sails and will be my next build when the Zulu is complete. Thanks Chris! 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2022 by DB789
Extra photo

[DB789]

Apologies for the lack of updates and photos. Made some good progress on the Zulu. 
 

She’s been a pretty straightforward build even for a beginner like me. The biggest challenge was planking the stern (described above) and painting the waterline + bootstrap. The issue here was the same as on the Fifie. If you measure where the waterline should be on the stem and rudder posts on the plans (these plans are 100% scale unlike Nisha’s) and then use the waterline marker, the waterline is much too high amidships. So as on Fifie I kept the stem and rudder post measurements and used Tamiya masking tape to join them with a curve that went roughly through the correct level amidships. Due to the more complex shape of Zulu’s hull the line is less satisfactory but OK. Much of the last fortnight was spent trying to improve this. 
 

I had planned to ditch the chaos black spray as it chips so easily, so initially used Humbrol matt black enamel but the effect just wasn’t as clean, so reverted to Chaos and used the enamel to fill any chips which is barely noticeable after a coat of matt poly varnish. 
 

I’ve copied Eke on using Woodland Scenics Roman lettering on the hull which has turned out well. She has a fictional Dundee fishing number (still working on these and needs a “dot”) and “Dundee” on her starboard quarter. 
Her name “Henry” after my son is on the bows in BECC lettering. I’ve struggled to get the Woodland Scenics dry transfer lettering onto the hull neatly at a much smaller font so used BECC instead. The fonts are at odds though and the Roman lettering looks better. I may have another go to get them on. 
 

Shaping the masts, etc. using a drill was harder than on the other Vanguard boats as the lengths of wood provided were almost exact for their use and didn’t have any excess to go in the drill bit. Even with cushioning around it the drill chuck damaged the wood on the mast. 
 

Need to paint white tips on the masts, boom and bowsprit.

 

The deck fittings are beautifully produced as usual and we’re a pleasure to assemble and fit. 

[EKE]

Looks great DB!

[Blue Ensign]

Looking very smart, nicely done.👍

Your boy is  a lucky lad.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Andyrew]

Looks really good Dan, you are building some great looking Fishing Boats.

[DB789]

Thank you so much for all the encouragement.

 

Eke and BE I’ve really benefited from your excellent Zulu building logs and Andy’s log when building Nisha. Plus of course, Chris’s great kits. 
 

Dan

 

 

[DB789]

Very nearly finished. Just a few small jobs left to do. Need to touch up the paint in places, revarnish the black part of the hull, fix that the fishing number is “182” on one side and “82” on the other, and I need to add coils to where the ropes are belayed. 
 

Rigging was very straightforward, slightly more complicated than the Fifie but not much, and much easier than Nisha.
 

The only material change to the rigging I have made is to add a mainsail sheet running to the starboard bulwark. Whilst on the starboard tack, as the model is presented, the blocks arrangement attached to the port bulwark would only take the pressure of the sail if the clew of the sail was outboard of the port bulwark. 
 

I tried to add wire to the bottom edge of the sails to give them the full of wind look that Eke achieved so effectively on his Zulu. Unfortunately the wires I used were too bendy and no elastic memory (think that’s the right term) so ended up with a too wavy sail edge which tended to ride high in the middle of the sail. So out the wires came again. 

 

This kit builds into another stunning boat despite my best efforts to wreck it! 

May not have a chance to finish her off entirely for a week or two being school holidays for the kids. 

[DB789]

The Zulu is finally complete. Not very different from my last set of photos but the last finishing touches done now. 

The varnish on the hull is Vallejo matt polyurethane - but has come up quite glossy, not sure why.
 

Another great kit from Vanguard enabling an inexperienced modeller, such as me, to build a super looking boat.

 

Nisha and Fifie welcome Zulu to the fishing fleet. 

The three fishers so far. 

Including bowsprit and boom, Zulu is by far the largest and a much bigger sail area. 
 

Onto Saucy Jack next. 
 

Thanks to everyone for all the help and encouragement with this build. The building logs have been invaluable. 

[Blue Ensign]

Great looking set you have there Dan, they do make lovely models

 

B.E.

 

[longshanks]

A great collection of  traditional fishing boats

 

Kev