Grecian by DB789 - FINISHED - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - American Privateer Schooner

[Ronald-V]

She turned out very nice! Lovely result  

[DB789]

Thank you all for your very kind comments. 
 

Craig - I followed Jim’s very useful guidance in the Grecian prototype log regarding the flag. I used the starch product below. 

It comes out as a thick opaque white goo which you soak the flag in for a few mins before wiping off with a damp cloth and then I hang the flag on its line between two arms of the quad hands and squash to shape using crocodile clips. 
 

I didn’t quite wipe enough off and there’s a mild residue on the surface. Also the crocodile clips can leave dimples that will need working out. But the overall effect looks good I think. 
 

It’s the flag that Vanguard sell as an extra for the kit and is both very high quality and period correct for the number of stars. 

[DB789]

Whilst working on the rope coils, Grecian took some light battle damage from the children. The starboard stunsail boom was knocked off. It has survived but the PE metal mounting for it that comes out of the fore course yard has snapped off. 

Really bad iPhone photo below, I don’t know how to get the phone to focus right in. 

The brass dot in the middle is the stump that remains of the original PE-4. Vanguard are amazing in that they supply extra parts with each kit - so I have a replacement. 
To fit the original piece I drilled a hole in the end of the yard and glued the PE in place with CA. 
 

Can anyone advise me on the best way of gently removing the old stub of PE which is superglued in pretty tight? 
 

I’ve tried using a little acetone around it but without success. I can’t remove the yard as there’s so much rigging attached to it. 
 

Any advice would be hugely welcome! 
 

Many thanks 

 

Dan 

[Glenn-UK]

35 minutes ago, DB789 said:

Whilst working on the rope coils, Grecian took some light battle damage from the children. The starboard stunsail boom was knocked off. It has survived but the PE metal mounting for it that comes out of the fore course yard has snapped off. 

Really bad iPhone photo below, I don’t know how to get the phone to focus right in. 

The brass dot in the middle is the stump that remains of the original PE-4. Vanguard are amazing in that they supply extra parts with each kit - so I have a replacement. 
To fit the original piece I drilled a hole in the end of the yard and glued the PE in place with CA. 
 

Can anyone advise me on the best way of gently removing the old stub of PE which is superglued in pretty tight? 
 

I’ve tried using a little acetone around it but without success. I can’t remove the yard as there’s so much rigging attached to it. 
 

Any advice would be hugely welcome! 
 

Many thanks 

 

Dan 

Hello Dan

In the past I have used a very small micro drill around the edges of a glued in part which normally enables me to release CA glued in parts. Once the part have been removed a bit of diluted filler can be used as necessary before the new part is fitted.

 

Glenn-UK

[Craigie65]

Thank Dan,

Need to get my order into Amazon 

[DB789]

4 hours ago, Glenn-UK said:

Hello Dan

In the past I have used a very small micro drill around the edges of a glued in part which normally enables me to release CA glued in parts. Once the part have been removed a bit of diluted filler can be used as necessary before the new part is fitted.

 

Glenn-UK

Thanks so much Glenn. The end of the yard has a metal collar on so I wasn’t able to drill enough around to remove the old PE but I could get the new piece into the yard alongside it. It’s not absolutely at the centre of the yard, but once painted it will be almost invisible. 

[DB789]

Grecian is finished and in her display case. Rope coils fitted. A few final pics. 

The case is from DSC Showcases who if you’re in the UK I highly recommend. I have one of their cases for Alert. Despite being handmade from wood and glass they’re much cheaper than the acrylic alternatives. 
 

DSC usually make the cases bespoke, but in this case they had this one already made and offered it at a big discount so I bought it. It’s the perfect length, but with hindsight a bit too wide and a bit too tall. Grecian looks a little lost in it, partly due to that huge bowsprit. I suspect that when I eventually build Sphinx I’ll eventually put her in it, her overall dimensions are similar but she’d fill the case better. 
 

I’ll probably need some anti-UV film on the case or window to protect against fading. 
 

Thanks again for all the advice, encouragement and support on this log, it’s been invaluable! Thanks to Vanguard for yet another wonderful, extremely high quality kit. 

[Thukydides]

Great job, she looks really nice.

[chris watton]

And a very nice job you have done on her, great case, too!

[Blue Ensign]

Nice build, well done.👍

 

B.E.

[AJohnson]

Great model Dan! 

[Dr PR]

Beautiful model! I have liked the lines of this ship ever since I saw drawings of it in Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper.

[BobG]

Congratulations on finishing this beautiful model, Dan. She looks great!

[Cathead]

Great job, that's a beautiful ship and model and I quite enjoyed following along and learning from your build.

[palmerit]

@DB789 how does the Grecian compare to the Adder? I’m thinking of doing both. I know the Grecian has copper plates, which is certainly something new for me and likely contributes to the cost difference. Is there any real difference otherwise in the complexity of the hull or the rigging between the Grecian and Adder (I know they're different, but would you recommend doing one before the other)?

Edited yesterday at 01:52 AM by palmerit

[DB789]

Hi Palmerit,

 

I think they’re both brilliant kits and two of my favourite boats. They’re very different boats in shape and rig but overall there’s not a great deal of difference in terms of complexity.

 

Hull / planking: Grecian’s hull shape is very easy to plank and forgiving. The only caveat being that the arched tops of the gun ports are fragile and easy to break. Adder’s hull shape is much more bluff at the bow and trickier to plank neatly if you’re leaving it bare wood, but with Chris’s clever design all the planking is below the wales so if painted white and not visible it’s not a problem with filler and sanding. 
 

Rigging: Adder’s rigging being fully square rigged is a little bit more complex than Grecian and on a smaller boat. Adder’s rigging is the standing rigging not the full running rigging that the Speedy kit has. Grecian’s rigging will be more familiar to you as its fore and aft and more similar to Ranger and Sherbourne with just square rigged sails on the foremast. 
 

Size: Grecian is much larger which is easier to rig and work on than Adder (that’ll be part of the cost difference too). But worth noting quite how large Grecian is when fully rigged as her masts and bowsprit are exceptionally long. 
 

Coppering: I found the copper tape (not engraved copper plates) pretty easy to apply on Grecian and I think looks good, the key is buying the cutting device that James shows in his build log that enables you to cut copper plates the same length. I am probably in a minority of one on MSW, but I prefer the look of the copper tape over engraved copper plates as it’s thinner so the edges are less visible and they mould to the underlying hull shape better. 
 

Of the four non-fishing boats I have completed (the other two being Alert and Duchess of Kingston) Adder and Grecian are both considerably easier to build. 

My view is that Grecian is slightly easier but there’s not a lot in it. Hope that helps!