HM Cutter Sherbourne by Manual - Vanguard Models - 1:64 - First Build

[Manual]

Hi!

My name is Manuel, and Im in my early twenties and Im from Switzerland. This is my first wooden model kit ever, so the fun is guaranteed
Now comes a bit of blabla, feel free to skip to the pictures

Disclaimer: I already started the build 5 days ago, at the time when I created this post Im laying down my first ever plank (Masterplank on the starboard side) but Im catching myself doing everything else instead since Im a bit nervous…

Also English is neither my mother tongue nor is English grammar my strong side so please forgive me my sins (My English teacher did not).

 

To whom is this guide? : Me? Dont really have an asnwer for this one yet. But surely also for other beginners, and for everyone else because sharing is caring.

 

Why HM Sherbourne? : I wanted to buy a frigate but then reason struck me and I started to look for something small, but still in scale 1:64. So I came across HM Sherbourne and saw there are a lot of videos on YouTube about it (Im following modelkit stuffs build, really awesome for beginners can only recommend it) and its supposed to be a beginner  friendly model.

 

Do I know what I am doing? : Absolutly not!!!

 

So now enough blabla, lets get to the real stuff!

 

The first few steps were really easy, although I messed up the false deck since I didnt pushed it down fast enough nor did I dryfit it and therfore got some splintering (see photo). Im quite happy how the stern turned out though.

 

Next was the sanding, it took me a lot of time since I felt unsure how much material I needed to remove but then decided to just go through with it on and hate myself later.
 

So I arrived at the ply bulwarks and  o my o my was I scared at first, but then after some careful bending and dryfitting (I really can only recommend dryfitting and reading the manual, which is really great by the way! Although a picture with where to put glue on the bulwarks would have been nice, but modelkitstuff saved me there  ) Yesterday I felt confident enough to glue them on and it more or less worked! I gueeesss? We will see. I will move on now to cut off the overlength at the stern and then put on my first plank ever! 
 

Wish me luck!

 

Kind Regards

Manuel

 

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

Welcome aboard, Manuel! I built Chris Watton's original Sherbourne design, a Caldercraft kit, over twenty years ago. That was a good kit, but the new one is a vast improvement.

 

Have fun on your project!

[vossiewulf]

First,

 

 

Second your English is just fine

 

Third, looks like you've made a good cautious start!

[AJohnson]

Welcome to MSW! 

[Knocklouder]

 Welcome aboard.  Vanguard Models are really fun to build Lots of help here at MSW/NRG  , Look at the logs for the Sherbourne, there is loads of information on it. 

Good luck on your journey.   !!!

Bob  M.

[Ryland Craze]

Welcome to Model Ship World Manuel.  You picked a good kit for your first wooden ship model. Thanks for sharing your progress with us.

[Manual]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Im looking forward to upload more stuff, and hopefully tomorrow the first few planks are done. Ive set the first planking as my first milestone, really looking forward to see how that goes

[JC1945]

Manuel, I’m also building Vanguard’s HM Sherbourne as a first time builder. I’m also following along with Jason Port of Modelkit Stuff. You’re right about the quality of his videos, they are very good. You’ve got a great start. I’m looking forward to following your progress. 

[Manual]

Thanks! Unfortunatly I had to move the entire operation to a new location, and now I dont have my tools at hand to work on the model and it will be so until the end of the week. If Im really unlucky they will not arrive until the end of this month . But on the bright side, I have probably watched every single video on planking there is 

[JC1945]

Well, while you wait for your tools you’ll have time to plan. There are several good Sherbourne builds on YouTube, Jason’s is the most in-depth, but the other are of value as well. I should have my first planking done this week. Then it’s a meticulous clean-up and sanding particularly to insure the prow, keel, bulwarks and stern finish pieces fit properly before beginning the second planking. I’m sure that will take me some time. All good things……..

[Manual]

Soooooo I finally got to lay down the first planks ever and since I had to wait that long I didnt waste anytime with preparations or planing.

 

And it went thus as well as one could expect:

The planks started to splinter and break. (At least they had the decenncy to splinter symmetrically in the aft)

 

there were suddenly gaps and recesses in the aft section and at the stem

I saw that I didnt pay attention while sanding the bow, leading to quite a step when going from the ply bulwark to the masterplank ( again I had at least the decency to fail symmetrically  )

 

But all in all Im still quite happy how it turned out, since its the first time I did any planking. I assume the process will feel less uncontrolled with more practice and more experience. I had still fun though since I didnt put myself under unecessary pressure to achieve some decent results since as long as it somehow holds and enables me to lay a good 2nd plank layer Im satisified

 

 

Most of my troubles lay where the plank connects to the prow and right at the end of the plank. At the prow I found it difficult to get the right curvature and glue the end of the plank securly to the prow. Also I think I didnt let the plank on starboard dry long enough after Ive soaked and bent it, since it started splintering very easily when I used the nails. It was better with the second plank which I didnt soak that much.

in the aft Ive had also trouble with the twist of the plank, one snatched and with both Ive got a friendly gap between the ply bulwark and the plank itself.

 

I will probably use some filler before I start sanding, but first I need to lay down the rest of the planks

 

Note for beginners: Dont expect perfection with your first plankings.

 

And now onto the rest! 

 

 

[palmerit]

Vanguard is a great company to start with and their Sherbourne a great ship to start with. I've seen Chris Watton post that he barely makes any money on this one because it's a starter kit to get people hooked on the hobby. That means you get great material and instructions for the price. The material and instructions are certainly better than the Model Shipways kits I also built. 

 

I'm still a novice, but here are a few things I learned - I welcome the experts to call BS on any of these that seem wrong (I'll learn something if they do):

 

- Treat each plank as its own project. While the first layer isn't visible, the more you do to make it look good gives you practice for when you do the second layer.

- This hull is painted completely, and you can do a ton with filler and sanding. But it's still good practice for later models to try to do a good job. I certainly didn't, but I tried.

- While a beginner kit, the bow of this ship is a bit more challenging than the one I'm working on now from Vanguard (Ranger). This requires hot water and a heat source (like a soldering iron, or a soldering iron retooled for model ships), and doing some curving of the planks in both direction (check out videos and build logs and the Articles Database). This one curves almost 90 degrees to the bow, which does mean a double bend in some places. You can see my build log for my novice attempts (that I tried to mimic from other build logs and sources). If you try to force the wood too much it'll likely split.

- Wait until the plank is pretty dry before trying to sand it (to bevel) or glue it into place. I've seen some use the soldering iron to speed up the drying.

- Bevel the edges where the plank you're adding meets up with the plank that's there (I just use a sanding stick a little at a time, and test fit it.

- Use a very sharp hobby knife (I use a scalpel) - I replace the blades often (bought them in packs of 100). And cut gradually, with multiple passes, so you don't end up following the grain of the plank and messing up your cut.

- After gluing in a plank and letting it dry, check to see that a plank's setting flush with the bulkheads. If it isn't, you can try to shape a bit on the hull by wetting it down and running a soldering iron over it. Then add some more glue underneath and clamp and rubber band it. If you don't get the planks to lay flush, you end up with steps rather than a smooth hull. While you will (and can) sand those out, the more you decrease the stepping/clinkering the better.

- You do have a few extra planks, so if you really screw something up you can start over (though you don't have that many extras).

- Know that unless you're really skilled, your planking job is probably going to look less than what you had hoped (both first and second). At least mine did. You can really do a lot with filler and sanding. My final hull looked a lot better than what I thought it might. Be careful not to sand too much. The first planking wood is a bit thick (certainly thicker than the basswood on some Model Shipways kits) but the second planking wood is thinner (though harder). 

- Be careful with the stern area when you're planking and sanding. I broke the end of the stern off twice just being careless. I think others have done that on this and other ships. Just know you can repair it (some repairs are easier than others). And it'll be good practice since even following a kit, there's times when you can or need to scratch build pieces. Even on the Sherbourne, I had to scratch build some pieces near the stern because I had messed something up in the build earlier on and pieces that were supposed to meet up together would not.

Edited March 3 by palmerit