Thermopylae 1868 by Richard Dunn - 1/48 - Semi-kit

[Richard Dunn]

Hi
Some of you will remember my build of the 1/40 Cutty Sark Semi kit I did for a customer a couple of years back.

It is possible I might be doing one for Thermopylae very soon on a "larger scale" but it's not defined yet.
Would anyone be interested in this?, and if so, what scale? Please don't comment with scales like 1/96.
I am considering providing patterns and CNC files to people so shipping is not an issue.
Could I have an indication of interest for this please?.
I am thinking 1/48 as a starting point and in the realm of $400-$500 Usd
Thanks in advance.

 

[Richard Dunn]

I have been able to source the original Walter Hood Offsets from a private collection and reconstruct the lines moulded. this of course, means inside planking so the tapered planking needs to be factored in, but I am excited to be able to produce this set of drawings finally.

Edited July 19 by Richard Dunn

[Richard Dunn]

Forward Lines recreated from offsets.
They are very different to Cutty Sark
The blue sections are the moulded offsets

The buttocks here are on the planking , but the plan is moulded so they don't line up in this view, and of course because Thermopylae had 6 inch planking over the middle 3/5ths of her girth tapering to 4.5 inch at sheer it throws out the lines a bit.

Edited Sunday at 06:52 AM by Richard Dunn

[scrubbyj427]

On 7/18/2025 at 10:59 PM, Richard Dunn said:

Hi
Some of you will remember my build of the 1/40 Cutty Sark Semi kit I did for a customer a couple of years back.

It is possible I might be doing one for Thermopylae very soon on a "larger scale" but it's not defined yet.
Would anyone be interested in this?, and if so, what scale? Please don't comment with scales like 1/96.
I am considering providing patterns and CNC files to people so shipping is not an issue.
Could I have an indication of interest for this please?.
I am thinking 1/48 as a starting point and in the realm of $400-$500 Usd
Thanks in advance.

 

What size is she at 1/48? May be a fun side project.

[Richard Dunn]

7 minutes ago, scrubbyj427 said:

What size is she at 1/48? May be a fun side project.

The total length is 6ft, the hull is .4.8ft
I received a whole bunch of plans from the Aberdeen archive last night and am currently sorting out proposed designs from as built.
It's an easy build compared to Cutty Sark and going to be more along the line of a solid keel with half-checked frames, and open tween deck, though from what I have read her tween deck was not laid.

[Richard Dunn]

I have 3 sources of actual plans from the ship yard.
The first set comes from Hall Russell & Co the builder and are in quite poor repair but readable
The second are the offsets from james Henderson that were lofted from the shipyard, these are as built lines but marked to inside planking, this then requires the planking to be added on top which is not the same thickness so nice fun job.
The third is the Lloyds Midship which is pretty close  but not the final section.
Then we have the Cyril Hume model in Sydney which was viewed by ex crew and given the tick of approval for accuracy in regards to deck layout and fittings.

The Hall Russell & Co plans are not 100% accurate and I think an earlier iteration of her design as they feature an aft  cargo hatch, als othe lines of the head do not line up with the as built offsets.

Edited Wednesday at 02:36 AM by Richard Dunn

[scrubbyj427]

Interesting. I’ll definitely be following. May build unrigged and laser cut the whole project. Im going to read up on her more

[Richard Dunn]

1 minute ago, scrubbyj427 said:

Interesting. I’ll definitely be following. May build unrigged and laser cut the whole project. I'm going to read up on her more

Here are a couple of nice big photos
If I am wrong correct me, people, but as far as masting and fittings it's almost identical to Cutty Sark. Not spar dimensions but the crosstrees and hound and yard brackets etc all seem to be the same.

[rwiederrich]

Lots of similarities to CS…….namely they are small and designed for the tea/wool trade.  If one looks closely, one can find numerous dissimilarities.     
 

Rob

[Richard Dunn]

23 hours ago, rwiederrich said:

Lots of similarities to CS

Having worked on the CS restoration and designing the kit based on her proper scanned lines, and all the research that got done in 2011 I would say I initially would have agreed with you, but now in the midst of this they are very different.
they all look similar from a distance, but CS and Thrm are like chalk and cheese.
Here are the main points.

Lines are very different, Therm has much softer Bilge and much flatter aft run, entrance is duller then CS.
The CS had Iron Bulwarks but Therm has wooden with wood stanchions, much like they way they were built in 1700,s
Therm counter is a single plane of turn with no top rail running along the top of the main rail.
Threm has only the 1 main cargo hatch midships.
Therm has only one deckhouse forward.
The Couchhouse roof on Therm is very unique and one of her most distinguishing features.
The Rigging being fixed outside of Bulwarks on Therm as well.
The headwork of Therm is  very different to, as her trial boards do not go far aft of the rabbet line, not even to catheads.
Her coppering is done quite differently as well, the neat goring strakes that CS has appears to have been dropped on Therm and the top-most line of coppering is cut to the waterline resulting in triangular tiles, that is very odd but only in one photo so may have been different every time depending who did the sheathing.

As far as models go Therm is a MUCH easier option.

Edited 1 hour ago by Richard Dunn