Naval Cutter Alert 1777 by serikoff - 1:48 - two hulls: skeleton and fully planked and rigged - based on Trident Model hull

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:14 PM

Hi to all fellow modelers.

My name is Sergey, but in the shipbuilding world I’m known as serikoff.

I’m also on other forums, including my own Ukrainian one, but after the beginning of the war my forum suffered because of a conflict between the site hosting and the image hosting, so all the images disappeared from the forum. For this reason I decided to post my build log here as well, so that the information at least stays somewhere. Plus, I really like this forum.

Since 2009 I’ve been building HMS Victory, but that build is now on a long pause, because I took on another large project.

For the moderators and forum administration: I would like to publish my build log specifically in the “from plans” section, and not “from a kit”. And here is my reasoning:

My project is a model of the Naval Cutter Alert, 1777.

Alert177700.jpg.47a1d949cf058e876a988ea0af6d1401.jpg

I was thinking about building something similar from plans...

Alert177702.jpg.5291dee7911029b66347cfbac8ea7c87.jpg

…but there are no plans for this particular cutter, but there is the Anatomy book, and that is what I will build from — however!

The most difficult stage is creating the correct hull geometry. I may be wrong, but according to my calculations one kit manufacturer — Trident Model — reproduced the hull geometry very accurately, making a very good PoF kit. I bought it and took it as the basis for the further build (only for the hull).

So, I am building two hulls in parallel.

The 1st hull is PoF from the kit (but only the keel, frame hull and deck), while everything else (all deck fittings: gratings, bitts, anchor gear and the rest) will be made according to the Anatomy drawings. This hull will be a “skeleton” and will remain in that state when finished.

…and the 2nd hull — full planking, full rigging. To make it, I scanned the first hull and printed it on a 3D printer, and this print became the base for creating the second hull, which I am building from scratch, fully planked, and on which all the details will be made according to the Anatomy drawings, including the masts, yards and the entire rigging.

That is, this project goes far beyond a normal kit build, where working with the kit itself is only a small part of a huge amount of work with drawings, planking and rigging — none of which is included in the kit.

A small spoiler showing what both hulls looked like a few months ago:

Alert177703.jpg.0161cfe7c461d4330ca5f85e94d64345.jpg

And this is what my models look like now:

The beginning of the project was in March 2025, so I will be posting the build log until I reach the current stage and, afterwards, will post in real time.

As I already said, the first hull will be a “skeleton” in Admiralty style, to show the entire interior of the vessel. And the second hull (the main one) will be maximally adapted to a museum look (with bitumen finish and aged styling). As an example — this cutter.

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:20 PM

Work on the drawings.

February 2025

So, briefly about the kit from Trident Model. There are many reviews on the internet about this kit, including build magazines. But for me it is only a base, and here I will explain why I chose this particular kit. All the parts (gratings, carriages and other deck fittings), although they are not bad quality, I will still make according to the Anatomy… as well as the entire second hull.

I scanned the Anatomy of Alert 1777 and created my own drawings, adapting them to 1:48 scale.

I also worked on the masts, sails and rigging.

All these calculations are under constant correction and I will share them once I bring them to the highest quality.

I printed these drawings in A0 format (118.9 x 84.1 cm). Here is their size for clarity:

Alert177707.jpg.acfbfaffcaa3f2d7cd3467d5253ded7e.jpg

But first I needed a hull as a base. And, as I see it, Trident Model managed to reproduce its geometry very well in their kit. If you apply any frame or profile of the ship — they very precisely repeat the Anatomy drawings from which this kit was created. Yes, the frames in the kit are not laid out exactly like in the Anatomy (a bit simpler), but such layouts exist in other Anatomy books, and again — the general geometry is reproduced as accurately as possible (as far as it is possible).

Thukydides · Wednesday at 06:21 PM

Welcome to the forums. Your models look great. I have a soft spot for Alert as it was my first wooden model. I will be following along to see how this progresses.

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:31 PM

6 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

Welcome to the forums. Your models look great. I have a soft spot for Alert as it was my first wooden model. I will be following along to see how this progresses.

Thank you very much. I really liked this ship too, once I get settled in, I'll definitely come visit you too!

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:41 PM

Chapter 1.

1st hull "skeleton."

March 2025

As I already mentioned, the basis for my main hull will be the hull from the kit, and first I need to make it, adapting and correcting it as much as possible according to the anatomy.

After cleaning from sawdust, separating from the base, numbering and grouping into separate packets......

…I began assembling the frames.

There is nothing complicated here, considering that it was necessary to carefully join them in the jigs, removing all excess. Then I glued everything with PVA Titebond II, placing food wrap in between so it wouldn’t stick to the jig.

And after sanding...

…I got this result:

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:51 PM

April 2025

With the solid frames it also wasn’t difficult. First I had to glue one side, flip them in the jig and glue the other side.

Then the frames needed to be faired. For this there were special templates that needed to be traced, and along this line the excess was removed.

In some frames there were no joints, but according to the Anatomy they were supposed to be there — so I added them (as an imitation), and also made imitation bolts. I did this with a gel ballpoint pen after removing the ball.

Edited Wednesday at 07:45 PM by serikoff

serikoff · Wednesday at 06:59 PM

Keel.

Some keel parts had to be remade because they were from wood with bad structure, but overall everything was fine.

The keel was assembled in a special jig, so nothing complicated here either.

I glued the keel with PVA Titebond II, again isolating with film. But I did NOT glue the keel to the keelson! Because later it is very important for them to remain separate.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:05 PM

Then I faired the keel and keelson. I made slots for the planks. Here in a bit more detail:

Edited Wednesday at 07:06 PM by serikoff

ccoyle · Wednesday at 07:08 PM

Welcome aboard, Sergey! This is an interesting project you have undertaken.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:14 PM

Continuation with keel.

I also corrected an error in the kit.

And shaped the top of the stem.

I also applied Roman numerals for the draft marks...

...and fitted metal parts, but did not glue them.

I also made these parts ...

and a temporary keel.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:24 PM

13 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Welcome aboard, Sergey! This is an interesting project you have undertaken.

Thank you very much for your hospitality. Yes, you're right, the project is interesting, and I'll try to publish a diary as soon as possible so I can follow along with you as the construction progresses.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:30 PM

And after everything was ready, I assembled the shipway.

Assembling the shipway is very simple according to the instructions; the only very important thing — do not glue these parts.

The rest I glued with CA gel and activator.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:49 PM

May 2025

When everything was ready, I began assembling the hull on the shipway.

I did not follow the instructions step by step — first I made it so the hull could be removed from the slip until the very last moment, and I made the stern section according to the Anatomy.

serikoff · Wednesday at 07:55 PM

Continuing work on the stern.

I made several changes to the jig and construction to adapt the appearance to the Anatomy.

serikoff · Wednesday at 08:01 PM

Fixing the forward frames.

To create the correct profile, stickers were provided.

Mostly I glued in the slip with CA gel, except for the first part. It was not glued along the entire length.

serikoff · Wednesday at 08:09 PM

Fixing the aft frames.

Some small completions at the stern.

Then the frames were glued in the same way with CA gel.

Then I finally glued the frame heads to the slipway.

serikoff · Wednesday at 08:20 PM

Fixing the middle frames.

In the middle section there are paired frames alternating with regular ones. On the paired ones, while I still had access, I made imitation bolts.

I glued the frames with the same CA gel to the keel and the slip. But between each other the paired frames were glued with PVA, leaving an unglued section for easier separation later after trimming.

In the same way I glued in the toptimbers.

So, let's summarize:

50 days of construction (2.5 months),

499 parts on board...

...and now Horatio Nelson himself has come to the inspection 🤣

serikoff · Wednesday at 08:30 PM

Sanding the inner surface.

For this I made this tool. I glued sandpaper with rubber glue onto pipe insulation. It is stiff enough but flexible. To change the used sandpaper, I pinned the next sheet on top with pins. Grits 150 and 240.