HM cutter Sherbourne by Maid of the Mist - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Maid of the Mist]

Okay, Sherbourne will be my third kit log and my first venture into Vanguard Models, following two OcCre builds: Polaris (Summer 2025) and Beagle (August 2025–January 2026).

 

I enjoyed both projects, but I have felt two things (1) my skills need a lot of development and (2) I need to be more patient with each build to get the most out of it.  In Sherbourne, I’ve chosen a beginner-level ship that will hopefully allow me to focus on accuracy and technique.

 

That said, I felt I was ready to step up to a higher-quality kit, which is why I chose Vanguard. My first impressions on opening the box have been very positive: compared to an OcCre model, the materials and fittings are finer, almost delicate by comparison. I particularly like the spiral-bound instruction manual.  Including a bit of history about Sherbourne was a great idea and helps make the manual on its own a nice keepsake. Even though this is a beginner’s model, it feels like a very thoughtfully designed product that’s been made with real care and one that deserves to be assembled with the same level of attention.

 

I’ll be following a Sherbourne series on YouTube (channel name is Modelkit Stuff) to assist with this build.  I don’t know his real name, but I’ve watched a few parts of his series already. He seems excellent at explaining each step and the quality of the model he manages to put together speaks for itself.

[RossR]

Good luck with this project.  Looking forward to following along.   
 

you mentioned patience in your post and I feel like I was at a similar point after a couple of builds.  Don’t be afraid to redo things if the aren’t quite right.  
 

good luck.  
 

 

[Ronald-V]

Looks like a nice kit to build! Wish you a lot fun building this model  

Edited Monday at 12:56 PM by Ronald-V

[LoydB]

The ModelKit videos on this are really good, other than his occasional inability to have what he's working on actually in the camera shot. I'm a few smaller projects away from starting on mine.

[Maid of the Mist]

It's coming together nicely so far.  It actually reminds me a lot of the book nooks that I was building last year.  Everything interlocks and is perfectly measured and cut.  There's no messing around trying to square things off, the structure is so well designed it barely needs glue at this stage.  

 

My overriding feeling, other than enjoyment, is a wish that this has been my first introduction to model ship building.  

 

 

I love the inclusion of a "lower deck", it all helps to create the illusion of building a real ship.

 

Here's how it measures up against my Beagle.  It's a slightly smaller scale of course, but also a little ship by comparison. 

 

 

 

[Maid of the Mist]

Moving along very quickly, I'm almost ready to begin sanding the hull in preparation for planking.

 

The false deck was a very tight fit, but ultimately it snapped into place due to some handy notches on the bulkheads. You do have to check that every bulkhead is lined up with the level of the deck, so you need 32 "clicks" effectively.

 

 

The inner stern counter and inner transom are glued and clamped.  These are the only pieces so far that don't have a perfectly flush fit because the transom has a curved lower edge.  I don't think this matters but I can see later on in the instructions there's no gap between these parts, so maybe when building the prototype a little bit of filler was used?

 

I don't think it matters because the outer transom, stern counter and stern transom rail will surely conceal any gaps.  Any ideas?    

 

 

[Maid of the Mist]

Fairing
Fairing the hull was straightforward using 120-grit sandpaper on the MDF, though not without mishap. Sherbourne has a “scoop” shape and I forgot that the transom sits higher than the bulkhead stubs and, after laying the model flat and applying pressure, I snapped all four stern frames at deck level. Fortunately, the breaks were not all the way through and will be completely hidden once the bulwarks are fitted. Glue repaired the damage and the bulwarks will reinforce the area, a careless mistake from a momentary lapse in concentration.  The stern is quite a delicate area, in contrast to the rest of the ship at this stage, which is rock solid.

 

 

 

The break is barely visible:

 

 

Stern
I removed the laser char from upper parts of the stern frames, as these will remain visible on the finished model. While this would have been easier before installation, the parts are very delicate, so I’m not convinced it would have helped much. It’s a level of detail I might have overlooked on earlier builds, but the speed at which the basic structure has come together has allowed more time for refinements.

 

 

Prow and Keel
The keel and prow fitted perfectly without the need for clamps. Having the keel supplied as a single, continuous piece that interlocks with frame made alignment far easier than on previous builds with multi-section keels. Although these parts will be painted white, I sanded off the laser char to avoid any chance of it showing through the paint.

 

 

Bulwarks

This is the first of three bulwarks per side (the other two are inner and outer patterns).  The 0.8mm plywood is thin and flexible enough that no soaking or pre-bending is required. 

 

 

Careful placement is made easier by the engraved lines and then clamping to the bulkhead stubs.  This kit is full of small design touches like that that make precise assembly easier. 

 

[Maid of the Mist]

Planking:

 

I really need help here please.  I can tell I'm starting to run into the same issue I had when planking my Beagle.  Basically as soon as the bow section turns inward, I end up with a step between planks.

 

Here it is with the first plank.  A bit of a gap with the bulwark, but I don't mind that.  

 

 

The underneath view of that first plank:

 

 

Now, when I start lining up the second plank, there is this big step between the first and second:

 

 

 

What have I done wrong and how can I get this right?  It's maddening.  This in my third build and I always seem to come unstuck on the first layer of planking.  

 

 

 

[ubjs]

I usually turn the strip in the bow/stern if necessary. 
The strip should lie completely against the frame. 
Soak it for about 30 minutes and bend it over an electric plank bender, 
a soldering iron can also work, an iron uses some.

I usually have to file the inner upper edge of the strip to get it next to the one above it.

Don't be careless with this, redo it until it's right.
As you can see, it affects the plank that comes after.

[palmerit]

Are you edge pending?

[Maid of the Mist]

I did a bit of normal bending near the bow, but no lateral bending.

 

I've detached both planks now.  I really want to get this right.  I did want to buy the NRG planking project in the hope it would teach me proper technique but unfortunately they don't seem to ship to the UK.

 

Are there any really detailed youtube videos to recommend?  It's very hard to look at pictures or read descriptions to understand what to do.  I get what the finished result is meant to look like, I've seen several beautifully done models on here (Ronald-V's Sphinx is a sight to behold) but I just don't know how to get there.

[tmj]

Have you watched the following video? Perhaps it will be helpful.

 

 

 

[ubjs]

Here I think you can clearly see how to plank.
I read somewhere that you should think of each plank as its own project.

 

 

[palmerit]

While edge bending is perhaps not necessary on the Sherbourne - like it is on other ships - it really can help. I know with the Ranger I built (and the Lady Zulu I am building now) the instructions explicitly said that edge bending is not necessary, but it surely does help some of the planks to lay flat. 

 

The lime wood strips on the first planking are pretty thick. And the Sherbourne is intended to be painted all over. So you can get by with lots of gaps and stairstepping in the planks and fill it with filler and do a ton of standing. Look at my Sherboune. It was an absolute mess but it turned out looking okay. On the Lady Zulu, I did some edge bending (in addition to regular bending) in places and the planks lay much neater - which is useful for sure on the second planking.

 

If you look at my progression from Sherbourne to Ranger to Lady Zulu you can see quite a bit of improvement. I was happy enough - despite the myriad of mistakes - to leave the top part of the planking on my Lady Zulu bare wood just with some shellac and varnish. If you treat the planks on models that you intend to paint as if they were ones you intended to leave unpainted - meaning doing a bit of work on getting them to lay flat - it will serve you later when doing more complicated hulls (where that edge bending and shaping is a must) and when and if you want to try to leave a hull fully or partially unpainted (without using filler). It may take more time, but there is no rush.

Edited 1 hour ago by palmerit

[palmerit]

One thing you might do - a "free" version of the NRG half hull kit - it to take a piece of wide masking tape, place it over the part of the hull where there is a sharp bend (for example the front 1/3 of the hull) and use a thin marker to trace out what the plank when resting flat would look like. Then take the piece of tape off and lay it flat. You know you need edge bending if that image of the plank bends (usually a slight arch with the tip of the arch towards the top of the hull, at least for a hull like the Sherbourne). In the middle of the hull, if you did the same thing, the image on the masking tape would end up being fairly straight. 

 

It was really that exercise - which is required for the half hull because you cut out planks from wide sheets of basswood - that made it click for me how the 2D geometry of a flat plank needed to be bent to a 3D hull.

 

It's also useful to use a planking fan (spreadsheet or a printout) to get a sense of how much you should taper the planks. The Sherbourne instructions do use a short-hand of just seeing when the plank rubs against the one above. It can be useful to also plan out the thickness of planks at each bulkhead. That way you also won't end up - or be less likely to end up - with having to add in extra small bits of plank or have some planks that come to a point. You never want a plank to be less than half of its regular width; it you need to, you need to use more advanced planking techniques.

Edited 36 minutes ago by palmerit