Cutty Sark by juleslucas - Del Prado - scale 1:90

[juleslucas]

Thanks for the tip Nenad, I have taken a few beers and have not touched the hull so far (as I am following strictly the instruction sheets I received).

 

The next item to build was the main deckhouse. I attached the four sidewalls and painted in white. When I started to work on the outer decoration I quickly realized that it was the same decoration that came for the foremost deckhouse.... aaargghh ... the problem is that the foremost deckhouse is much longer, it has its holes in different places, and also the pattern is different (according to the picture attached to the instructions).

 

So I had to start cutting them in pieces, measuring and gluing them in correct position to achieve the correct length.

 

 

Well I guess I achieved a quite good finish, at least I am very glad with the result. In the back, you can see my progress on the poop deckhouse as well.

 

 

[juleslucas]

I have finished the 3rd deckhouse as well, it was a bit easier to assemble than the other two, but more precise planking was required for the roof.

 

 

 

 

The stern deckhouse will have a sun window as well (or how it is called) made of a metal alloy, but it will be fitted at a later stage.

 

In the kit they provided some copper windows for the deckhouses. All together 21 pieces, and the instruction also talks about 21 pieces, but as I counted the wholes in the buildings it is 22....

 

So brainstorming started, where to get a similar piece without leaving the room, without spending extra money on it... And realized that ball point pens have something I might use.

 

 

After a couple minutes of cutting, bending, sanding, forming piece 22 was created.   Not 100% same, but looks fine and will not be really visible once the ship is finished!!!

 

 

And this is how the 3 deckhouses look like when inserted in their place on the deck:

 

Edited August 16, 2014 by juleslucas

[NenadM]

Nice idea. And very fine work. Color of deckhouses.will be

...

[juleslucas]

Color of deckhouses.will be

...

 

Thanks Nenad,

 

What do you want to say with the above?

[NenadM]

Will you keep this color or try to get natural color on CS in Greenwich?

[juleslucas]

My Admiral picked the colors for CS, after showing some possible shades and pictures. Also the top part of the hull will be of sapele color and not black, so this CS will be a unique version of the original one 

[juleslucas]

Going on with Cutty Sark the next step in the instructions was to start the lining of the Deck. 3mm wide strakes are provided in the kit and according to instructions I have cut a couple of 12,5 cm long strakes, and also a couple of 6,25 cm long ones, to accommodate the beginning of the ship.

 

That couple of strakes actually added up to 110 pieces and to a sore in my finger, as I was using a hobby knife to cut the strakes into the correct size.

 

 

I have started with the foremost deck section, which is not yet attached to the hull. I glued the strakes (modified a few into nearly correct size) and after proper drying I cut the edges and started to sand the surface to make it even everywhere, pretty satisfied with the result as always

 

 

 

As next step, and a bigger step in its own, I have started lining the main deck itself, by gluing 6,25 cm and 12,5 cm long strakes alternately. In the middle of the work, sometimes I realized that the remaining gap is either too big or too small, so with correct replacements or even with sanding I was able to find the perfect matches for most of the cases.

 

 

As I approached I always indicated the places of the grooves for Masts and deckhouses, so I was aware which places to remove from deck lining.

 

So main deck lining is completed, wholes are cut and sanded... also sanding of total deck has started, more pictures to come shortly.

 

Edited August 19, 2014 by juleslucas

[NenadM]

Go on!

[juleslucas]

Okay, as promised some further pictures... The below one shows better lines and more sanding and it is a bit blur

 

 

I have also started the lining of the poop deck, and sanding started... I have created some tiny holes, where two strakes meets, both on the poop deck and on the main deck. Once stained I am expecting that these will imitate the nails, used fasten the lining, results will be seen later... excited

 

 

And a picture showing the varnished deckhouses on the new lining:

 

 

...

 

Other progress on Helm box:

 

Here are the pieces that makes up the helm box, I think professional eyes can see that it has nothing to do with the shape of the real CS helm box, but since at least it looks like a helm box I will not spend time on recreating the original look, but will use the material provided (unlike I did for the hencoops).

 

 

And here is the final, assembled, painted and varnished helm box... Any opinion? Shall I destroy it and create one that looks similar to the original one?

 

[NenadM]

 

 

 ... Shall I destroy it and create one that looks similar to the original one?

 

 

 

I would      

[juleslucas]

Well, during the weekend we went to buy some furniture in IKEA to our flat. Admiral wanted to move, because she got bored of our current flat.... Finally I was able to persuade her to buy some new furniture and redesign the interior instead of moving... saved some money on that, but also spent the entire weekend with constructing the different items, cleaning and packing...

 

But out of everything the best part is that now, I have my own working table, with lots of place to store and lots of place to work on Her and my other models!!

 

 

 

[NenadM]

Nice. Only left to find a way how to sand, and how sand dust to be invisible to Admiral

[juleslucas]

That one is already solved... I have a small table at the balcony, and I used that place when I sand extensively, and also the wind solves most of the cleaning problem (so far no word from the neighbors about extra sand and dust in the district  )

[juleslucas]

Okay, so here comes some progress, lot progress I would say. I have added the two gunports, which was not something hard, as I had to use the two halves pre-cut and glue them together, than I used the sappele planking to line the interior side of the gunports. These will be used to cover the outside of the ship as well above the copper line.

 

 

Once they were properly attached I have finished the planking of the exterior of the hull. Not much was missing so this was an easy step. Next I started to add layers of wood filler, wait for it to dry, sand it. Check the surface again and the line of the ship, add some extra wood filler, wait for dry, sand it. Repeated it for a couple of times until I received an acceptably smooth surface... This was then I realized that the bow section of the ship is too thick, so I have removed the planking from the bow, started to remove some excess wood and reinforcement and also shortened the planks wherever needed. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the line of the ship is decent again, next there is some work needed on the stern - this is minor to the one I had to do with the bow section.

 

Meanwhile I have stained the deck surface of the ship, again not exactly the color of CS, but with the color picked by Admiral, actually I also like this color for the ship.

 

 

And the result after a layer of varnish added:

 

 

[NenadM]

Nice work. Take care with putty.

 

That openings are not for guns. These are water ports, with function to release excess of water to go out from deck on bad weather conditions. Cutty was a merchant, not a war ship, and has only one little signal gun on stern deck house

Edited September 1, 2014 by Nenad M

[juleslucas]

Absolutely true Nenad, I have called them gunports as it is named in the instruction sheet, might be technical name for it even if it is used for water or for cannons, I do not know.

[keelhauled]

Hi

 

The ports are called clearing ports.  they allow the water to flow out when the ship is in heavy weather and the water is crashing over the bulwarks onto the deck.

 

Nice build

 

Marc

[NenadM]

These ports are also called "12 little beasts" torturing you on both sides of bulwark until you cover them all with "doors" on hinges

 

If you are interested, there are on youtube some clips of sail ships on storm, to see what and how this works when deck is full if sea

Edited October 25, 2014 by Nenad M

[coffeebeans]

Very nice deck work! good to see another member of the cutty fleet.

 

Luca

[juleslucas]

Wow, it has been a while I posted anything here, and it was for a reason...
 
Simply I had other stuff to do, and hence had no time to deal with Her.
 
Good news I am back on track again. I have started the secondary planking of the ship. Unlike to most kits and reality the Del Prado version is not painted black above the water level but has some fine sappele strakes to be attached as secondary planking. They are very thin and comes in very different shapes, and even though I tried to align them as close and as matching as possible there are many tiny holes visible between the neighboring strakes.
 
This is not a great problem, just makes the whole process like 100 times longer, as I need to cut them into tiny little perfect hair wide size and attach them.
 
No worries, I am progressing and photos will come soon as well Actually I have 2 to share:

 

 

 

Opinions, comments?

 

 

[NenadM]

Nice work. Some space between strips just has to be there, to show planking structure.

 

Fine sanding will cover it, if you want, also finishing wirh wax, laquer or simillar. Also you can use mixture of sand dust made from same wood with transparent glue, used as a putty to fill gasps if you need/want, then sand it to level you need.

 

In pictures above, it seems to me all is ok, even most critical part ( under stern) is not shown

 

Wellcome back and keep a good work

[juleslucas]

... Some space between strips just has to be there, to show planking structure....

 

Well, to be honest I like this approach, as it has some certain point in it. Although I try to cover as much as possible using different techniques you also mentioned Nenad.

 

As promised I have some further photos to share as well, as now, I am approaching 98% readiness with upper secondary planking

 

 

 

 

Also I started to attach the water ports to the hull. It is not a big deal, as they come in 3 pieces - 2 pieces for the frame, out of which one comes from the inside and the other from the outside of the bulwark, and there is one piece for the shudder. Actually they can be attached in a way, that you can also open them... In case of a big storm inside the room the deck will not be flooded entirely

 

 

Meanwhile I got back to my little hencoops and started to redesign them based on some other materials and dimensions from rfolsom.

 

Cheers and have a good week ahead!!

[NenadM]

Cutty start to show her beautifull lines. Keep on good work

[juleslucas]

In post #1 - Posted on 24 July 2014, nearly a year ago I raised my concern about how the Hen coops look like in the Del Prado kit - basically they do not look like anything

 

 

So back at time I requested help on dimensions and received, thanks to Bob. So I have started to create my own version of hen coops. For which I used 1mm thick balsa wood, 0,5mm thick cardboard paper and a special Vietnamese toothpick, made of bamboo and with a diameter of 1mm only.

 

And obviously some white paint...

 

So here is the result: (on the top my version, on the bottom DelPrado version)

 

 

 

And here you can see, how it looks like once attached to their place

 

 

They are neat, at least for me

Edited June 12, 2015 by juleslucas

[NenadM]

Very nice. If you are interested, I can post some photos of hen coops ... or not. (On this photos first thing you will see is different position of main mast hole on CS toward your kit - a little bit backward to aftdeck)

 

Keep on your good work

Edited June 14, 2015 by Nenad

[keelhauled]

My Admiral picked the colors for CS, after showing some possible shades and pictures. Also the top part of the hull will be of sapele color and not black, so this CS will be a unique version of the original one 

Hi, 

nice build. I saw your post about the color of the deck houses.  During the rebuild they did analysis of the paints and varnishes.  It was inconclusive, but appeared that the panels were probably white with the surrounding molding varnished.  Kind of what you have in your post.  during her first three captains, her deck houses had three different treatments.  All white, white panels with wood trim, no paint - only varnish(like she is today).

So you actually have an accurate depiction of the color scheme for her deck houses.

Marc

Edited June 14, 2015 by keelhauled

[juleslucas]

...

So you actually have an accurate depiction of the color scheme for her deck houses.

Marc

Hi Marc,

 

Thanks for your explanation, and I am very happy and that is what I actually thinking about, that such an old Lady should have had plenty variations during her years under different owners and captains, and there might be a few years not even documented at all...

 

... If you are interested, I can post some photos of hen coops ...

 

Hi Nenad,

 

As I am closely watching your work and posts I have already realized that the DelPrado kit is very different to the original C-Plans or reality, but as I see a photo of how my Cutty will look like I am confident enough to continue with the DelPrado scale and plans and do some minor alterations only here and there.

 

As for the photos, they are very welcomed, but I assume I will also see them in your blog, once you get to that phase of your construction, as I enjoyed the creation of your Pig Pen as well... by the way how does Piggy feel herself in the new home?

[juleslucas]

Okay, lets see how I progress with her:

 

I have finished the big job of second planking of the top of Cutty, only small gaps to be filled, but it will be a continuous job, when I am bored with other stuffs ... 

 

I have also attached all the 12 clearing ports that came with the kit to the main deck, actually I really like their color, so I assume I will not paint them for now

 

 

As next step, according to assembly guide I have attached the keel to Cutty, it came in 3 pieces only, there might be some further adjustments needed, taking into consideration the shape of the wood...

 

The keel at the bottom:

 

 

And the stem at the bow:

 

[juleslucas]

Ohh and for the fun I have placed several objects I have already created for the Cutty Sark, but they are still waiting in the cupboard for their time to be attached to their final places, such as the deck houses, the life boats, etc.

 

Here it is how it looks now: Isn't she beautiful?

 

[NenadM]

Her Majesty starts to show her beautifull line !!!!