Aftermarket for 1/96 Cutty Sark?

To my knowledge there are no dedicated aftermarket parts on the market for any plastic sailing ship kit.  The manufacturers, I suspect, figure the size of the market just won't justify such things - and they're probably right.

The good news is that several companies (the biggest American ones being Bluejacket and Model Expo) sell generic components for wood ship models, and those parts work just as well for plastic ones.   That's where lots of plastic sailing enthusiasts get such things as blocks, deadeyes, and belaying pins.  But if you want to replace such major components as masts and yards, you're going to have to make them.  Either of the aforementioned sources can sell you some dowels to start with - as can woodworking supply firms like Woodcraft, Lee Valley, and Constantine's.  Beyond that, you're on your own.

I built the big Revell ship kits (the Cutty Sark, Kearsarge, Constitution, and their clones) quite a few years ago.  I personally didn't have any serious problem with bending spars; as such things go the ones in those kits are actually pretty hefty.  And the rigging of a sailing ship is designed so that the pull of a line in one direction is compensated for by the pull of a line in another direction.  On the other hand, I've heard lots of horror stories about poor quality control in recently-manufactured kits, including complaints about low-quality, rubbery styrene.  Depending on when your particular kit was squirted into the mold, it may have problems that the ones I built didn't have.

Good luck.

I usually replace the plastic rigging fittings (deadeyes and blocks) with aftermarket wooden ones.  There are several places that sell these (Model Expo, Bluejacket are two of the best).  However, spars are something else. Even the spar stock supplied by these places is not that great.  A spar (mast or yard) is not like a dowel- a constant round cross section. It generally starts with square or octangular cross section and transitions to round gradually. It tapers over almost all of its length, not just the tip.

The secret to keeping yards and masts squared away is to make the rigging functional.  Proper tension on both standing and running rigging keeps everything shipshape. Scratch building spars is a difficult and tedious operation.

You are in luck in a way that your model is a civil ship.  Naval ships had an excess of manpower, so the yards were kept squared away when not sailing.  Existing pictures of nineteenth century tend to show civil ships in far less shipshape condition.  Yards were frequently  quite askelter.  There are a lot of pictures out there of New York and San Francisco waterfronts.

Longridge admitted to using a little "aftermarket" in his famous 1/48 model of the Victory. In his section on guns, he allows that while any competent modeler could build one, good luck building several dozen that all look alike. He apparently went to some expense to have steel molds cut and barrels cast.

Good to know that even the great ones know when to outsource!

Bones-coa,

Dig it out, dust it off and join in the fun. There are at least a couple of us on this project at the moment.

Don't think you need worry about the plastic it you rig it properly.

Geoff

The lower and mid masts and large spars are in split pieces, so many have put steel or wooden rods inside to strengthen.  The upper mast and spar works are thin and bendable, but make good templates to make stronger copies from hardwood dowels.

Bones,

I've built the model a ton of times, I've never had issues with the mast bending.  The upper and royal section are solid plastic.  A mistake  many modelrs make is to have the rigging "STRAIGHT AND TIGHT" that is not the case with the ships.  Also many modelers "over knot" the rigging, in 99% a simple overhand will do with a touch of acc glues.  The real ship did not have the lines all tight and everything, if so the mast wold have snapped on the real ship when a gust of wind his her.

As far as after market goes, you can get some additional coils of rope, buckets,barrles and boxes to add to the details on the deck.  On the Cover of the book, How to build Ship Models is a great ictures of the men re-painting the Thermop.

Jake

Forum, Some cables pull on others and a little gentle tugging will add tension to opposing stays. Very slight tension seems to look fine. I waxed my thread to lessen the fuzz too. Is bee's was the best? Probably. USS Kearsarge and CSS Alabama had Swedish iron cables. You might use fishing leader painted black on a model like that. Slow is fast for me and I try to enjoy the process even if it turns into a long time. I think the full size masts would have moved out of line with enough tension too so just be gentle.

Jake,

I have that book and I had never noticed those three little guys!

Geoff