I picked up an Academy 1/350 Cutty Sark at Hobby Lobby last week along with a couple of spools of rayon thread for rigging.
I also ordered a set of Alliance Modelworks 1/350 PE ratlines, which just came in.
My understanding from prior posts is that the Academy Cutty Sark is an ex-Pyro mold kit. I checked out a Pyro kit on ebay and it sure appears to be the case, which is fine - I just want to do a fun build with it anyway.
I may be starting this build after I finish up my HMS Bounty build and I have a few questions if anyone out there can shed some light on a few things.
First, the hull molding of the ship appears to have a defect at the bow. I checked a Pyro kit up on ebay now & it has the same mark also. I'm sure it may be a mold issue to appear on both but I'm puzzled how it could have been missed for all these years and not corrected - or am I wrong and it's supposed to be like this??? The section at the bow between the copper sheathing and the scroll-work is smooth, (and has a ridge) while the rest of the hull above the copper plating is like a wood grain. Not a hard fix but I find it odd all the same.
Has anyone used the AM PE ratlines? I'm not that familiar with working with PE, so any heads up anyone could give on these would be appreciated. I don't have a rigging diagram of this ship, but I do know the ratlines were mounted on the inside of the hull and not the outside like most ships.
The instructions on this kit leave a lot to be desired. It's a simple kit, but I do want to do a little bit extra to improve it a bit. I have the basic paint scheme on the ship but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy of the old Revell instructions for the rigging. I'll be doing a basic rigging job (with no sails) so it doesn't have to be a copy of the 1/96 instructions - any scale would help. I know that the Cambell Plans for this ship are great, but for what I'm doing with this little kit, it's a bit overkill for me.
Any help with instructions for the rigging would be greatly appreciated.
I also have a question on the rayon thread for rigging. I picked up a couple spools of Coats & Clark Rayon embroidery thread because of the sizes needed. I think I read somewhere (on here maybe??) that using Rayon thread was better on smaller scale kits? Anyone use it? or am I making a mistake in using it? I haven't done much rigging so it's all new to me.
I also picked up a MiniCraft 1/350 Cutty Sark today off ebay. I saw that the MiniCraft had vac formed sails, so I'm hoping that I won't have to cut those plastic sails off the yards on the Academy kit. I'm also curious if the MiniCraft kits quality is better than the Academy.
The contents of the Academy kit. Basic, but considering the apparent age of the molds, not a bad kit at all - IMHO.
Thanks for looking in, any comments welcome.
Adrian