1/96 Cutty Sark WIP (Revell H-399)

I wanted to see this build at the front of the forum where it belongs.

Sigep Ziggy

Dave, you have done a stellar job on this build! I will be using your build as a guide to build my own 'Cutty' soon. I hope it can measure up to yours.

 

I'll second that, I have a Cutty sark also but will have to build myself up to it. When I do I'll be referring back to this thread. Enjoyed looking in

A pleasure.

The figurehead is of Nannie holding Meg’s tail and sort of wearing her cutty sark.

I cant post the picture here without irritating the bosses, but it’s easy to find.

Dave, you have done a stellar job on this build! I will be using your build as a guide to build my own 'Cutty' soon. I hope it can measure up to yours.

Many thanks to Steve, Bill, and Jake!  you guys have helped me so much on my journey in this hobby!

Steve, speaking of Obi-Wan and Vader, I hope you've seen the *reimagined* fight scene between them?  Super, super exciting!  here's a link to the youtube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to2SMng4u1k

I'm actually already getting started on my next kit....it's Imai's Spanish Galleon.  I did their Pirate Ship version of this kit way back when (think it was my 3rd or 4th ship) and while I very much enjoyed the quality of the kit (and everything they made), my training was incomplete.  I found this one on eBay recently for 40 bucks (!), but it had a bunch of the sprues (still intact) brush painted in garish gloss colors and the hull halves were glued together.  I bought it anyway, and was able to pry the hull and stern pieces apart, and hit all the parts with Tamiya primer...Boom!  Just like new!  I know that kit, if you can find it, goes for over 100 bucks most of the time, so I feel pretty lucky.  I've already ordered deadeyes, chainplate strops, and eyebolts for it, blocks and line will be coming soon, but my next step is to airbrush all the base coats.

I'm excited about it, thinking I can do a pretty good job...though not as elaborate at Kirill is doing with his! Lol

Bill, I'm a sucker for a witch in lingerie!

Jake, that's a pretty cool bit o' history about the Cutty Sark, never heard about that vane...

Anyway, thanks again you guys for your kind words and advice and support!  You rock!

Dave

Dave,  On the main mast of the ship at one time they had a Mast Vane in the shape of the 'Cutty Sark'. A replica is on display 'between decks' of the ship itself. I added one to my mainmast and get a kick out of explaining it.  

Once gilded, this vane would have been fitted to the top of Cutty Sark’s main mast whenever the ship was in port. It depicts a ‘cutty sark’—the namesake for Clipper Ship Cutty Sark, after the undergarment worn by the witch Nannie in Robert Burns’ poem Tam O’Shanter.

In London’s East India Docks, Willis gave the vane to senior apprentice Robert Andrewes who sprang onto the ratlines and quickly made his way up the main mast amidst a burst of cheers from deck.

The vane was reportedly lost when the ship was severely damaged in a storm in 1916, but incredibly it turned up in a London saleroom in 1960 with a letter of authentication from the Portuguese captain.

Today, a gilded replica can be seen on the ship’s main truck, while the original mast head vane is displayed on board, on the ’tween deck.

Scrool down in the article and you will see the images.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/ship%E2%80%99s-blog-mast-head-vane

Gorgeous. A model of a ship named after a negligee.

Darth Dave,

When you last talked to me you were but a learner. But now you are the Master.

A Master ship builder Darth.

Anyway my former Padawan, you are strong with the Force.

All kidding aside bud, that is one dadgum beautiful model! So what is next on the building stocks?

Steve

thank's mark , wish I had of known , went to hobbyrama , great shop , 

steve5

thanks dave , I'm of to brisbane today for supplies , only a 400 K round trip . will pick up some MM paints there , just hope they still sell them .

your right about the sails , they don't look too bad , I was going to paint them on the sheet , but I can see the difficulties their now . I don't know how rare it is , I honestly forgot I even had it , till I was scratching around looking for some stuff , this should be a quick , fun build , I will do a build log , thank's again mate .

 

Steve you should stop in and say Hi as I live in Brisbane. Besides the thread Hijack for a Minute, that is one of the Cutty Sark Builds I have seen in a long time and set off beautifully by the Display Case. You must be one very happy Modeller.....Cheers mark 

thanks dave , I'm of to brisbane today for supplies , only a 400 K round trip . will pick up some MM paints there , just hope they still sell them .

your right about the sails , they don't look too bad , I was going to paint them on the sheet , but I can see the difficulties their now . I don't know how rare it is , I honestly forgot I even had it , till I was scratching around looking for some stuff , this should be a quick , fun build , I will do a build log , thank's again mate .

Hi Steve-

I've heard good things about the Revell Mayflower (is it somewhat rare?), I hope you'll post a build log!

There really weren't any special tricks to the sail painting.  I have seen vacuum-formed sails that are molded in a sort of cartoonish way  (super-billowy), but the Cutty Sark sails are molded with a much more natural-looking sag, which makes the end result just a bit more realistic.

I cut the sails out from the sheets with scissors, and then punched holes along the top for the gaskets or robands or whatever, and also holes in the corners for clew and sheet lines.  I used a sort of awl that I made from a tiny screwdriver that I ground to a point.  It did a good job of stretching the holes into a nice round opening without tearing them.

Then I took some large pieces of styrofoam and laid the sails out on it, and pinned the sails to the foam using sewing needles (through the previously-made holes) to keep them in place during painting.

The colors I used are Testors Model Master Acrylic Radome Tan and Dark Tan.

I basically just airbrushed the entire surface of both sides of each sail with Radome Tan.

Then I loaded up the Dark Tan and airbrushed it on, but only around the edges and the *recessed* areas, both to create a shadow effect and to hint at weathering.

Applying the Dark Tan for the shadows is a matter of using a light touch, only a little here and there, and anywhere that the sail looks like it curves around (where the light wouldn't be hittting it and reflecting directly off), that's where I would add a little.

After doing that for both sides, I let it dry for a couple hours, and that's it.

Hope that helps!

Dave

dave , I really like the way you did your preformed sails , for something a bit quick , I dug out my revell 1/83 mayflower & decided to do it OOB .could you give me some details, on how you painted your sails , what colours you used etc , please .

Thanks for the nice words, you guys!  It means a lot coming from such talented folks as you :)

Rob, building a case is really not as tough as I thought it would be.  If you've looked around, you probably found that buying a case for a model ship is pretty spendy (I found online sellers charging 400, 500 or more for a large case-and without glass!)...

There's an ebook available online that details the process for making a case....I bought it for 25 bucks several years ago and downloaded, it looks like it's only 11 now:

https://modelshipcases.com/

It's basically written by a man who didn't want to spend so much on a case and decided to build his own.  I followed his method for the most part, but found some more practical ways to achieve certain construction elements.  For my Cutty Sark case, material was about 100 dollars, and glass was about 100 dollars.  If you have a table saw, an electric miter/chop saw, a drill and some sandpaper, you can build one for a decent price.  It does take time, though, and it's a labor of love.  I think this one took me about 3 weeks.

20190830_080042 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

After building 3 of them (for the Soleil Royal, Catalan, and Cutty Sark), I still don't get absolutely perfect miters, but it's nothing a little wood putty can't fill!

Anyway, if anybody here decides to build a case for their model, I'd be happy to offer some insight and advice for the project to help get them through it....some of the instructions in the book confused me at first, but like the instructions for a model ship, I have it memorized by now!

Thanks!

Dave

lovely work dave , beautiful and clean as alway's . I really love the weathering on those kit sails , I've never been able to do kit sails justice , but you made them sing mate .

Incredible, mate.  Love your work, including the case.

I will seriously have to think about a case for my Connie (if I ever get her finished).

Again, FABULOUS!

Bob

Dave....I think your images were simply posted to my Facebook account.....and they popped up there.

Hay....would you consider making me a case for my Great Republic?

Yours are so beautiful and you've perfected your craft....

Rob

Thanks, everyone!

Rob, I wonder what other site you may have seen my model on?  I don't recall posting anything about it elsewhere....

The staysails and the jibs seemed like they would create sag on the rigging, so I thought leaving them off would be a safe bet.  I think it's okay, but in the future if I build another clipper (or anything with set sails) I'll include them in entirety.

Dave

Dave.....fine job for sure...the sail color came out smoothly and uniform...nice work with your shading technique.

I saw your model on another site as well......

You're moving along nicely...and another fine model launched.

I see in addition to the stay sails..you opted to eliminate the Jib sails as well....any particular reason for this move.

Amazing looking model my friend.

Rob

Nice work Dave.  You captured the look of the heavy weather sails.  Nice balance of color overall.  You really have a talent.

Holy cannoli !!!! I don't build ships, but your build is outstanding! A real masterpiece.

Dave,

It looks just fabulous!

Congratulations on having completed this modeling icon ... and having done it proud!

If and when you start your second Spanish Galleon I'll certainly be along for the ride. I just hope I still have time to build mine!

Very nice indeed!  Tks for the time to post.....

At Last!

'Tis Done!

One and a half years later, I finished the Cutty Sark this week...

Here are some pics:

20190824_145135 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

20190824_145144 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

20190824_145152 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

20190824_145210 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

20190824_145221 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

I really had a fun time with this build, learned some new stuff, and I'm feeling pretty good about it!

The display case is ready, too, and I'll probably get it mounted and on display today...I'll take some more pics of up close areas for detail.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement, support, and advice during this project...I know I haven't been as *regular* of a contributor lately, but I hope to be on the forum more often once the Summer passes and I have more leisure time around the house.

Not sure where I'll tack for my next build, but I have a couple ooptions in mind:

I recently picked up a Midwest Products Sakonnet Daysailer wooden ship kit at a swap meet, it looks very simple, so I might give that a whirl as my first all-wood kit.

Or, I just happened to get an alert from Ebay this morning about a listing for an Imai Spanish Galleon....I've built one before (probably my 3rd ship model?) and I've learned much since then, so I'm going to build another one soon, with a few new techniques (maybe not as elaborate and mindblowingly-detailed as Kirril's!!! lol)....anyway, the Spanish Galleon was only 30 bucks on ebay (which is unheard of), but the hull halves have been glued together....for that price, I figured I could manage the hull assembly and it wouldn't cause me too much trouble, so I bought it. 

Anyway, that's where I'm at....I'd like to express my admiration for all the great work I've seen on various threads among the forum, very impressive stuff!

Thanks for tuning in,

Dave

Thanks for checking in, guys!

You nailed it, Rob....so busy with a bunch of house projects, it's been slow-going on the modeling bench.  But I think I'm pretty much done with the projects and now I can enjoy some vacay and leisure time!!  Yay!

I have made progress since my last update.  All the sails are now in place, and most of the rigging is done.  All that remains are the braces...saved the best for last.  I'm also already beginning work on the display case for it.

Maybe I mentioned it before, but I sorta regret (just kinda) not putting in the stay sails....I still think it looks good as-is, but for a clipper, the staysails and even the studding sails would have added a certain amount of fullness.  Anywho, I'm not planning to go back and put them in now, so this is where we ended up!

Here's a few pics.

20190724_145446 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

20190724_145437 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

Once the braces are on, it should have a more balanced look, and I'll get some better quality photos with good lighting and angles....she really does look impressive up close.

Here's a snap of the base for the case.  Got the molding installed, and I'm probably gonna rip down some pine planks into 3/4" square strips tonight so I can start building the frames and stanchions.  This will be my 3rd case, I'm getting pretty good at it by now!

20190720_142928 by Dave Kump, on Flickr

Thanks again for bumping the thread, with any luck I'll have the model finished by Labor Day, and of course I'll have some pics to share.

Enjoy the summer!!

Dave

nice rigging ,a beautiful model.

Dave....haven't heard from you in a couple of months...it can only be assumed you are engulffed in many summer home projects.

Just wondering were you are on the CS and if you had progressed much.

Have a warm and safe summer.

Rob

rwiederrich

 

 

GMorrison

Caldercraft sells 0.10 mm natural line. I buy mine through Jotika online.

http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Fittings/82010.htm

I don't mean to undermine Syren as they have a great product, but the smallest line they sell is 0.20 mm (0.008 in).

 

 

 

 

 

 

GMorrison...is the line fuzz free?  They provide no images..so, I'm not good at using mind reading.

Rob

 

Rob,

I'll send you all that I have.  Please send me your address.

Bill