Cutty Sark - Academy 1/150 On a Reach Heading for London

[themongoose]

So here’s a new one for me, a sailing ship! It’s Father’s Day weekend … which had me thinking, i’ve had this ship since my youngest son got it for me at least 10 years ago for Father’s Day. I think i have the skills to build it and really make it look good now. Having experimented with wood grain on plastic this should be the pen ultimate challenge 😆 I’m not sure what got into me, I have lots on the bench right now and probably too many unfinished but i think nostalgia has gotten the best of me 🤪



a late night session has all the sprues in primer.

 

The hull comes with 4 clamps to hold the keel together while the glue dries. They look like they’ll be totally ineffective but surprisingly worked perfect



i did a few subassemblies to use as masking on the deck 😉 



now i’ve started cleaning up the masts. Quite a few ejector pin marks on these. Plus the typical aprting lines going up either side of the mast that i’m using the flexi file to clean up. These are big enough that if i leave a flat spot on the side using a #11 I’m afraid it will be visible.



for the sails I’m experimenting with basically some preshading. The color of the plastic is a good base linen color me thinks 😃 i’ve sprayed some citadel “white scar” over the sails to start with.


once i’m done with the masts it willbe clear coat time. Then a week of applying oils i bet 🤣 since I’m traveling for work this week i won’t be tempted to start on it before the clear coat completely dries! Been there, done that, bought the hat 🙈
…sent my son a quick pic…and got back a snarky remark from him, of course!

[themongoose]

Here’s a question, does anyone know how to best cut out the sails? At 1st I thought they were like vacuform sheets and needed cut out and sanded down flush. Not the case though as the sails are uniquely shaped and have curves on multiple edges.

[406 Silverado]

Jun 15, 2024 12:21:59 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Here’s a question, does anyone know how to best cut out the sails? At 1st I thought they were like vacuform sheets and needed cut out and sanded down flush. Not the case though as the sails are uniquely shaped and have curves on multiple edges.

 I saw the fella that built this one cut them out with scissors Chris. Looking forward to this build. 

[handiabled]

Very cool! This will be great seeing come together!

[lyle]

Oh, wow! I’ve wanted to do one of these for so long, but know I don’t have the skills needed. Too much fine work.

[tcoat]

Jun 15, 2024 12:21:59 GMT -5 themongoose said:

Here’s a question, does anyone know how to best cut out the sails? At 1st I thought they were like vacuform sheets and needed cut out and sanded down flush. Not the case though as the sails are uniquely shaped and have curves on multiple edges.

Cut out the sails just roughly but leave some extra. Grab a set the curved scissors used for manicures. Use them for the curves.  

[kyledehart5]

Excellent. I love clipper ships. They were so cool. Looking forward to seeing this.

[Leon]

This looks like a cool build! I'll be following your progress.

[fuzznoggin]

Definitely going to look great when finished. A lot of time will be invested into this one

[themongoose]

So in typical ME fashion I’m bouncing around to various assemblies based on what needs painted and what needs to dry 🤪 amazing i can complete a build and make it look cohesive 😆
Masts are built and in paint right now, i.e. primer is on and the white sections of mast are done.
A bunch of the railing has the wood grain done and the “battons” (maybe thats what they’re called?).
I’m in the middle of the deck painting. That’s my gaiting factor for the rest of deck equipment and the hull. I have 2 different panel line washes on and blended together. Clear coat is drying.








Tomorrow i try to do grey washes to make it look like the teak on the deck.

[kyledehart5]

Sweet!! Nice update. Things are looking good.

[handiabled]

Looks like your going to need plenty of room for subassemblies with the masts coming together

[deafpanzer]

You are off to a great start! Anxious to follow this.

[themongoose]

Tonight i finished the major work on the masts. Tomorrow a clear coat and then onto the deck. I’m not sure the pics turned out as well as these look in person. My son was psyched about how much it looked like wood 👍 i tried to add some brown to the black mast sections to gve it a little look f wear but i know it doesn’t show up on my iphone pocs. Very sbtle in person and actually i may have to redo that once i pit some clear on it. I did this with a set of acrylic gels i bought years ago. I tried them in place of oils and didn’t have much luck. My conclusion s they don’t work well for weathering but are great for large area work, like simulated wood crates, decking , and of course masts 😃











With a long weekend coming up I’m starting to think this will go to NATS in an out of the box category. We’ll see if i’m this optimistic after i try poking holes in plastic sails and rigging the beastie 🙈

[kyledehart5]

I think this is all looking fantastic. Loving the work so far. Tall ships are so cool.

[tcoat]

Those are easily the best wooden masts I have ever seen done in that scale!

[moparman18064]

The masts look incredible. I had the Revell version years ago, but never finished due to breakage during a move. Anxiously watching

[themongoose]

Jun 25, 2024 6:57:46 GMT -5 tcoat said:

Those are easily the best wooden masts I have ever seen done in that scale!

Many thx! I appreciate the vote of confidence. Time to lock these in with some clear coat.

[themongoose]

Jun 25, 2024 18:39:37 GMT -5 moparman18064 said:

The masts look incredible. I had the Revell version years ago, but never finished due to breakage during a move. Anxiously watching

Appreciate that! Glad you stopped by, i needed a few independent opinions on this so far. Time to lock it in.

[themongoose]

Tonight a little work on the deck after i got home. Even on the museum ship the teak is not a polished light brown kimda color. It seems to have a lot of greyish tones to it. Let me know if you guys see what i see?


I put 7 coats of blue-grey glaze over the base i did. Definitely need some opinions on this.

1st glaze just on the bow piece


7 glaze coats on all




Getting ready to do the planks on the hull. I decided doing the white insides would be best now before i have copper on the hull.

[kyledehart5]

Man this is too good. Really incredible work on all fronts.

[themongoose]

Jun 27, 2024 4:27:10 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

Man this is too good. Really incredible work on all fronts.

Appreciate that!

[themongoose]

OK I talked to one of the guys I know in the local club who builds plastic and wooden ships. He gave me some advice on the deck and talked to me about the planking and the pitch that they put between the boards. I’m gonna bring it up to the meeting on Sunday and let him take a look at things and help me do the rigging. It’s so hard to tell from the instructions whether you do all the rigging even with furled sales or not. I’ve never done one before so hard to interpret for me.
So here’s some good shots of the deck and some overall glamour shots that I just couldn’t help mocking up 🤩

[project510]

Coming along nicely!

[kyledehart5]

Looks awesome just with the bare masts and yards. Really cool

[handiabled]

The work you have done so far is outstanding. I really like the paint work on the masts, they look incredible!

[BattleScale Collectica Show]

wow this is looking good Chris!

[keavdog]

Majestic! Looking great.

[themongoose]

Thanks Guys, feeeling good!


Tonight I worked on some little stuff. Major painting was on the hull. I'm using Vallejo for the copper so once I painted it, well it just has to sit for a day before I clear it. Mostly because I just run scared of the acrylics and how well or not so well, that they adhere to surfaces ;-) I did some preshading and in the right light I think it shows up on the hull. We'll see if it shows in these pictures. Tomorrow I'll do some weathering of the copper with some teals, blues, greens, etc.

[mrt51]

This is look really good!