Paul821 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 As one who started modelling in the 1950's my contribution to this GB has to be a kit of that era. As Airfix were the only game in town at the time the kit also had to come from their venerable back-list. With the latest offering being in 2018 - as appearing most years in the Aldi/Lidl Christmas offerings, as a 1955 this must be the oldest Airfix kit still in production, and one I would have made at the time as I visited the ship in its, then, new home at Greenwich. My source for the model is indeed an Lidl purchase with the box contents and sprue shot only 22 parts - an ideal kit for a kid? In general I will be taking the words "I built as a kid" as the key to this build and construct the kit OOB with a few modern assists as possible back in the 9150's this would have been my toolkit no masking tape in those days just "sticky backed plastic" as Blue Peter used to say. My only concession to modern building will be to use the acrylic paints that come with the model rather than enamel. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Nice to have you onboard Paul. congratulations on finding a kit from the 50s still in production, wow. Seems like you have taken the essence and spirit of this GB totally to heart so i’m warmly looking forward to see your build. have fun! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Wow, advanced tools! As a kid, I just twisted the parts off. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Well I think that has to be one of the oldest kits in the GB! An ideal candidate for our little party! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 No way I would have been allowed scissors back in the day - my two brothers would have complained loudly about how they would suffer at my hands. The tape would have been handy for keeping them silent though....😉 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 "built as a kid" after three hours on this model those words are already haunting me. As a kid I am sure I would have completed this kit well before now - even allowing for the fact that enamel paints took forever to dry - who worried about the odd finger print brought about by been to impatient to get onto the next stage. This is the stage I have reached five thin coats of white paint have just about covered the sails - looking at Scalemates the original kit was made in white plastic so the sails were probably left unpainted. The only construction to date is the stand and that did nit require any glue. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Far more patience than we would have had as kids and it will look all the better for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Well it looks like quite a lot of progress for a first update Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 The moment of truth... The results of my experiment to recreate my original build by using Sellotape didnot come out as I wished but probably how \i expected The masking in place and the black applied - at this point I was thinking I wonder why no one makes clear masking tape as it makes it much easier to see the line. However upon removal there was a significant amount of leakage under the masking - this was despite rubbing the tape down. It could be something to do with the acrylic paint and enamels might have worked - but it does mean that for the line between the black and copper I will either have to go freehand or use more modern tape. I also now have the issue of the very thing white line around the hull to contend with. Anyway the black coat is now on and the question about applying the copper can wait until tomorrow. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 That's a series I never built as a kid. I've built one or two over the years and I like the simplicity of them. The early ones came with seascapes for the ship to sit on. They looked the part but I guess there was more plastic in the base than all the rest of the model. The bean counters probably nixxed that idea. I'm looking forward to seeing the kit finished. Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 End of part one... All the parts are now painted using the supplied paint and the single brush. Line between copper & black carried out freehand at this point as a kid I would have assembled the model and it would have probably appeared on my parents mantlepiece but I have decided not to glue the ten remaining parts on as this is the start of a new beginning. The parts will now be given a bath in paint stripper and hopefully the model will rise like a phoenix as I complete it with a more current array of tools & a greater number of paints . I might even attempt some rigging. So for those watching the story has only just begun. The build should now move at a rather faster rate as we have finally completed a 12 week house move. We should have moved in Mid April but in mid-march none of us knew what was about to happen. To add to the issue the new house required extensive repairs and although the builders could work materials were practically impossible to source. As rooms became available we moved the relevant items over and today the final, large items, were moved using a hired Luton bodied van with a very dodgy gearbox! Luckily the move was under 3 miles.. During those weeks modelling was of much lower priority. Added to that we gained a 2/3 acre garden which had not been maintained for years. That is also now under control. 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Oh my. Well im excited about round 2! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Sounds like you have been very busy Paul, hopefully things will start to settle down for you now though. The Cutty Sark is looking nice and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the sails and any rigging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 The original release was moulded in a sort of ivory colour, which would have been good for the sails. It was a waterline model with a little sea base, I have an early bagged version kicking around somewhere. By the time I got round to building one the mould had been altered to full hull and the colour to a brighter white. I think this was the only one of this range that I built. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted June 28, 2020 Author Share Posted June 28, 2020 On 6/27/2020 at 8:38 AM, modelling minion said: I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the sails and any rigging. The sails!! I go the following measurement on my micrometer Other areas approached 1mm At the quoted 1:775 scale this would give a sail of around 1/2 metre in gauge. I you take about the depth of a box of 100 3-ply tissues a single ply of tissue might get close to scale - but painting and cutting might be an issue. I am now off into other areas to the internet to research some options. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted June 30, 2020 Author Share Posted June 30, 2020 This small pile indicates that the Airfix sails will play no further part in this build. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Oh wow. It’ll be Interesting to see your alternative solution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Me too, sounds like quite a project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 The question regarding the sails was an easy one to resolve - not only is this a kit I built as a kid the Cutty Sark will be as I saw it as a kid. That is without sails. There is a Pathe News of it arriving at Greenwich in the early fifties and I would have first seen in in 56 or 57. The execution of the task may be more difficult to solve. That just leaves the rigging - about 18km of it. That would be about 2m at this scale. Images of the ship certainly show how the rigging stands out. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Great idea re. the sails - I just took a look at a pic. of it without the sails - good luck with all that rigging! 😵 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 16 hours ago, Paul821 said: 2m at this scale. Around 20m. Sorry, ten times more rigging! Nice idea to dump the sails though. I don’t know what you are going to use for rigging. Back in the day, these kits came with some thin clear plastic printed to represent the shrouds. When I did the Mary Rose a while back I used fine brown cotton thread that I had pulled through my fingers squeezed together with a blob of PVA glue to stop fuzziness and fraying. I made my own shrouds with the cotton glued together with PVA. They were rather over scale but looked OK. Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted July 6, 2020 Author Share Posted July 6, 2020 On 7/2/2020 at 2:37 AM, AdrianMF said: Around 20m. Sorry, ten times more rigging! Don't think I can thank you for that @AdrianMF my brain must have sub-consciously seen the actual figure and moved the decimal point to save my sanity. I down loaded both the Revell and Airfix instructions. The rigging on the Revell kits runs to 11 pages whereas the original (larger scale) Airfix on on has one page and rigging lettered from a - r so you can see from this picture which I am going with. At the moment I am undecided about what to do about the ratlines - there may only be 6 sets but each set has between 6 and eight vertical ropes. I have already decided not to tackle the horizonal lines as I don't think the ez-line will be too visible anyway, My plan is to tackle lines a & b on the Airfix instructions first and see a) what they look like, b) how long they take and c) if I retain the aforesaid sanity. If I disappear from BM you will be able to guess which of the three prevailed, 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Good luck with the rigging, you're a braver man than me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Oh my god. This is gonna look brilliant but whoa what a job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul821 Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 On 7/8/2020 at 10:44 AM, Dansk said: This is gonna look brilliant I don't know about that. After a week I have finally managed the first mast. As some one who avoids bi-planes and hates CA glue I am wondering why I took this on. I decided against adding ratlines but think the ship does look a little bald without them. You will also note a few untidy ends to the rigging. It appears if ez-line is stretched and then meets CA glue but does not set then it forms a miniature corkscrew. The can wind itself around another piece of rigging like a bean rinds round a beanstalk. At this rate of build I am glad that this GB still has 5 weeks to run. Who would have thought that a 22 piece kit could take so long. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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