A Zulu Class Herring Lugger Circa 1880 - 1/64 Scale Wooden Model from Vanguard Models

[Bertie McBoatface]

Finished this morning after 3 months work (though I was doing other model making as well), may I present The Lady Isabella complete with her skipper Fisherman Fred.

 

 

Permission to come aboard, Capt?

 

 

The hull is built from individual planks of wood, shaped, bent and laid over a framework of bulkheads on a false keel. It was fascinating seeing her curves coming into existence from a handful of straight sticks!

 

 

The seagull's view. "Where's all the fish then?"

 

 

The sails filled on cue in the easy breeze.

 

 

The part that seems so difficult but in fact rigging the boat was the most relaxing part of the build though not the easiest.

 

 

Turning for home.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

This was my first ever wooden model boat and it's given me more pleasure than anything I've built in plastic for as long as I can remember. 

 

There's a build log over here and I've already begun a second craft, HMB Beagle - Darwin's ride to the Galapagos Islands and immortality, which has a build log over there. Please drop in, but beware, this wooden stuff is extremely addictive.

 

[ColonelKrypton]

Well done and the image with sails full of wind really shows it off well.

 

Must be hard to take pictures of something this large when up to now your other subject were much smaller.

 

cheers, Graham

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 minute ago, ColonelKrypton said:

Must be hard to take pictures of something this large when up to now your other subject were much smaller.

Very much so. I’m aware that the photos are not brilliant but that’s not even a hobby to me, just a tool for this one. 

[Autle]

Hey Bertie that's utterly brilliant, I love this type of vessel. Well done.

[Bertie McBoatface]

4 minutes ago, Autle said:

Hey Bertie that's utterly brilliant, I love this type of vessel. Well done.

 

Thanks. I've always admired them but thought they were beyond me. Turns out they aren't so difficult to an experienced modeller in plastic. Similar skills. Even the rigging is easy if you can handle tying knots with tweezers. 😜 (my knot-tying face!)

[Norseman 3:16]

A splendid looking vessel!!  That hull looks superb.  Very well done that man!

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 hours ago, Norseman 3:16 said:

A splendid looking vessel!!  That hull looks superb.  Very well done that man!

 

Thank you very much Norseman. I think I've mentioned to you before that the hull shape derives ultimately from the Viking Longships? It is a gorgeous shape.

[Bullbasket]

A man of many talents. That's a superb model Bertie. Nice work.

 

John.

[Faraway]

Well, young Bertie.
What an absolutely spiffing job you have made of that .

A delight to behold.

Now for @@@@ sake put it in a glass case, because if ever there was a dust magnet, that is one.

Seriously though mate, beautiful.

Jon

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 6/22/2022 at 6:34 AM, Bullbasket said:

A man of many talents. That's a superb model Bertie. Nice work.

 

John.

 

Thanks John. Just you wait until the three masted, square rigger, Bounty Beagle is up here.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Bertie Psmith
I knew I'd conflate Beagle and Bounty sooner or later.

[Bertie McBoatface]

On 6/22/2022 at 8:19 PM, Faraway said:

Well, young Bertie.
What an absolutely spiffing job you have made of that .

A delight to behold.

Now for @@@@ sake put it in a glass case, because if ever there was a dust magnet, that is one.

Seriously though mate, beautiful.

Jon

 

Thanks Jon, I have a glass doored bookcase which will hold this one and maybe Beagle too. After that, no idea what to do with them!

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

That's lovely. There is real joy to be had from working with wood, and your rigging work is lovely too, both in the detail but also that everything that's supposed to be tight is tight!

 

You've put me firmly in the mood to work on my sailing boat again. I find it difficult to look at a sailing boat and not want to fob everything off on a nice day and go out on the water.

[Bertie McBoatface]

6 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

That's lovely. There is real joy to be had from working with wood, and your rigging work is lovely too, both in the detail but also that everything that's supposed to be tight is tight!

 

You've put me firmly in the mood to work on my sailing boat again. I find it difficult to look at a sailing boat and not want to fob everything off on a nice day and go out on the water.

Thanks Jamie. Wood is good!

 

Is that a 1/1 scale boat you have? 
 

 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

6 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Thanks Jamie. Wood is good!

 

Is that a 1/1 scale boat you have? 
 

 

 

Yes, although dinghy is a better description. It's just plywood and iroko for the hull and Douglas Fir for the mast, sprit and booms which I have the stock for but haven't built yet. It's a 16ft gaff rigged cutter. I'm fitting out the interior of the hull at the moment so it's gaining in weight and feeling more substantial but the rapid visible progress has slowed somewhat from the initial quickly transforming from flat sheets and boards into a curvy 3 dimensional shape like it did in the beginning

[Bertie McBoatface]

4 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

 

Yes, although dinghy is a better description. It's just plywood and iroko for the hull and Douglas Fir for the mast, sprit and booms which I have the stock for but haven't built yet. It's a 16ft gaff rigged cutter. I'm fitting out the interior of the hull at the moment so it's gaining in weight and feeling more substantial but the rapid visible progress has slowed somewhat from the initial quickly transforming from flat sheets and boards into a curvy 3 dimensional shape like it did in the beginning

I’m trying to contain my envy and find that I can only do it by thinking of my motion sickness which gets worse with age.

 

I have been on a sailing boat only once and remember it with joy. It was a day trip on a yacht in the summer of ‘79. We sailed from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, out towards the Bay of Islands. The weather was brilliant. I didn’t get sick. And a whale wandered over to have a look at us! We anchored in a bay and barbecued on the beach. What a day that was. (I do wonder how accurately I remember it though.👴)
 

The friend  of a friend of mine had turned out to have stinking rich parents, to the surprise of both of us. 

[Maddoxx77]

Real great job you did there! This is some serious skill! 

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, Maddoxx77 said:

Real great job you did there! This is some serious skill! 

 

Thank you. It was a 'training boat' for me and I learned many new skills. I'm very pleased and surprised by how nice it looks even with all the errors I made.

[Ray S]

That is a fabulous finish Bertie. I have now got through page 1 of your build log and am impressed at your ability to get your enthusiasm across in such a fun way. I am looking forward to gradually reading the rest and learning, in the hope of being able to finish my wooden ship I told you about. I had a look at Vanguard Models' website and they have a nice selection, don't they?

 

Cheers,

 

Ray

[Bertie McBoatface]

34 minutes ago, Ray S said:

That is a fabulous finish Bertie. I have now got through page 1 of your build log and am impressed at your ability to get your enthusiasm across in such a fun way. I am looking forward to gradually reading the rest and learning, in the hope of being able to finish my wooden ship I told you about. I had a look at Vanguard Models' website and they have a nice selection, don't they?

 

Cheers,

 

Ray

 

Thanks Ray. The build log gets a bit schoolboy-ish with all the work I had to do on the Lady's bottom but it's all good fun.

 

The Vanguard models do look good. A bit expensive perhaps. I'm trying some of the other manufacturers now. I'm enjoying the Beagle just as much. Maybe ALL wood is good?

 

If you've got any questions for me about the build log, just quote and post, no need to wait to the end.

[Ray S]

Thanks Bertie! I will get the box down and give it another look later today.

 

Ray