ESS Cutty Hind

[Short John Bronze]

I have decided to try a scratch build to use up some of the materials left over from a number of kit builds
Kit manufacturers understandably produce models of historic ships or generic types: customers want to build and display models of Cutty Sark and Napoleonic warships on their coffee tables. This forum has a veritable armada of HMS Victory models, fleets of Santa Marias and flotillas of Vasas. I have built kits of ships from the fifteenth to late nineteenth century and want to build something different. I want to stray from the Corel and Billing trade routes into Mare Incognito.
For a scratch build I consider myself free from conventions and can build something unique and whimsical.
I may as well make things easy for myself by making a model with fairly sharp bows to avoid excessive plank bending. A transom stern is easier than a counter. Looking through plans of my previous builds I found that (below deck level) the profile of bulkhead 6 of the AL Cutty Sark is almost identical to bulkhead 6 of the OcCre Revenge. A midship splice will therefor give me a hull shape that satisfies the criteria of originality and ease of build.
(I believe that some disreputable garages take a pair of identical wrecked cars: 0ne with front damage, one with rear damage, and weld the good bits together. I am, in effect, welding a VW beetle (bug) to a Toyota pick-up truck)
I hope this build log will provide amusement for some members of the forum. If it causes some purists to tear their hair (those who still have any) then so be it.
I have a tentative sail plan in mind but perhaps I should launch a competition for the best suggestion that is in keeping with the spirit of this build.
My real initials in the boring world outside this forum are ES. Hence the title ESS Cutty Hind.

 

[Jackinch]

I have 'almost' built the Cutty Sark twice in the past. on my third and current effort I decided to dispense with convention and alter the design to include, adopt and resemble notable/aesthetically pleasing aspects of other 19th century clippers. As an ex-army rather than naval veteran I have little credibility to lose, and my admiral is merely seeking an antique-like artifact to fit our decor. So, onward and upward with the as yet unnamed vessel. Not a scratch build by any measure, but perhaps an excessive kit-bash. My vocabulary is improving. Good fortune with your adventure - it is great fun.

Some of the progress to date after double planking with walnut. The current effort focused on external rigging rails after the Thermopylae. These rails are fixed with brass rods drilled through into the balsa hull filling.

 

[Short John Bronze]

Frame
Bulkheads 2 – 5 have been drawn on a sheet of 4mm birch ply using the Remains of the AL Cutty Sark bulkhead sheet as a template. The OcCre pdf instructions for HMS Revenge were expanded by 335% to display the image of the bulkhead sheet at the same scale as the physical sheet supplied with the kit. A screen capture and print provided paper templates for bulkheads 6 – 10. A similar process was used to mark out the false keel. A long session with a scroll saw produced the frame shown below as a dry assembly. Bulkheads 5 and 6 were modified slightly to smooth the transition from clipper to galleon.