HMS Alert [1777] 1:48 POF by serikoff. (Two hulls: skeleton and fully rigged)

serikoff

serikoff

Joined
Oct 1, 2024
Messages
474
Points
313

Location
Ukraine, Kyiv
Alert 1777.jpg

Background

My name is Sergey, but in the ship modeling community, I’m known by the nickname serikoff.
Currently, I have an unfinished project, HMS Victory, which I started in 2009 (although the project was on hold for ten years). My plan is to bring the model to the stage of a partially outfitted hull, complete the copper plating, and then put it on hold in a custom glass display case. The truth is, I simply don’t have the space for a fully rigged and masted model of its size (1.5 x 1 x 0.5 m), so I may take a long time to finish it.

A Chance Encounter

One day, I stumbled upon a YouTube video showcasing the build of the Hayling Hoy 1760 model. Through the video’s title, I found a website, drydockmodelsandparts.com, which led me to my future project: the HMS Alert 1777 kit. On the site, I also discovered links to the shipsofscale.com/sosforums, which had over 25 build logs dedicated to this cutter. I instantly fell in love with this ship.

Desire and Decision

I spent a long time studying the kit and weighing my desire to purchase it. I read all the build logs on the forum, and since the reviews were universally positive, only three things held me back: 1. My unfinished previous ship. 2. The fear of leaving this project incomplete due to limited time. 3. The kit’s price, which ranged from $620 to $690.
Then, one day, I came across the kit on OLX (a local equivalent of Amazon) listed for just $350. That sealed the deal.

The Purchase

The seller was another modeler who already had five ongoing projects and one still in its box. To avoid temptation, he sold the kit to me. He had originally purchased it three years ago on AliExpress. Below, I’ll provide a detailed review of the kit.

Plans

I have very ambitious plans for this ship. Let me briefly outline them:
I plan to create two hulls for a single installation, both housed in one display case.
The first hull will follow the kit, built as a skeleton with all interior details, stopping at the point where the sides and decks are fully outfitted. I will then scan this skeleton hull and use a CNC machine to carve a solid replica.
The second hull, carved from a single piece, will be planked and detailed with decking and sides. All the kit’s components (gratings, cannons, etc.) will be installed on this solid hull.

But that’s not all. I also want to scale up the ship’s anatomy plans to match the kit’s dimensions and print them 1:1. Using these plans, I’ll fabricate the masts, yards, and rigging for the second hull. I’m undecided on whether to include sails.
The result will be a continuous building process with two extremes: 1. An admiralty-style skeleton hull. 2. A fully finished model with no cutouts to view the interior.

Some might find this approach strange, as it’s common to plank one side of the ship and leave the other open for viewing. However, I’m drawn to the two extremes: either a complete ship or just the skeleton.
I’m unsure if my plans will change along the way, but I’m committed to this vision and hope it comes to fruition. Wish me luck as I embark on this long but exciting journey.

P.S. Hopefully, nothing will get in the way, but if it does, I apologize in advance.

Alert 001.jpg

P.P.S. As an alternative, I might even include sails—but no promises!

Alert 001a.jpg
d4071_3.jpg

(Photo of a museum model as a reference for execution).
Ship-1
 
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Review of the HMS Alert 1777 Kit - 1:48 Scale - from Trident Model (via AliExpress!)

This kit was purchased from someone who originally bought it three years ago on AliExpress. Its specifications are nearly identical to those listed on drydockmodelsandparts.com, but there are some differences in the layout of parts on the wooden sheets. Essentially, the first half is entirely different, while the second half is identical. That means all the parts are present and of the same quality, but their placement on the wooden sheets varies. As for the rest, the metal parts and overall contents are the same.

Alert 002.jpg

The box dimensions are 63 x 23 x 9 cm, and it weighs up to 5 kg.
The contents include: individual bags with hull and slipway components, a box with metal parts, planks, cylindrical blanks, brass wire, and a packet containing the manual, stickers, and drawings. Everything is packed so tightly that once you take it out, you won’t be able to fit it back in! All the parts are accounted for and undamaged.

Alert 003.jpg

The metal parts are free from defects, of good quality, and all are present. I haven’t opened them yet but will provide a detailed look later.

Now, let’s proceed step by step, starting with the drawings.

Alert 004.jpg

The drawings are at a 1:1 scale to the model, which is great. However, there are two issues: 1.They were folded many times (I had to iron them to make them usable). 2. Who thought of drawing blue lines on a light blue background? It’s barely readable!

To address this, I’ll scan and print them in black and white, supplementing them with anatomy plans. I’ll dedicate a separate section to this topic.

Alert 005.jpg​


The stickers, shown on the left in the photo, are straightforward. They’ll be used as guides for proper sanding of parts.

The manual is in Chinese! I had to translate the English version, which I had in PDF format, into a language I could understand. First, I converted it to Word, then used ChatGPT to translate each piece manually, as the automatic translation made no sense.

Alert 006.jpg Alert 007.jpg

The only advantage of the Chinese manual is that it visually illustrates the layout of parts on the sheets, which differs significantly from the English version for the first half of the kit.

Alert 008.jpg

The contents of the kit are well-known to many, as it has been shown here multiple times. However, I haven’t seen anyone mention that this particular kit came from AliExpress. That’s why I decided to highlight the differences and similarities.
Below, I’ll provide a detailed review of the wooden parts, which might be useful for someone. I’m doing this for my website, so sharing it here is no trouble at all.

...
 
dockattner said:
Hi Sergey, I think this is a marvelous idea. I wish you the best of luck on this ambitious plan and will be following along.
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Thank you very much for your support. Always glad to have your company)))

Bill-R said:
Hello Sergey,
Looks like you have your plans well laid out. I will be following your journey with great interest. I am sure that I will learn a lot along the way.

Bill
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Thank you for your kind words, they encourage me at this moment when I am at a crossroads))
 
Dubz Modelling World said:
As I have the Alert in my stash and on my list to build soon too I will follow you very attentive :)

Dirk
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RogerD said:
A really interesting approach to this project Sergey. I too will enjoy following your build/s.
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Thank you, friends. I really hope that I will start all this soon. We always have so many plans in our heads, so many ambitions, and the main thing now is for the circumstances to work out. Thank you for your support.
 
Webber007 said:
Good luck building this project!
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Дякую)))
AnobiumPunctatum said:
Hi Sergey,

I wish you a lot of fun during your journey and a lot success for your project. I do not know when I will go back to my own project, because in the moment I have lot of fun with my Fly. But I will ...
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The main thing is not what we do, but how much pleasure we get from what we do. So good luck to you in your projects!))
 
serikoff said:
Some might find this approach strange, as it’s common to plank one side of the ship and leave the other open for viewing. However, I’m drawn to the two extremes: either a complete ship or just the skeleton.
I’m unsure if my plans will change along the way, but I’m committed to this vision and hope it comes to fruition. Wish me luck as I embark on this long but exciting journey.
Click to expand...
Hi Sergey,
I love your idea and wish you luck with it.
Some of the great marine artists of the 18thC painted a ship in several views on the one canvas, so that they looked like a small squadron. The result was that you could view the ship from all angles to get a better view of its construction. I think your plan will do this.
 
Masters Mate said:
Hi Sergey,
I love your idea and wish you luck with it.
Some of the great marine artists of the 18thC painted a ship in several views on the one canvas, so that they looked like a small squadron. The result was that you could view the ship from all angles to get a better view of its construction. I think your plan will do this.
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Thank you. I still have a continuation of the idea.... I will put a stove next to the first hull, so that it can be examined better (maybe something else, barrels or something similar). And with the second hull I will put a boat, or maybe two (as it was in reality). So that one boat would be equipped with oars, and the second with sails. And this would be an overpriced exhibit))) But this is an even more ambitious plan...
 
Good morning Sergey,
it's nice to see that you have started a new construction report of the HMS Alert. I'm looking forward to your updates and your plan to build two models sounds very interesting. I will follow with great interest and take a seat next to all the other colleagues.
 
AnobiumPunctatum said:
And if you have fun, you can build Alert together with Le Coureur or make a battle diorama with both ships ...
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OOO, that's another story, lasting several lifetimes)))

Tobias said:
Good morning Sergey,
it's nice to see that you have started a new construction report of the HMS Alert. I'm looking forward to your updates and your plan to build two models sounds very interesting. I will follow with great interest and take a seat next to all the other colleagues.
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Thank you very much!! I will try not to disappoint you... I want to be able to do everything myself and implement all my ideas... but this requires a lot of time.. eh))

Smithy said:
View attachment 493225

The way the fore and aft sails ‘cut through’ the square sails makes a very striking image.
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I also really like the look of this ship with sails... there is something unusual about it, not like the others. In the process I will decide, maybe I will make the sails myself... who knows))
 
serikoff said:
I also really like the look of this ship with sails.
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While I like the image of the ship with all sails raised, I don't think that's a realistic conformation. The sails would surely choke each other? I imagine that Alert would either use the fore and aft sails with a beam wind or the square rigged sails with a following wind, or varying combinations according to circumstances, but never everything at once.
 
Serrikoff,
you are a brave soul, and I wish you luck. I have built the kit, and it is an impressive piece of computer aided design. The fully rigged ship will be impressive. Worth mentioning that the hulls of naval cutters of that era were clinker planked. It will be interesting to see how you will translate a 3D image of the hull "in-frame" to a clinker-built hull.

good luck Thumbs-Up


Smithy said:
While I like the image of the ship with all sails raised, I don't think that's a realistic conformation. The sails would surely choke each other? I imagine that Alert would either use the fore and aft sails with a beam wind or the square rigged sails with a following wind, or varying combinations according to circumstances, but never everything at once.
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I don't think that is correct. There were many ships sailing with 'fore-and-aft' sails plus 'square sails', and that includes naval cutters.
 
ChrisP said:
Serrikoff,
you are a brave soul, and I wish you luck. I have built the kit, and it is an impressive piece of computer aided design. The fully rigged ship will be impressive. Worth mentioning that the hulls of naval cutters of that era were clinker planked. It will be interesting to see how you will translate a 3D image of the hull "in-frame" to a clinker-built hull.

good luck Thumbs-Up



I don't think that is correct. There were many ships sailing with 'fore-and-aft' sails plus 'square sails', and that includes naval cutters.
Click to expand...
Sailing with them on board yes I agree, but using them all simultaneously? Nah, don’t fink so.
 
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