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Nathaniel Kiker
7 articles

Marine Models “Cutty Sark”

December 1, 2014 · in Ships · · 9 · 1.6K

Hi all,

I know that I haven't been on here a long time. So I just got back from Thanksgiving holiday with this beauty (and a couple extra pounds:) that my uncle had had in his attic for a long time and had never decided to build it. The kit is a 1958 model of the Cutty Sark and it is all wood and cast metal pieces. The sails were supposed to be tissue paper, but that has long since degraded. The fun part is that the instructions are big blueprints of the ship that were originally hand drawn. It is really going to be a challenge and my uncle told me to take my time and decided what I want to do with the model, if I want to build it or sell it and get another model. I hope you guys can give me some insight!

Nate

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9 responses

  1. Looks to be quite the undertaking...personally, I'd find it rather daunting. Not something I'd like to tackle, but I wish you well in your assembly process.

  2. Looks like a "Here's some wood do something with it" project. If you take this on you will definitely have a frustrating & time consuming project. Think I would have to pass.

  3. Good luck with this one,did some sailing ships years ago, all plastic kits.
    There are some good kits from the Cutty Sark out, maybe an alterantive.

  4. Looks like it'll be a very cool project, I'll be following this one.

    Sort of reminds me of the old Royal RC model airplane kits. They were basically a big box of wood with instructions to carve away everything that didn't look like an airplane!

  5. Could some mathematically talented person convert scale 3/32" = 1‘0" into metric?

    Good luck with the build Nathaniel!

  6. Doesn't look like a kit I like for my first ventures into wooden model ship building, but it might be a diamond in the rough. Well maybe still a lump of coal but who knows..lol 😉

  7. I've been building he wooden ship Royal Caroline for two years, and am just about at the stage where the masts will be in place, probably in January. It's an occasional project as it's so complex. The hull is double skinned from individual larch/walnut strips (check out some of my previous posts here on project history). From the photo you posted of the hull it looks a single piece, so maybe not so bad to deal with. The RC is HUGE and probably a different sort of build to the CS, but it was/is my first ship model of this type, and I certainly don't see myself as a model ship engineer. If you approach it as you would a plastic kit you may get frustrated, but as it is when any project starts to come together you should be pleased with the result.

  8. If this is your first wooden ship model, you might want to try your skills on a simple ship model first, such as a sail boat or "cat boat", some thing with a single mast and standing rigging. Also a ship like the Cutty Sark looks better without the sails rigged, unless you plan on making it a diorama with the ship under sail in the "roaring fortys". Plus the model displays more deck detail without sails in the way of the observers' eye. It's your model and build it the way you want, my suggestions are merely a guide based on my ship builds from the past...it took me over twenty years to finish my six foot long CG cutter (previous post on this site). Wood is a great medium that takes special skills to complete in a satisfactory way. Good luck!

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