Gotha

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Many many moons ago I built two. 1/96 scale plastic models of the Cutty Sark and the USS Constitution. Actually this is my third re-build of the Constitution as two were destroyed...kids and cats
 
mikewint said:
Many many moons ago I built two. 1/96 scale plastic models of the Cutty Sark and the USS Constitution. Actually this is my third re-build of the Constitution as two were destroyed...kids and cats
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I Have a friend who oowns a shop that sells premade kits for beginning ship builders these kits have wooden sections waiting to be glued and painted also he sells completed ships
 
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When I was a wee lad, my Mom made a model of the Cutty Sark and the Constitution. I remember watching her for what seemed like hours as she did the rigging. I was not allowed to touch, ever! This would have been in the 60's I never knew what happened to them.
 
The rigging was increasingly more and more difficult as you tried to keep lines from fouling other lines. I had 2 sizes of black (tarred standing rigging) and 2 sizes of brown (running rigging). Fortunately the rat-lines were pre-made and the dead-eyes cast in plastic so only had to be glued in place. Then the cotton lines had to be waxed to keep them from getting all fuzzy from humidity. Took a year to rig the Constitution.
 
I had a look around at what is available today, got nostalgic about them after seeing this thread. There are lots out there, most are pretty pricy. I don't know which one my Mom built but I remember it being almost 3 foot long. She had a yardstick laid in front of it (Cutty Sark) on the mantel and it was just slightly shorter not counting the bowsprit just the hull than the yardstick. She had it fully rigged with furled sails, I guess as it would be in port. I remember watching her carefully measuring the sails that came with it and then making new ones on her sowing machine. She aged them in an aquarium (empty of water) by burning something in it that smoked lightly and smelled horrible even with the cover on. My Dad made her put it on the back porch. Then she attached them individually just like they would be and carefully furled them up and tied them in place.
 
Wow, impressive. I never bothered with sails. As I recall the Sark came with plastic vacu-formed sails that could be attached as if the ship were under full sail. A simple dark wash could be used to "age" them. I never bothered as it looked "fake" to me.
In port both the sails and running rigging were removed to be fixed/replaced. Only the standing rigging, heavily tarred, remained.
That's why the sailors were often refereed to as Jack Tar or Knights of the Tar Brush
 
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