How hard is a Cutty Sark kit?
A wooden Cutty Sark kit is generally an intermediate to advanced build. It isn’t a good first kit, but it’s often a sensible choice for a builder’s first large square-rigger.
Compared with a warship such as HMS Victory or USS Constitution, the Cutty Sark has some real advantages. There are no guns, gun ports or gun carriages to make, and the deck is relatively clear. The hardest parts are the fine, sharp-lined hull and the large, complex rig. If you’ve already planked a hull and rigged a simpler schooner or brig, a Cutty Sark is a realistic next step. If you haven’t, it’s a big leap.
Most builders spend several hundred hours on one, often spread over a year or more.
Why the Cutty Sark is a classic model subject
The Cutty Sark is a British tea clipper, launched in 1869 at Dumbarton on the River Clyde. She was built for speed in the China tea trade, and she later made fast passages carrying wool from Australia. She’s one of the last surviving clippers from that era.
She has a composite construction: wooden planking over an iron frame. Today she’s preserved in dry dock at Greenwich in London, where she’s raised up so visitors can walk underneath her hull. She was badly damaged by fire in 2007 during a conservation project and reopened to the public in 2012.
Her name comes from Robert Burns’s poem Tam o’ Shanter, in which a “cutty sark” is a short shirt worn by the witch Nannie. Nannie appears as the ship’s figurehead, which is a nice detail to get right on a model.
For modellers, she offers a graceful hull, a tall and elegant rig and a striking black-and-gold colour scheme, all in a ship that’s very well documented.
The main Cutty Sark kits
The scales below are the ones these kits are commonly listed at. Kits are revised over time, so check the listing for the edition you’re buying.
Mantua and Sergal 1:78
Mantua Model, the Italian maker, has offered a Cutty Sark at around 1:78, including under its Sergal label. It’s a large, well-known kit with many completed examples and build logs online.
As with many Italian kits, the plans are detailed but builders often say the written instructions are brief. Expect to work mainly from drawings, which suits builders who already have a kit or two behind them.
Billing Boats 1:75
Billing Boats, the Danish maker, has a Cutty Sark at around 1:75. Billing kits are widely distributed and often come up secondhand as well as new. The scale is similar to Mantua’s, so the finished models are of a broadly similar size.
Artesania Latina and others
Artesania Latina, the Spanish maker, has offered a Cutty Sark at around 1:84. Several other European makers have produced versions over the years at various scales. Before buying an unfamiliar brand, look for build logs and photos of finished models so you can judge the hull shape and the quality of the fittings.
Plastic Cutty Sark kits
Plastic kits are a quicker way to a display model:
- Revell’s 1:96 Cutty Sark is a long-running, large plastic kit with a full rig.
- Airfix has offered a smaller Cutty Sark at around 1:130.
There’s no planking, so the hull is far quicker. The rigging still takes time, and it’s good practice for a later wooden build. For more plastic options, see plastic model ship kits by scale.
Comparison table
| Kit | Typical scale | Material | Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mantua / Sergal | ~1:78 | Wood | Intermediate to advanced | Large, popular kit; plans-led instructions |
| Billing Boats | ~1:75 | Wood | Intermediate to advanced | Widely available new and secondhand |
| Artesania Latina | ~1:84 | Wood | Intermediate to advanced | Spanish kit; check edition contents |
| Revell | 1:96 | Plastic | Intermediate | Large plastic kit with full rig |
| Airfix | ~1:130 | Plastic | Beginner to intermediate | Smaller, quicker display model |
The hardest parts of the build
Planking a fine clipper hull
Clippers have sharp, narrow bows and fine sterns, built to slice through the water. That makes planking harder than on a full-bodied cargo ship or a bluff-bowed warship. Planks have to twist and taper into tight curves at both ends, and it’s easy to end up with a lumpy bow.
Most wooden kits use double planking: a first layer to get the shape right and a thinner second layer for the finish. Take your time fairing the bulkheads before planking, and sand the first layer smooth before adding the second. Our guide to planking a wooden model ship hull covers tapering planks and fitting stealers.
Metal sheathing below the waterline
The real ship’s lower hull is sheathed in a copper-coloured alloy known as Muntz metal. Kits may supply metal plates or tape, or you can paint the area. Plating looks excellent but means laying hundreds of small plates in neat rows that follow the hull’s curves. It’s slow, careful work rather than a hard skill. See how to copper-plate a model ship hull for the method.
The rig
This is where a Cutty Sark kit is most demanding. She’s a full-rigged ship with three masts, each carrying several square sails on yards stacked one above another. That means:
- Many yards to shape, fit and hang at the correct angles
- A lot of standing rigging (shrouds, stays and ratlines)
- Running rigging, such as braces and lifts, that has to lead neatly to the right belaying points
Good rigging plans and a clear order of work matter more here than any special tools. Rig from the centre outward and from the bottom up, so you don’t trap yourself behind finished lines.
Gilding and the figurehead
The black hull carries gilded decoration at the bow and stern, plus a gold stripe along the side. The white figurehead of Nannie is the focal point at the bow. Kits usually supply cast or carved parts, but painting them crisply takes a steady hand. Fine masking and good brushes help. See model ship finishes for paint and varnish choices.
How long does it take and how big is it?
A wooden Cutty Sark is typically a project of several hundred hours. Builders who work a few evenings a week commonly report a year or two from start to finish, depending on the level of detail.
The finished model is bigger than many people expect. At around 1:75 to 1:84, a fully rigged model including its bowsprit is likely to be roughly a metre long, and well over half a metre tall. Measure your display space and plan for a case before you start.
Sails or no sails?
Many kits include sail cloth, but plenty of builders leave the sails off:
- Without sails, the yards, rigging and deck stay visible, and you avoid the tricky job of making scale-looking sails.
- With full sails, the model has a dramatic look, but the sails can hide the rig and look heavy if the cloth is too thick.
- Furled sails are a popular middle ground, showing the sails neatly bundled on the yards.
Decide before you start rigging, because it affects how you attach the yards and run some of the lines.
Building up to a Cutty Sark
If the Cutty Sark is your goal, a stepped approach makes it much more likely you’ll finish:
- A small, simple first kit such as a fishing boat or small cutter, to learn planking and finishing.
- A schooner or brig, to learn masts, spars and basic rigging.
- The Cutty Sark, with its full square rig.
Our guide to famous ship models includes the schooner Bluenose, which suits step two well.
Which Cutty Sark kit should you choose?
- Want a large, well-documented kit with lots of build logs? Mantua or Sergal at 1:78.
- Prefer a widely stocked kit that’s easy to find new or secondhand? Billing Boats at 1:75.
- Looking at Spanish kits? Artesania Latina’s version at around 1:84.
- Want a display model sooner, or to practise rigging first? Revell’s 1:96 plastic kit.
For more on these makers, see our guide to wooden model boat kit brands. If you’d rather build a warship from the same broad era of sail, compare our guides to HMS Victory kits and USS Constitution kits.