James H

Instead of just posting my work in regular build order, I thought I'd post an idea of exactly what I've been doing, including working on stuff that's further ahead than the regular sequence. As this is for the manual, it doesn't allow me to sit idle and twiddle my thumbs as parts and paints dry. Instead, I go off on a tangent and work on other things. First up, I'll show you where I currently am with the hull. One task I love doing is removing the bulkhead ears from above the deck. At this point, I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with a build. These are just snapped off with a pair of pliers and the stubs sanded flush with the false deck. Before I can fit the deck, I spray some red oxide primer around the inside bow and stern areas, as these would be difficult to paint later. The standard laser-engraved limewood deck is then installed using Titebond and then clamped down around the edges to make sure it sits perfectly to the false deck. Once the deck is down, the inner bulwarks are planked. All planks are first painted. Painting the lowest plank at least helps to stop paint splashing onto the deck. I was unlucky with my planking as the gaps I needed to fill meant that more or less all paint was stripped back down to the woodwork so I could apply some acrylic wood filler. This was then sanded smooth and the various holes in the ply bulwark drilled through to the inside for the various eyebolts etc. The red oxide paint is now reapplied after completing the exterior pear planks and sanding the whole hull exterior smooth. The only wales I'll be visiting this year with lockdown are the ones I'll be gluing to the exterior of this hull. The top of the first per plank that was laid is now marked with a pencil to identify where the 3mm x 1mm pear strip will fit. This is two planks below the bottom of the newly cut gun ports. After fitting the 3mm wide plank to each side, a 4mm plank was then butt up directly below it. Masking tape was now applied to either side so I didn't damage the surrounding pear. Sandpaper is now used to smooth the exterior. Things start to take further shape as the outer prow is fitted, along with the keel and stern keel post. Some of the supplied clamps are used to keep everything in alignment. Whilst that was setting, I made the rudder. Although you'll see copper gudgeons and pintles on this, they are a leftover from the original Speedy kit I have. There Flirt kit will be supplied with these in brass as there's no copper plates on this kit. Cartridge paper is used for the iron bands at either side of the tiller arm location. The original masking tape for the wales was removed, simply because I didn't want to risk any sanding dust being lodged in there. The outside edges of the wales were again carefully masked, followed by the rest of the model, and Plastikote black spray applied. There will be no black paint on the bow area as this is being left in bear pear, along with some new laser-engraved per parts. I did say I'd been working on some other stuff, and here it is. We have some grate frames, bitts, windlass, ladders, pumps, capstan and cannon. I still have a lot of work to do on the cutter yet, but as you can see, things are moving at a nice pace. More when I have it...

Lovely photos!! 😆

Hi Richard, There won't be anything different with regards to exposing the lower deck, but it does mean you can now leave a grating over to one side, so you can see the lower area and engraved deck. The pins I use in first planking are the ones that come with the kit.....very fine (and sharp) brass pins.

I'll update my build log in the next day or so too, to spur you on.

Once those are on, progress should be nice and steady.

Photos, or it didn't happen.

Glad you like the build log and manual. Any questions, fire away.

Clamps can easily slip off something this shape, and you don't want to put any stress on the MDF bulkhead ears above the decks. I clamped my ply to the ears, and pinned to the lower bulkheads. A little further back, I also used Amati clamps to hold against bulkhead instead of pinning.

I never closed that gap on mine. I also got it, but it wasn't a problem. The first planks are almost twice the thickness of the ply, just work your way down and realise that your first planks might not also quite sit on that 2nd bulkhead, and then reduce that error until they do, with subsequent planks.

I think I'll be adding one to Flirt.

There will be new photos showing this in the Flirt manual.

That looks real nice with the boxwood ornamentation. Are these supplied ready to use, or do they need to be removed from their carving block?

Nice to see you back in the hobby again, and you work looks gorgeous!

Looks like it's all faired for planking. This is when you'll start to really see the hull come together.

Yes, the packets have an identifying number on them. The lighter, thicker and wider planks (5mm x 1.5mm) are lime for first planking. Pearwood for second layer is 4mm x 1mm, and look pinkish.

Planked yet?

The barrels look very interesting. This is a whole kit just in itself.

You really will love this one. Even though both Zulu and Fifie are primarily aimed at the same market, Fifie is the simpler of the two to plank and fit out. A real delight to build. I hope you'll share a build log.

She's coming along beautifully. Yes, the MDF stern frames were changed for the birch ply, as an extra insurance policy against breakage.

Chris actually does taper the sternpost in his instructions too. You can see where he stopped his planking too.

Maybe it's just the way I work, but it seemed easier NOT to have to plank that area and then sand most of it away, plus the underlying MDF too.

Hi Glenn, what do you refer to? This is exactly the same as Speedy, so far. There sure is. As the stern keel post is only 3mm thick, I prepared the MDF by tapering it to just over 1mm in thickness (about 1.5mm), down from the original 3mm., through the deadwood area. The first planking layer is 1.5mm thick on each side, so I didn't want to add another 3mm onto the MDF thickness at that point as the pear planking will make up the the correct thickness. If I'd planked that area, I would've just had to sand it away and still thin out the deadwood area.

I've still been putting my exile from my day job to good use and pushing forward on this build. Next up was adding the 0.8mm ply bulwarks. As with anything like this that has to try to conform to various compound curves, it can be a little testy, but a 30 min soak in hot water certainly helps to ease it into position. A series of pinning and clamping persuaded it too, once glue had been applied. the upper bulwark MDF ears were only lightly glued to the ply as these will be removed in a later stage before fitting the laser engraved deck. First planking is done with lime planks, 5mm wide and 1.5mm thick. There's more than enough bulkheads to get a good even finish, providing you faired them properly too. It's all Prep Prep Prep. These planks were glued with PVA and also tapered as necessary. Once planked, a thorough sanding was given, making sure no steps, unevenness or other anomalies would show on the shapes of the finished hull. The 4mm x 1mm pear strips are now cut into short lengths for the stern and stern counter etc. The rudder post is temporarily clamped in position so that I can plank up to it on either side without any guesswork. The edges of this are then sanded flush with the hull sides. The pear 'master plank' is now fitted to each side. This isn't guesswork as there are laser cut marks on the bulwark that help you position this in the same place as the planking run for the wale. CA gel is used to glue into position as it gives some seconds to align things. A quick photo with a few deck things sat in position! The hull is now planked in pear from the master plank down to the keel. More as soon as I get time to edit photos!

She's coming along real nice. You'll have caught me up pretty soon 🤣

Welcome to MSW. Your work is exquisite.