James H

Lovely photos!! 😆

7 minutes ago, Suzdal said:

Was looking at the above pictures while waiting for my Lady Eleanor to be delivered; the Flirt will be my next venture. Have a couple of questions.

 

Will there be some variation to expose the lower deck now that it is engraved and has an open door? Also to have some deck furniture to be placed on it in that case?

 

What are the pins that you are using in the first planking? I assume that they don't come with the kit?

 

Richard

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.

10 minutes ago, ErnieL said:

I have the portside gunport pattern on and nicely fitted now.   I resoaked and reapplied, after I did a bit more fairing on bulkhead #4. If seems I went a touch far on #5, (counting back from the stem), si I shimmed it out a tiny bit. It looks somewhat decent, and I’m a tough critic. 

 

Derek, I saw you talking bout that in your build log, nd I’m certainly going to try your method on the starboard side. Any time savings and stress relief methods are good in my book.  I don’t like pinning or clamping anything with the wood under tension, even if it does lay down perfectly. It’s king for alignment and out of plumb issues down the road, never mind the constant threat of glue failure. 

Again, I overthought stuff and ended up reinventing the wheel. 

 

 

Photos, or it didn't happen.

22 minutes ago, Jeff5115 said:

My Fifie is arriving today. As a newbie I find myself studying other builds on this site to gain knowledge and see what other build challenges and success others are having. I looked at the build log by James H and thought that this would be a good beginner model for me. After visiting the Vanguard Model website and reading the manual I ordered the ship. I have to compliment Chris Watton on his website design. He includes the manual on the website for his ship offerings. This allowed me to read thru the manual. The level of detail for this ship is just what I need right now as a beginner in this hobby. My current build plans and instructions lack the detail I would have wanted as a newbie and is making things difficult for me. Also there are no build logs of the ship I am working on. So the info you can provide in your build will be very helpful I believe to someone like me.

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

15 minutes ago, Suzdal said:

What sort of clamps would that be ?

 

I have a bunch of clamps that you've shown in your photos. Would someone have pictures of the bigger clamps ?

 

I too have a great deal of trepidation about planking. Was going to order the Speedy, but will hold off and order the Zulu today from Chris.

 

Richard

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. 

4 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

The binnacle looks very nice, and would  be a fine addition to the Pegasus kit, for those who prefer not to scratch one themselves.

 

I'm not sure that style of binnacle would sit right on Alert, there is very little space between the tiller end and the  skylight, and it would have to straddle or sit on the Bread Room grating/ cover.

 

I thought about  making a single chamber version, but decided against it.

 

B.E.

I think I'll be adding one to Flirt.

On 4/29/2020 at 3:34 PM, Vane said:

The stern is actually a section that i would like to see more photos in the manual. I have just finished mine and it was a little more tricky to do than the rest of the model.

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.

15 minutes ago, ErnieL said:

So the darker planking strips are the pear for the second planking?

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. 

19 minutes ago, Jeff5115 said:

Thanks for this build log.  As a newbie I really need to work on a simple project for the learning experience and to help my shipbuilding confidence.  Going to order the kit right now.

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.

6 minutes ago, VTHokiEE said:

I think this makes a lot of sense, I'll have to try it next time. You had me looking through the other Vanguard build logs to make certain I didn't accidentally do it wrong or ignore the directions 🙂.

Chris actually does taper the sternpost in his instructions too.

You can see where he stopped his planking too. 

12 minutes ago, VTHokiEE said:

I should probably create a separate topic, but I feel like haven't seen this done before. If it leads to a better finish I wonder why it isn't more commonly used?

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.

38 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

The lower bow and stern with the second planking are interesting, is this a common design or because it will be painted white and not seen? Will the historical maritime police be out to get you?

 

You work at the speed of light...I’d be 2 months in by this point. 😊

Hi Glenn, what do you refer to? This is exactly the same as Speedy, so far.

26 minutes ago, VTHokiEE said:

Sorry to quote a picture, but is there a reason that you didn't plank the deadwood area?

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.

36 minutes ago, ErnieL said:

I’ll cut a door into the bulkhead I guess, oops. 
😕

Nah, don't bother. You can't see it even when you leave a grate off (well...barely!). 

It's certainly not going to impact on any construction anyway. 🤣