James H

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.

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. 🤣

Is this a dry fit? Bulkhead 10 should be the other way round with the door opening on the port side, although I don't think it really matters.

Is this being released in sections? I note that is No.1

That's the easy bit done..........now? 😆

The full instruction manuals are also available too. Here's the one for Fifie: CLICK HERE

Love the design so far. How do you represent the bricks in the oven? Is the oven hood made from soldered brass?

But it looks fine! Don't beat yourself up!

I think so.

Well Ernie, imagine seeing you here! Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I've been planking a prototype!

If you have CA marks, just use some acetone or CA remover. You can also tack down the edges of an plates and wipe away the excess, followed by proper removal with acetone.

Another update. Again, these are selected images from the eventual instruction manual. This is a sort of abridged version and represent only a few of the pictures that will be published in that book, so I've picked key ones for MSW. Chris suggests that the first two (bow) and last three (stern) bulkheads are bevelled somewhat before installation, including the other bow cross-bulkhead pieces. This is a pretty sound plan as it saves a whole load of work when it comes to fairing the hull. I used the same methodology in my instructions. I used my Dremel for this, set at a comfortable 9000rpm. Once all the bow bulkheads and cross-slotted pieces were bevelled, I glued these into place. I'm sure this looks familiar to builders of Speedy! Also notice the doorway on bulkhead 10. This has a pear wood door fitted to it with a brass nail as a handle. I also fit the deck support pieces across each bulkhead. After gluing in the stern bulkheads into place, bulkhead #16 is bevelled along the top to match the sheer, and then the two long deck support beams are slotted and glued into position. This creates a really strong frame that stops the bulkheads bending, as well as being another great support for the deck that'll sit on top. One difference (of many) in this kit is the replacement of the MDF stern frames for more resilient birch ply parts. These are now glued into position. Many parts in this kit are replaced with alternative material ones, such as the lower mast tops which will now be pear, as well as the stern face itself. The stern counter remains in ply. The deck is now glued into position. This needs bending somewhat and then allowed to click into position. It only takes a minute or so to install the deck and it sits perfectly on all the beams, no exceptions... To protect the stern frames, the stern counter and stern panels are now glued into position. The keel is temporarily fitted with the supplied MDF clamps, so the counter can be correctly positioned. The hull is now faired. This only took me less than an hour, with the stern keel area being thinned out to about 1/3 it's original width to accommodate the planking which will then bring it up to the original thickness. I can sand that thinner too later, to accommodate the second layer of pear. The inner stem post is now glued into position and left to dry before I fit the ply gun port strips. That's it until I get more work done. I have built the cannon and capstan, but I'll not post those yet, for the sake of getting things in order More when I've done it!

That's not strictly true. I've spent years in the the plastic hobby doing promo, engineering solutions, test builds, mag work, and if a company has the opportunity to release a Fw 190A-5, A-6, A-8, then they will do, despite the variations being minor. Look at all the Bf 109 kits out there. Tamiya sell a 1:32 Spitfire Mk.IX, which is barely different to their Mk.VIII (retractable tail wheel etc.) This is a common approach to kit releases, and there is enough different in this release to merit so....certainly more so than many of those plastic models I helped build and promo.