James H

I've had these years and bought off a guy via email. I don't even remember the name now. Shame really as they've been great drills.

As soon as this is finalised, I'll do that for you.

Glad you're enjoying this one. It's great fun! I actually primed the hull in red oxide and noticed more plank showing than I wanted, so I've just used some thin filler paste and cut it back, ready for more primer, possibly tomorrow. I'd love to see your Speedy as a build log.

It's only the stern frames in birch ply and not a wholesale replacement of the MDF core.

I've not bevelled a plank's whole length. On average, no more than 2/3 of it. Some of the initial planks (after the non-tapered) are probably only around 50% of the length.

Another new release on the horizon 🤫

A quick update on the Zulu. The second layer of pear wood planking is now fitted. This was done with CA gel (Gorilla Glue) which is very different to how I usually work with PVA etc. Plank edges were bevelled as I went, and tapered where necessary. Once installed, the hull was sanded down with 120, 180, 240 and 320 grade papers. A small amount of Ronseal natural wood filler was also added, but that was tiny. A testament to how well this kit is designed. It was now the turn of the rubbing strakes to be fitted. The upper two, which butt right up next to each other, are walnut and semi-circular in section. A nice contrast to the pear of the hull. Three other 1mm square strakes are also added. The lower one only extends part way back down the hull. Any glue marks you see will disappear when I add the polyurethane varnish later. The rudder simply plugs into the stern post and the sockets more or less hidden by the pintles. A 0.6mm drill was used to cleanly open out the laser cut holes so I could easily fit a pin through. The pintles and gudgeons are photo-etch and glued with CA gel. I used the kit's Amati brass nails on the pintles and applied a part nail from either side so I could have the domed heads on both faces. The gudgeons have their nails etched onto the parts. More soon!

That looks great! I love that rich, warm tone its got.

Welcome to MSW! No better time than now to hunker down and post a build log!

I'm reliably informed that its finished size is 608mm long and about 340mm tall

Maybe I should do a small update. I've had time to do some planking during my enforced isolation. Here you see the hull with the pear bulwarks installed. Underneath that is a lime wood plank with a naturally guessed taper. PVA is used for these, and my trusty Amati nail pusher. Limewood planks are now fitted and tapered where the natural lie of the planks overlaps the previous. That bow sure looks ugly with those over length planks. That will now be cut back and tidied up. With the bow tidied up, the stem keel section is finally glue into place. This fits like a dream with no ambiguity. The pear wood keel is to be lined with an external layer, creating the rabbet that the second layer planks will fit into. Before this though, the key parts are fitted. Those keel facing parts are now added... Here you see how the rudder sockets are created with the keel face parts. Now, the garboard planks are pre-cut. This is to help the modeller with the curvature at both bow and stern. These are an excellent fit. To start, I dry fit the stern side garboard plank. When I have achieved a good fit, I make a couple of pencil marks to absolutely determine its position. The plank is then removed and Gorilla Glue CA Gel is applied to it and the plank slipped into the keel rebate before being shaped into the stern curve. There same now applies to the stem garboard plank. This is the result. More soon!

#1 #2 And if you want to quote multiple posts at the same time, click the little + symbol as shown And then, click the button that appears in the bottom right side. This will say how many posts you are quoting:

Haha! I'm certainly not a professional! But thanks anyway.

Hi Bob, I run the plank along the previous and where it stops flowing naturally and looks like it wants to run over the previous, I make a pencil mark. I then take a look at the end of the plank and see the overlap of the previous and mark it. Those marks are then joined up and cut to add a taper. Where the curve of the bulkhead demands it, I will bevel the top edge of the new plank so it butts up close. It probably isn't the best and most accurate way of doing it, and yes, I have to fit stealers into some gaps, but with the second layer, I'll make sure that anything like that is hidden under the painted area. I really should learn how Chuck does it so it's a little neater, but it works well on this and other painted hulls.

Definitely following this.

Very nice work so far, and your first model too

PLEASE stay safe. Let us know how you go.

I think the plan is around 2 months.

The school I work at closed today due to a confirmed case of coronavirus, and even though it will partially reopen in 2 days, after a deep clean, at-risk staff such as myself who has an underlying health condition, have been told to stay away for a month. Well, I couldn't waste any workshop time, so I got straight into the man cave and worked on Lady Isabella. Amati's sanding block had its baptism of fire when I faired the bulkheads in readiness for the planks. Thanks to previously bevelling the pre-engraved bulkheads, doing the rest only took about an hour, and in that short time I also got something to eat! The pearwood keel is presented in three parts which plug into the false keel. The lower keel and stern keel part are now glued into he hull. Even though you can't really get this wrong, the kit supplies some MDF clamps to slide over the assembly to ensure all is straight and even. In these photos, you can see the stem keel section in place, but at this stage, it must only be dry-fitted to test. The pear bulwarks are supplied in two parts per side and are engraved on the inner faces. Engraving is for the timberhead and lower/upper deck levels. These parts are 1mm and need to be soaked in water for 5 minutes before they can be manipulated. There is a slot on the stern keel into where the bulwark slides. All parts were wet-fitted to the hull and left to dry before removing. All parts are now fitted to the hull with Titebond glue, making sure the deck level is correct along the length. It's worth mentioning there is also a slot in the stem keep for the bulwark, but this isn't critical because the bulwarks are left slightly long to allow for any variation that the modeller might accidentally introduce. Some brass pins were pushed into the lower edges of the bulwark so the properly touched the bulkheads. Clamps were used above decks. Whilst this lot was drying, I thought I'd work on the superstructure. There are some little pear pegs that fit into the MDF core. These are pushed into place and then the external pear fascias are glued. The fit is a little tight but that's so you get everything properly aligned. Next.....planking.

Amazing work! I hope you'll create a gallery album, if you haven't done already.

Ok....you have my attention

The real hard slog is done for you. This certainly wouldn't take you anywhere near as long as a masted ship.

I absolutely agree. It's a lovely build too, with everything doing exactly as it should in terms of fit. Fishing boats are my guilty little passion. There's a romanticism about them and the hard lives of the crews who bring us our fish suppers.

Ok....Amati will, theoretically, have the laser and PE stuff at the beginning of April, so if all goes to plan, I should have for latest mid-April. BUT....who knows what curveballs coronavirus will throw at us. It's already caused a slight delay, and that was before a nationwide lockdown.