Blue Ensign

Worth fettlin' the columns Derek, even if the only ones ultimately visible are those adjacent to the Main ladderway.
 
You've made a nice job of them.
 
B.E.

A bit of a dull post but most of my work for the last few days has ended up in the bin. I had assumed the masts got simpler the higher they went but this turned out not to be the case. The mizzen top is octagonal at the heel and even worse has a tapered octagonal section at the hounds. It took three attempts but I have just about got the straight octagonal figured out but the splayed octagonal still eludes me. There must be some trick I am missing but I am resorting to freehand filing and positive thoughts. For the mizzen top I started with an 8mm diameter dowel to give me enough wiggle room to gradually remove material and hopefully retain enough to form the details and still have 6mm diameter left for the mast. I added the sheaves as well as a fid hole for the final fixing.





For the mizzen top gallant I used the AOTSD dimensions but the AOTSD drawing was lacking detail so I brought the Steel drawing into the CAD file and superimposed my AOTSD dimensions on top of this to get the correct proportions of the heel and hounds as well as the locations for the sheaves. The top gallant masts are so thin that I did not dare to try make them all in one go as they would be bound to snap as I was doing the last cut so I made them in two separate pieces that I then dowelled together using some 0.8mm diameter brass rod. This was a sturdy solution but I had to trim the brass rod down drastically as it clashed with the position of one of the sheaves so it is now a much wobblier proposition.
 



I was dithering about the colour of the top masts and eventually went for a dark stain in the hope that it would disguise some of the defects. I had switched to the kit supplied dowels for these top masts as the beech dowels were telegraphing their grain too much when stained. I do not know what timber the kit dowels are but they are a bit soft and also do not take the stain that well although better than the beech. I used chestnut stain and then decided it looked a bit spotty so I went over it with Hickory. This looked better but I feel that it is now too dark and there is not enough contrast with the black painted areas. I went to visit the hardware store to see what they had available in the lighter range. The nearest I could get to the shade I was after was Puritan Pine. I tried it on the top gallant and I guess it will do. It does mean that I will have to remake the Mizzen top mast for the fifth time.

Perhaps I can claim that the old one is a Harry Potter wand and sell it to some gullible child to recoup my losses.

I had to remake the caps as the kit supplied versions have two circular holes rather than the required square and circular. I used the Steel formula to work out the size and they turned out larger than those included in the kit. These were finished off with ringbolts on the underside using the Steel location.

I also had to remake the upper cross trees as the kit pieces were the unfortunate walnut ply and the resulting gaps when assembled were too small to accommodate the mast sizes I ended up with. I was hoping to avoid having to scratch build these as they are very delicate pieces and not suited to my clumsy hands. I just about managed them but they are not great lookers.
 

 


I started work on the lower fore mast. I followed the AOTSD dimensions and the Steel details to put this together. It is nominally 10mm diameter at the deck tapering towards the head. I used the supplied black cartridge paper to form the iron mast hoops. I had never used this technique before and was quite surprised by how easy it is. Unfortunately, my subsequent freehand dremeling put paid to the nice neat appearance I initially achieved. I then added a front fish. There was much contradictory information regarding a front fish or a rubbing paunch but both Steel and AOTSD seem to indicate that a front fish was the way to go. I took the Steel drawing into CAD and worked out the size of timber that I would require to form this. This turned out to be 6.5 x 2.65mm. I then hollowed out the back using a sanding drum in the dremel. This ended up a bit rough. I really need some sort of a jig to keep everything aligned to achieve a consistent groove. It was a longshot that my freehand dremel work and the mast taper were going to match. Nonetheless I glued my rough and ready version onto the mast with notches for the iron hoops. I tried to disguise the shoddy workmanship with lashings of filler which just caused more mess.
 

 

In the Steel drawing he indicated filling pieces that sit between the front and side fish. These maintain the circular profile of the mast and give support to the wooldings. Steel notes that these can be continuous or can be provided just at the location of wooldings. I went with the latter as the geometry of the continuous one was beyond my imagination. To get the shorter filling pieces I cut out sections of 15mm diameter dowel at the height of the woolding including the timber hoops. I then cut out a hole in the centre of these corresponding to the diameter of the mast at each respective woolding. I then cut out the filling pieces and glued them onto the mast. They got a final shaping using the dremel. Things became a lot more complicated when I introduced the side fish and I had to get the two sloping sides at the correct angle.
 





 

Wooldings were completed using the 0.5mm dark brown rope from RoS and the timber hoops were the same cherry used on the mizzen. Once done I feel that it is lacking in finesse. I suspect that I should have dremeled some more material off the various fish and used a slightly smaller timber hoop It is a pretty sturdy construction though. Unlike the mizzen top gallant, I will have a hard time snapping this one. I added the battens at the head and gave it a coat of black paint.
 



To take a break from all of the circular trauma I knocked up the tops for the fore mast. I used the same method as per the mizzen except this had additional items such as the mounting brackets for the swivel guns which were constructed out of walnut notched at the batten locations. The metal plates to accept the gun mounts were 0.25mm thick styrene strips. I just have to paint the handrail stanchions which are in the painting queue behind the carronade barrels.
 






 
 
 

I should have jumped onto finishing the carronades but I felt like I needed a change so I had a stab at one of the masts. I chose the mizzen as it is the easier of the three. I checked all of the heights against using Steel, Lees, Caldercraft and AOTSD. The AOTSD and kit lengths are fairly close although the diameters are a bit different. The dimensions in Steel are all shorter but he was quite the short mast evangelist. I decided to stick to the AOTSD dimensions as I had used those heights for the dummy masts that I used to position my gunports.
 
For the mizzen I used an 8mm diameter beech dowel which sits between the Steel and AOTSD dimensions but the last time I had a go at enlarging the hole for the mizzen with the dremel I nearly set fire to my ship. Luckily the 8mm diameter mast did fit into the lathe so I used that to get the taper using sandpaper and multiple dimensional checks to see that it was going in the right direction. The taper is as per Steel's formulas and is quite subtle but noticeable. The end was squared off with the milling machine and the taper to that done freehand which ended up a bit wonky but that gives it a nice homemade feel.

I added the cleats to the bottom of the mast as per the AOTSD drawings. I had to eyeball the height based on my 1:64 captain figurine but I do not think it is critical. I used modified Bluejacket cast Britannia metal cleats. I gave the mast a coating of yellow ochre and painted the top black. I left off the top iron hoops for now until I have fitted the crosstrees.
 




I remade the hounds and bibs as two separate pieces rather than the all-in-one kit version. This will also allow me to splay the bibs. I notice that the drawings show this for the main and fore masts but they are quite shy in describing the condition at the mizzen. For consistency I am planning on splaying all three.
 

For the wooldings I did a couple of samples using 0.3mm diameter rope as per Steel and 0.5mm diameter rope as per other sources. I could have gone either way on this but eventually plumped for the 0.3mm. I then realised that I did not have any of the dark brown from RoS in this size so had to revert to the 0.5mm. I noticed that they now do a 0.35mm diameter version which would probably be the sweet spot in terms of dimension but I am too impatient to wait for delivery.



The timber hoops above and below the woolding were fashioned using a 0.5mm sliver of cherry wood cut from a 0.5mm thick shim. This was then well soaked and wrapped around the mast. It was nigh on impossible to do this without getting glue on the woolding. It does have a nice yellow colour so I can forgo the painting and avoid further mischief to the woolding.
 

I started on the top. This turned out to be a bigger adventure than anticipated. I looked at many drawings describing these structures and most of them seem to be based on the one included in Steel. This is a beautiful drawing to be sure but it is full of ambiguities. The AOTSD drawings sort of fudges the matter and is such a small scale that it is very hard to see what is going on. I eventually found out what I needed to know in the Longridge Victory book. His drawing is not as evocative as Steel's but has much greater clarity. A further study of the existing condition on HMS Victory and HMS Trincomalee confirmed this solution. To start I rebuilt the deals using individual planks. Here I shamelessly copied Rob Durant's colour scheme that he used in his Ethalion build and left the planks in their natural state. It is a non-regulation colour scheme but I like the way you can see how the top was put together. Although these planks would not have been caulked, I did darken the edges to give better definition to the layout.
 
Studying other builds I noticed that it is quite popular to plank over the kit piece, which was tempting, but I wanted to see the planking on the underside as well. Lees gives a drawing that shows how these planks are scarfed together which got me fretting as to how I was going to be able to mill a plank exactly in half to form this scarf joint. Luckily, I had no planks of the required thickness but I did have some that were half as thick which made me realise that it would be a lot easier to form the scarf by laminating them together and save myself the milling headache. That done it was fairly easy to glue them into the required pattern and cut out the final shape.
 



At this point I should include a "do not try this at home" disclaimer as I decided to represent the nail pattern to highlight the scarf joint. For this I used some dark 0.18mm diameter filament that I found in a drawer. I do not exactly know what this material is made of as I cannot recall where I purchased it and it has no label. I inserted the mystery material into a 0.2mm diameter hole. This was very frustrating, time consuming and ultimately not that successful. Having done it on the Mizzen top I am in the dilemma of whether to carry on and do the same thing for the Fore and Main top or to remake the Mizzen top. it is a 50/50 decision.
 




I added a copper strip to the side to represent the plate that prevents the futtock plates damaging the timber. I then constructed the rim and the filling out of walnut. I made the copper bearing plates out of styrene and milled the slots for the futtock plates. These slots do not go through the top but pass to the side hence the requirement for the protective plate at the edge. I formed the timber battens out of 1.6mm thick maple. This was a painful process as each one has to be notched, chamfered and shaped to fit. I added some blocking under the gunwale to accept the stanchions for the rail.
 







I decided to use 1mm thin-walled brass tubing for the stanchions rather than timber as it was more structurally robust and it was not uncommon to have a metal rail structure. The top rail was formed out of 2 x 2 mm walnut. I left off the fabric cover as I did not think that I would be able to make this convincingly enough. To finish off I drilled some speculative holes for crows feet which is a future aspiration. Now that it is finished, I am wavering over the natural finish. The temptation is there to just paint it all black. I am going to hold off on that decision for now until I have built more of the mast.




I have not yet fixed the tops as I realised that I have to make the top mast to ensure that everything fits together. 
 

Carrying on with some more details as I inch forward to hull completion. First off, I gave the deck a good sanding to repair some of the damage it has sustained in the preceding months. I do not mind a distressed look but the gouges and scratches were not really 1:64 scale. I then gave it another coat of golden oak stain and a spritz of polyacrylic coating.
 

I added the stanchions for the various rope handrails at the gangway and ladderway. These were constructed, as per those down below, out of 1mm diameter thin-walled brass tube with an HiS blackened PE eyebolt epoxied in the top. The flange at the base was made out of a Caldercraft PE eyebolt with the leg cut off and the central hole drilled out to a 1mm diameter to match that of the stanchion. These were then painted black and a bit of colour added from my weathering powder rust palette that sits on top of a tupperware container which was the nearest thing to hand at the time but now means that its sandwich toting days are over.




 


The ropes were 0.5mm diameter tan from Ropes of Scale (RoS). My clumsy seizings are a reminder that I am hopeless at knots and rigging. I am sure that it is a skill that I could learn once I have enough models under my belt but I am not there yet. I need to attend some sort of rigging night school and I suspect that I will really botch the model from here on in.
 


I turned my attention to finishing the cannons. I painted the barrels black and added the capsquare. I used the kit supplied PE for these as they sat a bit more snugly on the trunnions than the other ones I had lying about. The capsquare eyebolt was fashioned out of 0.44mm diameter black annealed wire and the capsquare key from a blackened HiS PE eyebolt.



The breeching rope is the 0.8mm diameter tan rope from RoS. This is a tad larger than that indicated in contemporary tables of cannon rigging size but looks more the part at a 1:64 scale. The length was determined in situ by positioning the cannon far back enough to allow access to the muzzle. Eyebolts were then added and seized. I lashed the breeching ropes over the top as per the 18lb'ers on the upper deck. I drilled holes in two of the wheels, diagonally opposite each other, and inserted a pin which was then inserted into a hole drilled in the deck to give a sturdier fixing for the cannons. I had installed a few cannons before I realised that I had neglected to add a set of gun tackle loops to each of the 9lb'ers. I am such a bungler. Ripping out the already installed guns would be more destructive than living with the omission as these are the loops that are not in use for the configuration that I have. I added these tackle loops to the forecastle cannons that I had yet to install but the inconsistency may pique the interest of the nosy pedant.
 






I dusted off the homemade serving machine to give the gun tackles a good frapping. These were assembled using 0.3mm diameter tan rope from RoS again oversized but still looking a tad thin to my eye. I used 3.5mm single blocks from Vangaurd. I had used HiS blocks for the upper deck and thought I would use the Vanguard blocks for comparison. Unfortunately it was too long between the installations for my weak memory so it was hard to pick a favourite. They are both way better than the kit supplied blocks to be sure. The hooks were the 3mm HiS blackened PE variety. I made the tackles gradually producing shorter and shorter ones until I got down to 15mm between the outside edge of the blocks which I felt was the best looking of a bad bunch. The rope still appeared a bit spindly so I tried one using 0.25mm diameter Caldercraft rope. This seems to be more relaxed than the RoS version and gives the frapping more bulk. It does not have the fine detail of the RoS offering but I am happier with the overall look.
 




 





I need to move on to the carronades but my homemade efforts, while dimensionally correct, are quite top heavy so I think they will be really susceptible to damage from the errant elbow as I do not have the opportunity to utilise a robust fixing as I have for the cannons. I have also been looking at the lower masts as that will probably be the next task after the guns. Mast making literature is a real muddle of somewhat contradictory information that made my head hurt. For the masting stage I think that I am just going to go with whatever I feel is easiest.
 


 
 

In 1771 Britain's most famous Naval hero, Nelson, first put to sea at the age of twelve under the patronage of his uncle, Maurice Suckling, a Royal Navy Captain.
A boy had to grow up quickly in those days.
 
B.E.

In 1771 Britain's most famous Naval hero, Nelson, first put to sea at the age of twelve under the patronage of his uncle, Maurice Suckling, a Royal Navy Captain.
A boy had to grow up quickly in those days.
 
B.E.

In 1771 Britain's most famous Naval hero, Nelson, first put to sea at the age of twelve under the patronage of his uncle, Maurice Suckling, a Royal Navy Captain.
A boy had to grow up quickly in those days.
 
B.E.

I emailed Chris to ask when the furniture I wanted might be available. He replied in less than an hour to say it was back in stock, he just hadn't had time to update the website. He also offered to post in the Indefatigable delivery due next week to avoid extra shipping charges. What service! I don't know how he manages to keep all the plates spinning, what with running the business, producing current kits, designing new ones and answering customer queries. I'm just grateful he does.

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

The rear cockpit is complete and glued in place.  The thwarts are all glued in except the one fore the mast.  The grapples and sheave for the stem are complete.  I started on the knees and realized the front thwart was not installed correctly. It was removed and reinstalled. I am apprehensive on starting the capstain, do not want to mess it up. I ordered some v blocks to hold it when I start to shape it.

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

The Last Lap
 
After 18 months of enjoyable modelling and with everything on the Duchess complete, barring the permanent stand, I'm marking her as finished.
 
As with my first Vanguard model, I must give huge thanks to @chris watton for designing and producing such a great kit, and to @James H for his inspirational prototype build log and manual. Thanks also to those early starters whose logs informed and encouraged me - Glenn @glennard2523, Rusty @Rustyj and David @desalgu. Apart from producing my own rope and a very few minor enhancements such as the anchor buoys and glazed windows, I built the Duchess more or less out of the box which I regard as a testament to the quality of the kit and the materials.
 
Here's some final photos:















On to HMS Sphinx!
 
Thanks to everyone for following along, and for all the likes and kind comments.
 
Derek
16 February 2023 
 
 
 

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

Enjoy your new adventure Derek, it's a great kit to build.
You'll have one advantage over me in that you will be able to  furnish the Great cabin, Chris's  furniture arrived to late for me, I couldn't get the stuff between the beams.
A lot of the mods I made to Sphinx were addressed by Chris on his Indy kit, especially the Quarter galleries, which is perhaps the trickiest  change I made on Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you Ryland and Bob, it's good to have your respective works to refer to. 👍
 
Post 11
The three required strakes of this version are now fitted, but not fully fettled.
 I found that the planks altho’ pre-spiled did require a fair amount of tweaking to get them to fit.

0270

0267

0263
The second strake below the sheer (plank15) proved trickier to fit.
Starting with the port side, once around the bow curve it did not readily sit down against the sheer plank. Repeated bending and some sanding was required to get the plank into position.

0266
The aft section (plank16) was a little easier but did require some sanding and bevelling along the section between frame 8 and the transom. Mid way along a slight curve was induced, and from frame 8 a slight twist is also required where the plank starts to curve beneath the transom.

0265
The forward plank on the Starboard side also required similar treatment. The aft section (16) proved problematic, I just couldn’t get rid of an annoying gap, so the plank was scrapped and a replacement cut which went on with minimal sanding and bevelling.
 
The third strake bow plank (13) is a long plank near 70% of the overall hull length.

0262
An almost instant disaster the end of the plank split along the grain where it fits into the bow rabbet, just where you don’t want it – under pressure at the bow.
 
Fortunately, there is sufficient sheet to cut replacements which is easily done using just a scalpel. Based on the trial fitting of the now replaced plank, the new plank can be tweaked before cutting to allow a little extra material for better sanding to fit.

0264
Both sides of plank (13) were re-cuts and it took me some time to get anywhere close to a tight fit.
 

0268
The same applied to the aft section where both planks (14) were re-fits.

0269
The one comforting thought is that the first and second strakes are covered by an extra layer of duplicate planks which form the wale, so there are in effect two chances to get it right.
 
This will be the next step.
 
B.E.
22/02/2023