David Lester

Looking amazing, Derek. I think I'd like to tackle this one next myself. David

Just came in from snow shoveling; we got about 18" last night. Not unprecedented, but close to it. It's going to be a long process getting the driveway open. So while I'm drying off from the last stab at it, I'll do a little update on my Speedy. I've been working on the cannons. I simplified it slightly. They size of these one is very small and there isn't much room between the blocks. I knew I couldn't fashion an acceptable hook small enough, connecting the blocks to the eyebolts, so I simply omitted this detail and seized the blocks directly to the eyebolts. I used contrasting seizing, so I could better see what I was doing and then coloured it black later. The sets ready to be assembled: In the past I've usually terminated the tackle line in a coil on the deck, but this time I wanted to try my hand at frapping. I wasn't sure how to do it, so I just gathered the line and then seized it using a separate seizing line of the same size and it worked really well. .75mm line for the breach lines: All 14 are done: Well, it's back out to my temperamental snow blower! David

You're off to a really great start, Tom. I built this model from the MS kit and it is one of my favourite builds. if your experience is anything like mine, you should find the plans to be very accurate. I found plenty of pictures on line that helped me confirm many details. With your easy access to the ship and the ability to photograph exactly what you need, you'll be in great shape! David

Good Morning, I've been working away at some of the hull details. The hair bracket decorations caused my quite a bit of grief. I'm normally not too bad with a paint brush, but the details on these brass pieces pretty much defeated me. After many, many attempts to paint the centre section blue and the edges yellow ochre, I finally gave up. I simply could not get a sharp enough result, despite trying several different techniques. In the end I settled for blue in the centre and I simply left the edges as brass. (I could just scrape the blue of the raised edges, leaving it in the centre.) The brass colour is only slightly different than the yellow ochre and I can live with it. I decided to use the same technique on the decorations on the ends of the catheads, only this time I used yellow ochre paint, scraping it off the raised sections. It works quite well here, highlighting the detail, but in a subtle way. I've added the pin rails and cleats and catheads to the bulwarks, as well as the steps and the swivel gun post patterns on the hull. I'm now working on the channels and lower deadeye assemblies and then I think the next thing on the agenda will be rigging the cannons. Thanks everyone for your comments and likes! David

Good Morning, Lately, I've been working on the cannons and other deck furniture. The items have not been installed yet, they're just sitting in place for the pictures. It will be very easy to locate them accurately and securely, as the deck is cut out to accommodate them and they go all the way down to the "deck" below. This is quite different than my Model Shipways experience where the fife rails in particular always cause me a lot of grief. Just gluing them to the surface is never quite secure enough. Drilling them and adding pins helps, (in fact, it's essential) but locating those holes in the deck in order to get them to sit square and accurately is always a challenge. Definitely not the case here. I used Tamiya Deck Tan on the trucks and the grates. I thinned it down on the trucks to get a natural wood look. I'm pleased at how well the etched details show through. I'm taking a short break from Speedy for now, as I continue with the second planking on Agamemnon. Thanks for checking in. David

It's all looking pretty good to my eye. D

I don't think they presented this as a workshop for making models. By "model shop" they mean it's an example of a woodworking shop on which to model your own. Interesting that they included a Shopsmith. David

That's looking great, Andy. What a beautiful ship. David

Hello Yves, This product is called Venture Tape MasterFoil Plus Copper Foil by 3M. It comes in several widths. This one is 1/4". I'm not sure how thick it is, but it's pretty thin. It's self-adhesive and comes with a paper backing that you peel off. I use one of those cutting tools, like Chop-It from MicroMark, to cut it into lengths of about 3/4". This tape is sometimes hard to find. I have only ever found it at stained glass suppliers but they don't all seem to carry it. There is a similar one called Edco which some suppliers carry. I have some of it as well. It's virtually identical to the Venture Tape, but is perhaps just a bit thinner. It isn't too difficult to work with, because it's quite forgiving. You can vary the overlap just slightly to account for the curves in the hull. Also if you ruin one, you can easily scrap it without worrying about running out. You can get about 1700 of them from one roll. I don't think you have to do anything special to the hull, but you want it to be as smooth as possible because imperfections will show through the tape. I just put a coat of matte varnish on the hull before applying the tape. It sticks really well. The tape is a bit shiny, so I'm going to experiment with coating it with a matte finish to quiet it down. The individual plates that many kits provide give great looking results if they're skillfully applied, but I found it really hard to do. I think it's a little easier to get an acceptable result with the tape approach. Thanks, David

That stern looks amazing! David

Yeah, the copper looks bright, but I don't think I'm going to worry about it. It will dull down a bit over time. Here's a current picture of my Prince de Neufchatel, which I did a couple of years ago and its copper is dulling down as time goes on. On the other hand, I do have some matte varnish. I could do a test patch (somewhere other than on the model) and see what that looks like, and then I'll have to think about it before applying it, because I have a bad habit of "fixing" things, only to wake up in the middle of night with regret and having to resist not getting up and "re-fixing" it immediately. Thanks guys, David

Good Morning, I have been working away at the upper planking. This is a slow process, as the planks have to be fitted between the gun ports, allowing for a small rabbet. I made two plugs that fit into the ports and have an outer frame that accommodates the rabbet. This system seems to be working pretty well. I fit the plank against the first plug. With it cut to a rough oversized length, I then take tiny amounts off until it fits snugly against the second plug. Everything is moving along well; it's just slow going. I will need to make two more plugs for the next row of gun ports as they are a bit smaller than the lower ones. The ones at the top do not have the rabbet, so that will seem very easy. Thanks for checking in. David

Good Morning, I have had a bit of a coppering adventure. This is the first time I've used copper plates. In the past I've only used the self-adhesive copper tape, so this turned out to be a not very successful learning experience. I did the port side first. Things started out ok, but it was looking really bad at the bow. Where the plates lay in straight rows it went smoothly but I found the transition from the hull to the stem to be very difficult to do. I finished the port side, but was not very happy with how it was looking at the bow. I decided to leave it alone and consider it to be my learning side, ie. the "bad" side that would face the wall. I have no pictures of the port side. I moved on to the starboard side and like the port side, it started out ok. But even at the outset I wasn't very pleased. The plates are easy when it's straight and even, but as soon as there's a bit of a curve, I couldn't figure out how best to handle it smoothly. At the bow things really fell apart. I redid the bow area four separate times and each time my results seemed to get worse. My terrible port side was beginning to look like the good side. I couldn't bring myself to photograph any of this, so you'll just have to take my word for it. I also seemed to have a lot of trouble getting the corners of the plates to lay flat, and of course, when I dealt with that by placing glue right at the corners, I also got it on the surface as well. I knew that wasn't too big a problem, as it will clean off, but it wasn't helping my frustration level. I was a bit surprised by my problems, as I haven't read very much, if anything, on the forum of others having such an unhappy experience. In the end, I abandoned the plates altogether. In frustration, I ripped them all off, smoothed down the hull and started over with the self-adhesive tape. Perhaps it doesn't look as good as well applied individual plates, but believe me, it looks 10 times better than my previous best efforts, so this is what it's going to be. In the past, when I've used this method, I've simulated the nail heads with a ponce wheel, but always thought the effect was a bit over scale, so this time I eliminated that step and I think the result is at least as good, if not better. I think I'm still going to have a decent looking Speedy, so I'm not disappointed in that, but I am a little disappointed with myself that I was so easily defeated. I still have the hull of the Agamemnon ahead of me. I want to use the supplied plates for that if I can. They are the same size as the ones for Speedy, however the hull is about four times as big. I'm hoping that that will give me a slightly bigger margin of error. We shall see. Thanks again for comments and likes. David

1/16" x 1/2" basswood strips won't be too hard to find, they have them at MicroMark as well as at Model Expo for example. 3/64" stock can be harder to find, however I believe they have it (as well as 1/16" x 1/2") at minaturemarketplace.com which specializes in doll house supplies. Hopefully that's of some help. David

Thanks for the comments guys! Derek, I'm a big fan of shellac, especially orange (or amber.) On very pale wood like basswood or birch dowels it gives a really good even colour if I'm looking for a natural finish - a little richer than with just polyurethane, with none of the problems of trying to get an even colour with stain and it tones down to just the right degree of sheen. I always have a canister of compressed air handy. It's great for removing all dust and debris as I work. I don't think I have any little bits of steel wool hanging on. Thanks again, David

Hello All, I've finished the upper planking and wales and everything has gone without problems. I was worried about cutting around the gun ports, and was all but certain that I'd need more than one attempt to get it right, but I was actually able to get an acceptable result on my first try. Here is the port planking done, before cutting out the gun ports and sweeps - And here is the end result with a finish applied. I debated what to do with the finish. The instructions refer to matte varnish, which I assume is intended for this planking. However, I thought I might like a little bit of sheen so I used shellac. I find that even satin polyurethane tends to be too shiny, but shellac, when rubbed down with steel wool and then burnished with a paper towel gives a very gentle sheen - I used some masking tape to mark the location of the wales. I used thick CA glue to attach it and it went on (and stayed on!) quite easily - And now, I think I'm ready to begin applying the copper plates - Speedy is proving to be a very satisfying project and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Thanks again for checking in. David

Hello All, Brief update today - I have now finished the second planking on the lower hull, both sides. Next is planking from the wales up which requires cutting around the gun ports, It will be a bit slower job, but more interesting. Thanks for looking in. David

Hi Glenn, I'm glad to hear your experience with both spotters and brush cleaner; it sounds like I've come across the right things. David

Painting my models is always one of the aspects I enjoy the most, but I have always been plagued by two persistent problems - The first is I can never seem to find the right brush for very small detail work and the second is I can never seem to maintain a brush for any length of time. I believe I have found solutions to both problems. This will no doubt be old news to many of you, especially if you're also artists or painters, but it's a revelation to me. First problem - finding a suitable small brush for detail work. It seems that when I buy even the very smallest brushes, I still can't control them easily and often they still deliver too much paint. A little research online suggested that I have been using the wrong brush. Most of these small brushes that are readily available are called "round", but what I learned is that there is another brush called a "spotter." These are also round, but they have much shorter bristles. That makes them stiffer and as a result, it increases the control considerably. I discovered that not every art supply source sells them, and surprisingly, some had not even heard of them, but I did find some and I bought four sizes (l to r - 20/0, 5/0, 3/0, 0 - very small to small.) They come in both straight and angled. I decided to try both and have been experimenting with them. So far, I prefer the straight, but I know the angled ones are going to come in handy in actual practice. (I've painted many hot water rads over the years and know how helpful an angled rad brush can be.) Second problem - cleaning and maintaining brushes. I have always found it hard to maintain my brushes. It seems no matter how careful I am, (which admittedly, is not always all that careful) they still end up looking like this in very short order. That brush started out as a beautiful fine round tip and now it's virtually useless. I discovered a product called Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver and I think it's going to be a game changer. You clean most of the paint out of the brush in water (or solvent for oil) and then rub it into the Masters. You can rinse and repeat as necessary. When the brush is thoroughly clean, you can leave some of the "soap" on the brush which will help to maintain its shape. Here is the same brush again. The hint of red that was still at the base of the brush is now gone, and it is somewhat restored to its original shape. In truth I fear this particular brush may be too far gone to be restored completely, but leaving the coat of soap on it will cause it to retain its shape and is sure to make it still usable. If I care for my brushes this way right from the start I don't think I will have many problems with them again. For example, I have been practicing with these new brush extensively using both black and red paint and there is no trace of either near the ferule. (That's not black paint you see closer to the tip, it's just variations in the colour of the bristles) and the shape is as good as when I started. The seller calls the bristles on these brushes "synthetic sable." There are dozens of videos on Youtube demonstrating the use of Masters, which I found to be helpful. As I say, this all might be old news to many of you, but it's new to me and I believe it's going to be so helpful, that I thought I would share it. David

Hi Derek, It's a real trick of the light. The deck actually has the same finish in all the picture, but for some reason it looks quite different in the last two. In reality it looks like the first couple of pictures. I applied a thin gray wash using acrylic paint and then rubbed it with steel wool. David

I've spent the last little while working on the bulwarks. The first job is to remove the bulkhead extensions. This was quite easy to do; most of them just popped off - Bow and stern areas painted. I'm using Admiraly Red Ochre - Fitting the deck. It fit perfectly and didn't need any fine tuning at all - The first plank - The rest of the planking - The kit calls for the same 1x4 mm pear as is used for the hull planking, but I opted to just use some basswood I had in my stash. I'm afraid I might run out of the pear when I plank the outer hull around the gun ports. Planking above the wales and cutting around the gun ports is a really critical part of the build and it's very unforgiving. The odds of my having to do one or more "do overs" before I get an acceptable result are pretty high and I really don't want to run myself short of the pear because of that, so I can see no downside to using this basswood for the bulkwarks. As it turns out, cutting around the ports for the bulwarks went without any problems, so that bodes well for the outer planking. I hope it goes as smoothly. Drilling the holes for the guns and cleats - There are many ingenious design elements to this kit and this is certainly one of them. The places to drill are marked on the outside. They can be located perfectly and are a lot easier to drill from the outside than they are from the inside. The only caveat is to be sure not to allow any tear-out. I placed a piece of masking tape on the inside, and while it doesn't show it in the picture, I also held my finger behind the spot where the drill would emerge. (didn't hurt too much!) Sanded and ready to be painted - Finished bulwarks - And now with some trepidation, (but plenty of pear), it's on to the outer planking. Thanks, David

Good Morning, I've made good progress with the planking. This is not too difficult a hull to plank. I didn't soak any of the planks. I just used my new steam iron to bend the planks laterally at the bow and I also gave them a slight bend at the stern as well. With this "game changing" method they all fell into place very nicely. I had no serious problems or issues, but if I'm being totally honest, I did have to correct two small missteps. I discovered a glaring gap between two planks that I had failed to notice as I was working on them. It was just too big to fix with filler, so I had to remove a couple of planks below the gap. I brushed on acetone and was able to salvage them. I replaced them with new planks and saved these salvaged ones for a location below the water line. Also, initially I had the garboard planks located quite far down so that a portion of the keel would have been covered by them. I wasn't sure if that was right or not, but it occurred to me that the width of the the copper piece provided for the keel would indicate how much of the keel should be exposed. From that it was clear that the full depth of the keel needed to be exposed and the garboard planks were in fact too far down, so I planed and sanded them back and everything appears to line up correctly now. So now it looks like it's on to the the inner bulwarks and deck. Thanks for checking in and the likes. David

I've just started the second planking. I have the stern area done. So far, so good. This wood is very nice to work with. That's all for now. I'm afraid it's back to raking leaves. We are knee deep in maple leaves. However, there are still plenty more to come down which always presents a challenge. There's always a very small window between the last leaf falling and the first snow. At this point it's just a matter of volume reduction. Thanks for checking in. David

I'm working away at the second planking layer. There is a lot of ground to cover with this one! On my Speedy, I didn't bother to lay out belts for the planking. Its hull is quite small and it didn't seem essential to me. On this one however, because it's so large, I think it is necessary. I wanted to try using a planking fan this time and it works amazingly well. I like because it is a very elegant solution - it's simple, low tech and works so effectively. (And it's a lot less expensive than a set of proportional dividers.) I downloaded a template from the forum. Here is my progress so far. Thanks for looking in! David

Hi Allan, I'm not sure I understand your question. I think I'm reading the plans correctly, but maybe I'm missing something. At the moment all of the gunport linings are flush with the first layer of planking. It appears to me, if I'm reading the plans correctly, that for the ports with lids, the second layer of planking should be cut shy of the edge of the linings by 1 mm or 3/64" on all four sides. This leaves a "recess" or a lip on all four sides that is the depth of the second planking and the width of the lining - both are about 1 mm or 3/64" It appears to me that the lid is simply placed against the upper lip. And, of course, for the ports that have no lids, the second layer of planking is made flush with the inner edges of the linings. Do I have this right, or am I missing something. Thanks, David