David Lester

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
 

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 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
 

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

That stern looks amazing!
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
 

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
 

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
 

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
 

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

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

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
 

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

First thanks for all nice comments and and likes. It is encouraging. Last weekend there was not much modelling. My wife ordered me to build IKEA furniture instead ☹️. Anyhow, this weekend I did some work on the stern. She now has a name.

 
Best regards
 
Henrik

I am happy to report that the patient has had a full recovery. I had pre-bent all of the planks I needed yesterday so today I was able to trim them and glue them in place. I used medium CA for this so that let me do all the planks in a few hours. Here is how the stern ends of the planks now look. If you look carefully you can see that there is a horizontal frame just under the plank ends that the planks need to cover vertically. Keep that in mind if you build this model in the future.
 

 
And here is the counter piece just taped across the stern. I have not bent it to fit the frames yet.
 

 
You can see that I could have extended one more plank on each side, but I'll just use some wood filler in those holes since this is just the first planking. I think the bottom of the counter piece stands proud of the plank ends and acts as a rabbet for the second planking.

Quarterdeck Companion Rails
 
Having taken a break from the stern decoration by working on some odd jobs such as the curved stairs, I was tempted to tackle the quarterdeck  companion rails. These sit at the top of the stairs and have always niggled me since I first saw that they were made entirely from photo-etch. The PE makes beautifully decorative railings, but I felt the four balustrades looked flat and unnatural, albeit well detailed:

I decided to have a go at turning my own balustrades on the Proxxon wood lathe. I had a spare castello boxwood mast left over from Speedy which I turned down to just under 3mm. Then, using the PE as a template I started practicing with various turning tools and files:

I made quite a few before I had four that passed muster. Here are the rejects!

The next job was to cut the balustrades off the PE using a jeweler's piercing saw, leaving enough of a peg on the railings to fasten into the new balustrades:

To drill 0.6mm holes in the balustrades accurately I used a technique I described here in my Speedy log, employing a vee block and a micro drill attachment in my mini mill:

Next I prepared the coaming, sanding off the char and rounding off the sharp edges. The only slight change here was to the width. Because the new balustrades are thicker than the photoetch I had to glue strips of 0.5 mm boxwood to the long edges:

With the balustrades and PE glued up, painted and stuck to the coaming here's the end result:

This little side project has recharged my batteries and I'm ready to start on the hull decoration again.
 
Derek
 

I use shellac almost exclusively on my woodworking projects.  While I think it looks best after 0000 steel wool you can also use any of the synthetic abrasive pads, like the scotchbrite green or blue sponges, if leaving metal bits is a concern.  But its probably not an issue unless you have a coarse wood that can catch strands, or possibly if you use a water-based polyurethane as a top layer.  

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

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

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 am determined to improve my planking skills with this build, so have been trying a couple of experiments with the first layer. 
 
I tried my hand at two of Chuck's suggestions - the first was spiling and the second edge bending with an iron. The spiling works well in that it certainly solves the problem of the planks tending to "step" at the bow. However, it presents its own set of challenges and it needs some wider stock to work with. I tried one spiled plank on the port side, but no need for a picture of it - it's a bit rough and once you see it, you won't be able to "un-see" it. I don't want to ruin anyone's day.
 
However, the iron method works really well and is pretty much foolproof. I bought a cheap iron ($21.99) and set up an ironing station.
 

 
The hold-down is important, because without it, it's still possible for the plank to "buckle." With the hold-down, it works very smoothly.
 

 
And here is the plank in position -

 
I am now a convert to this method. I'm expecting it to be especially helpful for the second layer. In the past I have sometimes found the second layer more difficult and frustrating because if the plank doesn't lay perfectly flat, the glue doesn't hold and sanding results in gaps. I think this is going to improve things for me considerably.
 
Thanks for checking in.
David
 

Good Morning,
It's been a while since I have been active in the forum, but that doesn't mean I haven't been active in my workshop. I have just finished my second Bluenose model, this one for my daughter. I didn't do a build log for it as it would be virtually identical to my first one.

 

 
I ordered and receive the Speedy for my next project, but it no sooner arrived that I got a call from my near-by fellow ship modeller, Peter, who asked me if I would like to take on an Agamemnon. It had been his late father's who had started it, but been unable to finish it. Peter already had other things on his model-building plate, and since this particular type and era of vessel is not his chief area of interest, he thought it might appeal to me. He was right, however it is a pretty daunting project.
 
The first planking is finished, the gunports are framed, the framework for the stern installed and the lower deck is planked. Everything to this  point is beautifully done; I hope it isn't downhill from here. I will soon start a separate build log for this project.

 
 
For the first time ever, I have two projects at once. I think I may work on them simultaneously. The idea of being able to move back and forth as the spirit moves me has some appeal.
 
So with all that preamble over, here is my work on the Speedy so far. I have to admit that I am approaching this build log with a great deal of trepidation. There is some pretty impressive work out there and the bar has been set very high.
 
I almost can't believe how precisely the parts have been cut - they fit together perfectly.
 
I did a little pre-beveling on the first and last bulkheads.

 
Notwithstanding the shiny bright finish on the deck of my Bluenose, for these naval vessels, I always prefer a grey finish. I've noticed that not too many others finish their decks that way, but I tend to like them. I wasn't sure how it would work on the etched deck of this model, but fortunately I was able to experiment on the lower deck which is almost completely unseen.
 
I use artists' acrylic paint and make a very thin wash of gray, tempered with some yellow and/or brown. It worked quite well with this etched deck. The lines between the planks show up just the right amount. In a few spots the wash had overfilled the lines, so I ran a razor blade along them very lightly and it worked beautifully.
 
I think I have just a bit too much yellow in my gray mix on this lower deck. For the upper deck, I'll make the colour just a bit grayer. It was great having this "practice" deck to work on.

 

 
That's it for now.
Thanks,
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