davyboy

after some time I resumed work on the model by finishing the laying of the deadeyes and chains:
 

I have spent a few days masking and spraying. Fortunately the workshop temperature has climbed to a balmy 49f / 9.5c.
 
I completed the masking using a combination of Tamiya tape for the edges and blue painters tape for the less sensitive areas. 


The larger areas were covered with paper taped at the edges.

I sprayed a white waterline band using Humbrol white enamel paint.

I then masked off the watering band and exposed the 1/32" ply compensation plates.
Having gone to all that trouble with varnishing the hull I have decided to go minimalist on the hull painting. The new plan is to paint the compensating plates green to match the hull colour. I can always paint the rest of the hull above the waterline if I don't like the result.
Getting the right green wasn't easy but by mixing Humbrol Brunswick with Humbrol Black I was able to achieve something that looked near enough. The lighter green (arrow below) is Brunswick and the second arrow is the Brunswick / Black blend.

I mixed plenty so that I didn't run out mid application.

After leaving the paint to dry overnight I peeled off the tape.


I paid a lot of attention to the tape edges before painting and thankfully the only bleed area was at the bow between the junction of the keel and the hull.
I think I will be able to scrape off the bleed with a sharp blade before touching up with a little varnish. I don't think I need to paint the remainder of the hull above the waterline.
 
 

Yes, I will try to repair it, or even replace few ribs, that is doable as well. No giving up, but need to order some woods which will take some time to arrive..
In the meantime will finish up my working area... La Rochefort will be completed, in this scale or bigger..
 
Cheers
 

This definitely looks repairable (replacing only these particular frames), Isopropyl Alcohol is a common solution - it dissolves the glue and then evaporates without leaving a trace, allowing you to replace the parts without going for a full rebuild!
Hope to see you back in this log after a well deserved break 😊

So the hull is pretty well done. Few things I will add at the end as I usually break anything sticking out while I do the masts/yards/rigging.  May not get much work done this weekend being on call. Fitted the 18ft cutter to the stern davits.
 

 
 

Cheers Guys.
@ Fritz, thanks for looking in, separate spirketting and Quick works panelling is provided in the kit, but I've not seen a kit that supplies a waterway.
I usually do a representation of a waterway including  scuppers, but I've yet to reach that stage.
 
Post 45
Detailing the deck
Time to get some paint down.

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I used Vallejo Black/grey(168) for the coamings.
The slightly pinkish look to the Counter isn’t representative of the true colour.

0562
Dry fitting the inner bulwarks, forward section an excellent fit. I used the gunport jigs to ensure alignment.

0577
I pre-painted the inner bulwarks before fitting. I used Vallejo Flat Red (031)
The longer aft section was trickier to fit, getting it into place before the glue set, whilst aligning it with the ports, and sheaves that run thro’ the hull.

0583
Again the port jigs proved useful.
Towards the stern I did note that the run of the bulwark  didn’t quite meet the deck, but it’s more important to get the ports lined up. Any adjustment will be done once the Spirketting is fitted.

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Only one thin coat of paint has been applied prior to fitting.
 
B.E.
28/02/2025
 

So.... very sad news for me.... during my work today the Rochefort slipped from the work area and three frames broke beyond repair...





I have tried to glue them back again but the broken areas are too visible for my liking; I might be able to hide it with all planking but that was the area I planned to have opened so .... hmm, hard for me to say but after all these hours spent, I will need to abandon this built...Too bad for lost wood but will try to reuse parts in some other project...

What to say, thank you all for following me and will see you in the next project very shortly, need to clean my head from this disaster with a new building process.. Learned a lot with this first scratch build and will definitely get back to Rochefort but this time in bigger scale (purchased plan already) and after some time...

Now, need to clean my working area and try to obtain few more tools I found necessary for successful scratch build.

Thank you again and as always

Happy modelling..

I managed all but the last one piece, the roundhouse port side clamp. Not enough clamps to hold it with glue.
Tomorrow is another day.
 
Now for something different...
A fellow club member printed some scale 1:64 crew members for my build. Amongst them was a surprise!
Two fiddlers seated cross legged.

If you look closely the fellow on the right is wearing glasses and looks quite a bit like yours truly. Yup, it is me!
So I can put myself in my build.
 
He also printed a larger version at 1:25

...and at sometime while in my care the end of the bow to the left of the violin strings snapped off.
So I carefully removed the rest of it and gingerly removed the frog from between the fingers and thumb with a fine mini chisel while wearing my magnifier.
Then I made a new bow from Pau Marfim, stained and varnished.
Added hairs from my old drafting brush and slipped it into place. I cut one to simulate a broken hair.
It looks a bit too chunky so I'll thin out the stick tomorrow.

I had tried to personalise it with hair from ma tête, but it was a bit too unruly... wouldn't be tamed into place.
 

Everything is looking absolutely top notch Chuck.
 
Now a question. How was the Anchor Cable passed below deck to the cable tier when weighing anchor? It certainly would not have been left lying on the deck. Nothing to see on David's or your plans. Normally one grating had cut outs for this purpose the gratings on Speedwell are over passageways with cabins on each side,can't see any stowage area there. One of the hatches maybe ? I asked both of the Book authors and never got a suitable answer to this question. It is/was my intention on my 1/48th Speedwell to have a catted anchor with the cable still attached and led aft to pass below decks. Adds a bit more interest to a model IMO. 
 
Cheers,
 
Dave 

Slowly getting my deck clamps in after a few more health concerns (all better presently).
Working on the quarter deck/waist/forecastle clamps that support the deck beams.

My first photo is locating the deck height using my gun carriage assembly to get it to look correct.
The height of the deck is measured using the device I made to originally mark my heights (but I marked the top of the beam instead of the bottom!).
Then comes the math... using the contract to get the deck plank thickness and deck beam height and subtracting these from the height measured.
That locates the height of the top of my clamp.
This I double check to the plan measurements.... close enough!
Now I calculate the difference to the height of the top of the lower cill of the gun port.
This is the width (height) of the spacer needed.

Next I made my spacer, thin flexible maple, and clamped it to the hull (red nosed clamps), locating the top edge to the top of the gun port lower cill.
My deck clamp was glued and clamped (blue nosed clamps) while butted up against the spacer.
You can see the other deck clamps below.
I've got two more sections to install per side at this level, the last piece needs to be steamed to fit at the bow.
Then is the roundhouse or poop deck clamps and then I can start putting the decks back in.
 
Photo below... you can never have enough clamps.

Post 44
Completing the deck planking.
I firstly fit Hooded planks for the penultimate strakes at the Bow and Stern.

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This provides better spacing for the final strake against the Margin plank.

0538
The final plank requires spiling for which Tamiya tape is used to provide the shape.

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A full day to fit the final planks, and around six days  in total.
Not quite finished as the deck requires scraping and sealing with a flat varnish.
 
B.E.
27/02/2025

I made them on my Speedwell according to David's plan,the largish diameter would make sense for solids disposal. The question of these being discharge points for only pissdales intrigues me.
 
If there were only pissdales on Speedwell where/how was the solid waste of the ordinary seamen disposed of ? Using the headrails would be rather dangerous,the channels maybe,or just hang their rumps over the side ? Just asking  
 
Dave 

Working on standing rigging.

Ok, the modelling block is over, decided to ignore that dip and make a normal straight lower deck like on all the other ships:

Remaining beams are cut out of boxwood. Cutting curved blanks really makes a big difference, I extracted 10 planks from the same width of a sheet instead of the previous 6.
 
They are rough from the bandsaw, but milling setup takes care of it, and the result are nice and smooth beams  


Marking beam locations was a bit nerve-wracking. Pencil was not precise enough when working on such angle, but a marking knife is perfect for that job. Taking a lot of care to not scratch anything around...

Finally! I can go back to building instead of overthinking  
 

Temporary placement of deck beams.

Post 43
Deck Planking Part 3
The first full length planks port and starboard that run along the unplanked area are put into place.

0520
They are fitted in one piece bow to stern in order to maintain the subtle curve fore and aft.
Butt joints at a scale 30’ are marked post fitting.

0521
Planking progresses outwards, tapering towards bow and stern, wedges are used to hold planks in place.

0522

0526
Two strakes remain to be fitted each side.

0533
Another day should see completion of the deck planking.
 
B.E.
26/02/2025
 

It's been a couple of weeks since I've been able to get to the museum due to our train drivers causing industrial problems, however I've continued to work on the rigging hardware at home and now have all but two of the square yards complete and ready for sails.
 
The model is also now sporting three square sails - two rigged and one simply attached to the mast. I've also got quite a few lead blocks seized into the rigging, but as they're painted, they're very hard to see.
 
There will be another slight hiatus in progress as the Admiral and I are off for a couple of weeks holiday down to coast shortly, but hopefully, now that the yards are almost completed, there will be a bit more rapid progress in the future.
 
I have a problem with the speed of progress on the model. Our Senior Curator is really anxious to get her finished and into a proper display case ("The Registration Papers are all complete and ready to sign, John"), but the Museum Director wandered past yesterday and was very enthusiastic about the model being under construction for as long as possible in the gallery as an attraction for visitors! 🙂
 
John
 

Post 42
Deck Planking Part 2
With the counters in place I concentrate on the aft deck section.
Once the centre planks are in place I begin to taper the planks.

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This is done by eye, the objective to get a curve that runs parallel to the outer deck line.
 
At this point I  move to the Bow section.

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Apart from the four planks either side of the centre, the other are all tapered and nibbed into the Margin planks.

0509
The area of the sub-deck remains to be planked but the indication is that a fair run of planking will follow.🤞🤞

0511
Looking a bit rough at this stage and very much w-i-p. 
Hopefully this belies the end result once the deck is scrubbed,  or rather scraped up, to a reasonable finish.
 
B.E.
24/02/2025
 

Time for some side projects  
 
Fist I was concerned about the side-to-side alignment inside the hull.
The height measurement gauge is asymmetrical, and flipping it around may introduce some measurement errors. So I wanted to make a pointy thing that can be moved side-by-side on the top gantry. 
There was a question in another log - "what is the mill for" - here is a classic example of a simple part that should be square with a precise and square-profiled recess. Mill is much more consistent and requires less skill than a "well tuned table saw", for example.

For the "pointy bit" I needed something very soft to avoid scratching the part. Basswood from the Model Shipways kit was ideal - I use it a lot as a soft lining for clamps and jigs. 
I wanted to practice milling it in a rotary table instead of using lathe or a rotary tool. Not the best idea, the finish was not smooth at all (though such a soft wood is not making the task easier)

The resulting gadget. When in action - only one clamp is holding the arm in the correct position, while the assembly slides side to side. Should work even with curved beams, by probing the ends of the beam.

In action:

Finished the steering gear, guns, rudder chains and ships boat. Next is installing the deadeyes and putting the second ship's boat on the stern davits. Admiral Cochrane paid a visit.
 

After a long (way too long) interruption my Kingfisher is back on the bench. I have still been busy modelling but with other (plastic related) topics not fit to portray here, still it was al lot of fun. But it was time to return and make some wood dust again. So over the past few week I managed to get back into the build, did a lot of head scratching trying to remember where I left of and more important how things were done. Some of the procedures got lost in time and I have to figure out again. 
After taking the model out of storage ( it was stored in a dark place) I noticed a few things, the boxwood turned darker, the holy I used for the lower deck planking turned dark almost to the color of the boxwood. The wale that was stained with Fiebing ink turned much lighter. Overall a few cracks have appeared between the outside planing, but nothing too serious. Not bad after 5 years in storage and moving 3 times to different locations. 
 
So the upper deck spriketting and quick work was finally finished. I did not dare to drill holes for the scuppers as I'm afraid the inside and outside planking is not completely aligned the way it should be and the suppers might hit the wale. 


 
Upper deck planking installed and treenailed. I used thin black paper for caulking.
 
The fixed blocks were remade as the previous ones had fitting issues. I decided to make them from one piece and carve the sheaves in situ.  Unfortunately I discovered too late that the wood I used for the double block was much lighter. Now it looks like it was an off site repair job. 


 
Whilst working with plastic and specifically with Gundam models I picked up there plastic scribers. They also function as great mini chisels for wood. They come in many sizes and are super sharp. Due to the high angle of the blade they cut very aggressive in wood so care must be taken but a great addition to my woodworking toolset.

 
 
 
 
Remco
 

Hi photo Anson.

Work on timbers continue.... just cut, sand, glue, test....
 



Happy modeling.
 
 

Hello,
last week we had here a lot of sunshine, so I was't realy often at the shipyard. But at least I managed to finished two other strakes. Only 4 left

Now it starts to look more like a ship then a raft.