bdgiantman2

I have to admit that I don't have the books from SeaWall to know better, but I am curious if you and especially Chuck will be doing any interior on this model. Progress is looking great, Mike. You are a very skilled model maker and this has been a great treasure to follow. Kuddos
 
Brian D 

Gonna have to invite myself over to your place for breakfast after a teaser like that, even if the cholesterol levels are off the charts!!  😋 🤣  
 
Seriously, your Niagara rigging is looking great, you are really coming along on her. No progress at all for me with my model ship, in fact I'm going backwards. 

You will probably be thinking that I have given up on this model. Far from it, but it is taking an unconscionably long time. It is, of course, the small size that’s much of the problem, and I have had to make several efforts at some elements. I may yet have another go at the wheel, which was fiendish. Wire rims might look better, if I can do it. First time round for the quarterdeck guns they looked too large, and were difficult to make as the wood tended to split. So I went for card in the end. The breeching ropes are still to be fitted. Do I put more tackles in? Probably not. The skylight has taken a couple of goes, and is still unfinished, with no glazing so far. Anyway, the ship is slowly, slowly getting there, and will be done in time for the village show next year (last year’s model got best in class, not surprisingly as there was  only the one entrant, and also got best in show for handicrafts).  Can I ask if anyone has advice on a future problem? Most of the plans of this class of ship don’t show any rails on the poop deck, though that for Indefatigable (https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-81744) has substantial ones, similar to the modern model of Agamemnon at https://julianstockwin.com/2017/10/10/agamemnon-the-darch-model/ . There is a simple block model of Indefatigable in the National Maritime Museum (https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-66510 ) which looks as if it has a very low railing unlike any other I have seen. There’s also the possible alternative of a wire railing, similar to that which Longridge employed for his model of Victory, though that would not be easy at this scale. At present I’m thinking of ones like the plan of Indefatigable. Another question is how to do the gunport lids. Some models, such as the one of Mars in the NMM, show them raised all the way almost to the vertical, but I think a 45 degree angle is probably best.
Just a word about tools. In the 1950’s I made much use of Gilette razor blades, snapped in half, but they were not exactly kind to my fingers, and I would not dare to use anything like that now. So it’s largely been a matter of my old faithful Stanley knife. Tweezers have been important, and a toenail clipper very useful. And a small archimedean hand drill has been essential. I read about rotary tools, and decided to try one out. It’s Chinese made, inexpensive, rechargeable, and surprisingly useful for tidying up details.  
 

Evening, 
Hope everyone is well. Absolutely beautiful early fall evening in New Hampshire. 
Warm cup of something, radio buzzing in the background, ship building happening. 
Update needed. 
 
Continuing with the forward stays leading from the Fore mast thru the Bowsprit to the hull.
Minus braces and footropes, this will mostly wrap up what I have planned for the Bowsprit. By no means done, just it will return at a later stage. 

The Flying jib stay, and Royal stay are the most fragile. 
Once you get them mounted, they do steady up nicely. 
Not the best pic of the bow, but my lines look "appropriate" for the shape of the ship itself. 

No ropes are too close to the others and looks "square" with the hull mountings.  
The eyelets are out of scale. I know i know    Still learning!!!! 

With the Bowsprit essentially in place.
I going to follow down the center line of the ship as towards what to rig next. 
Main and Its preventer stay are next. 

Rigging forces in the bowsprit are already pulling the fore mast gently forward. 
Rigging the main and Its preventer stay are a bit of a balancing act as it's now going to start pulling back on said bowsprit rigging. 
A gentle touch here attaching in anticipation of more forces pulling when lower shrouds and the like are installed as well. 
Anticipatory forces, if that's a term.  

A small cleat will eventually be attached to the fore mast gently tightening the preventer stay.  
I'll form one out of scrap wood. 

As many bullseyes as possible were pre-installed. 

Using a "third set of hands", the stays were tensioned off to an appropriate length with the bullseyes. 
Nothing too fancy. Bullseyes wrapped and stropped at two points and trimmed.

Be good, 
 
Tom E 
 
 
 

Thank you Ben. The finished model will be just under 43". it's actually not unmanageable. if you look at it next to Winnie, its only about 5" longer, slightly beamier at 10 3/16" and obviously another deck taller, coming in at 12". I think they both look good next to each other, a 5th and 4th, maybe ill try a 3rd rate next lol

That is one ambitious project you are undertaking, Joe! So far looks great, HMS Portland really compliments Winnie side by side. Soon it will be our favorite time with this hobby - the endless sanding and fairing. I am enjoying this build and keep it up!
 
Brian D

Greg, congratulations on finishing Speedwell. She and her display are beautiful. As for lighting, I am in favor of not lighting her.

Great display case for a museum grade model! Both items are beautifully made. As for lighting,  I admit I don't know much but am wondering if an aquarium light fixture would be a solution. I think most of the florescent bulbs would be non-intrusive but honestly not sure.

Great display case for a museum grade model! Both items are beautifully made. As for lighting,  I admit I don't know much but am wondering if an aquarium light fixture would be a solution. I think most of the florescent bulbs would be non-intrusive but honestly not sure.

some one suggested this already, but an adjustable open top aquarium lamp might work - except they're designed to sit on the top edges of the aquarium sides - you can get ones that are dimmable and that (while quite bright) would not be so intrusive or offensive. They are, however, not cheap...and an enclosed case would require the addition on the top side edges of thin extensions on which the light could rest - here is an image of an aquarium I designed a couple of years ago that shows this. The broad spectrum REBs are high quality, but really designed for plant growth - so bright! But this photo is just to show how the lights fit on the aquarium...and to illustrate what you might need to do do fit something securely on your model case....
I'm on another forum for my aquarium/aquascaping hobby and one time someone there asked about putting a wooden ship model as a decorative element inside the aquarium! It's fun when there's crossover between these two worlds....good luck!
hamilton

Great display case for a museum grade model! Both items are beautifully made. As for lighting,  I admit I don't know much but am wondering if an aquarium light fixture would be a solution. I think most of the florescent bulbs would be non-intrusive but honestly not sure.

One last Speedwell photo to finish this log. It is now encased in a display designed and built by my son whose hobby is woodworking. He built it out of Sapele mahogany and I think it compliments the model beautifully.
Question - can anyone suggest a tasteful, non-intrusive method to light up the model? Whatever it is will need to rest on the acrylic top.
 

That is one ambitious project you are undertaking, Joe! So far looks great, HMS Portland really compliments Winnie side by side. Soon it will be our favorite time with this hobby - the endless sanding and fairing. I am enjoying this build and keep it up!
 
Brian D

The white window frames look really good and authentic in my opinion. Nice progress on your ship.
 
Brian D

That is one ambitious project you are undertaking, Joe! So far looks great, HMS Portland really compliments Winnie side by side. Soon it will be our favorite time with this hobby - the endless sanding and fairing. I am enjoying this build and keep it up!
 
Brian D

Today I made some progress on the transom and frames, including the jig. I’ve been staring at this on my computer
for months in anxiety wondering if this will even make sense let alone work. It did. Some minor adjustments need to be made but I’m very happy with the results. 

the jig is fit to the hull dry and it’s pretty snug in order To keep things lined up properly. There are two pieces of the jig that align all the frames as well as the vertical components of the jig, none of these parts should be glued to the frames otherwise you’re in trouble. There are a series of transverse structure pieces that tie the frames Together and help with QG assembly.

you can also see the gun port framing, this is all laser cut and etched for the gun port sills, they should just slide into place.

The base for the upper balcony was also installed to test fitment and it worked, it’s made up of two pieces one lower and one upper, together they also create the deck camber at the balcony and are a landing for the balcony planking. The notches in the frames help hold their shape and then just clamp the upper on after the lower is dry.



I also ran a test on the longitudinal piece for the gun ports on the lower deck, this also ties all the bulkheads together. On the bottom you will see the etchings for the gunport sills, tomorrow I will cut out the remaining 8 and possibly add
all the sills.

after all the gunport structure is in place and the bulkheads are stabilized, then I can remove the framing jig, the transverse parts of the jig will have to be cut loose in order to lift it out but this shouldn’t be a problem. Another jig will Be made in the center to contain the bulkheads when fairing, I will hopefully build this tomorrow. 
Thanks for looking in! Questions and comments are always welcome.
JJ

My laser control board was delivered this morning, I wasted no time installing and began cutting as soon as the machine was happy again. I made some headway in the structure, I do however have some fine tuning to do and tolerances need to be adjusted. 
Most everything is dry fitted with  zero slop to it, I need to increase the cuts by just a bit in the next model
I modified the design of the longitudinal stiffeners and reduced their size, they are now made up of two pieces and lock together In the middle. This helps with installation as you only have to manage half the bulkheads.
 


This created a very rigid structure with all the bulkheads being well behaved and equally spaced on each side

you can also see the two bow filler pieces that meet bulkhead 3 and overlap the longitudinal stiffener and help to tie the forward bulkheads in with the remaining ones, this keeps the forward part of the model square. The bow pieces all have reference lines for fairing as well. 


From the back side of the model you can see the reference lines for the wales as well as each deck, there are two sets of wales and three decks that will be built, each deck and wale is marked, I will explain more when I build the next model.

like the bow fillers, the lower stern frames also tie into the longitudinal stiffeners to help keep the stern square, there will also be a stern frame jig included as the stern frames are very long and delicate, this will assist in getting the frames properly placed and tied into other structure on the model. I will get this assembled and on the model tomorrow .
For tomorrow I plan to also get the longitudinal guides for the gun ports cut, these are going to be extremely tricky and complex, there will also be a continuation of the stern frame jig to help support all the upper frames when fairing, they are just too tall to leave unsupported.
Thanks for stoping by.
JJ

Small update:
So I’ve had very little progress as I’m experiencing some laser issues which is eating up a lot of material, so until I reach tech support and resolve the issue I’ve decided to postpone anymore attempts at cutting parts, especially AYC. But I’ve got a few bulkheads cut and I’m pleased with how they fit, establishing proper tolerances is challenging, I will find out how well it will go together when I get additional longitudinal structure installed. I hope to be up and running again next week and will make some progress updates.

I have been experimenting with lining off the bulkheads for planking and so far the results look promising on the computer model, marks made on the bullheads are designed to accommodate required fairing. Both sets of wales as well as the deck elevations are also represented.


 

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Thank you for the great picture of your collection of rib frame pieces. I had been curious about how you and Chuck as well as many better model builders were making your hull ribs.  Been struggling with making better frames and making those wedge parts looked so fiddly and asking for fractures. Keep up your great skills and I am enjoying this read.
 
Brian D.

Square frames (pt. 2)
Hi guys,
 
Moving ahead I decided to cut out the remaining square frames from sheet and mill all 140 scarph joints. A real exercise in patience, like doing guns.

Mike

Not luck... but skill.   Very well done.

The construction came to an end after approx. 4600 hours. All that remains is to post a few last photos and thank all the followers for watching and commenting on the progress of the model construction. Thank you.

Update: I've remade a handful of frames and am plodding through the steps already described to get them into play.  The next step requires all frames to be present and correct.
In the meantime, I had a very pleasant visit to Royal Museums Greenwich (a.k.a. The National Maritime Museum).  The only plan of Berwick showing the stern decoration and figurehead, J2632, is not available online in hi-res and I am glad to say I was allowed to view the original.  The detail is superb and, I confess, more elaborate than I had imagined.  There was a 'what have I done?' moment but it passed.
For copyright compliance reasons I will not post the images taken directly from the original.  However, I have begun a crude process of digitally separating the components and looking for clues as to what was carved and what was painted.  It is based on J2632 but is modified enough to allow me to comfortably post it here.
This is work-in-progress, a tool to get me closer to the finished model and will evolve.  Plan A at the moment is to start on the stern decoration as soon as the re-drawing is completed, the figurehead later.