dunnock

Thanks for the compliment on the deck planking Maurice; much appreciated. And thanks for the warning about the potential for issues of thicker planking. I checked the carronades both for the width of the area to plank and for the height of the gun port sill which look fine but I didn't think to check the spirketting. Having just had a look, I think that I may need to trim 0.5mm off the spirketting which I hope won't be noticeable.

Planking the Gun Deck The tricky centre section between hatches is finished. I’m using mainly 3.5 and 4.0 x 1mm boxwood strip. I’ve already run out of 4mm strip so now I’m cutting down 5 and 6mm strip. I have also had to use some 5mm strip along the edges of the after hatches to make a fair run. The planks are all straight but I have begun to taper the last planks fitted at the stern. I used the etched deck as a pattern to mark the cut-outs and eye-bolt points. There are still some cut-outs to work on but this section is substantially finished. I now move on to the bow and stern sections before finishing with the runs up to the bulwarks, I will leave as much of the lower deck exposed as is feasible.

I've enjoyed following your build Richard and well done on your excellent Harpy From your comments, I hope that you're not closing the shipyard and have a plan for your next model. David

Good to see you again Jason and stunning work David

Thanks to all for the likes and encouraging comments. Preparation for Deck Planking I will not be using the supplied etched deck preferring the look of my own boxwood strip. Before I can begin there are a few things that need doing. First I add the inner counter and transom pieces. These required a fair bit of trimming and sanding to get them to meet closely and to fit between the two stern compartments. They were painted off model with Admiralty Paints Red Ochre. I made up the hatch coamings and gratings a while ago while I was waiting for some parts and managed to remember where I had put them. The kit pieces for the ledges are rounded. I soaked the gratings and shaped them to match the curve. The forward and main hatches will sit directly on the beams but the capstan and hatch forward of it are made to sit on the deck. I have cut a piece from 0.8mm fret and glued it to the base so that it will now sit on the beams and I can plank up to it. Others have commented (@Blue Ensign, @AON, and @Richard44) on the small forward hatch, which is either a steam grating or with cut-outs for the hawsers (or maybe both). To have the hawsers running tight against the riding bitts and immediately forward of the stove looks unusual and awkward so I have scratched another from 4x1mm pear for the coaming and some Caldercraft grating pieces. The hatches are aligned and glued in place using the etched deck. The margin planks are the first to be placed. I made them in three pieces. The forward two pieces are cut from boxwood sheet to cope with the curve at the bow and the third from 4mm stripwood. I can now move on to the main planking but I will need to order some more boxwood from Hobbymill before I can complete it. David

Coppering – Finishing Touches Thanks for the encouragement with likes and comments. Positively the final mention of coppering. I have added some boxwood trim around the waterline edge of the plates using 1mm square strip. I have thinned it back and rounded off the edges to make it less prominent and maybe I will darken it off with some stain to reduce the contrast with the pearwood. To finish the trim at that level I have also added pieces 111 and 112 between counter and tuck. A few coats of dilute matt varnish protects the wood and brings up the colour of the planking. Thanks for looking in David

Thanks very much Andrew

Thank you Maurice. That's good of you to say so. David

Coppering Completed After10 days, I have finished coppering the hull. Diana it isn’t but even so there are over 800 plates to glue in place. The final row to the waterline involved a lot of small pieces which took some time. Any ragged edges will be covered by a boxwood strip. The final piece of this 3D jigsaw is the prow. I ran the side pieces first, continuing down from the keel to the waterline. I overlapped the plates by about 1mm onto the hull and then finished with the vertical plates down the cutwater, again overlapping onto the horizontal plates by 1mm each side. While looking over my work, I noticed that some plates had lifted at the corners so I have been checking and re-glueing those that weren’t firmly stuck down. Thanks for looking in, the likes and comments. David

Thanks Theodosius that's very kind of you. I've just looked in on your Speedy and your making a great job of it - don't believe it can be your first wooden model David

Coppering Continued Just an update on progress. I’m about 2/3 of the way along and beginning to reach the waterline and the need to cut plates. I mark the line with a pencil, score several times and then bend it until it breaks along the line. Minor adjustments and smoothing the edge is done with a fine file. I continue plating towards the stem. I'll get to the same stage on the other side before going back to finishing plating at the waterline. I also have some small pieces to add at the stern David

Thank you Jeff and Bob, that's very kind of you David

I like to finish the edge with stripwood (it covers a multitude of poor cutting). On previous builds I have edged with 1mm square section boxwood. I now also have some 1.5x1mm strip so I will decide when the coppering is complete which to use. David

Many thanks Ron and Mort for your very kind comments. It's much appreciated David

Coppering the Hull The waterline is marked up based on measurements taken from the plans at stem and stern post and from lower edge the wale directly below the centre of each gunport. To begin with I marked the edge using white pvc graphing tape but it’s not very sticky so I’ve redone it using masking tape. This is my set of tools for coppering. A scrap of dowel with Bluetac to hold and place the plates. Itried’Tacky Wax’ but couldn’t get on with it. Bluetac holds better and I’ve yet to replace it. A burnishing stick; again from scrap dowel, a tool for scoring plates and a cotton wool swab dipped in acetone for cleaning up excess CA. I’m using Rocket Odourless CA glue. The sheets of copper are easily split into individual plates by flexing. I found that the separated horizontal strips can be split into individual plates by flexing 3 strips at a time. Individual plates are cut to shape at the sternpost by scoring and then flexing to split it along the score line. I applied copper tape to the bottom of the keel and sternpost before staring to apply plates from the sternpost at the keel. It's probably overkill but I apply a spot of CA at each corner and a few spots across the rest of the surface to be sure of good adhesion. A rub with the burnishing stick and then every 3 or 4 plates I clean up excess CA with acetone. I have used nearly a complete sheet thus far. There are three sheets in the kit so should be some spares. David