dunnock

Thanks Maid of the Mist. Vanguard Model copper plates are of much better scale and thinner than those found in other kits and I found them easier to cut and apply. You can find more information at entries #30 to #33 in this log David

Thanks Chuck, that's very kind David

Inner Bulwarks The doors to the stern cabins are fixed first and the bulwarks fit up to them. I used Syren’s hinges and door handles. The side walls needed some work to make them fit to my planked deck but I was able to use the supplied parts. The ends of the planking at the stern looked a bit unfinished. I used a piece of the ply pattern from the stern panel as a guide to trim the ends and then added a piece of 1mm square boxwood to cover the cut ends and finish it off. The inner bulwarks were dry fitted and left clamped overnight, as suggested in the instructions, to relax any tensions in the wood. I had misaligned the plywood patterns so had to carefully align the inner bulwark with the outer etched pear patterns. This meant sanding and filing about 1mm off the ply at each gun and sweep port. The spirketting, like the bulwarks, are painted in Admiralty Red Ochre and were carefully aligned using the holes for the carronade rigging in the bulwark. The inner sheer rails were painted before removing them from the sheet and again carefully positioned along the upper line on the bulwark. I think I will add gunport sills to cover the edges of the three patterns but first I need to check that it won't affect the position of the carronades. I added a waterway to Speedy and have done the same with Harpy. I used some 3.5x 2mm AYC that I had available and split it in two. A bevel was scraped across the cut side and fitted to the seam between deck and bulwark. The waterway has the added benefit of closing any gaps between spirketting and deck. Although glued, I still have to finish off the scuppers. Still enough deck to support the carronade bed. Thanks for looking in and for all the encouragement, likes and comments. David

Thanks very much Ron and Andrew for your kind comments David

Very impressive. I'm thinking about this as my next project David

Thanks for the likes and generous comments: they're much appreciated Planking Completed Port side planking went a little easier with fewer awkward cuts. The result is port and starboard are slightly different but most will be covered by the carronades. Sanding with 120 grit and a final scraping smoothed the decking which has been finished with a couple of coats of very dilute matt varnish. Past experience has shown that too much varnish or shellac reduces adhesion of pva. Some shots before sanding and finishing ... and after David

Thanks very much Daniel

Many thanks Maurice

Planking Part Three The starboard side is now complete. Like all plans it didn’t quite work out as expected and took quite a bit longer to complete. One plank meets the margin at a joint, which could have been avoided by putting the joint further aft. Too late to change now but something to avoid the next time. There are a couple of places where the joints could have been tighter but even so I’m quite happy with the results. I will now try to repeat the same planking pattern on the port side. David

Another great model and really like the presentation. Thanks too for the clear and very helpful log David

Planking Continued I have completely run out of 4mm strip. Because I didn’t order more supplies in time, I’m running down my limited stock of 5mm and carefully trimming it to width. I used 4mm strip for the bow section and those strips beyond the middle line are joggled into the margin plank. I cut a little more out of the sub-deck at the bow to expose the end walls of the forward cabins. I made up one of the carronade beds and slide and used it to determine where the first continuous run of planks should be. At the stern I ran them inside line of the port and starboard rooms and then worked out the taper required to fill the remaining space. The taper of planks at the bow were worked out in the same way. Instead of my usual haphazard approach, I’ve worked out a layout of the outer planks by drawing them onto the back of a section of the discarded etched deck. So far planking is symmetrical so the same plan should work for both sides Hopefully this will translate into reasonable runs and no surprises with pointy planks like I suffered on Speedy. Thanks for looking in and likes and comments. David

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