dunnock

Thanks to everyone for the likes and comments. I’ve added all the blocks and deadeyes to the lower masts before they are finally fitted to the model. I’m using the latest ‘boxwood’ resin blocks from Syren which are very nice and detailed. I’ll use the deadeyes supplied with the kit although some sorting is needed to pick those with the best distribution of holes. I’ve used dark brown RoS cotton ropes, served with Gutterman thread for the strops for all the blocks and deadeyes around the mast. The blocks below the tops are shown suspended from eyebolts in the crosstrees on the plans. According to Lees and Petersson, they would be suspended from wooden pegs on the floor of the tops. This arrangement is quite fiddly and space is tight but easier to do before the tops are fitted on the mast. Strops are 0.4mm Gutterman polyester thread. They need to be long enough to pass through the floor of the top and leave the blocks clear of the crosstrees. A couple of coats of matt varnish stiffen the long strops and fix the pegs in the eye of the strop. I’m leaving the guard rails off until the rigging is almost complete to make access easier and because I'd probably break them if I fitted them now That completes the fittings on the lower masts. I’ve made a start on making the bowsprit, jib and flying jibbooms which I’ll complete before beginning the standing rigging. David

It's been a while since I posted. I have been working on the masts but I've also had a short break in Norfolk looking for birds that proved elusive. Anyway I've now completed the fore and main mast sections According to Lees’ and Petrejus’ plans for topmasts and topgallants, all have a square section heel and are octagonal between top and cap. The top mast was made from 8mm dowel and topgallant from 6mm to enable the 5 and 4mm octagonal sections to be made. The excess was planed square to begin and then finished with files, sanding sticks and then the lathe for the round sections. I wish I could start with square sections for masts and yards but I can't find any that cover the full range of sizes needed. Top rope sheaves are drilled through the octagonal sections from starboard through to port faces. The topmasts, like the lower masts are finished square at the cap. I thought about whether to make the caps from scratch but found I didn't have any sheets of the right size so decided to modify the caps supplied. I plugged the round hole with a piece of dowel and then cut a new square hole using a 0.6mm drill to perforate around the edge. A scalpel was used to roughly cut out the hole and then I finished it off with a file. The corners are rounded off. I’ve still to add the four eyebolts around the underside. I was taking some photos after I had finished but before painting when I had a little accident. I dropped my camera on the foremast and smashed the bibs and crosstrees. Luckily they were salvageable and the parts glued together well. I liked the way that the tops for the topmasts are made up. Using PE brass crosstrees and pearwood trestletrees, they are simple to put together and the holes in the brass for topgallants stays and shrouds are more robust than if they were in wooden components. I’ve dry assembled the masts and put them in place to get a feel for the finished size of Speedy and to check she’ll fit on the new shelves. Thanks for looking in and the likes and comments David

Nice planking Andrew. I bought some proportional dividers a while ago but couldn't get on with them. Maybe I'll give them another try. David

Lower Masts I will make all the masts and yards from ramin dowel stained or painted as appropriate. The lower masts are both made from 8mm dowel. I first marked out, planed and filed square the head sections. Then using my Proxxon lathe, tapered the round sections according to the proportions at each quarter given in Lees. Both lower masts were stained antique pine before adding the hoops. According to Lees, the diameter at the hounds is 4/5 of the diameter at the deck equal to 6.4mm. This is slightly less than given on the plans, so the hounds needed a small amount of trimming before they were fixed. I also scribed a false scarf joint to indicate the presence of the bibs. It's not apparent in the photo but can just about be seen with the naked eye. The main mast is canted aft but the top must sit parallel to the waterline so the hounds are set at an angle. The foremast is vertical, so in this case the top sits square to the mast. Should a front fish and cheeks be added to each mast? I decided to follow the plans and leave them off. I have, however added hoops and battens to the mast head. For the hoops I used heat shrink tube and the battens are made from 1x1mm boxwood strip. Adding these before the crosstrees was a mistake though. If I made up the trestletrees and crosstrees, they would not now go over the mast head. I had to glue together one trestletree and crosstree and complete the assembly around the mast: a bit awkward but it works. The cap should have a square hole for the lower mast according to Lees. I made the tenon 4mm square rather than round. If I were following Lees exactly, it should be 4.5mm across and 4mm front to back but I’m happy that 4mm square is a sufficient approximation. Thanks for looking in David

Thanks Andrew. They are all only brush painted using Admiralty paints There is a camber on the combings and gratings and I added a couple of bands to the elm tree pumps. A fuller description of making up the fittings is in post#19 David

The centre line fittings are all in place using the kit parts. The only modification I made was to the skylight, although the mast partners and stove chimney benefit from a little rounding. According to Chris’s narrative at the beginning of the manual, so little headroom in his cabin that Cochrane was in the habit of opening the skylight and poking his head out shave. I thought I would have a go at simple modification and create a sliding skylight. I hope that this is the correct arrangement. I used 5 x1.5mm strip and cut a channel for the skylight to run in then replaced the kit sides with the modified ones. I don’t have a mill so used scalpel and file to create the channel. I bought some Micro Kristal Clear to glaze the lights. It’s the first time I’ve used it so the glazing is not perfectly flat but I’ve convinced myself that from a distance it looks like blown glass. Thanks for looking in David

The guns are now in place. I have pinned each one to the deck using lengths of 0.6mm brass rod. The RoS breech ropes lie nicely without any real manipulation and without need to spot glue them in place. A broadsides worth of 'random' coils The falls of the tackles have been left loosely flaked on the deck. Unfortunately the dilute matt varnish that I used to hold the coils together has darkened the ropes but there’s not much I can do about that and it’s not easy to see the contrast between tackle and fall. Speedy is now beginning to look like a ship now that all the guns are on board. Adding the deck fittings is the next stage. David

Fantastic result Andrew: really well done. BTW, I've had a word with Kate about flag painting at mates' rates 😉 David

November release - that's great just in time for Christmas. I'll be asking Santa to put one in my stocking 😊 David

The hooks have arrived - they are really small, I also ordered some 2mm PE etched eyebolts at the same time. They seem a better match for the hooks than the Amati eyebolts and I will use them for the bulwark fixings. I have used single 2mm block for the tackles which I think is appropriate for a 4-pounder gun and 0.1mm Gutterman thread for the ropes. I’m indebted to @Thukydides and his Alert log for his method of attaching these small hooks and ropes to such tiny blocks which I modified only slightly by tying and extra half hitch on the tackle rope to create the semblance of an eye. I’m glad there are only 14 guns but 56, 2mm blocks and hooks is still quite a challenge and I draw the line at another 28 for the training tackles! To obtain the correct distance between blocks for the port tackles, I set up one gun with tackles and used this distance to make a simple jig to set the distance for the rest. I’m undecided about whether to show the tackle falls frapped as I have before, or to try to leave them loosely flaked on the deck. I’m leaning towards the latter but I still have to play about with making the thread look less ordered. The gun is not fixed yet but a pin as been glued to the underside of the bed and will be glued to a hole in the deck. It seems from this set up that the quoins I made would depress the gun from it’s neutral position in the centre of the port so I will not be using them. I wonder if this is because I chose to plank the deck rather than use the kit’s engraved part? Thanks for all the likes and for looking in. David

Thanks Andrew but I think that I may have got my terminology wrong. Just to clarify, I used the paper disposable lens wipe, not the fabric ones you get with every pair of spectacles. David

While I’m waiting for hooks to arrive from HiS Model, I thought I’d have a go at finishing off the stern with chains and a rudder coat. The rudder was made a little while ago. While I did taper both rudder and sternpost towards the keel I have forgotten to make the chamfer at the edge where they meet. Too late now. The horseshoe collar is cut from a piece of card slightly larger than the opening. I made the rudder coat from a piece of non-woven lens cloth which has a nice leather-like texture when painted. I cut it to an approximate size and shape which after the third attempt, seemed to be about right. Collar and coat are glued together with pva and then glued to the counter. I’ve not done it before but I used @Blue Ensign's technique of stuffing the coat with cotton wool to give it some fullness. It was then just a question of trimming and finishing gluing to the rudder and sternpost. Rudder chains are added to finish off David

Going back to the guns, I’ve added the ring bolts to the carriages and pins to the axles. Ideally the axles would have been slightly longer to allow more room to drill the holes but I managed with only slight damage to a couple of the axles, easily covered up when they were repainted. The breeching ropes are made from 0.7mm rope seized to 2mm ring bolts. I made them 105mm long to allow for room to make the seizings and give a final length of 85mm – slightly longer than 3x the barrel length. The rope is split at the centre, fed over the button and fixed with dilute matt varnish. I did some experimentation with the port tackles using 2mm blocks but the hooks I have looked oversized. I also tried making up some hooks from 24gg wire but again I’ve struggled to make them look in proportion so have ordered some 3mm hooks from HiSModel. While I’m waiting for them to arrive, I pass on to other things... Thanks for the likes and for looking in David

I’ve added the channels, chains and deadeyes. I used the kit parts but scraped a moulding around the edges of the channels which after painting them black, is hardly visible. The brass PE chains and deadeye links were blackened in the usual way with Birchwood Casey Brass Black. I put some tape below the channels and marked off the positions for the chain fixings in the usual way using a thread fixed at the height of the head on temporary masts and leading down through the deadeyes. I was concerned that with all the messing about with the wales that the chains might fall in the wrong place but it has worked out quite well. Now it’s back to rigging the guns that I made up some time ago. I will try to rig them with at least breechings and side tackles but rigging 2mm blocks and hooks is going to be a challenge. Thanks for looking in David

I’ve been finishing more of the outer hull fittings including the steps, cathead and cathead knee. I wanted to use boxwood for the steps to match the outer hull planking. I cut 2 and 1mm strips from a sheet and used these to cut the treads and a ledge for better support. A strip of tape kept the steps in line vertically and a copy of the side elevation with the steps cut out ensured the steps were correctly spaced. The cathead was made up from the kit parts although I left off the pear end cap and just added the PE crown motif. A little fairing was required on the inner surface of the leg to match the line of the hull. I filed out the sheaves a little more and drilled them through. The knee was a little more challenging. I wanted it to look like it blended in to the main rail a little more then a simple bracket. I didn’t have any 5mm pieces of sufficient depth so I hade to make a sandwich out of some 3mm thick sheet and some 10x1mm strip which would give me sufficient depth. It was then a matter of cutting and shaping to fit and blend as best I could into the main rail. Ideally I would have modified the rail too to look more like the side elevation of the hull rather than the front profile on plan sheet 4 but I’m fairly happy with the result as it stands. David