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dunnock

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Everything posted by dunnock

  1. dunnock
    That's a fine model you have built and a great log too with much useful detail that I will shamelessly copy. David
  2. dunnock
    Thanks Andrew, It's a great book and a bit of a bargain. David
  3. dunnock
    I saw this book ‘The Modelling of the Brig of War Irene' on the Nautiek website which looked interesting and bought it through Abe Books. The book is mainly about ‘Irene’ – an English Cruizer Class brig, HMS Grasshopper built in 1806, captured in 1811 and renamed Irene by the Dutch. Not directly useful as a reference for Speedy but as well as details on Grasshopper/Irene, it contains a wealth of information on fittings and rigging of other classes of ships: British, European and American. I have made up all 20 swivel guns and have put together the components for the guns. There was a fault on the barrels of the 4-pounders but Chris responded to my query immediately and will be sending replacements. The cap squares are part of the carriage sides, so the sequence for construction is slightly different from the norm. The option of a PE brass cap square, which I understand from earlier logs was available, is no longer included. The integrated cap square makes for easier assembly but a steady hand is need to paint them matt black One side and the two axles are glued together first. The barrel will be inserted into the built-in cap squares and the second side glued in place. I made a jig for the first stage to keep things square but will not be possible (or perhaps necessary) to use it to fit the barrel and second side. The PE carriage bolts have been blackened and will be slipped through the holes in the carriage sides when assembled. There are no carriage beds in the kit, the quoins being glued directly to the axle and bed bolt. I thought it would be better to have the quoins on a bed so have made a set from 0.8mm pear fret. I have sanded the quoins into a wedge and will need to adjust the position of the quoin to allow for the extra thickness of the carriage bed. I will have to wait until the deck is planked before I can fix the quoins in position to make sure the barrels will lie centrally within the gun ports. The trucks have been removed from the fret and rounded off without reducing the overall diameter. David
  4. dunnock
    Thanks for your kind comments mugje and Andrew and to others for their likes David
  5. dunnock
    Thanks for the likes everyone. I’ve completed most of the centre line fittings. I added some strips to the ledges of the coamings to give enough depth to sand a curve to the ledges. I also fitted some bits of 2 x 1mm strip to cover the edges of the false deck and give the appearance of deck beams. The companion way hatch cut-outs needed cutting back by 1mm all around to allow for these strips. On the main hatch and the aft companionway hatch, I wasn’t sure whether these too should have a slight curve to their ledges. For the moment I have left them flat. The gratings take a curve quite easily after a short soak and then drying around a suitable former – a jam jar in my case. Inevitably, I broke the very delicate axles on the main mast windlass but it was easy enough to replace them with pins. I decided on a more colourful paint scheme for the capstan – it looks a bit Harlequin-like but I’m happy with it. The deck pumps have been modified. The pump casing was made from some 6mm square limewood filed into an octagonal cross-section and now matches the shape of the pump cap. An outlet has been added made from 2mm styrene tube and fitted to the casing at 90deg to the handle. I have left the flue and it's coaming and the mast bases for now but this is how the completed fittings look after painting The fittings will now be packed away until the deck has been planked and I'm moving on to the swivel guns. David
  6. dunnock
    Thanks very much BE. David
  7. dunnock
    Many thanks Andrew, I was sorry to hear about your health problems and the loss of your furry companion but I'm glad to see that you are getting back to shipbuilding. My daughter gives me mate's rates but I'll see if she has mate's mate's rates too! 😀 David
  8. dunnock
    Just a short update... I began with a garboard plank – even though it will be covered in copper eventually. I used some 6mm walnut that I had knocking around. I hope that I have got it about right with not too much of a smiley face at the bow. I used the outer bulwark patterns as a guide to position the first plank, pinned and then glued them in place after removing the bulwark pattern. I have divided the hull into four bands for planking using cotton thread to mark them out. I’m now waiting for supplies of wood which I have on order from Hobbymill.eu. It will be about two weeks until it arrives so in the meantime I’ve started making some of the centre line fittings. Thanks for looking in David
  9. dunnock
    Hi Rob, I'm just catching up on your log. It's great to see you back modelling again and making a lovely job of Erycina too. David
  10. dunnock
    Thanks Lee and to all the others for their likes. Sanding the first layer of planking is done. A little bit of filler was required here and there but otherwise I’m quite happy with the results. The keel and stern post and stem pieces have been added. Getting the locating tabs into the slots was a bit fiddly and make sure that you put the forward part of the keel (part 108} in the right way round… I planked the stern counters using boxwood strip rather than the provided laser-etched kit pieces although they were used as patterns to achieve the required curve on the upper counter piece. There's a bit more preparation to do before I can move on to the second layer of planking, which I will do partially in boxwood and the rest, where it will be covered in copper, in the pear strips supplied. I need to mark the position of the waterline to know where the transition should be. At a later stage I will also probably replace the outer bulwark patterns with boxwood but I need to think what to do about the various slots and holes for channels, stools and fixed blocks in these pieces. David
  11. dunnock
    The first layer of planking is completed and sanding and filling started. Planking went pretty well but I had to add a stealer, presumably because I was over enthusiastic with my tapering at the stern. Also apologies due to Chris: 15 planks each side were needed as shown in the photos and as correctly stated on page 17 of the manual (not 16 as I had calculated). The first plank... and some progress shots... First planking complete How far to go with sanding and filling? I assume that small gaps won’t affect the finish of the second planking but any slight ridges between planks need to be smoothed out. There is a 1.5mm gap between the end of the planking and the false keel on the starboard side as shown in the photo below. I will use a wider garboard plank here which I hope will bridge the gap without causing a problem. After initial sanding Side light shows up where more work is needed David
  12. dunnock
    Thanks Lee, I'm sure you'll enjoy building her. David
  13. dunnock
    The stern frames are now birch ply and more robust than the previous MDF that I believe was used in previous versions of Speedy. Even so, getting the counter and transom pieces on is a relief and makes the stern section quite robust. The counter pattern was soaked and curved around a jar before fitting and then the transom pattern glued to the stern frames. Hull fairing of the 3mm MDF was relatively quick. I worked it a bit at a time by hand over a couple of days for fear of overdoing it. For some reason BH 14 was low on one side and I had to add a 1mm strip to bulk it out. I think this is my best attempt at fairing a hull so far but the planking will soon let me know if that it true. The gunport patterns were soaked in warm water fitted to the bulwarks and left to dry. The two problems I had at this stage were getting the forward tab of the pattern to fit in the slot on the stem and getting the pins to hold the lower edge of the pattern against the bulkheads. I used a travel iron to improve the contact between bulkhead and pattern. I glued the port pattern without difficulty a few bulkheads at a time again pinning and using heat to improve contact at the lower edge and left it to partially set for half an hour before glueing up the starboard side. When it had all set I noticed the starboard quarter was about 0.5mm too low at the stern so it was partially removed and re-glued. There is still a small difference which I think is due to the transom being slightly off so I may have to rework it. After reworking the starboard gunports The manual says 12 strakes per side are required to plank the hull. I think that this is a typo: the pictures show 15 strakes but I measured the mid frame to be 80mm suggesting 16 strakes of 5mm planks will be needed The first strake of the limewood planking is glued and pinned to each side. The forward end is tapered to half width from bulkhead 5 and the stern left untapered. And so planking continues... David
  14. dunnock
    I’ve had a few weeks now to ponder the possible lower deck additions. I marked out where I thought the captain’s and lieutenant’s cabins should go on the bulkheads and you can see that it would mean a fair bit of alteration and possible weakening of the structure so I decided not to press on and left it at painting the after section off-white in case any part can be seen through the hatches. The frame is now completed with it’s various filler pieces and as expected, it went together perfectly with only one slight problem. I couldn’t get the stern bulkhead (16) to sit square to the false keel. I couldn't see why this should be so sanded back the false keel to get the bulkhead closer to parallel then checked the fit of the stern frames (30 & 31) which pulled the bulkhead into line. This was the only time I differed from the instructions. I built the stern section off the model, gluing the stern frames to the stern bulkhead first and then gluing the assembly to the rest of the hull. I have decided that I will not use the laser-engraved deck but plan to use maple planks so I did some initial planning and marking out on the main deck pattern before gluing it in place. I could maybe have done bit more fairing of the bulkheads and filler pieces prior to assembly but the MDF is so easy to shape that it's not critical. That's where the build sits for the moment. David
  15. dunnock
    Thanks for that Thuky. I'll take a look for it David
  16. dunnock
    I said that I wouldn’t be starting Speedy until I got back from holiday but you know how it is, the box was there staring at me and I couldn’t resist a little look and one thing led to another…. I dry fitted bulkheads 4 -13 and the braces, parts 22 and then I began to wonder if it would be possible to add a little bit to the lower deck – maybe the Captain’s cabin. Based on the RMG plans, I think the cabin would sit from bulkhead 12 to between 14 and 15. It would mean cutting out a lot of 14 and adding a wall between 14 and 15. It would also affect the upper deck beams. I’m already going off the idea for where would it end – the officers’ and NCOs’ cabins, a stove? David
  17. dunnock
    Thanks very much Dan. Your Adder's looking great too. David
  18. dunnock
    Many thanks Chris, that's very kind of you and especially encouraging coming from the designer of this great little model. Thanks Craig. Really looking forward to Shetland. We've been to Scotland and many of the islands but this will be our first trip to Shetland. David
  19. dunnock
    Thanks very much for your kind words and compliments @Thukydides, @DaveBaxt, @No Idea and @DonSangria When I get back I'll try to take some shots with a better background David
  20. dunnock
    The Ensign has been painted by my daughter Kate and I have rigged it on a separate line. I used steam to set it and tried to impart some feeling of movement to it. I’m not sure if I’ve succeeded or whether I like the way it hangs. I’ll think about it for a while. Anyway that was the finishing touch and so my first effort of building a ship from Vanguard Models is complete. I like the way that the basic hull slots together so easily and the laser etched bulwarks and deck add to the simplicity of the build. Trial was fun to do and makes a lovely model I have already received my next ship, HMS Speedy, from Chris but I’m inclined to lay my own deck and bulwarks on this build. I’ve a few weeks to mull it over while on holiday in Shetland before making a start. Thanks to everyone for looking in and for all the helpful comments and support. David
  21. dunnock
    Just a final note now that the hull is mounted and taking up it’s place on the wall. To keep out excess dust I have covered the open top with black card supported by a simple framework on the open side. David
  22. dunnock
    Thanks Dan and welcome aboard. I'm following your Adder build with interest too David
  23. dunnock
    Thanks Mugje and Dave for your best wishes David
  24. dunnock
    UPS delivered my HMS Speedy kit this morning and I'll be joining the long list of excellent builds of this lovely model. This is the updated 2023 version of the kit. I’ve started looking through previous Speedy logs and I’m making notes of points to look out for and things I want to change and new things I want to try. I’ll have a good read of the (substantial) kit manual but won’t start building in earnest until the end of May. I already know that I will be replacing the standard blocks and using Ropes of Scale for rigging and I want to try out some weathering techniques. Before then I have my NRG half hull to mount but for most of May I'll be on holiday with my wife in Shetland and taking in the Kingdom of Fife, Orkney and the north west of Scotland. Based on current weather forecasts there will probably be plenty of time to continue with my research while I’m away. Dunnock
  25. dunnock
    Thanks everyone for the likes and Chris, Thuky, Jacques and Ross for your very kind compliments David

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