NewbyMark

To be honest the photo doesn’t really show the finish well. I’m not great at photography. But there’s no milky finish at all. However I think I’d probably prefer an oil based finish. You can sand this finish off. Water based products only sit on top. Oil penetrates the wood. However, I’m pleased with how it turned out and will try to take some better pictures over the next few days. Thanks for the comments - keep them coming please - I’m here to learn...

21 minutes ago, clearway said:

just slow and steady does it- i start on the bottom at the stern and work forward and upwards- the coppering doesn't always follow the planking- is there a diagram on the destructions showing the run of the tiles?

 

Keith

Yes the instructions in this kit are outstanding. I will just take it slow as you say. It will at least keep me sane during this lockdown!!!

Just now, clearway said:

coppering is funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn😬🤪

I am very used to working with PE but I am not looking forward to it! It will really ruin the model if it’s badly done so I suspect it’s going to take some time and become quite tedious....

Well I couldn’t resist applying a finish. I applied the pearwood satin finish and I liked it so much I didn’t bother with the Matt. It’s darkened the wood nicely, covering some of my errors without losing the beauty of the wood. I also attached and painted the Wale. Just have to sand down and touch up, then it’s keel and the dreaded copper! 
 

5 minutes ago, DelF said:

Hi Mark

 

Welcome to the Speedy club. I've just caught up with your log and will follow along. Your second planking looks really good, and I'll be interested to see how the Ronseal finish looks. I've not yet decided what to use on mine.

 

Derek

Thanks for your kind words, Derek. I was reasonably happy with how it turned out. It was my first time using CA for planking. I noticed that in some cases small gaps between planks were actually filled with CA and so you can't fill them. This was a downside, although the lack of pin holes was a positive. I am not the most experienced but it came out ok. I will post some more pictures once I've got the keel on and applied some finish. 

Good luck with your build. 

Cheers, Mark.

Well, I'm now done with outer planking aside from filing out the ports and sanding the top edge flush. I made a mistake here, which it's probably worth mentioning for those following behind as I had to remove some planking, which left me with a bit of a mess and some filling I really didn't need on visible planking. I cut my strips between the ports and glued them, realising only when I came to the final plank that it was not lying precisely flush with the port, and I would have had to either file them out oversize, or remove the planking and do it again. I chose to partially remove the planking. So when you are doing this watch very carefully where you need to cut the planks short and where you should let them run over the port and file back to the correct size.

I have some more sanding to do but I'm reasonably happy with the finish. I think I have settled on airbrushing a coat of Ronseal pearwood and then a couple of matt coats to finish, but I won't do this until I've progressed a bit further.

All in all, enjoying the experience if a little irritated by my mistakes!

2 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Though it’s not in a glass case, I got the plans for Pegasus when I built her, they are now framed and hanging in my workshop.  It’s. A nice idea and I can tell you first hand does provide inspiration, making a connection to the past and the real thing.  I have my little painted Cochran’s watching over me on a shelf, and read the kindle version of the book on him Chris recommended. He was quite the guy. 

Yes I agree and I've found the history of Speedy fascinating to read about. Certainly a colourful history and it definitely adds a dimension to the build. I am just about done with the planking now and starting to experiment with finishes. I'm quite a slow builder but will post some progress pictures in a couple of weeks, from carefully selected angles to show only the best bits 🙂 

2 hours ago, chris watton said:

I know this place does bespoke acrylic cases:

 

https://www.strikingdisplays.co.uk/display-cases/custom-display-cases/custom-sized-display-case.html#DETAILS

Thanks Chris, I was looking for glass but I might drop them a line and see if they can offer what I'd like. I figure once I get to the details the model will get increasingly fragile so wanted to get something by the time I complete the hull. Thanks for the steer.

A brief update. Although still early on in the build, I've been giving some thought to how I might display the model. I have been in contact with the helpful people at the Greenwich Museum, who have original line plans for Speedy and Flirt here : https://prints.rmg.co.uk/products/lines-and-profile-plan-of-vessels-flirt-1782-and-speedy-1782-j5045?_pos=11&_sid=ae2f71793&_ss=r They can supply this as a JPG file to me, for personal use, so that I can print at any size I wish, and I'm considering if I could display the model with the line plans fixed inside the case somehow. Does anyone in the UK have any recommendations for manufacturers of cases? I'm wondering if I could get something with a double wall of glass at the rear so the plan could be captured inside it. Hopefully an interesting way to display her and an inspiration to keep going!

22 hours ago, chris watton said:

If they are painted (or sprayed), the paint gives them a more rounded appearance, kind of like those little Tamiya PE figures for the warship kits.

I didn’t mean to cause a stir with my comment - apologies if any offence caused. I’ve ordered a few different options to compare to the kit parts as I personally didn’t like PE, but totally respect that you were going for scale appearance with your choice Chris. In case it hasn’t been clear, I love the kit. You only need to point some glue at it and it almost builds itself. It was just one area I’d have preferred a turned part. Anyway I won’t hijack this build log just wanted to apologise if I’d caused any offence!

On 4/10/2020 at 3:17 PM, glennard2523 said:

I have rigged cannons before, however this kit dies not include the parts for this task. Also I decided that once Speedy has been rigged the lack of rigging on the 4lb cannons would not overly distract from the final build. I would have probably rigged the cannons if I could have done them "off deck" using a cannon rigging jig, which I used in a previous build. This was not going to be possible as I had already glued in the eyebolts to the cannon assemblies.

I took the alternative view. I could not stand to see them without restraints, so I have ordered the required parts. I also ordered replacement belaying pins because I didn't really like the PE pins (not sure PE is really suitable for these parts). I think they were the only two changes I'd make to the kit though, thoroughly enjoying the experience otherwise. Your build looks great, looking forward to seeing her finished!

7 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

A lovely fishing lugger James,  Chris and Vanguard hav come up trumps again! 😁👍

Agreed. And if you fancy bringing out a Brixham Trawler kit in 1:64 Chris, to save me the bother of scratch building one, I would be very grateful! 

Great job on this build, James. Inspiring.

Thanks Glenn. The second planking was all CA. I just didn't want to use CA close to the deck as it's a bit unforgiving! To my mind, both glues have their place. 

Thanks for that tip. I was thinking that when I start the coppering I was going to place the bubble wrap from the box in the cradle first for that reason, but I like your idea better 🙂 I might give that a go. Thank you.

Hi all. Really enjoying this site and have returned to ship modelling after a long break. There are already several HMS Speedy logs, and I've hesitated to add my own because I'm not particularly talented at modelling ships. My background is mainly multi-media car kits, but I really enjoy working with wood and this particular kit is really so well thought out and with such great materials that I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. I've started the log in the interest of learning from those of you who are clearly more experienced and talented than me. So feel free to comment or suggest improvements.

I'm up to the second layer of planking and have just started planking the inner bulwarks. I've made plenty of mistakes, but so far it's looking ok aside from using filler which is not a good colour match in the outer planking. In general I've found the pearwood a bit pale anyway so I'm looking at staining it before airbrushing a varnish - hopefully it will work out ok in the end. Chris has been patient and helpful where I've had issues, for which I've been grateful. 

A few pictures of my progress so far below. 

Lovely looking build - looking fantastic. Following from down the road!

1 hour ago, Wahka_est said:

Im useing Admiralty ones vause im not familir with woodwork and it seemed like safe bet. Im happy with them-no issues so far.
Only concern is which one to use.

As i understand many folks use normal ones from hardware store but im not in point of experimenting yet.

Also varnishes are Admiralty, this build is matt.

 

To summarize i suggest, specially for newbie(sry if you arent).

 

NB! Always make mockup before applying it on ship.

 

Happy to answer if you have some other questions.

Thank you for your response. I have built ship models before, but I am certainly no expert. I will experiment with these stains on some scrap and see what looks best. The pear strip is a bit pale for my liking....

Enjoy the rest of your build!

On 4/1/2020 at 11:44 PM, Wahka_est said:

Hi, very nice work on your build. I arrived at your log searching for colour samples of Admiralty stains. Is that what this picture is showing? I am thinking of using an oak stain on my HMS Speedy build. How have you found the stains to work with? Thanks 🙂

3 hours ago, Suzdal said:

As a beginner, I'm just building D'Agostini's' cross section of the Victory, as my first build,  I'm carefully following your build of Lady Isabelle. It is a bit daunting for a beginner !

 

I'm going to try it as soon as its available, with sails, but your build log will be invaluable: the methods of painting, sanding, varnishing (?), futur rigging, ... Please continue, your information will be invaluable as far as I'm concerned.

 

Richard

Hi Richard, I haven't built a ship model for over 10 years (and even then am certainly no expert), and have re-started with one of Chris' other models HMS Speedy. I can say confidently that the kits are really well designed, well put together with good materials, and have a few 'fail safe' features in the design to ensure you get things square, etc. Chris has been very helpful and I think you will probably not go too far wrong with this kit. I certainly intend to buy one even though I would like to take on a scratch build and have limited space to display models in my home. It looks too good to pass on.

My philosophy is to enjoy the build and learn from mistakes. Take it slowly and ask questions and I'm sure you will do well.

In short, go for it!

1 minute ago, James H said:

No, that's just the 10s timer mode.

 

Cheers. It's a lovely kit. Very intuitive. 

I think you are being highly modest 😊 Looking forward to the next instalment.

Stunning

25 minutes ago, Vane said:

Thanks, I am still a beginner when it comes to this but this copper were way more easy to apply than those on my Snake.

Looks good to me! I'm just starting my second planking so will come back to your photos for additional help when I start my copper. Really nice job!

I have only been on this site a short while and I am simultaneously amazed by some of the work I’ve seen and also feeling like I may as well just give up 😂 What a great site this is. Love this build - thanks for sharing.

Very clean planking - beautiful work. 

21 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Good. I have no interest in sails and wouldn't want to absorb the extra cost. Making them an add-on option is good call.

 

Those planking lines don't look very beginerish...

Indeed. Admiring the 'micro-stealer'. 

6 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Not quite in a position yet, but my aim was to get the Zulu for around the £145 price range and the Fifie for around £125. They may end up costing a little more, as the amount of pearwood in the kits, the Zulu especially, is quite a lot, but what the hell...

 

Sails will be sold separately as they are very expensive to have made, so if they were included, the cost of the kit would be a lot higher, and perhaps some do not want, or would prefer to make their own.

Thanks - I'm sure you will sell more than a few. I planned to start a scratch build after my Speedy as a long term project, but I am sorely tempted by your kit! I think a Zulu will need sails, but I'd probably prefer to make my own.....

It will take me ages to finish the Speedy so I doubt I will be in a position to purchase immediately on release, but I will keep an eye on your website! Thanks for the quick reply.