Swallowtail

Thank you. Good tips on the jig and drilling the holes first - both will help! 

Two coats of varnish looking great. 

Fore mast tapered and shaped. It's sitting a couple of degrees too much rake when just slotted in, so I'll straighten it slightly. 

The instructions seem to suggest doing some of the standing rigging before inserting and gluing the mast, which seems odd. My instinct tells me to fit and glue the mast at the right rake angle and then do standing rigging to the fitted mast... but it's my first model so my instinct could well be wrong! What's the best way? 

And first light varnish coat on, ready for some sanding tomorrow. 

The varnish shows a couple of spots which need some tidyup, so that's also on the to do list! 

Bowsprit mounted. Cracked part of the keel in the process so fixed that and kept going.

I don't think I've tapered the bowsprit enough in hindsight, but it's not coming out now... 

2 hours ago, E Z Breeze said:

She's a beaut! 

 

I guess you know this already but multiple well thinned coats of varnish will avoid the toffee apple/candy apple look. Sorry, I just had to remind you about that because that wood looks so good!

Yes.... And no need to apologise This is my first ship build! 

That's next, I've just fitted the rudder, and I'm working on the bowsprit. 

Well after how many years the hull is complete.

I'll let it sit for a couple of hours then give it an overall fine sanding and then a first coat of varnish. Rudder and bowsprit next.

Wow 18 months since last post. I knew this would take a while, but that's nuts. I blame work and Covid haha.

The hull is almost complete - gunwales, bulwarks, rails, etc. The side nearer the camera is still do do with bulwarks, but my neck needs a rest  

Well the planking is complete. Milestone! A little filling and final sanding to do, especially against the keel, but it's coming together. Strakes now being fitted, then caprails. Looking forward to getting the hull varnished. 

Bulwarks lined. 

I'm going to need to do some adjustments at the bow, the anchor holes are crowding where the jib will be. Some plans forming though. 

One side finished with top planking layer. Still to be sanded and finished off but coming together well. Don't look too closely, there are a couple of too skinny ones! 

Second photo shows lined bulwarks, and general progress on deck. 

Steady progress... Bulwarks on, one now lined. I've planed it down to be 3 x planks tall, and it flows nicely. Interesting to see that the stern transom is narrower than the kit by about 8mm once the bulwarks are nicely fitted and flowing. I've gone with it, and she'll have a narrower transom. 

I've also packed the sternpost so it sits out a little, will have to see if that bites me later! 

The bulwarks needed trimming on the bottom edge to fit to the top plank, and are also about 10mm too long at the front, so will need shortening. 

There seems to be a bit about this kit which is make it up as you go along... 

I decided to hold off on lining bulwarks until after they were fitted... I just can't see how bending and fitting them will be better when lined. 

Here is my method of not having to hold it while the glue goes off! 

Well aren't holidays great... :) 

Did the other side this last week, much easier than the first - lessons learnt. Having ends to match and measurements to compare certainly sped things up! 

Planking is now done, and first sanding roughly complete. There are a couple of low spots to fill and then resand, then on to the next steps! 

Really pleased with this so far. There is a little unevenness in some planks between bulkheads 1 and 2, but that will be easy fixed. The planking was tricky but I've learned a heap. 

Planking progress.

Much measuring, tweaking, temporary battens and slow progress learning how to do this!

Ignore the broken one through the middle, it's a temporary alignment batten only. I'm pleased with how the drop plank has turned out in the bow and the stealer in the stern. 

I posted this in the Member's intro section, but on suggestion there will start this log...

I bought the Swift kit a few years ago as a first ever timber ship kit, but put it down after constructing the frame and half-planking the deck, when I realised I wasn't happy with the planking I had started. This last week I picked it up again and decided that no-one else would ever realise that some of the planks didn't quite look perfect! So progress since then has been to finish the deck planking, fit the deck to the frame, and start planking... 

I ended up clamping the deck down pretty hard to get the curve to the bulkheads, but it looks really good so I'm pretty happy with it.

One thing I have noted is that I was not happy with the hull curve generated by bulkhead 6 (it really pinched in and didn't flow well at all) so I have packed it slightly - it can be seen in the last photo as the bulkhead with an extra pin in it near the keel. 

I've been reading a lot on planking techniques - and reading through @stripehunter's build log - some excellent advice all round.

I daresay this will go through stages of modelling energy, but I'll get there eventually  

More progress planking this evening, with even a stealer and a drop plank making an appearance... But I'll start a build log tomorrow or Friday and post some more pics. 

Thanks everyone for the welcome. 

I bought Swift a few years ago as a first ever timber ship kit, but put it down after constructing the frame and half-planking the deck, when I realised I wasn't happy with the planking I had started. This last week I picked it up again and decided that no-one else would ever realise that some of the planks didn't quite look perfect! So progress since then has been to finish the deck planking, fit the deck to the frame, and start planking... 

I ended up clamping the deck down pretty hard to get the curve to the bulkheads, but it looks really good so I'm pretty happy with it.

One thing I have noted is that I was not happy with the hull curve generated by bulkhead 6 (it really pinched in and didn't flow well at all) so I have packed it slightly - it can be seen in the last photo as the bulkhead with an extra pin in it near the keel. 

I've been reading a lot on planking techniques - and reading through @stripehunter's build log - some excellent advice all round. So the planking is now going to pause while I review what to do next... 

I'm generally more of a railway modeller than a ship modeller - but I've always had a soft spot for ships, so we will see how this turns out. With my modelling I tend to do spurts of activity then stop for a few months, so I daresay this will go through stages as well, but I'll get there eventually.