shiprookie

Thank you guys for saying...
 
In preparation to install the second layer for the wales, the carved fashion piece was added first.  This is a resin casting prepared in the usual way with gel stain.  Like I did for the Winnie carvings.   It is easier and cleaner to add the carved fashion piece first rather than have to cut and shape the back side to fit over the wales.  I will add the fashion piece first and then just butt the wales up against the forward side next.
 
The resin carving will bend to conform to the hull shape.   No worries there.  I glued the lower end in first and waited for it to dry using CA.   This locked in pretty good so I could then push the top end of the fashion piece to bend it and secure it with CA as well.  I filled any gaps with filler but there shouldnt be many.  It should fit pretty tightly.
 
Note that the QBadge is still just temporarily tacked in position.  Its not permanent yet.
 

 
Then I added the second layer of the upper and lower wales.  I used 1/32"  strips of Yellow cedar.   You could use 3/64" thick strips as well but I am personally partial to thinner wales.   I did knock-off the top and bottom edges of the wales to just soften them up.   No hard edges for me.
 
I also painted the top and bottom edges black before gluing them on the model.  This keeps it nice and neat so I dont have to try and paint that edge on the model.  It makes a big difference and its finally starting to look like a ship model!!!
 


 
In addition to softening the upper and lower edges of each wale strip before gluing them on, I also tapered the forward end thinner.  It should diminish in thickness to a thin almost knife sharp edge going into the stem.  The taper started about 3/4” from the forward edge.   I sanded it to a thin pointy forward edge so it appears to enter the rabbet as it should based on contemporary practice.   It should appear to be the same thickness as the other planks entering the stem rabbet or nearly so.   
 
Then I proceeded to carefully paint the top layer for both wales strakes completely black.  I use Utrecht Brand Acrylic...Mars Black this time around.  Take your time with this and do it neatly because its a huge part of the overall look and feel of your model.  I also finally added the finish to the model using wipe on poly and some "Old Masters" fruitwood gel stain.  Up until this point there was no finish applied.   This gives the wood a nice natural brushed appearance with some deeper color that I like.   The cedar looks great after this application in my opinion.  Wipe on poly was added first...then some gel stain.   The gel stain was wiped off immediately after applying it so it wouldn't get too dark.   By "re-wetting" again with some wipe on poly, and buffing it off you can achieve a nice "brushed appearance".    It doesnt look too sterile or yellow in case you want a different look.  I wanted to try something different this time around.    Just compare the planking and frames in these photos with those in my previous post to see how different they appear.  It is subtle, but you can see the difference.  
 

 
Next up some fancy molding....and odds and ends.
 
 

Thank you....Today I glued the qbadges on permanently.  It needed to be done now so I can add the fancy molding on the hull and then the friezes etc.   I working my way up to the sheer and cap rail.   For the qbadge,  some acetate was placed in the window opening first from the outboard side.  Then the window itself which is laser cut on plastic as you have seen earlier.   Lastly I added the qbadge so the roof molding on the badge lined up with the 3/32" wide planking strip.  This will line up the badge properly with the molding I am going to add.  This also shows the port side which I have been working on today.
 

 
With the badge in position I added the 3/32" x 1/32" molding.  I scraped the profile into these boxwood strips in the usual way.  I created a scraper by filing the profile into an old razor blade.
 

 

I will repeat this on the other side and then add the friezes to the side of the hull next.   
 
 

Everything is coming together beautifully Chuck. Little details like the continuous run of molding over the QD badge make your model a gem. 
 
This is a wonderful little model to rig, Loracs. Only two masts and a few yards. Just enough to keep you engaged but not nearly the fatigue of rigging "the whole nine yards". Believe it or not it is easier to rig a larger model like this than a smaller scale version. All the details are provided in our series of Speedwell books.

It has been a little while since I have posted an update.   But I have indeed been working on Speedwell.   I have finished planking up to the molding level and not the sheer.   I have stopped to treenail the hull planking which takes a while to do neatly and precisely. I am using 10lb black fishing line.    Work has been slow because I am taking my time to line everything up with the frames and keep it all neat and tidy. The starboard side is complete,  and the port side is underway.  Once I am finished with this I will complete the outboard planking up to the shear.  Then I will add the second layer of wales and the fancy molding.  
 
Its getting there.   Treenailing is optional of course but it does make a difference when not overdone and if the treenails are not too large.   Even though only a few strakes need treenails,  it still takes a bloody long time to do!!!
 


 

Thank you for the feedback. Yes it can be painted.  But there are so many colors I dont think I have to.   This particular color is called warm ivory.   I think this might be the winner.   I also thinned down the mullions quite a bit and it is more in scale.  It looks very fragile but in reality it isnt.  I am quite happy with the fit and scale of these.   I have some time to pick a color and it might look completely different after the carvings and columns are added.   But having so much flexibility with the color is so nice.
 

In post #12 I gave a teasing view of something that looked a little like a ship. It was made of the stacks of cut frame pieces seen at the end of post#3, just piled on edge in the right order. They remained stuck together, held by the CA & painter’s tape trick. It’s time to separate them and start some assembly.
 
The CA/tape method worked well. Here is a stack of four frames, still perfectly aligned:

 
Starting with a dull scalpel forced into one of the gaps, I ran it all the way around until the tape starts to give way. 
 

 
It opens like a clam:

The painter’s tape leaves no residue.
 

After peeling off whatever tape is left I immediately wrote the frame number on both sides of both pieces.
 

 
A thorough inspection of each piece revealed a couple of rejects caused by my over-doing the CA, leading to CA on the wood. As the centres of the frames will be removed later this is not a problem but during the earlier steps there can be no high-spots when the frames are glued together face to face. Here I am dealing with a small blob and lump of tape before sanding it level. If it is too large, I would discard the piece and make a replacement.
 

Next step is to glue two frame halves together with a butt joint. This is the jig for the assembly.
 

 
It is checked for square from time to time.
 

 
So, finally some assembly. The two frame halves with CA applied, pushed into position and held flat while the bond forms. There is a piece of non-stick paper between the jig face and the frames.
 

 
Success.
 

 
About a quarter of the frames done, notice there are a couple of duds, plus some of the thicknessed pear wood to be used in the next step.
 

Bruce
 
 

Todd, thank you.  Having never done a finish like this before, I was amazed at what 9 coats of spar urethane can do with scuff sanding between coats.
 
gak1965, thank you too.  It was actually normal gestation, about nine months from start to finish in November 2022.  I hesitated putting it up in real time since I had great fear that  the woodwork and finish might end up a total muck.  
 
Steve

To those who dropped in or gave likes, thank you for your interest and support.

Online videos of Chris Craft restorations have been an inspiration during the build.  While ruminating on the stained caulk I found two episodes that showed essentially the same approach to caulking deck joints.  In both cases each side of an open joint was masked with painter’s tape to protect the mahogany, before installing and cleaning up the caulk.  Well, if it worked full size why couldn’t a similar approach work here?
 
The obvious problem is getting something narrow enough to scrape the caulk without damaging the planks.

Luckily fate was with me.  The narrow edge of a small flat file just happened to fit within the caulk line.  A few careful strokes and the stain color was gone, leaving shiny white smiling at me.  Fire up patience, grab the tape and away we go.

The caulk restoration went much quicker than I expected.  The experience masking the B-26 cockpit canopy proved invaluable.
In fairly short order (okay it was hours over a couple of days) the caulk lines returned to their original splendor and final sanding could resume.

With the caulk catastrophe behind me the first spar urethane clear coat was applied, promptly yielding a few sags so I could learn finish restoration too.
 
Thanks for viewing.
 
Steve

To those who dropped in or gave likes, thank you for your interest and support.

In the spirit of baby steps the first outer planks were placed at the transom.  Deceptive little devils.  Each one required a drop of water and gentle ironing to conform to the inner transom curve, adding to my anxiety at the effort that will be required for the remaining planking.
 
The top transom planking will be installed later, after the hull and deck planking are set.  Apparently the orientation of the transom-to-deck planking joint is opposite the orientation of the transom-to-side and bottom joints.
Having never built a double planked hull, and knowing that there will be little tolerance for poor plank shape in a bright finish hull, it was pleasantly surprising to realize I could template each plank with Bristol board (stiff art paper) pinned to the inner planks.  I made most of my mistakes at that level before tracing the final shapes on the mahogany strips.
Per the instructions, the hull planking starts at the keel, using a strip beveled along the keel edge for a close fit with its neighbor.  Since the hull and side are curved, the remaining planks must be beveled along one edge for a tight fit.  A slight wobble that originated in part of the keel created opportunities for unwanted adjustments in both the inner and outer planking along the keel line.

One bottom plank stealer was needed near the bow to ensure adequate plank widths at the stem.

As the planking neared the chine it became apparent that the joint between bottom and side planking must transition from a sharp edge to a smooth blend as it approaches the bow.
 
Thanks for viewing.
 
Steve

Congratulations!  Very well done!

I started the construction of the quarterdeck beams:





 

mounting the rudder:

small advances:
 

I continue with the fittings of the lower deck:











 

I move forward slowly with the upper deck beams:






I also set up the two small cots:

Thanks Friends!
Some progress on the lower deck:

beginning of upper deck laying:

 

 

 

 

 

Coming along nicely, Toni!

I wonderred if not more people used a CNC machine for making model ship parts?
 
And if it is not worthwhile to make a seperate forum for this like 3D and CAD.

This to share experiences, plans, drawings etc....
 
I do use it quite regularly. My set up:
 
Sainsmart prover XL 3040
Vectric aspire 11
 
Hans.

Complete Ver 2.0 in AYC.  Should have the cherry version to compare soon.

Let me dive right in...
 
Dont forget that if you eventually build this kit,  the two volume set from Seawatch will be a must have.   Yes you will spot the differences easy enough,  but the books along with my instructions absolutely compliment each other and you will want to have them at your side.
 
I always like to begin by building the stem assembly.   As was true with Cheerful and the Winnie,  All of the parts are laser cut.  In this case yellow cedar was used.  But there is one major difference.  On the Winnie, you could just punch out the pieces and glue them together with little or no tweaking.  But this model is being built at 3/8" scale.  That means the parts are much thicker than with Winnie.

 
The laser cutter as you know will not cut with the edges at a perfect right angle.  Normally I would just flip some parts and that would do the trick so everyone would get a perfect fit with the edges fitting nice and tight.  These parts however are so thick that even with the best of laser cutter settings, more than just an exaggerated bevel is produced.   When the wood starts to reach 5/16" or 3/8" thick, the laser starts to introduce a slight curve as well.   Most of this can be compensated for by doing my usual flipping of parts.
 
But where the edge is narrower, lets say at the end of scarph joint....the flipping isnt enough.  So each part has been strategically made a fraction longer on one end only so you can make adjustments for the tightest fit possible.
 
In fact...most edges still dont need to be touched and I recommend that you dont touch almost all of them.  I have taken the liberty of circling every edge in the stem knee assembly that should be tweaked.   I am talking about knocking off the char and sanding the edge very slightly to get a really nice fit.  Just a few swipes with a sanding stick along these narrower edges and you will have a perfect fit.  Not too much though.  Test the it regularly and flip it over to look at the joint on both sides.   
 
Just a quick hitting with the sanding sticks on the edges marked with red circles will make these parts fit nice and tight.
 

Also Note 
 
The lower end of the stem will form an actual and true boxing joint.   But to simplify the building process this segment of the stem needs to be built in two layers.  I will do this a lot on this project which you will soon see.  Make sure you assemble the two layers carefully and have the longer piece on the correct side.   The two halves were glued together first and then that segment was glued onto the completed head/stem assembly after tweaking the scarph joint for a tight fit.  Hope that makes sense.
 

Also note above the dashed red line where the boxing joint will be.  The top layer of the stem was left a bit longer than needed to assure it could be trimmed back flush with the end of the gripe.  I used a sharp #11 blade to slice it back so it was flush and neat.  You can see this was done on my assembly already but once you glue that segment of the stem on your assembly you will see its just a hair too long....that was done intentionally so you could get a great fit on your model and the boxing joint will have nice tight seams.
 
Once completed the thinner knee of the head was also sanded and installed...note how that is pre notched to receive head timbers much later in the project.  Just center it port to starboard.   Dont sand any laser char off at all until you test it on your assembly.   It will fit almost perfect from the get go so only the edges that are visible after gluing it in position should be sanded free of char.  This piece can be delicate so more than one laser cut piece is provided just in case.
 
Now it was time to thin down and taper the entire head assembly to receive the figurehead.  The fore edge of the stem was sanded so a graceful bevel was introduced.  Just like on the Winnie.   The forward edge was reduced to 4mm so the space between the legs of the figure will actually fit.  Otherwise the figurehead will not fit...I wont go nutty with the instructions here because so much of this is repeated from the Winnie and other projects.   But this completes the first part of of the project which means its truly official now.
 

Chuck, I’m so excited to see you start on the Speedwell!  Thanks for bringing another amazing project to life and sharing with us.  I love what you bring to this hobby.  

Thank you for commenting Michael, Richard, Pat, Keith, Druxey and Eberhard. Also thank you to everyone who has visited and liked my work.

A small Speedwell update. The lower ratlines have been installed as well as the euphroe tackle and crowsfeet. On many models I see they appear oversize. At 1/4" scale though we should be able to approximate the 1" ratline and 3/4" crowsfeet diameters. For the ratlines I use Guterman polyester Mara 120 thread (dark brown). For the crowsfeet I used 6/0 Uni-Thread, dark brown. I tried 6-0 silk for this but it just kept fraying (such is the nature of silk). I must admit that making the euphroes with their numerous no. 78 drilled holes (there are nine in the main euphroe), setting up the euphroe tackle and rigging the crowsfeet was an exercise in patience (and frustration). I was so pleased with my first attempt until I realized that I had reverse rigged one hole and had to redo the whole thing.  Onward and upward (literally)!