egkb

OK, I have just finished what I need to regarding building up the new Speedy hull.
 
These pics will show what has changed. The old Speedy required planking all the way to the top of the bulwarks, also the inner bulwarks. 
 
The new version is completely pre cut from the main wale up, with spirketting added for the inner bulwarks, plus engraved planking and treenail detail for all surfaces. All channels, inner bulwark belaying racks and cleats now slot and glue into place, in pre cut slots, saving the need for pinning and gluing.
 
Please bear in mind that the model shown has no real finishing, no varnish etc. It was used just to add new pictures to the revised manual.
 
I will now spend the rest of the week updating the manual, ready to send to printers, and next week, start cutting the new sheets, so I hope to have this re released in around 2 weeks.

Am working on Speedy V2023 right now, almost completed the overhaul.
 
What started as a simple 'Careening' for this 'slight' redesign has somehow turned into  a 'Middling-Large Repair'
 
Here are the 4 x 1mm laser cut sheets (old kit had half a sheet in total). I just need to do a final check of these parts..
 
(Still waiting for the photo etched sheets to come from Italy for Trial Cutter)
 
ETA, as the Speedy model will be only half built, to replace build pics in the new manual, the second planking is Tanganyika - I prefer this as it only took me 6 hours to plank the hull 

Hi all,
 
Thanks for the likes. I've completed the main shrouds, and added the mainmast stay. This one had to go on first, as it attached to a pin inserted into the jib boom. (That was my kludge fix for gluing the foredeck down too early!). Having said that it all went together okay, and looks fine. I've finally added the deadeye strops (Caldercraft) and fixed the tops to the masts, now as well.




 
 
 
I've also done some tidying up, gluing down the anchors, fixing the anchor chains, and removing the excess, which was just sat on the deck up till now. I've also added the eyelets underneath the pin rails round the fore and main masts. Not a lot to show, but it is progress  These parts are very fragile, and I can see trouble ahead when it comes to tying things off... time will tell how much of a headache this proves to be.
 


 
Happy building to you all
 
Rob

I'm closing this section with these pics, I'm pretty happy so far
Thanks

Next stop, the preparation for the placement and seizing of the anchors

Hello everybody, I think I'm almost finished with the braces and the additional lines...

This morning I completed the manual and box label for the Trial Cutter. These and the 11 plan sets have been sent off to the printers, so I shall receive those in the next 10 days or so.
 
I am still waiting for the photo etched sheets, though, and as these are produced in Italy, I will not open the kit for sale until I have the PE here with me. I anticipate very early July.
 
In the meantime, the product page is live, and once I have the PE, the new kit be added to stock:
 
HM Trial Cutter – 1790 – VANGUARD MODELS

Thank you,
I continued with the head-rails of  the gallion.
I must say, this is by far the most challenging part of the whole model. I messed up the first pair of headrails and had to ask for a new set, wich Chuck immediately sent to me. Thanks for that!!
I started all over again. Every part here is important for the whole appearance of the construction. Ther are plenty of graceful curves and angles. If any of them are out of place, the whole construction looks weird.
 
Here are the new headrails, I tried to remove most of the laser-char.

First parts are in position now.
 

 

 

 
Matthias

Hi All
 
Another update from me - before the nailing I decided to have a go at the waterway first.  So here's the first part of my journey trying to make the waterway around the bow.
 
My first effort went in the bin!  I made two pieces that fitted very nicely around the hawse timbers but I made them too narrow.  Here's a picture of the plans and how I made my error.  I used the measurement "A" which completely failed to take into account the thickness of the planking that sits above it.
 
Below - The binned parts and the incorrect measurement that I used.
 



So after a quick message to Gerard Delacroix I got back onto the right track and realised that due to the camber of the pieces I needed to take my measurements from the underside to get the correct thickness.  So I made the same pieces again but left them much wider.  I first fitted the outside to the hull and then placed my templates on the underside to get the correct thickness (I hope this makes sense)
 



It was only then that I sanded the inside of the parts to shape and this worked quite well.  Next I needed to cut the matching dovetails so that they fitted to the beams.  I couldn't get a pencil in to mark them so I used the plans instead.  I placed the parts onto photocopy so that I could see how the beams lined up.  I then cut out the dovetail templates and glued them onto the waterway parts.  All of the templates are upside down as if you are looking through the part.

Now this may seem a bit extreme but I couldn't see the point of going to loads of trouble to make the dovetails on the beams of the waterway parts did not fit tightly. Next I milled out the dovetails.
 


It was all worth it as I got a very nice fit.
 


Next I marked out and sanded the bevel into the face of the parts and this is the result
 




They should be ok once clamped and glued permanently but I have to say these are not easy parts to make and get a good fit.
 
I've got to do some decorating at home now for the next couple of weeks so I'll get some more up on the build when I can
 
Cheers Mark
 
 

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

Jason .. Man that is Class !
 
Eamonn

The Ekeing and Cathead supporter:
 
The Ekeing is a detail as presented in the kit that consists of a simplified approach consisting of cat head supporter and ubiquitous white metal moldings.  I was determined to make this as prototypical as I could as shown on the plans.  Studying numerous contemporary models, this is a detail that seems to vary quite a lot, and I'm unsure whether this varied significantly from ship to ship, or whether the model builders took their own simplified approaches.   The following photos of Minerva helped a lot in visualizing this complex shape consistent with the original plans (photos are my own taken at the Rogers Collection).
This was a very humbling experience and definitely one of the more challenging pieces to make, requiring many hours of fiddling and sanding.  In short (!) , the Eking and cathead supporter needs to meet the following criteria:
 
Narrow from 3mm to approx 2mm at the middle rail to butt into it cleanly Follow the curve of the hull Extend the graceful curve of the middle rail up to the cathead when viewed from the side Be positioned such that the cathead sits snuggly against the top of the main rail, and is perpendicular to the hull Follow a smooth curve outboard from the cathead to the lower rail, the ekeing curving forward almost immediately below the cathead Pass just upward of the outboard hawse hole, but cross the inner....(differing from Minerva above)  
I had a couple of abortive attempts which while failures, were very helpful in helping me understand the approach described in TFFM Vol 2.   The best piece of advice here is focus on one curved face at a time.  A cardboard template was made to approximate the profile (this was initially estimated using the spare metal molding strips which work well for this).   (Note:  In the photos below, the various rails have been cut out to allow placement of the final rail.  (When the template was made this had not been done which made this a little more challenging and subject to approximation)

The profile of the hull at the bow was taken using a profile gauge and transferred to block of balsa.  The ekeing template was transferred to some 5mm pear sheet and cut out leaving quite a bit of excess.   The hull profile was then introduced onto the inward face.  The shaped balsa block helped a lot in this exercise to allow frequent validation.

Once the inner profile had been finalised, the card template could be used to fine tune the shape.  This has to be transferred onto the curved surface that will sit against the hull, and it important to remember that the profile on the outboard face will be different because the shape will follow perpendicular to the interior face (i.e. the hull).  Some excess was still left here to allow additional fine tuning.

The top of the profile was then thickened using some more 5mm pear, and the cathead supporters roughly shaped and glued into place.  The cathead supporters were attached perpendicular to interior face, not the exterior face.  This rough structure can then be further fine tuned, again using the template on the inner surface and ensuring that the top and bottom face are perpendicular to this along its length.  Following the advice in TFFM, The sternmost face was worked first, and once finalized, the inside curve was worked using the outside as a guide.  Once these had been completed, the outboard curve following the underside of the cathead supporter was introduced.
 
The lower version shown below still required a lot of fine tuning on the model.

Once happy with the shape, the position on the model could be determined, and the decorative rails cut to allow the ekeing to sit flush against the hull.  This was definitely a little nerve wracking and will require a little touch up when all is said and done.  (The outer surface profiling was not introduced until after this work had all been done and position finalised - these still require some finishing as these photos embarrassingly highlight...)  The end of the ekeing also needed to have the shape of the hawse hole introduced onto its lower edge to open that up.To allow the position to be determined, the catheads also needed to be madeup.  The "cathead" decorations on the end was made from polymeric clay and followed the very nice original example originally on Trincomalee and other contemporary models - they look a little more acceptable at a distance!  Not much else to comment on other than the dimensions and decoration were estimated from the original plans and inspired by contemporary models.  These will get further attention in due course.  The upper rail is still just pinned in place and will require the top to be shaped prior to final installation.

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this came together, the various lines seem to flow quite nicely when viewed from the side which was a goal entering into this. The plansheer, ekeing, catheads and upper rail are all still dry-fit at this stage....but think I can move forward with more confidence.
 

Good to see you back, Jerry.  Happy Retirement!  It does sound like you have been busy but hopefully having some fun along thew way. 

I've been very busy and haven't done much of anything to any of my models.  I managed to do a lot for a lot of other people, and not much for myself (hobby wise).  I am officially retired since Frebruary, but don't be fooled into thinking that means you'll have more time for yourself, it seems it means just the opposite.
Anyway, a friend got a Mariner 31ketch named Ashlinka, that needed some work, and I've been helping with that.  We're about to replace the bowsprit with a new made one, and after that, what's left to do is pretty much cosmetic.

I've still been searching for left-handed taps and dies, or even steel screw and nuts, to make the rigging-screws mentioned a while back, with no luck; so I've decided to make them "non-functional" and maybe even 3D print them.  If that works out, I can get to some serious rigging.
The ketch above is normally kept at a private dock on a creek just off the Chesapeake Bay near Baltimore, which is a great place to take Constellation and Pride of Baltimore out sailing.
 

The dolphins strike back!
 
The dolphin striker broke 3 times (the original and twice a replacement made from the same plywood) and I started to wonder if this brittle part really did much good for the stability of the jib boom rigging.
 
I made a replacement from a sturdier piece of wood. A piece of  2x3 mm wood strip was worked to the rough form of the kit's  dolphin striker, and 3 iron bands (cartridge paper) hold it against the bowsprit cap.
 
the
raw dolphin striker with the 3 'iron' bands
 

it is a bit fatter but not too much out of proportions
 

to quote Mick and Keith: paint it black

79 years ago today 5000 vessels took part  in the largest combat landings ever made.   Ships and sailors from MANY countries took part and many made the ultimate sacrifice along with their soldier brothers,  Pics below are from our recent visit May 23 -25, 2023
  
 

Hi Toni - thanks very much 👍
 
Not too much of an update but I've been installing the deck permanently  - It really did just click together with very little in the way of clamps.

After all of the beams were installed I finished off the mast partner with the corners that I had not made originally.  I also set the angle aft within it for the mast.


Next were the pump partners - I admire all of you builders who work in a smaller scale.  I wanted to keep it true to the original ship and made the joints accordingly.  This was tricky at 1/24th scale so how you lot do it on a smaller scale I have no idea.


Lastly I faired the deck - this is as satisfying as fairing the hull.  You know that when you have done it - it's another mile stone in the build.  A few pictures 



Its so annoying when you see that you cut a beam a little too short - 🤣


So now I need to get nailing - I've discovered that this is not my favourite job.  I'll have a go at that next weekend.   There are some things that I could have improved upon - Firstly the very rear stern hatch is not quite straight and square.  I've obviously messed up a bit there but it's easily fixed.  Secondly I can see that some of my beams are just slightly too short and this will cause some corrections when I make the waterway and spirketting.  Again it's all solvable so I'll tackle those issues at a later date.
 
I can't thank you all enough for your kind comments - Cheers Mark

Best  edits  I can do  - 
 
OC.

Rattling down continues... Work has just begun on the ratlines for the Starboard Mizzen shrouds. Port Mizzen shrouds are done, now.  In retrospect I didn't tighten the shrouds enough, and it's caused them to become slightly wavy on the mizzen mast. This was my nervousness at making sure they didn't pull out the deadeyes from the rail. Not a disaster, but not quite as neat as I would have wanted... Oh well 🙄 This is all part of learning about this homemade rope... it doesn't behave quite the same was as the caldercraft rope I used on Ethalion. It's much softer and more easily stretched out of shape.
 

Thanks Tobias 👍
 
Cheers giampieroricci 👍
Hi Dave - I used to have the Proxxon sander and they are great and do the job very well - but Byrnes tools are just in a different league.
 
So another update from me - First up was to get the mill out and cut out the notches for the beams.


Then they were glued in place which was quite straight forwards.  I did have to bend them a bit so they they followed the line of the deck clamp.




Next was to make and fit the small knees that connect the shelf to the transom.



And finally a last dry fit of the deck to check that everything fitted OK.  I also got the height gauge out and checked the beams one last time for accuracy.




So before I glue all of the beams in a need to put a final finish on the inside of the hull.  Once this is done I'll glue it all together; finalise the mast partner and make the pump partners before fairing the deck.  I'll get some pictures up hopefully next weekend.
 
Thanks for all of the encouragement - Mark

Adding the pennants. I had to revise the pennants - the "staffs" were made of bits of a weed growing across the road - circular section, beautifully thin - ready-made staffs! Unfortunately the glue wouldn't stick to them (I think they have a waxy surface), so right in the middle of things the pennant would come adrift from its staff. So I made replacements out of wood. Much more work, but the glue stuck to them. 
 
I glued a bit of cotton to each fighting top, then put a short loop of cotton from one end of the "flagstaff" to the other. Then soaked the loop with a weak mix of PVA (white) glue and water., and hung the loop from the aforementioned bit of cotton attached to the fighting top and added weights, so the loop became a triangular shape.

Then I scrunched up the pennant so it looked like the wind was blowing it, and added a dab of PVA glue wherever the pennant crossed the rigging, to keep it in place (otherwise gravity would take over and it would hang unnaturally). The one below had to be clamped as well - it kept sagging off the rigging.

By the way, no captain in his right mind would have these huge things flapping around while the ship was under way. They'd get in the way horribly, and could even knock sailors off the rigging.
 
Antepenultimate* pennant added:
 
 
And - FINISHED!
 

20230520_121919.mp4  
Steven
 
*Third last.