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Keith Right, I understand your question now. Although the tape is quite thin it does create a slight step when you're sliding the fence towards the blade. However it is easy to lift the fence over this step before tightening the screws at the ends of the fence to fix it in position. This hasn't caused any problems so far but if it did, perhaps when ripping a length of wood with the fence resting on the tape edge awkwardly, I'd simply cover the rest of the table with tape. Hope That helps. Derek

Hi Keith, apologies for the tardy response. This isn't a problem on the Preac as the sliding fence doesn't extend in front of the saw, as you'll see from the photo. Derek

Work on the stern I’ve fallen a bit behind on the log again so I’ll have some catching up to do. My excuse is that we’re planning to move house and there’s a lot of work to do to get everything ready for the sale. Anyway, the Upper Counter and Stern Fascia (Inner) went on easily, once I’d satisfied myself they were in the right position. The latter is crucial, as others have stressed. I decide the best sequence was to fit the inner Stern Fascia first. This photo from later in the build shows how the fascia needs to be 2mm above the bulwark in order to leave room for the capping rail on the latter: Fitting was straightforward, with the usual clamps helped by a few pins: The Upper Counter was then easy to fit below: In this final photo I’ve dry-fitted a few items to get a feel for the next steps, including some of the quarter gallery components and the cabin floor. Chris provides two options here, either a wooden floor with a laser etched checker pattern or a paper pattern on one of the plan sheets. I chose to use the latter, preferring to scan the pattern and print it rather than cut the sheet. My first impression is it’s too bright, so I’ll look for ways to tone it down before gluing in place. That’s it for now. Progress, albeit slow. Derek

A big thank you to @kurtvd19 for his article in the Autumn edition of the Nautical Research Journal, in which he describes his zero clearance solution for the Preac table saw. My Byrnes saw has a recess in the table that allows me to use inserts of different widths to accommodate various blades, thereby ensuring smoother and more accurate cuts. The Preac saw lacks this provision, but Kurt found that the Zero Clearance Tape from Fastcap.com, which is designed for full-size machines, works equally well on the miniature saw. The products comes as five 2" X 16" X 0.025" strips of tough self-adhesive PVC tape - more than enough for the little Preac. I had to get the tape through Amazon so at £12.39 it was more expensive than in the US but still worth it. Cheaper brands were available but I decided to play safe with the one Kurt recommended. Once in place with the blade lowered, the blade is raised to create a slit in the tape. I tried the tape with my thinnest blade - 0.1"/0.25mm - which I would normally only use on the thinnest stock. Anything too thick and the blade would wander all over. With the tape in place I was able to cut much more substantial material with very smooth results. Rather than keep changing the blade and the tape, I think I'll keep the Preac with the thin blade for comparatively delicate work and use the Byrnes saw for everything else. Derek

Yeah, I see what you mean. It looks awful, I'll have to paint it. Perhaps I could just paint that one plank? 🤪

Wales Thanks everyone - it's good to be back. Today’s task was prepping and painting the wales. Probably a bit early in the build for this, and I’ll undoubtedly need to touch them up later on, but after so long with a bare hull I was itching to get some contrast. I’d originally intended to leave the pins I used when gluing the wales, but eventually decided the heads just wouldn’t look right. So the first job was to file them down - very carefully! Next I considered the scuppers. As others have pointed out, these seem to follow an odd line along the wales. I took my lead from @Blue Ensign's log and shifted them all to the first plank above the wales, using a 1mm drill for the new scuppers and some filler for the old: Then it was on with two coats of AK 3rd generation acrylic black, slightly diluted and applied by brush. Starting to look more like it. I was pleased that the planking lines etched into the wales were still visible after two coats. Next I'll be focusing on the stern. Derek

Thanks - glad it's not just me!

Second planking finished – some detail Thanks for the likes and kind comments. As promised in my previous post, here’s a couple of instances where I departed slightly from the build manual. Gun ports The outer planking patterns went on as per the manual, with the usual profusion of clamps and pins: However, like many other modelers I lined the gun ports as I didn’t like to see the raw layers of wood and MDF: The wales The manual suggests completing the second planking then attaching the wales. However, I wanted to line off the hull and plank it using proportional dividers (as described in my Duchess of Kingston log). I tried dividing the hull into planking bands but found this difficult when working across the whole of the second planking area: I eventually decided the method would work best if I worked from the wales down. So I planked down to just below where the wales would sit, attached the latter, then trimmed any exposed second planking back to the bottom of the wales. I didn’t get any good photos post-trimming, but here’s one showing the wale in place… …and another showing my method for flattening any gaps between the wale and the hull! NB I left off the trimming last plank under the wales until the final stage before I resumed second planking. I wanted to satisfy myself that I could get the battens in place (measured from the bottom of the wales) so that they ran fair and divided the hull into useful bands. Wider planks & a bodge at the stern I was chuffed that I was able to plank the entire hull without a single stealer or dropped plank. This was partly due to the method used, but also because I used wider planks in key areas at the stern: For these I just cut suitable pieces from the 0.8mm laser cut pear sheets. The bodge came in this same area. I’m not sure why (probably an issue with the first planking), but when I brought the second planking up under the stern counter it was obvious there was going to be a sizeable gap between these planks and the rudder post. The only solution I could come up with was to bridge the gap with suitable wood cut to size. Hopefully it doesn’t look too unsightly: Just a final note on planking. I'm still having to take care with using ca. Although the odorless ca from BSI (Bob Smith Industries) that Glenn (@glbarlow) recommended to me works well, I still look for ways of minimising my exposure. The method I use now is akin to spot welding - on a plank I'll put a spot of ca every half inch to inch or so then fill the gaps with PVA. Works well for me and so far I'm avoiding the problems that I suffered on Speedy. Now that I’m up to date and able to spend more time in the workshop I’ll try to keep the log in better shape. Derek

Second planking finished (at last!) Apologies @DonSangria for missing your enquiry. My model making has been so infrequent and disjointed over the past 16 months that I’m afraid I’ve neglected my build log and the forum. Here’s a belated attempt to catch up. I’ve missed photos of several steps so rather than offer an incomplete narrative I’ll just show some pictures of the current state of play, then in a following post I'll explain one or two of the steps where I’ve departed slightly from the build instructions. Here’s the second planking finished, sanded, and an initial coat of wipe-on-poly applied: Looking at the photos, I'm tempted to leave the hull unpainted, at least from below the wales. I'll follow on with some more information on intermediate steps, hopefully later today. Derek

Hi Glenn Still alive and kicking! I've just been so busy with other things I've had hardly any time to devote to modelling. HMS Sphinx is still waiting for me to finish planking and Indefatigable is still in the box so I'll have plenty to keep me occupied when I'm able to spend proper time in the workshop. Busy or not, I should have spent more time on the forum - I regret not having caught up with your work on Winchelsea over the last year or so. Wow! stunningly beautiful. You must be very proud of your craftsmanship. Best wishes, and I hope to get back to my log before too much longer. Derek

Many thanks Bob - I hope my log is helpful to you, but with Chris Watton's great instructions and plans you won't go far wrong and it looks like you're already off to a flying start. Best wishes Derek

We are planning to move to a retirement village later this year and I won't be taking my larger workshop tools with me. I've already put my larger lathe and mill on ebay, but would much rather my modelling equipment went to a Forum member (I'm also listing my oscillating bobbin sander). I'm hanging on to smaller tools and in a funny sort of way I'm looking forward to going back to a simpler way of modelling. This is Proxxon's top of the range scroll saw and does everything you could want such a machine to do. I've used it quite a bit but it's still in perfect working order and comes with a set of coarse, medium and fine blades. I particularly like the handy slot on the table that keeps the blade holders exactly the right distance apart as you fit the blade. The saw currently retails for around £450 and I would be happy for it to go to a Forum member for £300. The saw is heavy (20kgs) so will need to be collected in person, from Worksop in North Nottinghamshire. Derek

I originally bought this with a view to scratch building HMS Winchelsea. I don't think that's going to happen now as I've still got HMS Sphinx on the stocks and Indefatigable and a couple of smaller kits in their boxes. We're planning to move to a retirement village later this year so I won't be taking my big workshop tools with me (I'm also going to list my Proxxon DS460 scroll saw). I used the sander once to shape some replacement parts for a friend's rocking horse and it did a great job. It's very solidly built and would be useful for general DIY jobs as well as model building. The machine came with six coarse grit sanding sleeves and I bought a second fine grit set. The sander retails for just under £170 plus around £10 for the extra sleeves. I'd be happy for it to go to a Forum member for £100. Due to size and weight this will have to be for collection only, from Worksop in North Nottinghamshire. Derek

Hi Glenn. Apologies for missing your post - spending time with family and friends has kept me away from ship building for a while, apart from a bit of fiddling with port lids, which I'll log shortly. I'm hoping to get onto 2nd planking once the next set of visitors and holidays are out of the way. Derek

🤣😂 ...and on a wooden ship! Beautiful work, as always.

Just catching up with your build - great progress (and I can't believe how fast you are, at least compared to me!). I was particularly impressed with your fairing - I've not tried palm sanders, but they certainly seem like a useful tool. I look forward to following your log from now on. Derek

Superb result - well done! I'm jealous now as I've still a long way to go on my Sphinx. Derek

We are, 'coz we spend our money wisely 💰

I was tempted to get these but they're silly money in the UK - eg £42.16 (~$54) versus $29.95 for the 5" set. I'll have to continue to make do with ordinary flexible sanding blocks ☹️

Thanks Glenn. I’ve used the pen sander quite a lot since I got it. I find the supplied sandpaper too fine for some jobs but it’s easy to ca a piece of coarser stuff to the tip.

First planking finished It's taken a while to finish the first planking, partly because I've been busy with other things, but also because I like to take my time with this stage of the build. I probably won't paint the hull so the second planking layer will need to be as neat as I can make it. Whilst the first layer won't show, I feel it's good practice to take as much care with it as possible, in particular rehearsing the measuring, tapering and edge bending methods I'll use in the final layer. The first job was to construct a support that would enable me to work on the hull upside down. I had some spare pipe insulation foam lying around – a short length cut in half and stuck to a baseboard did the trick: Next, I used pencil marks on the frames to divide the hull into four bands to make measurement simpler. At this stage I went for simplicity, dividing each frame into four equal parts. For second planking I’ll use thread or battens to ensure the planking flows in pleasing curves around the hull. At the midships frame, there is space for exactly 20 full width 5mm planks, so I didn’t bother marking all the frames where no tapering will be required (like the one on the right in the picture above). In this picture I’ve fitted the garboard strake and one adjacent. As always with the garboard, care must be taken to make sure it does extend too far up the stem, otherwise there won’t be enough space for the remaining planks without excessive tapering and drop planks etc. I tried to get the garboard at the bow to look dead flat along the top edge when viewed from the side. I’ve also temporarily fitted the keel – possibly not really necessary but I felt it helped me get the garboard strake right. I’d previously drilled through the keel and the false keel to provide possible future mounting points, and I’ve used small wood dowels as temporary fixings. The actual planking process went smoothly albeit slowly. In the end I just needed a small amount of wood filler in a couple of low spots. Rather than clog the log with a blow-by-blow account, I’ll just include a few photos of work in progress and save a more detailed account of the process for the second planking. Shutter Plank Most strakes consisted of just two planks. However, in a few cases – usually where the bow and/or stern sections required a lot of tapering and bending, I chose to produce shorter planks for these areas, with a so-called shutter plank joining them. The last strake was an interesting shape, but relatively straightforward: Here’s the planking finished, with an initial sanding and a wipe down with white spirit: There’s now some more construction work before I get on with the second planking. Derek

Superb work Tim.

Such precision! Beautiful results as always.

Starting the planking Thanks for all the likes and kind comments. The first two strakes on each side were easy, with no tapering required. The third was slightly trickier as an extreme bend was required at the stern. The curve at the bows is fairly gentle and strictly speaking I didn’t need to pre-bend the planks. However I think it’s always a good idea to do so and thereby remove any unnecessary stress in the hull. Besides, it didn’t take long – a quick dip in hot (not boiling) water and the plank was lightly pinned and clipped in position before being blasted with a hot air gun and left a few minutes to cool down: Before removing the plank I marked it for cutting on one of the middle bulkheads: Although it would be possible to complete each strake with a single plank I find it more convenient use two. That way I can worry about bow and stern tapering and bending separately. I stagger the join between the two planks so it doesn’t fall on the same bulkhead in successive strakes. Again, not strictly necessary but it just looks better to my eye. I will use a planking pattern more akin to full size practice for the second planking. The final step before gluing is to bevel the top edge of the plank. Not a full bevel across the width of the plank, just taking off the back edge with a light sanding is sufficient to get the plank to sit tight against the preceding strake (except at some points in the stern, where the angle between successive planks is extreme and where a fuller bevel is required. Of course, this is only the first layer and any gaps can be filled before the final planks are laid. However I just find it’s good to practice the techniques at this stage where mistakes are less critical. I applied glue to the top edge of each plank as I fitted it. This avoids any tendency for the planks to move up and down in relation to each other during sanding, which can make it difficult to get an even finish. Here's the third plank down on the port bow glued, and pinned where necessary. When I start a session I like to remove the pins from the previous day to re-use - and to avoid catching my knuckles on! The third strake down required a severe bend to fit round the stern. I practiced on an offcut and found the best method to avoid splitting the plank was to use an Amati plank nipper. I also used the offcut to determine the angle to cut the end of the plank. Once cut and bevelled it was just a case of applying glue and plenty of pins, and hoping for the best! Here’s the main tools I used: Starting from the left, the Fineline applicator is great for applying glue just where you need it. It's especially useful for laying down a long run of glue, eg on a plank edge. The homemade plank clamps are easy to make by cannibalising small paper clips. I didn't get on with pin pushers until I got this extra fine one from Vanguard Models - it works a treat. The Amati plank nipper works really well on the first planking. I'm not sure it'll be as useful on the second planking where it might mark the surface. We'll see. The hot air gun is one of my most used tools wherever heat is required. Not just planking but also, for example, with heat-shrink tube used to simulate iron bands on masts etc. For the rest of the planking, where tapering is required, I’ll use my proportional dividers and the technique I described in my Duchess log. Derek

Thanks Tim. No significant technique - I just find that if you can hold the piece properly it makes it easier to cut straight. To that end I made a little cutting table similar to a jeweler's bench peg; just a square of thin MDF with a triangle cut out of one side and clamped to the bench top. Cutting within the triangle area means the workpiece is well supported and can be moved around as necessary.