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Thanks Sjors, and thanks for putting me right on the translation. I must have mis-remembered the story, because I'm sure the original anglicization would have been from the Dutch, as British sailors would probably have been more likely to hear Dutch sailors speaking than German ones. I'm enjoying using the airbrush, partly because it's a new toy, but also because it seems quicker and easier - especially with awkward shapes - and it gives a good, even finish with no brush marks. However I still like using brushes for some tasks. Derek

You're too modest. Besides, half the fun of this forum is seeing the different ways people approach the same models and the different techniques they use. Truism alert ⚠️ - there is no one right way, or even one best way. Or if there is, I've certainly not found it !

Now you'll make me blush😬! Seriously though, I'm trying to show different uses for the micro mill as I know you and other members are interested in exploring its potential. Glad you find it useful. Hopefully this link will still work... I'm very happy with the airbrush I got so far, especially as it seems to work fine with my existing acrylic paints. I thought I'd have to buy airbrush-specific products, but flow improver works well with Admiralty paints (and others, for all I know). I've also tried airbrush thinners with ordinary acrylics and that works too. Derek

Fore & Main Tops Thanks as always for the kind comments and the 'likes' 🙂 A bit more information on the masts. I had to play about with the contrast on this picture to reveal any detail, so the black looks grey! Chris's research showed that crowsfeet had been removed by the time Cockrane took command of Speedy. However I think crowsfeet and their euphroe blocks add interest to a model, and are visually attractive, so I've decided to fit them. The underside of the tops come with holes in place, which act as a template to help you drill holes right through if you want to rig crowsfeet but where they won't show if you decide not to. Incidentally I read somewhere that euphroe is an anglicization of the Dutch jung frau, but I'm not sure how short-sighted and/or desperate sailors would have to have been to think a euphroe block resembled a young woman! Chris was not sure whether Speedy's mast heads would have been fitted with iron bands and battens so he did not include them. They're a detail I like to fit if I can, although they can be hard to see (and photograph!) in the finished model. The bands were easy - just shrink-wrap tubing cut to size and shrunk on. The battens are trickier, as they have to be notched so they fit snuggly over the bands. On my last fully rigged model - Royal Caroline - I tried several types of wood but ended up using styrene strips. I tried styrene again for Speedy but with less success - even using the smallest strips I have - 1.0mm X 0.5mm - the results looked too clunky to my eye. However I'll briefly mention the method I used as it may be helpful for others** to use on larger scale models or on fittings such as window glazing bars. I milled notches in the stryrene strips with the Proxxon micro-mill: The jig is just a piece of good-quality MDF bolted to the table, with double-sided tape to hold the strips in place. Here, I'm using a 1mm cutter to mill a 0.25mm groove in 8 strips at once. The results looked OK... ...but I felt they looked too clunky when fitted to the masthead. In the end I decided to keep the bands and leave the battens off. Probably unrealistic as I believe the battens were fitted to stop the rigging rubbing against the metal bands, but I can live with that. Another little detail is the quarter-round bolsters either side of the masthead: The manual suggests filing these components from square stock. I found it quicker and easier to cut a round dowel in half lengthways, twice, on the table saw. That method made enough quarter round section for both masts in seconds. The final detail in the tops are the fids. These are supposed to be square or rectangular, but at this scale I can only do round holes. So I cheated by making each fid in two parts, each part a piece of 1mm square boxwood with one end rounded. With the boxwood held in the lathe (just as easy in a drill) I pressed the end against the 1mm hole in a metal drill gauge to round off the first couple of mils. A tiny detail, but worth it I think. Back to rigging the spars. Derek ** Glenn, this is aimed at you, so I hope you were only joking 😄

Thanks Bob! On PE, I think there are some components where it wins hands down against alternatives. One example on Speedy is the fine detail on the pumps. Another, perhaps unexpectedly, is belaying pins. Wooden ones never look right (not when first bought, anyway) whereas the PE ones on Speedy are perfectly to scale. They’re so small you can’t see that they’re flat, not round, especially when painted. On other components opinion is divided. For example I chose to make my own ring bolts for Speedy’s cannon as I felt the PE rings were slightly too large. But I was arguably being picky and I’m sure many people would be happy with the PE versions. Interestingly, I am happy with the PE cleats supplied with my kit, but I hear that Chris is now providing laser cut pear versions. A final point worth making is that all the PE in the kit is very good quality. Derek

Serious underestimate! I've just had a quick look through the plans and lost count at 130. And that’s just blocks and deadeyes that I need to attach to the spars and tops off the model.

Thanks Tim! I’d advise you not to resist the temptation to get an airbrush. It’s a whole new technique to master but it’s worth it, and you don’t have to spend a fortune on top of the range kit. I went closer to the cheap end of the range and am very happy with it. I’m especially pleased that I can use my existing acrylic paints - mostly Admiralty. Derek

I assume this is the one : https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/460861.html ?

Masts Tried out my new airbrush on the spars, and was pleased with the results: I used Admiralty matt black, with just 2 drops of flow improver per 10 drops of paint and it went on like a dream. Spraying with this sort of kit is much more precise and much less messy than I'd imagined. I needed very little masking to protect the unpainted areas, and because the paint mists on so fine, there was no build up of liquid paint on the masking tape and so no chance of leakage under the tape. At times the Quadhands (Quinhands?) looked like some kind of wierd sculpture: I couldn't resist dry-stepping the masts and yards just to see what she looks like: Although I was a bit wary about some of the photoetch components they look absolutely fine when fitted and painted. Here's the yard arm of the fore yard, for example: Now I'll have to de-mast her and start rigging everything. I've not counted, but I suspect there must be at least 75 blocks and deadeyes required on the masts, yards and bowsprit. I enjoy rigging and find the repetitive nature quite therapeutic (well, perhaps not ratlines!), and am looking forward to it. Still putting off the ship's boat! Derek

I think your effort looks fine Tim - I'd just snip off the end of the breech rope a bit closer to the second seizing. You could always use brown fly tying line if you agree with B.E.'s dislike of black. Derek

Gerry, the only thing I’d add to SpyGlass’s sound advice is that the stern needs to end up thin enough to match the thickness of the sternpost. So there is no point covering the keel with first planking only to have to sand it off again. If you look at our Speedy logs and the manual (I assume Flirt’s is the same) you’ll see that the first planking has been sanded down to nothing as it approaches the stern, and even part of the keel has been thinned. This ensures you don’t have to sand the second planking too aggressively. You need to aim for a good smooth flow into the sternpost, not a step. Hope this helps. Derek

Good questions Gerry. Strake is the term for a whole run of planks from bow to stern. In full size ships the garboard strake would consist of several planks laid end to end; we modellers tend to use a single plank for convenience especially where it won't show. That's the easy question answered! Personally I find the garboard strake/plank the hardest to fit. I find the most important thing is not to let the plank rise too far up the stem at the bows. If you do you'll struggle to get all the rest of the strakes to fit in the remaining area. Have a look at Speedy: You'll see at the bow end that the plank has been shaped to follow the curve of the stem along its bottom edge. Although it's not obvious from the photo, if your eye was level with the garboard plank it would look as close to a level, straight line as possible - the idea being that the next strake up will be as easy as possible to fit. Eyeballing that straight line before you fit the plank should show you where the top edge of the plank should meet the stem. At the stern the plank doesn't need to be tapered; rather, the area to be covered is wider so you'll end up inserting extra planks ('stealers'). The only comfort I can offer is that this is easier to do than to describe! I hope this helps, but please know that I'm by no means an expert. I'm sure a search through the forum for advice on garboard strakes would produce a wealth of information. Derek

Thanks Glenn - makes sense to me.

Main & Fore Masts A couple more details on making the masts. Although I used the same method for every spar, planing square stock to an octagon then sanding/filing to round, I had to adapt the method in some cases. Speedy's topmasts are a good example, with their square heels and heads. Here's a topmast blank roughly marked out. The hatched areas at each end are waste that I don't mind clamping in a lathe chuck. The next section at the left of the picture will be left square, so I'll only plane the corners off beyond this part. Once planed it's over to the lathe (drill/rotary tool of your choice) for the usual sanding and filing to shape. The trick here is to sand as carefully as you can at the junction with the square section, to get it to blend smoothly into the round profile (and yes, I do wear a dust mask!).. The next part - creating the square topmast head - can easily be done with files, but I chose to use the Proxxon micromill. The rotating table mounted vertically makes it easy to ensure all four faces are at right angles. As a little experiment I used the mill as a crude lathe to create the round peg at the top of the mast. This is the same diameter as the square section, so I just left the cutter in position and running, and rotated the table by hand. The result wasn't perfect straight away (not what milling cutters are designed for!) but 10 seconds with a file on the lathe and it was a perfect fit for the mast cap. Here's the final result, waiting for the waste to be trimmed: Next post I'll finish with a couple more details on the masts before I get on with painting them. Also, I've been putting off work on the ship's boat (I've already had enough planking for one year!) - but I must get on with it. Let me know if I'm putting too much/not enough detail in these posts. Derek

Thanks Vane. I decided to have a go at rigging a pair of shrouds on the model to see how practical it was: Turned out to be easier than I thought it would be, especially with the Quadhands which can be positioned vitually anywhere you need it. So I've decided I'm going to make up, paint and step the complete masts then rig them on the ship. Derek

This kit is definitely on my Christmas list! Chris's models seem to get more and more carefully designed and innovative. Thanks for the detailed log & pics. Derek

Looks good to me Gerry, as far as it's possible to tell from a picture. And it's worth stressing that this is just the first planking you're starting - you can get away with a multitude of sins in terms of sanding, shimming and filling - so long as you leave the best possible surface for your second planking. Having said that, the very fact that the first level doesn't show means it's the ideal place to practice techniques like tapering and edge-bending the planks before you do them in earnest for the final planking. Some practice here will pay dividends later on. Derek

Superb work Tim! I'm sure you'd make a fine job of the side tackle if you decided to go for it. Derek

QUESTION ON MASTS Before I start painting the masts I need to decide how I'm going to step them. The question is, do I step and rig the masts one level at a time - main/fore then topmasts then topgallants, or do I make up each mast first then step them as complete units? On other builds I like to do as much rigging as possible off the model. So for each pair of shrouds, I can seize a bight to form a loop in the middle of a long length of rope then slip the loop over the head of the mast. However if the mast is already made up with caps in place, I would have to make those seizings on the model. On my last fully rigged model I didn't even glue the various sections of the masts together - instead, I found having the masts loose was a useful discipline in that it made me pay particular attention to balancing the tension in the standing rigging. On the other hand, the advantage of making up the masts beforehand, which is what the manual shows, is that it is easier to paint the required sections black. Part of me wants to try spray painting the yards and masts all in one go just to try out the technique. So I'm in two minds. I'd appreciate advice and views. Derek

You don't need me to help, judging by your work so far!👍

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

Well spotted Edward - I hadn't seen that. What's weird though is that castello boxwood comes from South America (Paraguay, I think) which makes it doubly strange that colleagues like Glenn can't get it in the States!

Glenn, I’ll PM the details.

Well done for having a go at margin planks. I tried for the first time on Speedy and found it well worth the effort. Derek

Spars contd. (after lunch!) I used to find drilling tiny holes into small diameter dowels quite tricky. There are various ways of making the job more manageable, some more labour intensive than others. This way works for me. Having marked the position of the hole with a sharp point to give the drill bit something to bite into and stop it slipping sideways, the dowel is held in a V-block: The V-block comes with a clamp. but for small spars like this I just hold the work down with one finger whilst I'm drilling. With sharp bits and boxwood I find I don't need to worry about breakout on the second surface of the wood. With other timbers I'd arrange some sacrificial wood under the workpiece to avoid breakout. If you have to drill another hole at an angle to the first, a useful trick is to put a spare bit though the first hole so you can judge the required angle. For example in this topmast I need to drill the fid hole at right angles to the sheave hole in the head. The drill bit through the sheave hole makes the judgement easy: It may not be clear from these pictures but I'm using a drill attachment that I find incredibly useful, variously called a micro drill adaptor or a sensitive drill attachment. If you haven't come across these little beauties it's worth describing what they do. Here it is taken out of the drill chuck: The straight shaft fits into the regular chuck of your drill (or mill or lathe). The micro chuck (mine takes bits size 0.3 - 4.0 mm) spins when you switch your machine on, but the knurled wheel doesn't. That means you can safely and comfortably hold the adaptor and push the micro chuck down towards the workpiece on the spring loaded rod it slides on: Because you are holding the adaptor with your fingertips and gently pushing the chuck you get a FAR better 'feel' for how far and how fast it is safe to advance the bit into the work. Unless and until you try it you won't appreciate just how much more control you have over the drilling process, leading to much better results and far fewer broken bits. And this applies to all drilling with small bits, not just into dowels. For some inexplicable reason prices for this little gadget vary hugely. I've seen prices well over $100/£100 on both sides of the Atlantic. The good news is you don't have to pay silly money for what is after all a fairly simple tool. Mine cost £14.75 including the chuck and is well engineered and works perfectly. It's gone up in price slightly but here's the link. I hope its not an oriental (or occidental) knock-off but unfortunately I can't tell. Like I say though, it's very well made and I've used it for several years. I'm sure colleagues in other countries could find similar deals. Next post, I'll add a few more details about work on Speedy's masts. In the meantime I hope folk will forgive me for touting another 'must-have' tool 🤑. It's often said you don't need lots of fancy gear to make model ships, but I think learning about new tools is part of the fun! Derek