Glenn-UK

I have managed a couple of hours in the shipyard this morning. My first task was to copper plate the stern post areas up to the waterline. As the copper plating continues I sometimes need to shape the copper plates, as shown below. More shaping is required for the copper plates which follow the waterline. Progress is slow but steady. I am not sure when I will be able to get back in the shipyard. I might be able to sneak the odd few minutes during the week, but in all probability my next visit will sometime over the coming weekend or early next week. The following photo is the current build status.

I managed a quick and unplanned 40 minute visit to the shipyard this afternoon and made a start with adding the copper plates. I started the process by printing out a plating template so that I could decide where to trim the stern post edge plates. As can be seen in the photo I covered the first 8 layers and I drew a few lines before deciding where to make the angles cut. The copper plate was then cut to shape using the template as a guide. After a few trial fits I was happy to proceed and as can be seen I have added a few copper plates to both sides. I am using the same method detailed by @Blue Ensign in his excellent Harpy build log and so far it is working very well. Using the pick-up tool each copper plate is picked up. Tackey wax is used to hold the copper plate to the tool, as can be seen in the photo below. Using a cocktail stick a thin layer of ca glue is spread evenly over the base of the copper plate and it is then placed on the hull. A cotton bud dipped in acetone is then used to clean the copper plate.

Many thanks

Many thanks Bob

Many thanks

Thanks Jim, it has been a shock after so many years being cancer free.

Many thanks Mark.

This may be my last post for a week or two. Tomorrow we have grandparent child care duties looking after a 3 year. Then we have family staying with us over the weekend which means spending more time entertaining some other grandkids (1 year and 4 year). Then on Monday we are looking after our youngest 1 year granddaughter for 4 days whilst her parents have a mini break in Venice. On a week on Friday my wife goes to hospital for an operation as her breast cancer has returned after a gap of 16 years. She is expected to make a full recovery after the operation but this will take a few weeks. I have not made much progress today as I am waiting for an Amazon delivery for tackey wax and some more ca glue. I have painted all the gun ports red. I have made and fitted the two margin planks between the deck and stern board. I am much happier with how this looks now. As I wait for the Amazon delivery I have done some prep work for the coppering of the hull. The first task was to make a tool for picking up and placing the copper plates. This is the same type of tool that @Blue Ensign used, i.e. a cocktail stick secured to a piece of planking material that is slightly smaller then the copper tile.. The tackey wax will be used with the tool to pick up and position the copper plates, when they to be glued in place.. Next I released all the copper plates (299 off) from the first copper sheet. I made a test fit of the first copper plate. I then tried test fitting a few more copper plates to get an idea of how the hull will look. Each copper plate is 18mmL so I cut 1 copper plate in half. The half tile is then used is mark the position the first tile in the next row, as shown with the sequence of photos below. The stern post edge plate can then be trimmed to suit as necessary.

It has been one of those days were I have spent plenty of time in the shipyard but have not really made that much progress. I started by fitting the bow spirketting patterns. This took some time as I need to make sure the holes provided for the eyebolts lined up with the holes on the bulwarks. Once I was happy with the overall fit the patterns were glued and clamped. I did insert a couple of eyebolts at each end of the spirketting, as can be seen in the photos below. It was then a case of repeating the process for the rear spirketting patterns. When they were glued in place I used three eyebolts to assist with the alignment, one at the front one int he middle and one at the rear. Before fitting the patterns I did check that an eyebolt would locate in each of the bulwark openings. In some case it was necessary to run a micro drill in the hole to remove some of the glue deposits. Once the glue had been given time to cure the clamps were removed. I then made a start at cleaning up and painting the gun port openings. Following on from a previous post with regards to the rear cabin roof / gunwale I did a trial fit. The left hand side does not require any remedial work. I will have to trim the top aft section of the right hand side bulwark however. Finally I did make a start on a margin plank for the deck / stern board joint. It still needs a little bit more work but so far so good.

Thanks for the information. I plan test fit the gunwales and davits to see what needs doing on my Harpy.

An interesting approach. I like the use of a mirror. I noticed you have worked from outer to middle. I always go from middle to outer. Both ways end up with the same result.

The roof of the two rear cabins have now been added. I have just noted @Blue Ensign comment on his build log regarding the position of the roof with regards to the gunwales and I have the same issue with the rear section of the gunwale being above the level of the cabin roof. I do not plan to do anything with this for the time being. I also plan to add a margin plank between the deck and stern board joint. My next task is to install the inner bulwark sheer rail and spirketting patterns. Experience has taught me that I need to check the position of the sheer rail with regards to the various belaying racks to ensure the racks can be installed without fouling with the bottom edge of the sheer rail. I plan glue the belaying rack in place before the sheer rail so that I can sure the racks are full engaged in the locating slots provided. In the photos below I am test fitting the sheer rail and spirketting patterns, both of which required a little bit of trimming. In the final photo below I am also making sure the bowsprit will fit through the hole provided at the bow. Before fitting the racks and patterns I will coat the various parts with sanding sealer and then paint, red for the patterns and black for the racks.

The inner bulwark patterns have now been glued and they were left overnight to allow plenty of time for the glue to fully cure. I did use the gun port jigs to ensure the patterns were correctly aligned. I then turned my attention to the rear cabin side panels. Having made a template which was a good fit I decided the kit supplied patterns could not be trimmed to get a nice looking fit. Therefore I opted to make some new side cabin pieces. I cut some lengths of 4mmW planking material which were then glued together. The template was then used to draw the required outline on the glued planks. To complete the process I added the outer framing strips and the assembly was then trimmed to match the template. I ended up rejecting my first one due to any error with the framing, as shown below. I was much happier with my second attempt, albeit I did need to add an additional filler to the right hand side panel. After sealing and painting the side panels black they were added to the Harpy along with the doors. In the photo below the door handle is missing in action. The missing door handle has now been attached and I have also dry fitted the roof section. I need to make sure it is a good fit with the top edge of the side panel before gluing it in place.

I have returned to the shipyard after a busy two days looking after our youngest 1 year old granddaughter. The upper, laser etched, deck pattern has now been glued in place and was left for 24 hours to give the glue plenty of time to cure. I then decided to dry fit some the upper deck items and patterns. I am very happy that these items seem to fit perfectly as can be seen in the next two photos. My next task will be to glue the inner bulwark patterns in place. The next photo shows the stern area, noting I still have to shape the rear cabin side patterns. The next three photos shows the midship section(s). The next photo shows the bow area, the front grating assembly will require a little bit of fettling to get a good tight fit. I might add a little shaped deck infill so it follows the line of the lower partition, as can be seen in the photo below I can either paint the inner face of the visible partition shown in the photo below or I could add a filler piece so the inner face of the partition is not visible. I will probably try to paint the partition.

Looks great Richard, well done.

I have not been able to spend much time in the shipyard today and will have very little or no time in the shipyard over the next couple of days as we are looking after our youngest granddaughter (1 year old). I am hoping I can glue the upper deck pattern in place when she has an afternoon nap (fingers crossed she will have a nap) One more dry fit test was my first task today. This time the inner bulwark patterns were aligned using the gunport jigs. As can be seen below everything lined up perfectly. Next I applied some sanding sealer to the various bulwark, rear cabins, stern counter and stern board patterns. Once the sealer had dried the various patterns were painted. The stern board and counter patterns were then glued in place. The stern counter was positioned and clamped before the stern board. I am reasonable happy with how this looks. I then decided to paint the outer frame work of the cabin sides patterns black. In the final photo you get an idea of how the different colour parts interact, noting I still have much work to do with the stern cabin fittings.

Thanks Maurice. The template side pieces were fashioned from spare 0.8mm thick plywood. If, when fettling the side panels, I am not happy then I will just use 4mm planks. I am also thinking of planking the roof section. Much to ponder. I wish I had your skill and patience to plank the upper deck.

You're welcome

Many thanks. I have done a bit more work. I have made a test cabin side piece which I am using to work out the required adjustments. It is still WIP at the moment.

Much to ponder on the way forward after a morning of test fitting various parts. I did a check that some of the upper deck items will align with the lower deck openings. I am pleased to report that no issues were found. I then turned my attention to the inner stern board and counter pattern. After a little bit of trimming of the lower pattern I was happy with how the join between the two patterns looks. However there is an issue with where the lower pattern joins with the deck, as can be seen in the photo below. I am undecided what to do but my current thinking is either: a) to see if I can add some material to the bottom of the stern board pattern so there is no gapping with the deck edge. I will also need to add some packing to bring the stern board up to the same level as the back end of the deck. This will be time consuming and I may end up creating some more problems. b) Leave as is and then fit a filler piece to cover the gap, as per the photo below, noting the filler piece will need be full length rather than the short experimental test piece shown below. c) Add some packing to bring the stern board up to the same level as the back end of the deck and then add a filler piece. I am currently drawn toward option c). However there is bigger problem to resolve before I can fit stern board and counter patterns. In the photo below I am test fitting one of the rear cabins side patterns. It can be seen that the pattern does not sit flush of the deck. This can be rectified by removing some of the patterns curved section so it follows the shape of the lower stern board pattern. Also the pattern is not square where the cabin door pattern will be located. The cabin door assemblies are a good fit. The outer cabin frames were then glued to the cabin side and door panels. Another aspect to consider is the fitting of the cabin roofs. As can be seen below the cabin side panels need to be level with the cabin frames, When looking at both the cabin side panels and the stern board and counter patterns I am happy that there are no issues with regard to how cabin side panels will fit against the stern counter pattern, as can be seen by the red arrow. The problem area is indicated by the yellow arrow. However as this is not the case with the stern board pattern. My options are: a) Fit both the stern counter and board patterns and then, when fitting the cabin side panels, trim the bottom edges as necessary to get a good fit. b) Resolve the alignment issue of the cabin side panel before fitting the stern counter and board patterns. The curved edge of the cabin side panel can be trimmed so it sits flush on top of the stern board pattern. c) Sort out the basic alignment issues as per option a) above. Once the stern board and stern counter patterns have been fitted trim the curved edge of the cabin side panel so it sits flush on top of the stern board pattern. Unless anyone has any bright ideas my current thinking is to go with option c).

Totally agree.

The top outer rail has now been added. Before fitting I brushed on some sanding sealer and then painted the rails dull black. I decided to apply some cherry wood dye to planked area between the waterline and wale. It might not be to everyone's taste but I am pleased with the end result. Next I applied a WOP coat to the hull. After checking the position of the waterline I added tape so the hull is now ready for coppering. After removing the bulkhead ears the laser etch deck was test fitted and seems to be a perfect fit without any need to make any adjustments. I still need test fit some of the deck items such as the masts and bitts to ensure there are no issues before the deck is glued in place. The rear inner bulwarks patterns were test fitted without any issues. I used some pins, placed in the gun port eyebolt holes, to help with the alignment of the rear patterns. The front patterns need to be bent to follow the curve of the bow. After soaking the front inner bulwarks patterns in warm water for a few minutes they were clamped in place and will now be left overnight to fully dry out. Next I moved on to test fitting the inner stern counter and board patterns. The upper pattern required a little bit of tweaking and then split along one of the laser etched lines as I was sanding. I was able to add some glue to rectify the problem. With both parts in place they do not look great. The top part is not a problem as it lines up perfectly with the two openings. I will need to spend some time working out a solution to get the lower pattern to line up with both the deck and the upper pattern. In the photo below the top pattern is not correctly aligned but the join between the two patterns looks better. My next task (in the morning) will be to test fit all the rear cabin outer patterns.

Great progress, coming along very nicely 👌

I have experimented with some different wood dyes and ended up adding a cherry wood finish to the square tuck. There is still a little bit of tiding up work required in this area. I then moved on to adding the wales. I marked and taped the position of the waterline. I also added tape to the area above the wale. Once that was done I sanded the area smooth between the upper and lower tapes. The previously bent wales were then checked and I did end up adjusting the bend for a better fit around the bow area. I have also been experimenting with both oak and cherry wood dyes on some spare planking material and will add a cherry wood finish to the planked area below the wales and above the waterline. The wales were then coated with a sanding sealer and two coats of dull black painted were brushed on. Next I brushed some wood glue to both the underside of the right-hand side wale and the hull. The wale was then carefully aligned and clamped in place and were left to dry. Once the glue had had time to cure the process was repeated for the left-hand side wale. You may note in the photos below I did add one pin to the lower wale section at the stern so it follows the curve of the hull. I will remove the pins first thing in the morning. The upper tape layer has also been removed now the wales have been fitted.

Hello Mark Many thanks for the kind comment. It nice when you enhance a kit and the end result justifies the extra work.