Glenn-UK

Hello Derek I found the coppering is relatively forgiving. My hull was reasonable smooth but it did have the odd lump and depression. It is important to get the area around the rudder post and keel right,, I have one plate that sits a bit proud at the keel edge, but it is not noticeable unless you have the boat in you hand and upside down. With regards to the water line I did use the rudder with the copper template fitted to get the right height at the stern and I used the picture in the manual for the bow (5 copper plates). I did find the wood strip (1mm by 1mm) a god send. I also made a 12 plate wide template to get the position for the water line at the middle. I then used my water line marker and was very pleased to find my 3 reference points all lined up as I drew the line. I opted to use ca glue in the end as the evo stick instant has a very strong odour, and harder to apply to the plates than I remembered. It took a while to find the best method. For me that was to put some ca glue in the centre of the plate, then to place the plates leading edge to the previously fitted plate and once I was happy with the alignment to gently drop the plate into position. I used a small metal pointer to move the plate, when needed before the glue stuck fast. With some plates, which I was not totally happy with, I simply lifted them, using an old craft knife blade and then tried again. If a bit of the plate edge had not stuck down, as the ca glue did not fully spread, I simply applied a drop on ca glue to a scrap piece of copper plate and then used that to apply the ca glue to the underside of the lifted edge. I used a sharp pair of scissors to trim the plates, when necessary. I worked from left to right, so one side I was working from the stern to the bow and the other side I worked from the bow to the stern. For the first row of plates I actually started in the centre as that seemed the best for me to get the "brick pattern". As the plate line does curve I did find it necessary overlap the plates leading edges a tad. I used nail polish remover (with cotton buds) to remove any excess ca glue from the plates (and fingers).

I have finally completed the copper plating task. I am reasonably happy with the end result. It took a while to find the best working method which was to add a drop of ca to the centre of the plate and then to position the leading edge against the previously fitted plate and once I was happy with the alignment I then gently dropped the plate , using a metal pointer to make any minor alignment adjustments before the ca glue cured. Once the copper plating was completed I then added the hair brackets (which required a bit of trimming) , the bow checks and the hawse bolsters. The next task will be to drill out the hawse holes with a 2mm drill and then to fit the capping rails and stern counter side timbers. This will not take took long to complete so I can also fit the upper rail and swivel gun post patterns.

I have now completed the copper plating of the port side (take 2). I have much happier with the results this time. I started out using the evo-stick instant for this task which I had used when for HMS Victory, however I soon reverted to using CA glue. I did add a 1mm x 1mm strip along the water line which really helped to get a neat finish.

Take a look at the following for my attempt to rig cannons a few years ago.

Yes I am planning to rig the cannons later. I rigged my HMS Victory cannons, which was quite a challenge.

I went ahead and completed the assembly of all 14 off 4 pounder cannons. The Speedy is now armed and ready for action!! I will redo the copper plating next.

The new copper plates I have ordered have now been shipped, so they should arrive by first class post sometime tomorrow.🤞 In the meantime I decided to paint the Wales. I have applied 3 coats so far, giving the Wales a light sand between each coat. I will give it the wales a final coat later on today. In the attached pictures below you can see my work station (and working outlook) in the top right corner of the two photos. In between the coats of paint I continued with the assembly the 13 outstanding 4 pounder cannons. The gun carriages are now ready for painting with the fully completed cannon looking on, like an expected parent.

While waiting for the new copper plates to arrive I decided to build one of the 14 off 4 pounder cannons. I started with the standard dry fit. As everything was a good fit I went ahead and painted all the photo etched brass parts using my gun metal black paint along with one of the cannons. I applied a few light coats of paint and then built the first cannon. I was very happy with the end result and it looks really nice when positioned at a gun port, sitting nicely in the centre of the gun port opening.

Hello Derek Go to the link below (Part 47 of HMS Victory: Mizzen Lower Mast) and it starts at 10 min 30 seconds into the video.

Today I did a test fit of the completed Rudder assembly. With a bit of experimentation with the fitting I found the pintle braces worked best for me with the top one located in the rudder and the lower two fitted to the stern post. The tiller arm has also been assembled and painted but will not be fitted until after the rudder is finally installed. I used masking tape (see "John Builds Iconic Military Models YouTube channel) to add the two banding strips to the top of the rudder as can be seen in the photo below, this worked really well.

Looks very good, great work.

After removing the copper plates yesterday I took time to study the build photos in the manual and information on plan sheet 4. At the widest point it will require 12 rows of copper plates, ignoring the small slithers on top of the 12th row. At the bow end there are 5 rows of copper plates and at the stern there are 8 rows of copper plates. I decided to make a small jig comprising 12 copper plates on a flexible Vernier backing to mark the position of the water line at the widest point, as shown in the photo below. Noting there were 5 rows copper plates at the bow, I marked them off. The incorrect water line position from my first coppering is still visible in the photo below. coming in after 4 rows of copper plates. Using the copper plated rudder part as a guide I then marked off the 8 rows of copper plates at the stern. Again the incorrect water line is still visible on the photo below, coming in after 7 rows of copper plates. . Using a 1mm by 1mm strip of wood taped to the hull I was then able to indicate the correct position for the waterline. I verified the position at different points along the hull using the photos in the manual as a point of reference. I was then able to draw the waterline using the 1mm x 1mm strip as the guide. I then removed the wood strip and used some 2mm masking tape to highlight the position of the waterline. As a final check I used my water line marking tool to double check the water line position indicated by the tape. I am now very happy the water line is correctly marked. I will redo the copper plating early next week when I get the replacement copper plates from Cornwall Model Boats (probably on Tuesday). As the copper plating progresses I will glue a strip of 1mm x 1mm along the water line so that I get a really neat looking finish to top of the copper plating.

I just used my craft knife to pick at a corner of a copper plate and once I had lifted an edge it was easy to pull the plate away. They all came off without too much effort and it took about 60 mins in total to remove approx. 460 copper plates. I could tell the difference between the plates I had secured using thin ca glue and medium ca glue. I have now sanded the hull to remove the residual ca glue and I will be good to go again once the new copper plates have arrived.

I have not been totally happy with some of my copper plating. As I progressed with this this task I did find the best method that worked to get the plates to fit neatly. I did rip off some copper plates that could have been fitted better and replaced them. However when I checked the copper plating on the rudder with the copper plating on the hull I noticed my water line was too low, by 1 row of tiles. It would be possible to leave the existing copper plates and add the additional plates but I have now decided to rip off all the copper plates fitted and start again. I have ordered some new 1:64 scale copper plates from Cornwall Model Boats (which were the same size as the kit supplied plates, i.e. 19 x 6mm) I might revert to using the evo stick impact glue as well and I will add the 1mm x 1 mm strip along the water line before I start the copper plating. Based on the time taken so far I would expect it will take approx. 2 day per hull side to plate the hull.

I was referring to my Speedy build, sorry for any confusion.

Looks can be very deceptive. Not so neat in some places when you are up close to my Speedy build

It worked really well on my Victory build, a 1mm by 1mm strip is very bendy and not very visual.

I have now completed the copper tiling of port side of the hull. It is not my best work by a long way but it looks OK (from a distance!!!!). I am planning to add a small 1mm strip along the upper edge to make it look a bit neater. I have just remembered, when I copper plating the HMS Victory I added a 1mm strip along the water line before I started the copper tiling which made getting a neat edge much easier. I should have done this for this build, as it can always be removed without to much effort afterwards if required. I have also added the copper tiles to the rudder.

I think eco stick instant impact is the best glue. I used that when adding the 3000 tiles on HMS Victory. The super phatic may be ok, but I would think you might need to wait a few mins so it gets tacky before appling the tiles. I did start by appling a small dollop of ca to the centre of the tile, and positioning using my twezzers. That method didn't really work for me so I opted for a small thin layer of ca on the hull and postioning using my metal pointer tool. I found I could move along at a reasonable pace and most copper tiles could be positioned a bit before the glue set. I did have to rip off and discard some really badly positioned tiles. If I had been more patient I should have gone to the local shop to get the evo stick glue before starting.

I have nave now added the wales and marked the waterline. I then placed some tape above the waterline. I then started adding the copper tiles. I'm not very at the coppering but I know it will look OK once completed. Last time I used Evo stick instant impact which allowed time for the tile to be moved around and position correctly. I started this task using ca clue and some of the tiles became stuck fast before I was really happy with the position. I have found the best method (for me) was to apply a thin coat of ca for approx. 3 tiles on the hull and then to position the tiles one by one.

My local hobby shop recommended the super phatic glue to me and I have found it to be a very useful glue.

This morning I completed the sanding of the hull. I applied a small drop of my super phatic glue where there were some very minor gaps and then sanded over so the sawdust could bind with the glue. It seemed to work out very nicely. I also painted the gun port openings red. I may still line the gun ports at a later stage, but this will be after I have assembled the gun carriages and after I have checked to see if there is any alignment issues with adding linings. I have also fitted the prow, keel and rudder posts as well.

I was planning to check ports with an assembled cannon before fitting linings. I have painted the openings red already.

I have had a scan through Chris's Speedy build notes. The only reference I can find relates to the design of the gun port strips. I think it would be ok with thin 3mm strips.

Hi Derek I only used a couple of filler pieces below the water line, where I had cocked up the shaping of the plank to be fitted. I have done a bit of testing and 3mm strips will be good for the lining of the gun ports. I will probably do that much later down the line.