scrubbyj427

Too late for my Winnie but perhaps my Portland (someday) will like a few sets of these.

She’s looking very nice Fred. Great paint work, I won’t even attempt.

😂

Maybe so, except my Winnie is 4000 miles away from my workbench.

Congratulations Steve! Incredible achievement! It’s refreshing to see this early version of Victory.

It’s been awhile since I checked in but your Winnie looks magnificent Glenn! And now you are officially ahead of me! JJ

Beautiful work Tom. You’ve done a great job developing this model. Looking forward to seeing more.

Very nice work Ben.

Small update: I installed the lower counter, this is a laser cut piece and it fits pretty well, you may have to finagle the port openings a little but it’s close. You can see I added some material, so I’ll add that on to the cut file. It’s easier to sand down then add. The install is pretty straight forward, I focused around it fitting the ports more than anything and the rest falls into place. I first got the back side wet so that it wanted to curl up in the correct direction, after I test fit several times and the wood was dry I used PVA and clamps to hold it down. Around the edges of the ports and the middle frames I used CA as it wanted lift off. I did screw up a little and left about 1/32 up the upper gun frame exposed, I’ll add some filler pieces in tomorrow. You’ll also notice the lower part sticks down too far, this will require some trimming to allow room for the planks to land on. I will carefully do this tomorrow. now I can finish the lower wales as well as the upper counter and begin planking. Thanks for looking in. JJ

Beautiful work Tom, It’s really coming along nicely.

I do have a set but they are buried in a container. How patient are you?

Thank you Chuck

The preliminary design for the stern carvings are now complete, I’m going to review them and make any adjustments necessary and proceed with the prototype sets. Looks like I need to get moving on the model so I have something to attach these beauties to. JJ

Yes, that is exactly what I say to people. I found that I literally had to look up when viewing these giants and your camera removes that task. The scale and beauty of this range is simply indescribable.

I’m back in the states, making a pit stop home to laser cut a few things, I should be back at it in a week or so. Will post some updates as I begin my planking journey. For now here are some photos of the Everest base camp trek, which took me above 18,500’ and through 32 miles of rough Himalayan terrain but the views were simply spectacular! JJ

Thank you Glenn. The Himalayas are not for the faint of heart! However you did take a trip to Patagonia, I’m confident you could navigate beyond the parking lot (the parking lots are non existent, which is great!). Thanks for looking in.

Thank you Matt, I appreciate it. I’ve spent many hours trying to think of little conveniences for the builder that won’t compromise the appearance of the finished model. Will resume work soon. JJ

Small update, I’ve added the upper laser cut planking panels to the model, these will be the ones used in on the final model, with a few slight modifications that I’ve overlooked but corrected on my model. To begin I placed a board across the beam to ensure the proper height of the panels and I clamped them as I went along, once I was happy with their location I ran a batten underneath both of them to ensure that the planking that will follow below will have a smooth joint and continuity with the laser cut panels, once the panels were tweaked to fit right I then glued them into place using CA. you can see below that I made some adjustments to the aft panel so the forward one would line up with the gun ports. You’ll also notice the grey primer, I find this necessary with MDF as it’s super porous and soaked up three coats of solvent based primer. The primer also will not swell the MDF and allows it to be sanded smooth in preparation for whichever red you choose for your port framing. The batten ensured that I could set them right back where they belong without losing the correct position. I kept the front one clamped in its location while I glued the stern one, this ensured that there was no lateral movement of the aft panel. The same process was repeated for the front panel. I also begin the lower wales, you’ll notice the same process where I used a batten I reference to the marks on the bulkheads “W1”. The batten goes on the lower side of the line, once the batten passes the eyeball test then it’s time to start the wales, now the wales on this model are over 1/8” thick so unfortunately they will have to be done in two pieces, the first layer I’m cutting them at .080” with a significant taper in the front to fit the rabbet and allow for another layer to go over it and fit in the rabbet as well. I’m not really concerned with the length or butt joints of the first layer of planks as they will be covered up, just get a smooth run with tight joints. Unfortunately I can not proceed any further until I complete the counters, I have a laser cut lower counter that I will be testing soon and from there I will plank the upper counter using the laser cut lower as a guide. I will be off for a month in the Himalayas, hiking to Everest base camp and beyond, so I won’t have any updates until about June, possibly one more before I go but will see. Thanks for looking in. JJ

Well done Chuck. Stunning model of speedwell you’ve created.

Hi Jason, thanks for looking in. I’m going to build my prototype with the printed ones, my goal is to make them indistinguishable from wooden constructed ones. I will paint the inside either a pale white or that olive green color we see on occasion. They will also have wooden floors inside them. The outsides will be covered with scraped boxwood moldings, columns, windows and carved wooden sculptures. The friezes will cover the lower QG followed by a carved boxwood drop and printed friezes as well as the lower roof. So everything will covered up quite well. Will be hard to tell they are even printed at that point. JJ

Thank you Yves, they were quite tricky to 3D model and then make them printable. I think they will work out well though. Will see in the coming months

I’ve faired most of the hull except for below the wales, the reason is that I want to plank the upper sides and make sure they are stable and epoxied before I turn the model on its side to fair the lower sides, so I’ve faired below the wales a decent amount. The bow and the counters are faired as well. The upper planking where all the moldings and friezes go is laser cut basswood, it has etched reference marks for the QG’s, moldings, fenders and chesstrees. The one you see on the model now is only a test piece and not the final design. The lower counter will be a laser cut piece of basswood that will also double as a fairing guide for the counter structure, you can see I used a paper template, I had to make about 6 of them before it finally fit right. So the wood one is coming soon. Now for the resin printed QG’s, this was an ambitious project but I thought why not give it a shot and so far I’m quite happy with how they fit. I wanted to attempt this because as I was designing laser files for a two deck QG out of wood, I just felt there were too many ways for it to go wrong if one isn’t careful and spoil the model, thankfully this is going to work and save a lot of trouble. Now once you fit the QG’s and everything lines up then they need to come off and be finished. You will have to paint them, add the roof tiles, friezes, scraped moldings, windows and a few other decorations and when complete they should be indistinguishable from built up wooden ones. I’ll go into more detail later about how to install them but they will require a little finesse, but not much. I have some boxwood on order and will start producing the laser files and testing for the windows. Also I’m going to begin adding the upper and lower wales, this will be important to get the planking right. Thanks for looking in. JJ

Thank you Fred, I appreciate it. Life has forced me to halt work on Portland, but I’m trying to get back into it shortly. Just received my 3D printed QG’s. Will be posting an update soon. JJ

Beautiful work Glenn.

Hi Jaager, I understand what you are saying and I’ve definitely considered this for production. I think for the current prototype that I am producing I will likely stuff balsa filler blocks in there and use the verticals as a fairing guide. I hope to resume work soon. JJ