Stuntflyer

Mike, thank you!

Looking quite nice! I can see that the fourth air space isn't needed at all.

Stemson, rising wood Moving along, I added the stemson and rising wood. Shaping and adding the stemson was straight forward. After that, I started work on the rising wood. Using a piece of 3/8" boxwood, I carefully copied the dimensions of the rising wood using the new milling machine. So much fun! All of the slots are 5/16" which made the process much easier. Basically a two day process that went along quite smoothly. I just needed to stay focused and not rush through it. Mike

Tom, I do have DRO. Thanks for the tip on a slitting saw.

Fore deadwood In order to find the exact location, I aligned the central spine with the plan and carefully marked the aft location of the fore deadwood. Having just purchased a Sherline mill, I thought it would be a good time to try it out. With that in mind I made the fore deadwood from 3/8" boxwood. I'm pleased with the result. I added the deadwood to the keel using the registration mark I made on the keel. As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to maintain the build concept. With that in mind I went with the laser cut angle wedges for the cant frames. A mix of scratch and kit. When adding the wedges I left a little wiggle room because shifting of these pieces was necessary in order to align them fore and aft. The tops of the wedges were reduced to match the shape of the keelson before gluing them to the deadwood. Mike

Fred, I have often thought about showing, in great detail, how I go about making parts. The problem I always seem to run into is how to go about doing it knowing that certain subtle techniques are involved. Take the stem for example. As Greg knows, the oscillating spindle sander on curved surfaces can give a smoother result than that of a scroll saw. That gets you somewhere in the ball park. The final shape still needs to be achieved and can be further honed in with some 90° sanding blocks. For myself, I will hold the pieces against a window in daylight and look for light leakage. It can be very time consuming and the back and forth takes technique, finesse and a lot of patience. HTH. The gammoning knee was cut from an attached paper template on the scroll saw. The final shape was achieved with the disk sander, sanding sticks, #11 Xacto blade and assorted needle files. It would be very difficult for me to put that in writing in such a way that would be easily understood, I think. Mike

Mark, Thank you! Rusty, I can't wait to see my approach to the frames as well. I guess I'll figure it out when I get there.

Hi Dave, Thanks for your interest. Have you considered starting a build log? It would be interesting to see a POB version. Continuing with some catch up on my progress so far. Keel This is all very similar to what I did on the Winchelsea. The lower stem has a true boxing joint. The straight lengths of keel were made from two layers of 5/32” sheet which were offset, thus creating the half lap joint. The first section I added was the one that attaches to the knee and stem assembly. Additional keel sections were added to that by working aft. The false keel and rabbet strip were then cut and added to the keel. For the keel bolts I used (.023) 30 pound black fishing line. The only change I made was to use a No. 73 bit instead of a No. 71. It provided the snug fit I was looking for. Holes were drilled about 1/8” deep. Mike

This always worked well for me. I wrap a paper towel around the parts and soak it with alcohol before wrapping everything with clear plastic wrap. I usually let the joined pieces sit for 4 hours before removing the wrap.

My build log for Speedwell is now ready for viewing. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/34077-sloop-speedwell-1752-by-stuntflyer-mike-ketch-rigged-sloop-pof/#comment-970081

I am very excited to be starting Speedwell, my next project and build log. Over the years I have really enjoyed collaborating with Chuck while building his designs. That includes all the ships I have built which are the 18th Century Longboat, Cheerful, and most recently, Winchelsea. Without his help I would never have been able to accomplish anything near what I have done so far. As always, I come away from each build knowing that there is always room for improvement. Hopefully Speedwell will show signs of that. My first attempt at POF was David Antscherl‘s Hayling Hoy. Although it might be considered a first time POF model, I found out quickly that it had many challenges for me. The scratch frames were just one of them. Since that time I never lost interest in trying another POF. Chuck first mentioned building his version of Speedwell at 1/4". At the time, I really wasn’t all that interested in doing a small Speedwell like what Greg Herbert was already working on. That all changed when the decision was made to build an up-sized version. I was not surprised to hear that Chuck would add his own interpretation of the ship which would make it all the more interesting for me to build. Speedwell will be a mix of scratch and kit. Just how much of each I really don’t know. The plan is to build the ship in boxwood which is not an option offered by Chuck. For that I have turned to Hobbymill.EU as my source for the wood and I highly recommend them. https://www.hobbymill.eu/ If I were to go the more traditional route like Greg did on his beautifully built Speedwell, then my build would be a hybrid and I would not be able to follow Chuck on this project. The reference for the build is Chuck's build log and forthcoming monograph. I will try to mention only those things that are different or unique to my build. I think that this would be less confusing for those who wish to follow both logs. My goal is to stay scratch as much as possible while maintaining the basic procedures that Chuck would want all of the builders will follow. It will be challenging in places where it would otherwise be relatively easy. Honestly, I really do prefer it that way. Chapter one: knee of the head, stem and gammoning knee The knee of the head was made in the usual way. Individual pieces were shaped to the outline of an attached paper template. The paper templates were attached with Elmer's School Glue which I find holds better than rubber cement. The paper can be removed easily with a little water on a Q-tip or paper towel. The mill made it much easier to cut some of the straight segments in parts like the lacing piece. One more piece then ready for final outer shaping before adding the stem assembly. The stem assembly is added to the completed knee assembly. The knee sits against a backing piece and small pine blocks are used to tighten the joint while the glue sets. When sanding the flat taper in the knee of the head, the upper forward area of the bobstay piece was gradually tapered down to 4mm thickness at the upper fore edge. After a final sanding and tapering I added the gammoning knee. Mike

Thanks guys, I’m hoping to start my new build log very soon. As some of you might have already guessed, it will be Chuck’s Speedwell design. The emphasis will be on more scratch than kit. I hope to see all of you soon, Mike

I completed the bumpkins which were the last of the parts which needed to be made. I decided not to drill the hole through the hull moulding and frieze. It felt that it was a little to risky at his stage of the build. Of course I never thought of it, but if it were possible I would have done so earlier in the build. Instead I simulated as best I could the look of doing so. Its been nearly five years since I switched from the 3/16" to the 1/4" scale version in April of 2018. With the ship now finished, I just want to say thank you for sharing this journey with me. Every kind word, comment and "Like" inspired me to do my best and keep moving ahead. I would be remiss if I didn't give a special thank you to Chuck for being a huge help to me from the very start as well as putting up with all of my nuttiness. Thank you, Chuck! See ya soon, Mike

Just wipe of any excess dust with a paper towel. You don't have to remove every speck. Apply the Poly with cheese cloth and wipe off excess with the same.

Continuing on with another small update. The aft seats have been added to the ship. This was tricky stuff and there were a few attempts needed. So, yeah, Nothing new. I used a tapered a dowel inserted into the hole as a helping hand when test fitting and gluing them in. Only a small amount of PVA at the notch surrounding the moulding and along the edge that sits against the false rail. Mike

They sure look nice to me, go with it!

Moving along. . An easy way to align the first two sides of the poop scoops is to use a jig similar to what was used to round up the coamings. The poop scoops are completed. The alignment being that they are parallel to each other vertically and the tops are flat across the top. I found that the best way to do that was to set one first, before moving onto the other one. The three battens on the outside really help to hold them firmly in place. Mike

One thing I almost forgot to mention. . I think that It's very important to keep the two inner battens parallel or at least at the same angle relative to the center line of the hull. It's quite noticeable if one batten is at a different angle than the other. Just something to be aware of when you get to this stage of the build. Mike

More grating work completed this week. As you can see I have not spent a lot of time on paint work. It's just too easy for things to get scratched while working in this area. I lowered the notched batten at the hull around 3/64" since the angle appeared just a bit too steep. Mike

I've started on the head gratings. A few of these battens are quite small, yet none of them managed to fly off into nowhere land. All of the joints needed a bit of wood filler before painting. I added the first coat of black paint of which more are sure to come. Mike

Chuck, Regarding the head gratings, specifically the two inner battens that run from the knees to the hull. The drawing shows them skewed slightly. Should I ignore that and stay parallel to the center line of the hull? Mike

Moving right along. .Did you have fun making the port lids? They look quite nice.

Thank you, thank you!

Well, I'm not sure if I would call it a milestone, but it does feel good to have finally finished the head timber work. It's challenging and sometimes tedious work. The secret to any kind of success is to just slow down and think things through as much as possible. The head gratings are next. Mike

You're ship is looking really nice!