Stuntflyer

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Lower platforms (aft)
I've been held up a bit in getting these completed due to some mohs surgery on my neck and face. Thankfully, the doctors got it all and it's healing quickly.
 
I did these platforms the same way as the fore platforms. The angles of the beams are a bit trickier, especially the ones further aft. As usual I used spacers between the carlings which were removed after the carlings were glued in. All of this will be covered by the platforms, but if they showed I would definitely mortise them.

Making the foremost aft platform proved to be an interesting project. This was done in sections moving from the center out. Tricky but lots of fun to make.

I ended up using Chuck's laser cut mast coat rather than doing it from scratch. Just wasn't in the mood for the inevitable re-dos.

Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Lower platforms (aft)
I've been held up a bit in getting these completed due to some mohs surgery on my neck and face. Thankfully, the doctors got it all and it's healing quickly.
 
I did these platforms the same way as the fore platforms. The angles of the beams are a bit trickier, especially the ones further aft. As usual I used spacers between the carlings which were removed after the carlings were glued in. All of this will be covered by the platforms, but if they showed I would definitely mortise them.

Making the foremost aft platform proved to be an interesting project. This was done in sections moving from the center out. Tricky but lots of fun to make.

I ended up using Chuck's laser cut mast coat rather than doing it from scratch. Just wasn't in the mood for the inevitable re-dos.

Mike

In the last couple of weeks I've finished the gun tackles on 9 of the 10 carronades.  It took some trial and error to get these the way I wanted them.  My first attempt at seizing both blocks might have been more prototypical, based on the photos I was looking at, with a noticeable small gap between the block and the rear of the attached rigging hook, with the seizing in between.  This though made the two blocks on the sides of the carronades closer to one another, which to my eye, looked less visually appealing than having the blocks spaced further apart.  So, I settled on rigging the blocks with the back of the hooks nearly touching the blocks and with the seizing done using 72 denier 8/0 W fly tying thread (see bottom photo), rather than small sewing thread.   This also kept the seizings from looking too bulky, which I've noticed from looking at photos of other builds, can tend to happen when rigging smaller blocks. 
 
One accidental challenge I made for myself is not paying attention to Chuck's instructions for using 28 gauge wire to make the eye bolts on the carronades.  I inadvertently used 24 gauge wire, but formed to the correct outside diameter as shown on the plans.  When I realized this, I thought it would be no big deal.  The problem is that it left a hole that Chuck's 3mm black plastic rigging hooks barely fit into.  Some eye bolts wouldn't take the hooks at all, or the hooks broke while trying to attach.  So . . . . I had a sheet of the old brass 3mm hooks.  I super glued two of those together so they're the same .020" thickness as the black plastic hooks, and then was able to bend them as required.  I only used these on the rear blocks where the hook is vertical, so intermixing the black plastic hooks with the brass hooks wouldn't be noticeable.  And I figure accidentally using the thicker 24 gauge wire for the eye bolts vs. the correct 28 gauge wire isn't noticeable since the outside diameter of the loop is the same as it would be with the smaller diameter wire.  Anyway, that's my cautionary tale of why reading comprehension is important in model building.  Haha!
 
Also, between the making the breech rope and the gun tackles, I'm feeling much more self-assured as I approach the rigging phase of the build.  I'm more confident that the outcome of the rigging will be of the same standard I've achieved for this build thus far.
 
Erik

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

The great cabin planking
I started with the deck clamps. I made them identical by sandwiching two wide 3/64" strips together and then milling the notches. There is some tapering needed where the clamp meets the window which changes the length slightly. So, once the first one was installed I was able to measure off of that one in order to insure that the second one mirrored it. The bottom of the aft most notch is slightly higher than the top of the window.

Mike

Lower platforms (aft)
I've been held up a bit in getting these completed due to some mohs surgery on my neck and face. Thankfully, the doctors got it all and it's healing quickly.
 
I did these platforms the same way as the fore platforms. The angles of the beams are a bit trickier, especially the ones further aft. As usual I used spacers between the carlings which were removed after the carlings were glued in. All of this will be covered by the platforms, but if they showed I would definitely mortise them.

Making the foremost aft platform proved to be an interesting project. This was done in sections moving from the center out. Tricky but lots of fun to make.

I ended up using Chuck's laser cut mast coat rather than doing it from scratch. Just wasn't in the mood for the inevitable re-dos.

Mike

You show a really clean execution of your build. I simply love it.

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

The Fore Cant Frames
 
Work continues on the Speedwell. Preparing the cant frame is a long process. Lots of char to remove, joints to adjust, tree nailing to do, etc. I found the cant frame jig work very well. Once the jig is positioned properly, adding frames one after the other is relatively straightforward.  As  suggested in the instructions, I first installed the first three fore cant frames  and then switched to frame 11 and worked my way towards the bow. Some tweaking was needed at the lower joint between the frames and the lower apron, suggesting my apron wedges were not perfectly vertical. 

The above photo shows the starboard cant frames after some preliminary fairing.   I tried to keep the bottom joint as clean as possible with minimum gaps. 
 
The Bow Timbers
 
I shaped the bow timbers as instructed. I found that my bevel lines were systematically lower than the edge of the forward cant frame. This was probably because I had some initial fairing done on the frame. Anyhow the assembling went smoothly. No particular issues here.  
 



The above images show views of the bow timbers after assembly and fairing. There is a bit more fairing required near the keel and at the sheer. It is quite tricky to get the hull profile right where the frames have an inward curve (concave). I will address this later.  
 
 
 

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

The great cabin planking
I started with the deck clamps. I made them identical by sandwiching two wide 3/64" strips together and then milling the notches. There is some tapering needed where the clamp meets the window which changes the length slightly. So, once the first one was installed I was able to measure off of that one in order to insure that the second one mirrored it. The bottom of the aft most notch is slightly higher than the top of the window.

Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike

Planking the inboard sides of the cabin took more time than expected. It's wasn't as simple as just cutting tapered planks and placing them onto the hull. The curvature of the hull and twisting of the planks changes the way these all fit together. This is especially true of the lower three strakes. Some additional shaping was necessary in order to get good butt joints. I think I will paint the inside of the window framing to even out the colors a bit. Otherwise, I think I'm good to go.
Mike