HM Brig-Sloop Speedy by glennard2523 - Vanguard Models - 1/64

[Glenn-UK]

I have order the Vanguard Model HM Brig Sloop Speedy. I am looking forward to receiving the kit and starting work on this Chris Watton design.

[Vane]

Good luck and welcome to the club

[Glenn-UK]

My HM Brig-Sloop Speedy Kit is out for delivery and I am really looking forward to receiving it later today. I have been studying the on line build instructions and have started making notes in my build log book.

 

 I have undertaken a general review my general stock of material and tools and have ordered some items which I am either low on or do not have. I will also invest in a mouse sander and small travel iron in the next few days. I have not used the AK interactive AK174 product listed in the instructions for blacking the copper parts but I will buy a bottle and give it a go as I think it may yield a better end result than my normal painting method.

 

In all my previous double planked builds it has been necessary to mark out a beading line and file the false keel. There was no mention of this for this build and Chris has confirmed to me that there is no requirement to do this for this model and you simply sand down the keel after the 1st planking so the 2nd planking sits flush with the rudder. This seems to be a great improvement compared to my previous builds.

 

I also liked Chris's tip of using a water based wood filler ( natural colour Ronseal) which he then dilutes with a small amount of PVA wood glue and water. However he did say that it is not needed as much for the pear wood as the edges are pretty good.

 

I have never tried Chuck's edge planking method before but have studied his video's and posts. I am intrigued by the edge bending method and can fully understand the reason for it and why it works but I am having difficulty visualising it at the moment.  I don't think it is absolutely necessary for the 1st planking (as it is hidden) but I will use for the 1st planking so I can get proficient with it in readiness for the 2nd planking.

 

The suggested method of pre tapering the bulkheads prior to fixing the false keel sounds really good and something I thought would be a good idea in some of my previous builds. 

 

With the laser cut deck I will probably go ahead and use it but I would like to see how practical it is to cut it up to use some of the more detailed parts in conjunction with normal deck planking.

Edited February 12, 2020 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

My first impression of the kit is very good. The kit was very well packaged, both externally and internally and the quality of the materials looks first rate. The instruction manual is very well put together and the layout plans all look very detailed.

 

The estimated build time quoted in the instruction book is 50 to 70 hours. I plan to take my time with this build so I fully expect my build time will greatly exceed this.

 

Stage 1 - Building Cradle and Dry Fit of Bulkheads 2 to 15 to False Keel
I have assembled the MDF building cradle, which was all I was going to do today. However as this task took very little time I decided to release the false keel (1) and bulkheads (2 to 15) from the MDF sheets and then to dry fit them.

 

I am very impressed with the way the bulkheads slot easily on to the false keel without the need to file, see picture below.

Time spent of the build is 50 minutes.

[Glenn-UK]

Stage 2 Assembly of the bulkheads, lower deck and deck beam supports

 

I did a dry fit of the bulkhead and deck support beams and everything fitted without the need to adjust any of the pieces. The design of the kit makes the build progress very easy as everything fits together so well. The crew are watching the build with interest!

As I was very happy with the dry fit I glued everything in place and left it overnight to allow the wood glue to fully cure.  I followed the advice in the build manual and bevelled the edges of bulkheads, 2, 3, 14, 15 and 16 before gluing in place. This, in my opinion, is a great way to go as it made the sanding job so much easier. I also  bevelled the edges of the various filler pieces before gluing on place. I think it will only require minimal sanding to finish the fairing prior to fitting the gun port strips and 1st planking.

The stern frames (30 and 31) have been fitted. These parts are fragile so the stern patterns will be fitted to add strength as soon as the main deck has been glued in place.

I am now ready fit the deck and I hope it will fit Ok without and need to enlarge the slots but I think it is going to be difficult to assess as one of the design ideas that Chris has added is a slot to hold the deck in place, as seen the following photo.

 

I am a little worried that if I dry fit the deck to make sure it fits OK will I not then be able to remove it so I can then add the glue.

 

I think the deck will require a large degree of bending when it is fitted and I trust I will not snap the deck.

The crew is still watching waiting for my next move.

Time on the build to date is 4 hours.

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

Stage 3 Fitting Deck Park 36 - Part 1

In order to get confidence the deck part 36 would fit OK without any modification I opted to make a cardboard template.

The cardboard template seems to fit OK so I should now have the confidence to simply glue the actual deck part in place.

 

[dzerbato]

Better cautious than not. I recently purchased this kit too and it's next up on my build list. Glad to be following these build logs. Your're doing a nice job so far.

[glbarlow]

This is my next build for later this year.  Good luck on your build and thanks for starting a log. 

[glbarlow]

On 2/11/2020 at 5:22 AM, glennard2523 said:

My HM Brig-Sloop Speedy Kit is out for delivery and I am really looking forward to receiving it later today. I have been studying the on line build instructions and have started making notes in my build log book.

 

 I have undertaken a general review my general stock of material and tools and have ordered some items which I am either low on or do not have. I will also invest in a mouse sander and small travel iron in the next few days. I have not used the AK interactive AK174 product listed in the instructions for blacking the copper parts but I will buy a bottle and give it a go as I think it may yield a better end result than my normal painting method.

 

In all my previous double planked builds it has been necessary to mark out a beading line and file the false keel. There was no mention of this for this build and Chris has confirmed to me that there is no requirement to do this for this model and you simply sand down the keel after the 1st planking so the 2nd planking sits flush with the rudder. This seems to be a great improvement compared to my previous builds.

 

I also liked Chris's tip of using a water based wood filler ( natural colour Ronseal) which he then dilutes with a small amount of PVA wood glue and water. However he did say that it is not needed as much for the pear wood as the edges are pretty good.

 

I have never tried Chuck's edge planking method before but have studied his video's and posts. I am intrigued by the edge bending method and can fully understand the reason for it and why it works but I am having difficulty visualising it at the moment.  I don't think it is absolutely necessary for the 1st planking (as it is hidden) but I will use for the 1st planking so I can get proficient with it in readiness for the 2nd planking.

 

The suggested method of pre tapering the bulkheads prior to fixing the false keel sounds really good and something I thought would be a good idea in some of my previous builds. 

 

With the laser cut deck I will probably go ahead and use it but I would like to see how practical it is to cut it up to use some of the more detailed parts in conjunction with normal deck planking.

A build log book, that’s thorough and a great idea. 

[VTHokiEE]

3 hours ago, glennard2523 said:

I hope it will fit Ok without and need to enlarge the slots

If you feel that the deck is flexing I would highly recommend (based on my experience laying the false deck on my Alert) to check and see if the upper bulkhead gets cut away like it does on the Alert (I assume that they do). If they do slightly sand the interior side of the upper bulkheads to allow the deck to slide in easier. I wouldn’t mess with the slots on the deck they’ll be fine when you get it down.

[Glenn-UK]

Stage 3 Fitting Deck Park 36 - Part 2

 

As the test fit with the cardboard template did not reveal any fitting issues I went ahead and installed the deck plank. It went in much easier than I was expecting. After checking all the contact areas I added pins where necessary to keep the deck fully in contact with the supporting frame.

 

Deck Pinned

As I was keen to prevent any damage to the fragile stern frames I also fitted the two stern patterns. The first task was to clamp the rudder in place to ensure the lower stern pattern is correct positioned.

 

Rudder Clamped

 

I used a mixture of CA and wood glue for the lower stern pattern, using the CA for the curved contact areas and wood glue to seal all the joint contact areas. I used wood glue for the upper stern pattern. Clamps were used to ensure the stern patterns remained in contact with the frame. I did remove the excess wood glue that is shown in the following pictures.

 

Time spend on build 5.5 hours.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

Stage 4 - Fairing the Bulkheads.

I made my first mistake with the build and fitted the inner stem post prior to completing the fairing. I actually thought the bulkheads were looking pretty good and would not need much more work. The inner stem post was a tight fit and it is not possible to see if this part is correctly fitted to the false keel. As far as I can tell it is correctly fitted. If I doing this build again I would dry fit this part prior to fitting bulkhead parts 17 and 18 and make some pencil parks to indicate when it is correctly fitted. I would then keep it in place, using some tape if necessary, until I need to complete the fairing process when it can be removed.

 

Stern Post Fitted

Templates

To ensure the bulkheads were properly faired for the gun port strips I decided to make cardboard templates. This proved to be a good call and did highlight that some of the bulkheads required a bit more fairing.

The template showed that a couple of bulkhead required some more work 

Template is now seated nicely on each bulkhead. I then repeated this process for the stern gun port strip.

Fairing

Once I was happy with how the gun ports strips would fit I proceeded to fair the rest of the bulkheads, using an old planking strip to check the contact areas on each bulkhead. Pre fitting the inner stem post made it a bit tricky but not impossible. It did not take too much effort before I was happy with the end result. Chris's suggestion of bevelling some of the bulkheads and filler pieces prior to installation certainly helped.

Total Build Time: 7 hours.

Edited February 14, 2020 by glennard2523

[glbarlow]

Did Chris’ instructions call for fitting the sternpost at this stage?  I would leave that off untIl after the planking, it makes fitting planks flush at the stern so much easier. Or perhaps I misunderstood?

Edited February 15, 2020 by glbarlow

[Glenn-UK]

The stern post is clamped but not glued at this stage to enable the stern panels to correctly fitted. It is glued in place after the 2nd planking

[Vane]

So far basically all parts has fitted perfectly in my kit without any adjustments.  But i had to be sure before gluing the deck in place so i dryfitted it. However, once i popped it into place it was really difficult to remove it again. Smart move with the template. 

[chris watton]

Just now, Vane said:

So far basically all parts has fitted perfectly in my kit without any adjustments.  But i had to be sure before gluing the deck in place so i dryfitted it. However, once i popped it into place it was really difficult to remove it again. Smart move with the template. 

It is always 'heart in mouth' time when it comes to removing the deck after dry fitting. The ply is very flexible, though, so I always make sure I bend the deck almost to a U shape, to clear the slots of the tabs. I did think about splitting the deck in half, but I think the inherent strength of the complete deck, once in place, trumps the minor difficulty on removing after dry fitting.

[Vane]

I had it in one piece and it Went fine besides from that I broke the tiny stern pieces :-O Some glue and they were fixed. The lesson learnt here is that you dont need to dry fit the Vanguard pieces… they will fit too good!   

Edited February 18, 2020 by Vane

[Glenn-UK]

I had a major, self inflicted problem, last week. I managed to drop my assembly on to a concrete floor when starting to fit the gun port patterns and damaged the build beyond repair.  I did try to repair it. Thankfully Chris has been able to supply me with the necessary replacement parts and it has only taken my a few short hours to get the build back to the same stage.

 

I have now moved my build area away from the concrete floor.

 

This time around I was confident how the bits would fit together so I went ahead and glued the parts together without any dry fitting. Like Vane I managed to snap off the fragile stern frame patterns (all 4 off them in my case) this time around when I has fitting the main deck. Thankfully I was able to glue to lower stern pattern to the remaining stem bits without any problem. Afterwards I was able to reattached the broken parts. I was then able to fit the upper stern pattern. Fingers crossed the gun ports will be fitted without any problems once the glue has fully cured overnight.

Edited February 19, 2020 by glennard2523

[Glenn-UK]

Hi Spyglass

I have never dropped a boat before. I am usually very careful. I was shocked to see the damage. The stem post had shattered along the rabbet and although I did try to repair the broken parts there was too much damage to make it possible.

 

No blood on my boats either, famous last words.

[glbarlow]

It doesn't really count unless while dropping it you sliced at least one finger with an #11 exacto blade.  I have band aides as an essential tool near my work bench.

[Glenn-UK]

I'll do my best to start slicing some flesh when I start the planking.

[Glenn-UK]

I have attached the 4 off gun port strips this morning. I soaked the 4 gun port strips in hot water for 30 mins.

 

I started with the bow starboard gun port and located the front end tab in the rabbet slot and then carefully bent the strip around the bulkheads clamping as I went along, ensuring the gun port port strip top edge followed the top edge of the bulkheads.

I was pleased to find the back end of the gun port strip back lined up perfectly on last bulkhead. I then used some pins to secure the lower edge of the gun port strip to the bulkheads. I then repeated this process for the port side bow gun port, and once again everything was a perfect fit.

 

The two stern gun ports strips were then fitted, again without any problems.

Both gun port strips were a perfect fit around the stern patterns. As noted in the instruction manual there will be a bit of sanding to remove the excess strips once the glue has fully cured.

 

Once again the precision Chris has taken in design and manufacturing this kit is awesome and makes the task of building this model so much easier.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by glennard2523

[dzerbato]

Looks good so far. I'm glad to hear about the quality of the design. I'm very excited to start this myself. Yours and Vanes' build logs are certainly helpful. 

[Glenn-UK]

While I waiting for the gun port glue to cure I decided to experiment with Chuck's planking bending. I used one of my spare gun port strips as the curve template. Heat was applied to the plank using a hair dryer.

 

Bending Station

Resultant Bent Plank

I also cut some cardboard strips and measured the length of the bulkheads to get an idea of the required plank widths.

I then started work on the planking. After much debate and testing I decided the first plank could be fitted without any tapering. Once again the preformed rabbet slot made the task of test fitting and installation so much easier.

[glbarlow]

I’ve become a big fan of plank bending. I’m using a travel iron as my heat source, quieter and I think quicker. 
 

I even bent planks one way and then reversed it the opposite direction just to see if I could. It worked. 

[glbarlow]

17 minutes ago, glennard2523 said:

While I waiting for the gun port glue to cure I decided to experiment with Chuck's planking bending. I used one of my spare gun port strips as the curve template. Heat was applied to the plank using a hair dryer.

 

Bending Station

Resultant Bent Plank

I also cut some cardboard strips and measured the length of the bulkheads to get an idea of the required plank widths.

I then started work on the planking. After much debate and testing I decided the first plank could be fitted without any tapering. Once again the preformed rabbet slot made the task of test fitting and installation so much easier.

How do we maintain the preformed rabbet slot for the second planking?

[Glenn-UK]

I don't think it is essential for 2nd planking, with thin strips and ca glue. I will trying to make neat joints to the stem post when I start the 2nd planking.

Edited February 20, 2020 by glennard2523

[DelF]

Excellent progress so far. I suspect you’ll have overtaken me before long. I was sorry to hear about your accident, but at least it served to illustrate Chris’s great customer service - from what you say it sounds like he replaced the broken parts very quickly. 
 

I think you’re right to try edge-bending - it seems the best way to go. Using the gun port pattern to get the right curve was a smart idea, though it’s usually good to over-bend initially as the wood will tend to straighten slightly. Like glbarlow, I find  a travel iron works best. It literally flattens the wood, helping to ensure it doesn't bend in a direction you don’t want. 
 

Derek

Edited February 25, 2020 by DelF
Typo

[Glenn-UK]

1st Planking Task Completed

I was pleased with how this went, the preformed rabbet in the stem post really helped. I used Super Phatic Glue to fixe the planks to the bulkheads. I really using this glue as it gives a good solid bond, and cures so much quicker than normal wood glue.

 

 

Once I have finished with the sanding I will commence the 2nd planking phase.

I have never used Chuck's edge planking method before but will certainly use it for this project. My bending station has been set up and is go to go. I may go out a purchase a travel iron as the hair dryer I used when testing the method had some issues with thermal overload.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by glennard2523

[DelF]

Looking good. Should be a sound base for the second planking. 
 

Derek