HMS Speedy by ErnieL - Vanguard Models - 1/64

[ErnieL]

Aaaand we’re off. My first sailing ship model in 40 years, and my first wood ship/boat model in 30 years. 

 

This is will be an experience, no doubt.   I slaved away for a grueling 45 minutes and achieved his:

 

[BobG]

55 minutes ago, ErnieL said:

.   I slaved away for a grueling 45 minutes and achieved this:

Now that's funny! You've made a great choice of models to get back into the hobby. I look forward to following your build. Good luck, Ernie, and enjoy the ride!

[James H]

That's the easy bit done..........now? 😆

[Edwardkenway]

Great start 😆 I'll pull up my seat for the rest!

[ErnieL]

2 hours ago, James H said:

That's the easy bit done..........now? 😆

EASY!?  I actually broke a sweat!

[ErnieL]

Well we had a couple hours this evening and so far I seem not to have cocked it up. 
 

But have no fear, there’s plenty of time ahead for that. 

[James H]

1 hour ago, ErnieL said:

Well we had a couple hours this evening and so far I seem not to have cocked it up. 
 

But have no fear, there’s plenty of time ahead for that. 

 

Is this a dry fit? Bulkhead 10 should be the other way round with the door opening on the port side, although I don't think it really matters.

[ErnieL]

Nope, it’s glued all nice and tight. I had the wrong end pegged for the bow. I’ll cut a door into the bulkhead I guess, oops. 

 

I figured the sharp pointy high high end was the bow. 😕

Edited May 6, 2020 by ErnieL

[James H]

36 minutes ago, ErnieL said:

I’ll cut a door into the bulkhead I guess, oops. 
😕

Nah, don't bother. You can't see it even when you leave a grate off (well...barely!). 

It's certainly not going to impact on any construction anyway. 🤣

[clearway]

one of the reasons why i read destruction manuals till my brains dribble out of my ears before touching any wood🤪😁

[DelF]

Welcome aboard Ernie. The quality of kit models has come a long way in the last 40 years and you've picked a particularly good one. 

 

48 minutes ago, clearway said:

one of the reasons why i read destruction manuals till my brains dribble out of my ears before touching any wood🤪😁

So do I, but I still make mistakes as you'll see from my Speedy log - must be an age thing! 

 

Derek

[chris watton]

It really doesn't matter about the 'door' opening on bulkhead 10, it is only there in case anyone wanted to add detail to the lower deck. It cannot be seen once the main deck is in place, so don't worry about that.

Edited May 6, 2020 by chris watton

[ErnieL]

4 hours ago, clearway said:

one of the reasons why i read destruction manuals till my brains dribble out of my ears before touching any wood🤪😁

🤣 apparently I had none left to dribble out.  It even says “FRONT” on it and I still goobered it up.  

I really need to stop sniffing glue

[glbarlow]

This is supposed to be fun, seems like you’re enjoying it.  Congrats on the cradle, excellent work!

[ErnieL]

53 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

This is supposed to be fun, seems like you’re enjoying it.  Congrats on the cradle, excellent work!

Hahaha.  Apparently it was about as complicated as I’m capable of handling on my own without professional assistance. 
Seriously though, this will be fun. 

Edited May 6, 2020 by ErnieL

[glbarlow]

I’m thinking of taking mine to a carpentry shop to do the fairing, May not work out though😂🤣

[ErnieL]

8 hours ago, glbarlow said:

I’m thinking of taking mine to a carpentry shop to do the fairing, May not work out though😂🤣

Don't give me any ideas, man.

[Voyageur]

I'm looking forward to following this build. Hope you don't mind!

[ErnieL]

3 hours ago, Voyageur said:

I'm looking forward to following this build. Hope you don't mind!

The more the merrier!

[ErnieL]

Spent a bit of time on Speedy tonight, roughed the bevels on the bulkheads and tomorrow, I’ll lightly hit it with a long board to remove any rounded edges.  It’s alot of fun so far and I’m relearning some old skills along the way. The dust ain’t too good for the other half of my hobby, however.

Personally, being that I’m so out of practice with planking, I’d love to enlarge the filler blocks a bit, but I’ve decided to trust Chris Watton. He certainly knows what he’s doing so far.

Edited May 7, 2020 by ErnieL

[James H]

She's coming along real nice. 

 

You'll have caught me up pretty soon 🤣

[ErnieL]

James, I’m truly enjoying this so far, and I must be the only guy in the world actually looking forward to trying the coppering process. 

I just have an odd feeling I’m going to enjoy it. I almost overlaps with the other half of my model building life.

I certainly owe you a bottle or three of fine highland nectar.

[ErnieL]

But I continue piecing the hull frame together, trying not to booger the thing up.

So far, Gorilla Glue seems to be working fine for me.

I’m trying to make sure the edges are beveled as much as possible now because I have nightmares about gouging the MDF with my sanding sticks.

 

 

[ErnieL]

I was under the impression that the stern board ribs were MDF and fragile. 

So imagine my surprise when I found these little gems in the kit.  They’re plywood, and nice plywood, too. 

I expect they’ll be much stronger but Han MDF, and a very scale  thickness as well.

[James H]

She's coming along beautifully.

 

Yes, the MDF stern frames were changed for the birch ply, as an extra insurance policy against breakage.

[glbarlow]

Looks like you haven’t yet truly enjoyed the fairing experience. You haven’t finished until you’re knee deep in sawdust. 

[chris watton]

The 2mm is 4-ply, and the 3mm for the MS Flirt is 6-ply, very strong, but not cheap - but worth it for peace of mind.

 

I do listen, and endeavour to improve certain aspects as and when I can..

 

You have made a great start, Ernie. Just take your time, and prepping is half the battle.

[glbarlow]

I don’t know if Chris’ instructions mention it: run a batten along the hull at various heights, when it smoothly touches every bulkhead bow to stern you’ve achieved a faired boat. Leave the char on the trailing edge of the several bow and stern bulkheads to not lose the shape of the hull and have a lopsided boat.  Although maybe you want a lopsided boat, being from Ana.🤣

[ErnieL]

11 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

I don’t know if Chris’ instructions mention it: run a batten along the hull at various heights, when it smoothly touches every bulkhead bow to stern you’ve achieved a faired boat. Leave the char on the trailing edge of the several bow and stern bulkheads to not lose the shape of the hull and have a lopsided boat.  Although maybe you want a lopsided boat, being from Ana.🤣

Thanks, Glenn.  For me, the thing I'm experiencing with this kit  is that because of the stellar reputation Vanguard has developed in such a short time, combined with effortless parts fit, I could easily find myself lulled into false sense of security and very quickly paint myself into a corner. 

Other than my last plastic build, I've never so looked forward to getting home at night and building something.

 

And regarding Anna, we were a great little country town of a couple thousand folks for many years, but it's sure changed lately.  And not for the better

[glbarlow]

The DFW metro area is reaching out ...