HMS Flirt 1772 by drumgerry - Vanguard Models - 1:64 Scale.

[drumgerry]

I started a build log for HMS Terror (my first build) and it's been going OK.  Not giving it up but it's on a slight back burner for now because (cue drumroll!) I've availed myself of a Master Shipwright edition of Chris Watton's new HMS Flirt.  That's the danger of reading all of the amazing build logs on here.  It gives you a terrible compulsion to buy another kit! 

 

Well I have sensible, logical reasons for going for one of the Vanguard models kits.  They seem to be state of the art in kit design from what I've read on here.  Plus they have a cracking manual and no corners have been cut.  All things that make life a bit easier for a beginner like me. 

 

Anyway, I went for the master shipwright version because there's no mdf in it and that is a substance I like to avoid if at all possible. 

 

The kit arrived today and all looks great.  I've assembled the stand and dry fitted a few of the bulkheads.  Bulkheads and false keel are made of top quality 6 layer birch ply.  Fit of the bulkheads to the keel is perfect.  They go together with a satisfying click, there is no play in the joint, and they're perfectly square to each other.  What more could you ask for? 

 

I don't get anything done quickly as I'm a carer for my disabled son and have to do what I can in the little down time I have - so I might be a while getting this done.  Working with such a lovely kit will ease the frustration of that for me. 

 

 

 

[drumgerry]

I've been inspired by reading a lot of the build logs on here it must be said.  One of my favourites is HMS Speedy by Delf.  He opted to build his deck out of box wood in preference to the laser etched maple deck in the kit.  It might be biting off more than I can chew but I fancy doing similar.  Delf built his deck on top of the maple deck.  I'm tempted to try doing mine directly on to the ply false deck.  To that end I've invested in a big lump of castelo boxwood from Timberline.  It measures 1.5m x 8cm x 5cm.  Luckily I have a bandsaw and thickness sander so getting regular size strips of even thickness shouldn't be a problem. 

 

 

 

And in other news I've glued bulkheads 4-13 on to the false keel.  Starting to look like something now! 

 

 

 

 

[BobG]

I'll be following along. I have the Master Shipwright Version as well and it will be my next build after I finish the Pen Duick.

[drumgerry]

2 minutes ago, BobG said:

I'll be following along. I have the Master Shipwright Version as well and it will be my next build after I finish the Pen Duick.

I'll be following you as well Bob.  It'll be nice to see more people building Flirt.  The more builds of Flirt the bigger the support network! 

[Sjors]

I’ll be following also.

I’m a little bit further then you are.

 

Sjors

[drumgerry]

18 minutes ago, Sjors said:

I’ll be following also.

I’m a little bit further then you are.

 

Sjors

I'm checking your build log every day Sjors to see how you're doing!  

[Sjors]

Don’t check today then 🙃

 

Sjors

[drumgerry]

Haha I just did!  Something to watch out for but sounds like you've saved it. 

[Sjors]

It seems that i am seeing things who are not there....
I think James is right, i know for sure James is right.

The sun is to bad for me those days.

But when you place the bullwarks, take your time!

 

Sjors

[drumgerry]

Will do Sjors 👍

[DelF]

Hi Drumgerry

 

Great to see another Vanguard model log. 
 

I was seriously tempted to get Flirt - I suspect it’ll be even better than Speedy now that Chris does his own laser cutting. However it’s very similar to Speedy so I’m waiting for one of Chris’s future models. 

 

That’s an impressive chunk of castello! I also get mine from Timberline and I’ve always been happy with their service. I normally buy thinner boards - either 4mm, 6mm or 12mm and usually 1m X 100mm.  If I want planks I just slice them off the edge of the appropriate board. Similarly, for spars I just cut square lengths then plane/sand them to round. You’ve probably got several models-worth in your board!

 

I’ll follow your log with interest (and I’m glad you found mine useful).

 

Best wishes

 

Derek 
 

 

[VTHokiEE]

8 minutes ago, DelF said:

That’s an impressive chunk of castello! I also get mine from Timberline and I’ve always been happy with their service. I normally buy thinner boards - either 4mm, 6mm or 12mm and usually 1m X 100mm.  If I want planks I just slice them off the edge of the appropriate board. Similarly, for spars I just cut square lengths then plane/sand them to round. You’ve probably got several models-worth in your board!

Oh you UK folks and your access to lumber... keep rubbing it in 😄

[DelF]

Odd thing is Tim, castello boxwood comes from Paraguay, so I don’t know why it’s easier for us to get hold of?

 

Derek

[drumgerry]

22 minutes ago, DelF said:

Hi Drumgerry

 

Great to see another Vanguard model log. 
 

I was seriously tempted to get Flirt - I suspect it’ll be even better than Speedy now that Chris does his own laser cutting. However it’s very similar to Speedy so I’m waiting for one of Chris’s future models. 

 

That’s an impressive chunk of castello! I also get mine from Timberline and I’ve always been happy with their service. I normally buy thinner boards - either 4mm, 6mm or 12mm and usually 1m X 100mm.  If I want planks I just slice them off the edge of the appropriate board. Similarly, for spars I just cut square lengths then plane/sand them to round. You’ve probably got several models-worth in your board!

 

I’ll follow your log with interest (and I’m glad you found mine useful).

 

Best wishes

 

Derek 
 

 

Derek your log is a true inspiration so thanks.  Timberline is a great supplier.  I've used them for years for tonewood for musical instruments.  Processing the boxwood for deck planking will be just like processing other timbers for instrument binding.  Cut the bigger plank into planks of the right length, cut a slice of almost the right thickness of the width of the model's deck planks, thickness it down to the right width for the deck planks, cut as many lengths of deck planks off of that and thickness them down to the right thickness for the deck planks.  If I don't put the boxwood on top of the laser etched maple deck do you reckon I could use planks of 0.75mm or even 1mm thick and still not interfere with the position of the guns?  Also did you stick with the same width of boxwood deck plank as on the laser etched maple deck?  Hope you don't mind me asking.

 

21 minutes ago, VTHokiEE said:

Oh you UK folks and your access to lumber... keep rubbing it in 😄

Haha I'm usually in awe of the amazing supplies of spruce and maple you get in the US when I'm buying wood for guitars, mandolins etc!

[VTHokiEE]

14 minutes ago, drumgerry said:

Haha I'm usually in awe of the amazing supplies of spruce and maple you get in the US when I'm buying wood for guitars, mandolins etc!

Ha! The grass is always greener right?

[DelF]

24 minutes ago, drumgerry said:

If I don't put the boxwood on top of the laser etched maple deck do you reckon I could use planks of 0.75mm or even 1mm thick and still not interfere with the position of the guns?  Also did you stick with the same width of boxwood deck plank as on the laser etched maple deck?  Hope you don't mind me asking.

From memory (I’m not in my workshop so can’t check) the false deck is 0.8mm. I used 0.5mm planks on top of that so you should be fine with 1mm planks if you’re leaving the false deck off. 
 

I cut mine 3.5mm wide which is 9” at full scale. I think that matched Chris's deck midships, although he showed the planks tapering towards the bows and stern. I suspect that may have been poetic licence on his part - I’m sure a naval dockyard would have preferred to deal with nice straight boards, leaving sophisticated planking layouts to super-yachts! Having said that, Chris puts a lot of research into his designs so he may have found information to prove me wrong. 
 

Be good if you could try reproducing the margin plank and joggling though - a nice visual touch which isn’t as hard as it may look. 

 

And of course I don’t mind you asking - that’s the great thing about this forum - I’ve learned so much from other members, I welcome the opportunity to put something back. 
 

Derek

[drumgerry]

Cheers for that Derek - info like that is pure gold so it's much appreciated.

 

Am I mis-remembering but on Speedy did you use the false deck and as well as the laser etched maple deck before you decided to put boxwood planks on?  Or was the boxwood straight on to the false deck?  I am going to try the fancy margin plank etc!  I'm sure it's just as hard as it looks to get it just right the way you have done.  I'll give it my best and learn something in the process and no doubt make a few mistakes.  The good thing is I have all that boxwood to make new planks from if I mess up!

 

Thanks again,  Gerry

[DelF]

Hi Gerry

 

Yes, I fitted the laser etched deck onto the false ply deck before I decided to lay the boxwood planks. By then it was too late to remove the laser deck so I just had to make my planks thin!

 

Derek

[chris watton]

The cannon are so small that it won't matter too much if the deck is a little higher than it should be, they should still protrude thorough the gun ports just fine.

[Vane]

I didnt use the false deck and made my own maple deck instead. The false deck is a great addition to the kit for people that want to speed up the build. Personally i wanted my Speedy to have a similar look as my other builds so thats why I did it in maple. But it took a few days to get in place.  

[drumgerry]

Thanks for the info Derek and Chris.

 

Vane I'm thinking it'll be simpler to use the false deck (not the laser etched maple deck) and put the boxwood planking on top of that in the same pattern as the laser etched deck.  We'll see when we get to that stage!  Thanks again.

[glbarlow]

I have my master Shipwright version of Flirt to build after Cheerful, but that’s a long time from now. By then there will be lots of build logs for me to consult. Looking forward to seeing your progress. 
 

I sent an email to Timberline asking them if they’d ship to the US, didn’t even get a reply so I guess that’s a no

[drumgerry]

Found this if it's of any interest. 

 

https://www.rarewoodsusa.com/product/boxwood-castello-9/

 

Hopefully my build log will be of some use to someone - maybe only as a warning of how not to do it if my latest efforts are anything to go by.  

 

Yep, made my first big mistake.  Fitting the back sections of the lower deck I broke the sides of two of the bulkheads. Yikes!  Too much force applied in the wrong direction.  Entirely my own fault and down to me to fix it as best as I could. 

 

This is after I had reglued the two broken sections.  But it clearly wasn't going to be sufficiently strong like that. 

 

 

Decided to apply some of my musical instrument building know how for the fix.  Found some scraps of close grained spruce with grain direction perpendicular to the plywood bulkheads and made two little brace patches for each bulkhead. 

 

 

Glued them with a couple of spring clamps. 

 

 

The end result is pretty solid so I think the bulkheads will be strong enough to take the planking

 

 

Note to self - try to be less of an idiot for the rest of the build! 

[DelF]

Well handled Gerry. It's always great to see other people's mistakes - and fixes. It serves as a caution to others to avoid the same errors and brings comfort to modellers like me who are always making our own mistakes.

 

Good job wood is such a forgiving material!

 

Derek

[drumgerry]

I didn't properly notice whilst I was assembling the bulkheads to the false keel but bulkheads 11 and 12 don't have that much material in the area where they join with the lower deck.    The lesson is to take more care and not rush ahead.  It's a lesson I've been taught in other fields many times (I literally have the scars to show from it)  and now it's the turn of model ship building to teach me it.   The best you can hope for is to come out of the lesson with no real damage done and I think I've lucked out in this instance.

 

I've also lucked out Derek in that it's not in an area that will be seen!

[glbarlow]

Splinting a bulkhead is an opportunity many of us have had, with your fix it will be stronger than before.

 

Adapt, improvise, and overcome. With homage to Clint Eastwood that’s my modelers creed. 
 

btw, thanks for the link on boxwood. Unfortunately I need it in a more finished state, buying it

like Derek in 1-6mm thicknesses. I can rip planks, but not reduce thickness. 

[drumgerry]

It's pretty rock solid now Glenn.  Like you say stronger than before..

 

Re the boxwood I feel you need a thickness sander in your life!  Sawn planks surely need tidying up after ripping even if they're close to final thickness?

[DelF]

46 minutes ago, drumgerry said:

feel you need a thickness sander in your life!  Sawn planks surely need tidying up after ripping even if they're close to final thickness?

Not if you’ve got a decent table saw. My Preac leaves a virtual mirror finish; the Byrnes saw has a micrometer stop accurate to 0.01mm and the finish is nearly as good. The downside is cost. I was lucky, buying the Preac years ago before prices (and import duties) got silly and the Byrnes more recently off eBay for a bargain.

If you can stretch to a Byrnes saw (or strike lucky like me in the second hand market) I’d highly recommend getting one. 
 

Derek
 

[Sjors]

Nice fix Gerry!

 

When you have place the stern with the fragile parts be careful when you are planking.

It’s easy to break those parts!

 

Sjors

[drumgerry]

2 hours ago, DelF said:

If you can stretch to a Byrnes saw (or strike lucky like me in the second hand market) I’d highly recommend getting one. 
 

Derek
 

Hmmm...perhaps I can see a Byrnes saw in my future.  Looks the business.  The problem I have is I can process relatively large scale timber down to as small as I need it using the kit I already have so when the time comes and I have money burning a hole in my pocket I'll probably buy something else!  But I could see that Byrnes saw being useful for cutting fret slots on instrument fingerboards as well so who knows....

 

1 hour ago, Sjors said:

Nice fix Gerry!

 

When you have place the stern with the fragile parts be careful when you are planking.

It’s easy to break those parts!

 

Sjors

Thanks Sjors!  Yep I'll be sure to watch out for those.  I have noticed people having to take care with them on the Speedy builds.

 

Gerry