HMS Speedy by David Lester - FINISHED - Vanguard Models

[whitejamest]

Interesting, I am a ways away from starting the copper on my own Speedy, and have no idea how I will handle the challenges of making the rows of plates fit the curves. But the adhesive copper tape looks great, very neat and tidy, so I don't think your model has suffered at all by the substitution. Will you keep the shiny new look or aim to weather it? 

[DelF]

Hi David

 

I'm sorry to read about your problems with copper plating. I wonder if you were being a bit hard on yourself though - I thought the stern section you showed in the first photo looked fine. Anyway, you are where you are and you've retrieved the situation. My only concern would be that the copper tape looks a bit bright. I'm assuming it'll either dull down with age, or if you coat it with matt lacquer or similar?

 

Derek

[David Lester]

Yeah, the copper looks bright, but I don't think I'm going to worry about it. It will dull down a bit over time. Here's a current picture of my Prince de Neufchatel, which I did a couple of years ago and its copper is dulling down as time goes on.

 

On the other hand, I do have some matte varnish. I could do a test patch (somewhere other than on the model) and see what that looks like, and then I'll have to think about it before applying it, because I have a bad habit of "fixing" things, only to wake up in the middle of night with regret and having to resist not getting up and "re-fixing" it immediately.

 

Thanks guys,

David

[DelF]

3 hours ago, David Lester said:

as soon as there's a bit of a curve, I couldn't figure out how best to handle it smoothly.

2 hours ago, whitejamest said:

no idea how I will handle the challenges of making the rows of plates fit the curves

My only technique was to lay each plate individually, trying to overlap each plate with the preceding one at an angle sufficient to follow the curve. As the plates are small the angle should only need to be tiny. It's better to overlap the plates rather than leave gaps.  As for the transition to the stem and stern, I used paper templates to get the necessary shapes as described in my Speedy log.  If it's any consolation, I found it a very challenging job as well.

[yvesvidal]

10 hours ago, David Lester said:

 

 

David, 

 

This copper tiling is looking fabulous. Could you tell us what kind of copper ribbon did you use (Brand)? Thickness? Backing (clear or black)? Width? How did you prepare the wood of the hull to get a good adhesion?

 

I will have to copper tile my Bellona (1/48th) soon and I am trying to learn the process and follow the recipes of people who had successful results.

 

Thanks in advance.

Yves

[David Lester]

Hello Yves,

This product is called Venture Tape MasterFoil Plus Copper Foil by 3M. It comes in several widths. This one is 1/4". I'm not sure how thick it is, but it's pretty thin. It's self-adhesive and comes with a paper backing that you peel off. I use one of those cutting tools, like Chop-It from MicroMark, to cut it into lengths of about 3/4".

 

This tape is sometimes hard to find. I have only ever found it at stained glass suppliers but they don't all seem to carry it. There is a similar one called Edco which some suppliers carry. I have some of it as well. It's virtually identical to the Venture Tape, but is perhaps just a bit thinner.

 

It isn't too difficult to work with, because it's quite forgiving. You can vary the overlap just slightly to account for the curves in the hull. Also if  you ruin one, you can easily scrap it without worrying about running out. You can get about 1700 of them from one roll.

 

I don't think you have to do anything special to the hull, but you want it to be as smooth as possible because imperfections will show through the tape. I just put a coat of matte varnish on the hull before applying the tape. It sticks really well. The tape is a bit shiny, so I'm going to experiment with coating it with a matte finish to quiet it down.

 

The individual plates that many kits provide give great looking results if they're skillfully applied, but I found it really hard to do. I think it's a little easier to get an acceptable result with the tape approach.

Thanks,

David

[yvesvidal]

Dave,

 

thank you for the thorough answers to my questions. Yes, I think I am going to go with the tape too, as the tiles offered by CAF Model are too small and way too  expensive.

 

Yves

[David Lester]

Good Morning,

Lately, I've been working on the cannons and other deck furniture.

 

The items have not been installed yet, they're just sitting in place for the pictures. It will be very easy to locate them accurately and securely, as the deck is cut out to accommodate them and they go all the way down to the "deck" below. This is quite different than my Model Shipways experience where the fife rails in particular always cause me a lot of grief. Just gluing them to the surface is never quite secure enough. Drilling them and adding pins helps, (in fact, it's essential) but locating those holes in the deck in order to get them to sit square and accurately is always a challenge. Definitely not the case here.

 

 

 

I used Tamiya Deck Tan on the trucks and the grates. I thinned it down on the trucks to get a natural wood look. I'm pleased at how well the etched details show through.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm taking a short break from Speedy for now, as I continue with the second planking on Agamemnon.

 

Thanks for checking in.

David

[Theodosius]

I realy like your deck, it is very authentic!

[David Lester]

Good Morning,

I've been working away at some of the hull details.

 

The hair bracket decorations caused my quite a bit of grief. I'm normally not too bad with a paint brush, but the details on these brass pieces pretty much defeated me. After many, many attempts to paint the centre section blue and the edges yellow ochre, I finally gave up. I simply could not get a sharp enough result, despite trying several different techniques. In the end I settled for blue in the centre and I simply left the edges as brass. (I could just scrape the blue of the raised edges, leaving it in the centre.) The brass colour is only slightly different than the yellow ochre and I can live with it.

 

 

I decided to use the same technique on the decorations on the ends of the catheads, only this time I used yellow ochre paint, scraping it off the raised sections. It works quite well here, highlighting the detail, but in a subtle way.

 

 

 

I've added the pin rails and cleats and catheads to the bulwarks, as well as the steps and the swivel gun post patterns on the hull.

 

I'm now working on the channels and lower deadeye assemblies and then I think the next thing on the agenda will be rigging the cannons.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments and likes!

 

David

 

[DelF]

Your decision to go for bare brass rather than yellow paint has paid off - those hair brackets look really smart.

[David Lester]

Just came in from snow shoveling; we got about 18" last night. Not unprecedented, but close to it. It's going to be a long process getting the driveway open. So while I'm drying off from the last stab at it, I'll do a little update on my Speedy.

 

I've been working on the cannons. I simplified it slightly. They size of these one is very small and there isn't much room between the blocks. I knew I couldn't fashion an acceptable hook small enough, connecting the blocks to the eyebolts, so I simply omitted this detail and seized the blocks directly to the eyebolts. I used contrasting seizing, so I could better see what I was doing and then coloured it black later.

 

 

The sets ready to be assembled:

 

 

In the past I've usually terminated the tackle line in a coil on the deck, but this time I wanted to try my hand at frapping. I wasn't sure how to do it, so I just gathered the line and then seized it using a separate seizing line of the same size and it worked really well.

 

 

 

 

.75mm line for the breach lines:

 

 

 

All 14 are done:

 

 

Well, it's back out to my temperamental snow blower!

 

David

 

[David Lester]

Good Morning Everyone,

So here's an update on my progress -

 

I have pretty much finished the hull. The last things I added are the deck furnishings, the lower deadeyes and chainplates and I've located all of the eyebolts on the hull. Depending on how they will be used some are installed now and others just have their holes drilled at this point. The eyebolts on the deck are not glued in yet; it's often best to wait until their lines have been attached.

 

 

 

 

I have also been working on the masts and yards. I don't have any machine tools, so I rely on an xacto blade, sandpaper and calipers to taper the yards and I square up the ends of the masts freehand by eye. I know my results are never perfect, but I always enjoy this part of the build and I find the results are acceptable (to my eye, at least.)

 

One detail that I almost always omit is shaping the yards to an octagon at the centre. I have never been happy with my results and by the time I sand out the imperfections, it pretty much ends up round anyway. So I save myself a lot of aggravation and just skip it. (I haven't heard any complaints yet.)😄

 

 

I love using this cartridge paper for the iron bands on the mast. I always think it looks very realistic and the scale always seems better to me than using a brass strip. In the past I have used black construction paper, but this time I used the supplied cartridge paper.

 

I often have a bit of trouble getting the bands to wrap and stay level and if they are glued on, it's a bit messy relocating them. This time I first wrapped the mast with masking tape immediately below where I wanted the band to be and made any necessary adjustments with it. Then I glued the band on right next to the masking tape. This worked quite well.

 

 

 

 

Here's my "cheat" for attaching the line around the ends of the stunsail booms in a tidy way.

 

I drilled two holes in the bottom of the yard. The first one just went part way in and the second one right next to it went right through to the top.

 

 

I inserted the line into the first hole, wrapped it around the yard a couple of times, then pulled it taut from the top through the second hole. A dab of glue holds it in place and I snipped it off.

 

 

 

There is a tricky bit of rigging on the bowsprit. It's this loop with four deadeyes. I thought about how to do this quite a bit and studied how others approached this. In the end here is what I did -

 

 

I wrapped a piece of masking tape around the bowsprit and marked the locations of the four deadeyes -

 

 

Then I placed the masking tape on a piece of paper and extended the four location marks -

 

 

I seized the top deadeye in the centre of a line -

 

 

I then located the location of the other three deadeyes relative to the first one - two to one side of it and one to the other side -

 

 

 

 

Then I wrapped the whole thing loosely around the bowsprit and simply seized the two loose ends together. Once the seizing was tight, I just pulled on the two ends, snugging it up to the bowsprit. A dab of glue holds the seizing in place.

 

It took me two attempts to get it right. The first time my spacing was off a little bit, but I could tell that the system was working, so a second attempt with a little bit of tweaking did the trick.

 

 

Many thanks for looking in, "likes" etc.

 

We're all shovelled out now here in southern Ontario; I hope you guys in the eastern US are managing ok after your heavy snowfall.

 

David

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by David Lester

[Dave_E]

Outstanding work Sir! 👍 What material did you use for your alligator clip covers? Excellent idea.

[whitejamest]

Lovely work, and great tips. I am taking notes. I suspect we in northern New Jersey have nothing to complain about compared to folks up in Ontario! 

[David Lester]

Thanks for the comment, guys.

Dave - those rubber tips on the alligator clips came with the tool. This is a tool from a company called quadhands (www.quadhands.com) I've had a couple of different sets of "helping hands" before this one, but quadhands is the best by far. I can't recommend it highly enough. They come in different sizes. Mine is the smallest with two arms and a small base and I find it to be ideal. Others have four arms and there are different styles of bases as well. The arm attaches to the base with a magnet, which means they can be repositioned easily and they can be removed which makes it great for storing when not in use.

David

[BobG]

Exceptional work, David! I'm learning a lot from your creative techniques.

[Theodosius]

the cannon-rigging looks very good, even in this smal scale! Good motivation, this log! 🙂

[David Lester]

Good Morning,

Time for a Speedy update. I have launched myself into the rigging. There really isn't too much to explain or talk about here; it's all pretty straightforward.

 

First, I attached everything that I could to the masts and yards -

 

 

Then, the bowsprit -

 

 

 

 

(Just have to re-attach the port cathead and the block on the starboard boomkin.)

 

The I fired up my serv-o-matic. It's not very difficult to do, but I found I needed a little bit of practice (which always frustrates me, because I figure if I can read, I can do it.) What worked really well for me was to practice using white line with black serving thread. This made it very easy to see just how to lay down each loop without big gaps and without overlapping. After a few trial runs, It became quite easy and goes surprisingly fast.

 

 

 

The plans indicate 1 mm line for the lower shrouds. I tried using both 1 mm line and .75 mm line, thinking the serving would bulk up the 1 mm too much. In the end I settled on the 1 mm. I didn't notice an appreciable increase in the diameter, as the serving tends to compress the line a little.

 

As Derek suggested in his Speedy log, I used a fine needle and "stitched" the serving thread to the line at each end of the run and it made a surprisingly tidy end.

 

So, I'm happy to be adding this detail to my Speedy.

 

Thanks for checking in (and happy St. Patrick's day - the Lesters are from County Cavan, but they were all tea teetotallers, so it falls to me to celebrate!)

 

David

 

 

[Theodosius]

Nice progress! 🙂

[DennisL]

Hi David,

Your model of the Speedy is coming out great!  I just started my own model of the Speedy (yesterday) and have followed your log and read it multiple times for techniques and inspiration  (especially your comments on the copper plates). Thanks for all your hard work!

[David Lester]

Good Morning,

I have just finished the lower shrouds. This is the first time I've served the shrouds and it was quite easy to do. The only tricky part for me was when it came time to seize them. I'm in the habit of attaching the seizing in a convenient spot and then sliding it into position. It's not really possible to slide the seizing on a served line, so it was necessary to seize it in its final location. Not an insurmountable problem, obviously, but it was a minor departure for me. It's a matter of wrapping the line around the mast, then grabbing it with a pair of tweezers, sliding it off and attaching the seizing as close as possible to that point.

 

 

 

 

 

The futtock stave, catharpins and futtock shrouds came next.

 

I always found it difficult to attach the futtock stave until I read a technique in a build log for the Morgan by Gerald Spargo. It's the method he used to attach the ratboards (instead of ratlines) on that model and it's really good. I highly recommend checking it out.

 

 

 

For the futtock shrouds, I can never seem to attach seizing when the line is in the vertical position, so for these I set the model on its side. The stand actually held it in place quite securely and this made the job quite easy. I just backed it up against the heavy base of my helping hands.

 

 

I left the tails on the futtock shrouds quite long, which I thought would make it easier as I could attach the seizings further down on the shroud and then slide them up into position. This worked quite well (except for the served shroud, of course), but it did cause me one problem. It wouldn't be a David build if I didn't have at least one major redo. When trimming the ends of the futtock shrouds, I accidentally cut one of the shrouds instead, which was a real pain to redo. I try to limit it to one per build, so hopefully that's it for this one.

 

I used white line for the seizings; it really makes it easier to do with the colour contrast and then I later coloured the seizings black with some India ink.

 

 

I didn't blacken or paint the brass futtock stave ahead of time. I just dabbed a little "ironworks black" on the exposed bits after and that worked quite well.

 

 

So that's it for now. Thanks again for looking in, likes etc.

 

David

 

Edited March 29, 2022 by David Lester

[DelF]

Your serving looks really good David, and makes all the difference to the appearance of the shrouds.

 

Btw, thanks for referencing @Gerald Spargo's method for lashing futtock staves. Very helpful, and I've bookmarked it for future reference. I usually start with an over-length stave held against the shrouds in the quadhands, but this method looks much more practical. If others are interested, here's the link for convenience. Gerald's work is exceptional; I'd not come across his log before and have enjoyed reading through it. 

 

Derek

[David Lester]

Thanks Derek,

That Morgan build log by Gerald Spargo is one of the best ones on the forum; it's just too bad it isn't finished. However, I can never seem to remember his sequence for attaching the futtock staves from model to model and have to look it up each time. I also followed his method for building the tryworks on my Morgan. It results in the most realistic brickwork I've seen. His instructions for it are available under resources on the NRG site.

 

Thanks again,

David

[Dave_E]

Outstanding Dave! I’m not far away from starting the rigging. How did you get those lower deadeyes into the chain plates? Is there a trick? I broke one of the rings and don’t have a clew how to open it up to put the deadeye in and then get it closed and looking good. 

[glbarlow]

On 1/31/2022 at 8:48 AM, David Lester said:

until their lines have been attached.

Lines are probably attached to hooks, then the eyebolts. The deck looks great!  Now having done it, I also appreciate the difference serving lines makes, well done.

Edited March 31, 2022 by glbarlow

[DelF]

6 hours ago, Dave_E said:

How did you get those lower deadeyes into the chain plates? Is there a trick? I broke one of the rings and don’t have a clew how to open it up to put the deadeye in and then get it closed and looking good. 

Here's a link to the method I used in my Speedy log. It doesn't matter if you haven't got the exact same tool as I used - anything smooth and tapered that you can push the chainplate over to expand it will do. I've also used a thin metal pen. A pair of fine nosed pliers helps to squeeze the ring shut.

 

Derek  

[Theodosius]

Wow, the raising rig looks great to me!

 

May I ask what kind of line (brand, diameter, what kind of material?) do you used for serving the shrouds? I don't think so, that there is stuff for this in the kit, and the stuff you used thems to be perfekt for this scale! Thanks a lot! 🙂

[David Lester]

Thanks for likes etc. everyone.

Dave - I didn't open the chainplates exactly the way Derek did. I just grabbed each one with two pairs of pliers at the base of the circle and gently pulled in opposite directions to open it a little wider; it doesn't take very much. Once the deadeye was in place, I just gently squeezed it back together just below the deadeye. It seemed to work ok.

Theodosius - There's no serving line in the kit, so I just used common garden variety "sewing thread" that I buy at a local sewing store. I usually always get Gutermann, as that's the main brand they carry, but last time I was in I found some other brand (I don't recall the name), because it was available in a larger spool and I anticipated using much more of it than usual if I was serving. I don't know what weight the thread is, but it's just the usual standard sewing thread.

Hope that's of some help.

Thanks again,

David

[Theodosius]

Thanks a lot for your description of the used sewing. Yesterday, I went also to a lokal sewing store, and they sell me Gutermann too, that seems to be the common thing. Perhaps it is the same, don't know jet, but if I am at the point to start the rigging, I will use this brand and will tell how it worked out :-).