Speedwell 752 by Greg Herbert - 1:48 scale - the saga continues

[druxey]

Finally, after a wait of almost three years, Greg Herbert was able to travel this weekend and retrieve Speedwell from David Antscherl's workshop. The model had been marooned in Canada due to covid after having the carved works made and fitted. Speedwell (she was temporarily re-christened Speednaught) is now heading back to Maryland with her rightful owner for rigging. The saga will continue soon....

 

Photos of the reunion are attached.

[oneslim]

Looks Fantastic Greg!!!

 

BobW 

[druxey]

Update: Greg and Speedwell are safely back in Maryland. Watch this space!

[Chuck]

Mission accomplished!!!!  Wonderful news.  Looking forward to more updates soon.  Greg….no resting now…time to get in the shop.

[Ryland Craze]

Beautiful model.  Greg, Please post some pictures of the carvings.

[dvm27]

On 10/25/2021 at 1:51 AM, Ryland Craze said:

Beautiful model.  Greg, Please post some pictures of the carvings.

Photos of the carving are in the original build log https://modelshipworld.com/topic/370-speedwell-by-dvm27-greg-herbert-ketch-rigged-sloop-1752/page/8/#comment-809695, message #223 I believe.

 

[albert]

Wonderful model Greg. 

[dvm27]

Before starting on the rigging the straps for the deadeyes need to be made. These would be ideal for photoetching (see Siggi's latest postings) but I thought I'd make my own following the illustration by David Antscherl in Volume Two of Speedwell. Keep in mind straps varied in the number of links  based on the size of the vessel and era modelled. Here is the illustration of Speedwell's deadeye straps:

 

 

I used 24g brass straight wire from K&S. The first step was to form the toe loop. It was bent around a 0.33" drill bit using various shaped jewelers pliers.

 

 

Once the toe loop was formed the strap was transferred to a honeycombed ceramic soldering plate with steel pins to hold them in the correct position for silver soldering. I use Euro Tools  paste solder http:// Quote https://www.eurotool.com/search.asp?keyword=silver+solder+paste  and it is a joy to use. I used to have a 25-50% failure rate with silver solder but this self fluxing paste is magic - not one failure in the 18 straps and it flows beautifully. I used the low temperature solder for this application.

 

 

The strap was next cut to length

 

The top was bent into a hook with the round pointed jewelers plyers. 

 

It's extremely difficult to photograph the next step but the hook was tapered on each side to fit into the binding loop of the deadeye. I did this on the Byrnes disk sander and used files to finish.

 

 

Finally, the toe was bent to lie at the correct angle against the hull.

 

All straps are now being pickled before blackening and installing on the hull.

 

I can now start on Speedwell's rigging. I've only fully rigged two models before so this should be a fun learning experience for me. David has gone into great detail in Volume Two of Speedwell detailing every rope and fitting for rigging her so I have no excuse for not doing it correctly.

Edited December 9, 2021 by dvm27

[druxey]

Nice to see progress reports and photos, Greg!

[Maury S]

Greg, So the strap is an open hook...not closed like a chain link?

Maury

[dvm27]

22 hours ago, Maury S said:

Greg, So the strap is an open hook...not closed like a chain link?

Maury

Correct, Maury. It just hooks over the deadeye binding.

[TBlack]

Greg,

I'm having some difficulty tracking down the Euro Tools solder that you recommend. The link above doesn't seem to work, and Googling Euro Tools says page not found. So, where can a guy buy some?

Tom

[dvm27]

12 minutes ago, TBlack said:

Greg,

I'm having some difficulty tracking down the Euro Tools solder that you recommend. The link above doesn't seem to work, and Googling Euro Tools says page not found. So, where can a guy buy some?

Tom

Here's a link to a great site that sells it. They also have  free tutorials on silver soldering, pickling etc.

https://beaducation.com/collections/soldering-fusing-tools

[TBlack]

Great! Thanks, Greg! Oh, and what wood are you using to make your deadeyes?

Tom

Edited December 11, 2021 by TBlack

[dvm27]

1 hour ago, TBlack said:

Great! Thanks, Greg! Oh, and what wood are you using to make your deadeyes?

Tom

I turned them from Box wood and dyed them with Fiebings brow leather dye.