Sloop Speedwell 1752 by Chuck - Ketch Rigged Sloop - POF - prototype build

[Katsumoto]

You designing skils and eye for details are just out of this world. By far the standard most "kit fabricators" should aim for! 

Peter
  

[glbarlow]

Just amazing work. The consistency of the interior fairing, my having done it for Winchelsea, is crazy good and no small feat. 

[Rustyj]

Well I have to say it was really enjoyable catching up on your progress. Your work is so clean and crisp!

[Chuck]

It has been a little while since I have posted an update.   But I have indeed been working on Speedwell.   I have finished planking up to the molding level and not the sheer.   I have stopped to treenail the hull planking which takes a while to do neatly and precisely. I am using 10lb black fishing line.    Work has been slow because I am taking my time to line everything up with the frames and keep it all neat and tidy. The starboard side is complete,  and the port side is underway.  Once I am finished with this I will complete the outboard planking up to the shear.  Then I will add the second layer of wales and the fancy molding.  

 

Its getting there.   Treenailing is optional of course but it does make a difference when not overdone and if the treenails are not too large.   Even though only a few strakes need treenails,  it still takes a bloody long time to do!!!

 

 

[scrubbyj427]

Wow! That looks really good. Not much more planking and then topsides?

[druxey]

Very neatly done, Chuck. What drill bit size do you use for 10lb line?

[Chuck]

A number 78 drill bit.  Although one could use a 79 as well.  Its more fragile and more

prone to breaking and tougher to insert the fishing line because its a super tight fit requiring no glue at all.  So I started using the 78 now.

 

Still no glue needed though.  Stick the line i nto each hole…i use a straight razor to slice off flush.  Sand the surface lightly with 400 grit paper after a few rows are done.  Apply wipe on poly which eventually acts as a glue if ever it needed it to secure the fishing line.  
 

I almost used a dark brown fishing line but couldnt see that much difference on my tests so I decided to stick with the black.
 

Chuck

[Beckmann]

Can you already tell something about the release of the first chapter?

This is so tempting. 

[druxey]

Thanks for the information, Chuck.

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, Beckmann said:

Can you already tell something about the release of the first chapter?

Not yet…I want to get well ahead before releasing this this.  Nothing worse than having folks waiting on me for their next chapter. 
 

 

[AnobiumPunctatum]

It's looking really fantastic, Chuck.

[Thunder]

Hi Chuck,

 

Over here in the UK most fishing line is nylon or fluorocarbon, is that what you are using? Only ask as in the United States a lot of Braid line is used.

 

Cheers.

[Thunder]

So glad I have caught up with this build / prototype kit. For some time this has been my favourite vessel and have got in my copies of the books ready to be my first scratch build. Only problem now is that I have a lot of catching up to do reading your log.

[Chuck]

Its bot braided line.  The brand is sunset Amnesia.  I am not sure about the material.  I dont think it matters.  Just has to be smooth and consistently colored.

[Rustyj]

She's looking really nice. So smooth and clean. I can't wait to see it with the wales and fancy molding. 

[Nirvana]

11 hours ago, Chuck said:

Its bot braided line.  The brand is sunset Amnesia.  I am not sure about the material.  I dont think it matters.  Just has to be smooth and consistently colored.

Wouldn't a monofilament be better and stiffer for our purpose.
Btw, where did you find the line? I've been searching for 10lb but to no avail.
Thank you

[Rustyj]

8 minutes ago, Nirvana said:

Wouldn't a monofilament be better and stiffer for our purpose.
Btw, where did you find the line? I've been searching for 10lb but to no avail.

It is a monofilament and I found some on eBay a while ago.

[Nirvana]

Found this monofilament on Amazon available in black.

Charlie Moore Signature Premium Monofilament Fishing Line, 10LB x 300YDS

[Chuck]

After finishing the treenails...finally, I continued to plank up to the sheer.  This meant one more 1/4" wide strake to cut around all those ports.  It wasnt too bad to do.  Then another stake of 1/8" wide planking which is the first layer for a fancy molding strip.  We will add that soon.  The top of this 1/8" strake and molding is the sheer.  The top of this along the waist should NOT be altered or sanded down.  You want to maintain that ice continuous and graceful flow for that molding strip and sheer.  If for whatever reason your planking in the waist ends up slightly higher or lower that is OK.  This is tough to plan out exactly.  The top edge for me along the waste was about 1/64" higher than the sheer I sanded into the framing and fairing cap.  Thats is perfectly fine and it is best not to sand the strake down to match.  Best to keep a nice flow and even width to what will become a molding piece.  Hope that makes sense.

 

Then I planked along the drifts fore and aft to complete the external planking on the starboard side.  I will repeat this on the port side next.  The Qbadge and window for it are just lightly tacked in place for the photo.  That wont be glued permanently yet.  

 

 

Note where you would see the scrolls along the waist.  On Speedwell they are different than on a frigate like the Winnie.  Therefore a different approach is needed with them.  So you will notice how the planking drifts along the waist are stepped.  This shape will allow for the addition of the scrollwork later where it will make perfect sense.

 

Once I complete this on the other side I will begin adding the second layer of the wales painted black and the fashion pieces.  Then the fancy molding will be added outboard. 

 

All of the planking should be relatively easy.  Aside from the detailed expansion templates (below), I also created an expansion of every single planking strake above the wales individually.   They have the tapers needed on each of them.  This can be used to literally cut the exact shape of every strake from a 3/64" thick sheet of Yellow Cedar if you chose to.  Even the drifts are included.  You will still have to cut them around each gunport and break them into individual lengths depending on where your planking step pattern is.  You can use the plans to find those.  There was no need to create an expansion drawing for the 3/32" and 1/8" wide strakes that represent the fancy molding.  I just ripped those on my table saw as they are not tapered and easy to plank with being so narrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hubac's Historian]

You and Mike do some of the cleanest plank work on the net.

[BANYAN]

Agree wholeheartedly.  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Chuck]

Thank you guys for saying...

 

In preparation to install the second layer for the wales, the carved fashion piece was added first.  This is a resin casting prepared in the usual way with gel stain.  Like I did for the Winnie carvings.   It is easier and cleaner to add the carved fashion piece first rather than have to cut and shape the back side to fit over the wales.  I will add the fashion piece first and then just butt the wales up against the forward side next.

 

The resin carving will bend to conform to the hull shape.   No worries there.  I glued the lower end in first and waited for it to dry using CA.   This locked in pretty good so I could then push the top end of the fashion piece to bend it and secure it with CA as well.  I filled any gaps with filler but there shouldnt be many.  It should fit pretty tightly.

 

Note that the QBadge is still just temporarily tacked in position.  Its not permanent yet.

 

 

Then I added the second layer of the upper and lower wales.  I used 1/32"  strips of Yellow cedar.   You could use 3/64" thick strips as well but I am personally partial to thinner wales.   I did knock-off the top and bottom edges of the wales to just soften them up.   No hard edges for me.

 

I also painted the top and bottom edges black before gluing them on the model.  This keeps it nice and neat so I dont have to try and paint that edge on the model.  It makes a big difference and its finally starting to look like a ship model!!!

 

 

In addition to softening the upper and lower edges of each wale strip before gluing them on, I also tapered the forward end thinner.  It should diminish in thickness to a thin almost knife sharp edge going into the stem.  The taper started about 3/4” from the forward edge.   I sanded it to a thin pointy forward edge so it appears to enter the rabbet as it should based on contemporary practice.   It should appear to be the same thickness as the other planks entering the stem rabbet or nearly so.   

 

Then I proceeded to carefully paint the top layer for both wales strakes completely black.  I use Utrecht Brand Acrylic...Mars Black this time around.  Take your time with this and do it neatly because its a huge part of the overall look and feel of your model.  I also finally added the finish to the model using wipe on poly and some "Old Masters" fruitwood gel stain.  Up until this point there was no finish applied.   This gives the wood a nice natural brushed appearance with some deeper color that I like.   The cedar looks great after this application in my opinion.  Wipe on poly was added first...then some gel stain.   The gel stain was wiped off immediately after applying it so it wouldn't get too dark.   By "re-wetting" again with some wipe on poly, and buffing it off you can achieve a nice "brushed appearance".    It doesnt look too sterile or yellow in case you want a different look.  I wanted to try something different this time around.    Just compare the planking and frames in these photos with those in my previous post to see how different they appear.  It is subtle, but you can see the difference.  

 

 

Next up some fancy molding....and odds and ends.

 

 

[scrubbyj427]

That really looks good Chuck, impossible to tell that is resin and not wood carved. Well done.

[Rustyj]

Beautifully done! I really like the look of the WOP and stain.

[Chuck]

Thank you....Today I glued the qbadges on permanently.  It needed to be done now so I can add the fancy molding on the hull and then the friezes etc.   I working my way up to the sheer and cap rail.   For the qbadge,  some acetate was placed in the window opening first from the outboard side.  Then the window itself which is laser cut on plastic as you have seen earlier.   Lastly I added the qbadge so the roof molding on the badge lined up with the 3/32" wide planking strip.  This will line up the badge properly with the molding I am going to add.  This also shows the port side which I have been working on today.

 

 

With the badge in position I added the 3/32" x 1/32" molding.  I scraped the profile into these boxwood strips in the usual way.  I created a scraper by filing the profile into an old razor blade.

 

 

I will repeat this on the other side and then add the friezes to the side of the hull next.   

 

 

[BANYAN]

That is such neat work Chuck; looks great.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Chuck]

Thank you

[FrankWouts]

Again a truly wonderful beauty and masterpiece with such cleaver design features Chuck!
Again!

Frank.

[Loracs]

My god.... such a nice model.  Are you serious about potentially releasing it as POF kit.  If yes, I'm 100% in.  On the same line of the semi-scratch build Winchelsea but POF (than would be so nice)?  A rigged version would great...  I'm a fan of rigged model. Still have no room for a bunch of power tools even mini ones (the reason I'm looking for semi-scratch build).

 

I was looking around for such a kit... but almost all are Chinese manufacturer.  CAF model seen ok...  but would 300% prefer a model from Chuck and Co.  Let us know if you have a timeline.

 

cheers, 

--loracs

Edited August 3, 2023 by Loracs

[dvm27]

Everything is coming together beautifully Chuck. Little details like the continuous run of molding over the QD badge make your model a gem. 

 

This is a wonderful little model to rig, Loracs. Only two masts and a few yards. Just enough to keep you engaged but not nearly the fatigue of rigging "the whole nine yards". Believe it or not it is easier to rig a larger model like this than a smaller scale version. All the details are provided in our series of Speedwell books.