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

[Chuck]

Not for sale, LOL...

 

Interestingly enough,  there were about eight or nine models that I placed on the set.   Several of mine and many others from members of my local Ship Model Society of New Jersey club.   Someone was so taken by one of the models  that they bought it.   And for a very handsome sum.  I have no idea who.   It was an anonymous sale through the production studio.  So it was a success for many model ship modelers I know.   Maybe if it goes well and enough ship model content isnt cut from the final movie, it will also encourage a few to give it a try.   You never know!!!

[dvm27]

How many lines were fouled and spars snapped while Ed was signing this delightful "prop"?

[Chuck]

Actually it survived without a scratch.   I was very lucky.   But yes they clearly dont know how to handle a ship model.   I wonder if Ed Harris also autographed an original Jackson Pollock with a sharpie during that film....LOL.  Not that you would be able to tell.

 

 

[Freebird]

If you really wanted to remove the sharpie, plain ‘ole rubbing alcohol will quickly and easily remove the ink.

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Chuck]

What a difference some paint makes.   Bulwarks are painted however as usual, I will be applying many more thin coats over the next few weeks as I progress.   

 

Before and after...

 

 

[dvm27]

Like the rug in the classic movie "The Big Lebowski" it ties the whole thing together.  Such a beautiful model!

[Jim Rogers]

Looks awesome! Is there a reason you do not fit, pre-paint and then install?

[Chuck]

That is kind of difficult to do with planking.  The planking needs to be sanded. afterwards to be neat and smooth and it will only get wrecked.   At least for me.  Most items are indeed painted beforehand but I just dont see how you can do it with bulwark planking and have nice neat planking.

[glbarlow]

You could stop right here and it would be an amazing model.

 

[Chuck]

Thanks guys...There are a lot of things I could work on next but I am eager to get the decks planked.   So next up I will make all the coaming and gratings down the center line so I can plank around them.   Once that is done I will add the waterway and start on the fun bits.   It should come together rather quickly once I plank the decks.  A quick look at sheet 5 still being tweaked which has all of those details.   

 

 

[GGibson]

18 hours ago, dvm27 said:

Like the rug in the classic movie "The Big Lebowski" it ties the whole thing together.  Such a beautiful model!

Spoiler alert!!!  🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😄🤣

 

Just happened to peek at this thread again as I saw it on the home page as a recent post, and I love to peek at "all things Chuck"! 👍 This Speedwell looks awesome, sir!

[TBlack]

Chuck, I’d be interested in your technique for building gratings.

Tom

[Gregory]

14 hours ago, TBlack said:

Chuck, I’d be interested in your technique for building gratings.

Tom

I thought Chuck would beat me to it, but check out the grating kits at Syren Ship Model Co.

I have never known him to use anything else of late.  The instructions he provides covers his method.

[Chuck]

I am just about to post an update with those...LOL

 

The gratings for Speedwell are different but the same basic concept.  They are a different scale to reflect the larger size needed.  They will have 1/16" square openings which at 3/8" scale would be a 2" hole.  Just right and exactly the same number of holes as the contemporary model.

 

These will all be included in the chapter along with the jig needed.

 

I will have construction pics really soon.

 

I have been distracted lately with the topic on the SOS where the staff and admin are trashing this project relentlessly....but its a lot fun to watch.   Many of you guys have sent me messages alerting me about it.

 

I have to thank Ben however for being a brave soul to have something nice to say about it knowing he will get the wrath for it.   I must be the worst kit designer in the world if you read some of that stuff over there.  But seriously...dont put yourself out there because if you do say anything positive about Syren or any of my projects on SOS they will lambaste you.  So no worries.   Dont put yourself in that position.  Its not worth it.   Most folks know its all nonsense.  And I am well aware.  But thanks for the positive notes of private support.

 

Anyway...back to building gratings.

[BrochBoating]

1 minute ago, Chuck said:

I have been distracted lately with the topic on the SOS where the staff and admin are trashing this project relentlessly....but its a lot fun to watch. 

 

Excuse the newbie ignorance but I assume that is another forum?

Again as a newbie to the hobby I can't imagine (other than insecurity and jealousy( what folk can say negatively about your work. Having looked at a lot of kits before moving on from my first (admittedly online) the only kits I really wanted to try were yours and Vanguards. On all of the build logs here it comes across so strongly how high the quality of both your kits are to give any stage of modeller the very best chance of making something stunning. Yes they are expensive but you get what you pay for in most areas and this is definitely one.

Good luck to you!

 

[Chuck]

Yes, another forum but seriously most already know what they are like...thats why I wanted to post publicly for everyone not to take the bait.   Its just not worth it.    Just stay clear of the whole bunch.

 

Chuck

[AnobiumPunctatum]

It woul be a lot of fun to make a build log of your kit there.

I love your ideas and how open you share your knowledge. Without this I was not able to finish the frame design for my Alert. I also learned a lot to continue with my Sloop Fly. Thanks for that.

[Chuck]

That would be so nice but it probably would put the builder at risk of being abused.

 

Anyway....those gratings

 

You will basically get all of the laser cut parts in this chapter.  There are only four hatches with gratings.  They are not very large.   Here are all of the elements needed.  You will get two layers for the jig.   The two layers are glued together to form the jig.

 

You also get a right angle jig which is 3/64" thick.  The thickness is very important.

 

Lets get started.

 

Start with the coamings.   They are laser cut and 1/8" thick.

 

The fore and aft sides are already shaped with the round-up of the deck....or camber as usually described but is an inaccurate term.

 

Use the right angle jig to glue two sides together...dont worry about the laser char just yet.   Then glue the remaining two sides together using the same jig to make a nice right angle.

 

Glue the two right angles together to form the coaming.  Sand the sides clean which are left a bit longer as you can see in order to remove the char and leave a nice bright smooth surface.   Also sand the top sides to clean the char.  You can see the cleaned coaming below.

 

Then you can start working on the grating.  Again just like my other smaller scale grating kits.

 

Insert the laser cut grating strips in the slotted jig.  NO GLUE of course!!!   This is just for alignment.

 

Then start adding the cross battens.  These are glued in position.  They may be too tight as you want a press fit.  So just run the small strips 1/16" x 1/16" through your fingers with some fine sandpaper.  Not much.  Just enough so the battens fit into the slots. see below.  There are seven batten strips and seven laser cut grating strips for three of the hatches.  The fourth is made the same way but is much smaller on the fcastle.

 

When all the strips are glued in position,  remove the grating from the jig.  Snip off the edges as shown below.  Then sand all four edges clean.  Try and not distort the perfect square shape.  In the photo two sides have the ends snipped off.   The smaller hatchway will have fewer battens and more to snip away.  Also sand the top surface clean and smooth.  Once again try and maintain the proper shape with the round-up.  You will know when its all done when the char is cleaned from the laser cut grating strip squares.

The photo below shows the top of the grating and sides all clean and nice and smooth.  It makes a nice grating.  The holes are 1/16" or 2" on the real ship and perfectly in scale.

You should but dont have to sand the bottom side as well.   Here is a look.  The battens are clearly less thick than the grating strips and these are pretty close to actual construction methods.  Or at least the impression of it.

 

And almost done...you will see how nice and tight the grating fits in the coaming.   Dont over sand the edges and you should test the grating in the coaming as you sand the edges.   In fact, the coaming normally has ledges on the port and starboard sides inside the coaming.  These create a ledge that the grating sits on so it doesnt fall through.  You can add those if you like.  But in my case the gratings fit so snug that they were not required.  I simply glued the gratings into the coamings making sure the top of the coaming was flush with the grating.  I sanded it smooth with some 400 grit paper.

The four corners of the coaming are very sharp at this point.  You dont want that.  They should be rounded off.  But they are only rounded off down to the deck level.   That is when you take that same right angle jig and use it.

 

The jig is the same thickness as the planking.   So you can place the coaming into the corner and use a sharp #11 blade to slice away the corner.  Slice it down to the top of the jig only.   You can make a stop cut at the jig level before slicing off the corner.  Then just round off the corner.

 

 

Dont slice off too much.   Just a little bit to round off each corner.

 

To finish it off I drilled three holes with a #76 bit.  I used 20lb black fishing line to simulate the bolts on the top of the coamings.  Three on each side.   They cut flush with the top of the coamings with a sharp blade.

 

All done!!!

 

 

 

[Matt D]

Your gratings are always so nice, Chuck.  These, and the comings, look terrific!

[druxey]

Those look terrific, Chuck.

 

I'm sorry to read that Troll City over at SOS is still alive and bitching.... I suppose that trolls have to live somewhere.

[TBlack]

So, Chuck, your technique is to use a laser to cut the “teeth” for the gratings. I suppose by the time you program the computer and adjust the laser I might have been able to do the same on my mill?

Tom

[Tossedman]

22 minutes ago, TBlack said:

So, Chuck, your technique is to use a laser to cut the “teeth” for the gratings. I suppose by the time you program the computer and adjust the laser I might have been able to do the same on my mill?

Tom

Yeah, but he'd be a lot faster making the next 50. 😉

[dvm27]

Tom, I like Chuck's method because it incorporates the round up. That might be possible on the mill but it's above my pay grade.

[Katsumoto]

19 hours ago, Chuck said:

I have been distracted lately with the topic on the SOS where the staff and admin are trashing this project relentlessly....but its a lot fun to watch.   Many of you guys have sent me messages alerting me about it.

 

I have to thank Ben however for being a brave soul to have something nice to say about it knowing he will get the wrath for it.   I must be the worst kit designer in the world if you read some of that stuff over there.  But seriously...dont put yourself out there because if you do say anything positive about Syren or any of my projects on SOS they will lambaste you.  So no worries.   Dont put yourself in that position.  Its not worth it.   Most folks know its all nonsense.  And I am well aware.  But thanks for the positive notes of private support.

 

Anyway...back to building gratings.

I think you are doing more than an outstanding job with this kit beauty or for the ship modeling world. Everyone may know my opinion for that matter! 🙂

[Chuck]

Thanks for saying....

[sfotinos]

Chuck I see that Modelers Sawmill is doing a wood package for Speedwell.

Is it recommended that this is purchased from them, or will this same package come from you when that chapter becomes available?

Let me know.

Shawn

[Chuck]

No I wont be selling a wood package.  I just dont have time to mill wood and sell lumber.   I work directly with Joe at MS.  We are old friends that go way back...he mills and supplies me with all of my wood at Syren.   In fact we are hoping to go to a yard to pick up a whole bunch of cedar really soon.  We are currently very low on it.

 

Chuck

[AnobiumPunctatum]

20 hours ago, Chuck said:

That would be so nice but it probably would put the builder at risk of being abused.

I don’t think so. There is also a lot of support for you there. 
 

The description of how you make and prepare your gratings shows again what I mean in my last post. I can prepare the gratings with my small CNC-mill and build the jig following your really good description. Thanks very much.

Edited May 8 by AnobiumPunctatum

[davyboy]

Out of curiosity I visited the pirates forum and read the article about Chuck's Speedwell. I had a really good laugh at the comment by one of their admin wallahs. "Luckily we have same quality kits from Chinese manufacturers at one third of the price". Quality ???? What planet is that guy on ? Keep up the good work Chuck,I enjoy following your build. Sorry I wont be building your Speedwell as I've started rigging my 1/48th POB version after 5 years of work .  

 

Dave 

[TBlack]

5 hours ago, dvm27 said:

Tom, I like Chuck's method because it incorporates the round up. That might be possible on the mill but it's above my pay grade.

Good point, Greg. I hope you are doing well, dear pal.

Tom

Edited May 8 by TBlack