HMS Speedy by usedtosail - Vanguard Models - Scale 1:64

[usedtosail]

I have started planking the inner bulwarks. As in the instructions, I painted the bottom planks before gluing them in. I am now adding the planks that go between the gun ports on the starboard side. I notched them also at the sweep ports. These planks will get painted after they are all installed.

 

[Theodosius]

Looks good!

[usedtosail]

Thanks Theodosius. Your Speedy is coming along very nicely.

 

I masked off the deck, then finished cleaning up the excess inner planking around the gun and oar ports, using a combination of square and other files. I planed down the excess plank above the gunwale for now but will finish this after adding the outer planking.

 

 

I will be painting the rest of the inner planks bulwarks red then drill the holes around the gun ports.

[usedtosail]

I painted the inner bulwark planks with bulwarks red, then drilled the holes for the gun eyebolts and cleats from the outside. I sanded the holes in the inside and gave the inner bulwarks another, probably not the last,  coat of red paint. I then started planking up from the last of the outer planks. This plank is really a set of small planks that fit between the gun ports. I am still using medium CA to glue these planks in place, even though I can clamp them.

 

 

While waiting for things to dry, I have also been sketching out a sail plan for this ship. @DennisL added sails to his Speedy and I really liked the look so I am thinking about adding them to mine. I have been developing plans for the sails from the kit plans and Lee's Masting and Rigging... book. I will be waiting until I start making the masts and yards before finalizing on these plans, since there are a few dimensions that I can't quite finalize yet.

 

 

I also need to decide what material to make the sails out of. I am leaning toward silk span but we will see.

[whitejamest]

Looking lovely. I'll be watching your sail work with a lot of interest, as I hope some time in the distant future to do the same for my own Speedy. I think silk span will suit you very well. 

[usedtosail]

Thanks James. Your build is coming along very nicely too. I will be experimenting with the sails as I finish the hull work which I will be sure to document here.

[usedtosail]

I have finished planking the outer hull up to the sheer on both sides. I am in the process of opening up the oar and gun ports and trimming the excess plank lengths at the transom. I had to glue one of the sections back on that popped off when I was filing the gun port opening.

 

 

I also built a frame to stretch silk span for making sails. I am using the TFFM sail making supplement from David Antscherl, as well as @whitejamest build log as a guide for this.

 

[usedtosail]

I finished opening up the gun and oar ports. I made a rectangular sanding stick that fit inside the gun ports and used it to square them off. I gave the hull a final sanding then gave the inner bulwarks another coat of red paint. I also carefully painted the insides of the gun and oar ports with the same red paint. I am now ready to add the wales.

 

[usedtosail]

I received the silk span I ordered so it was time to start experimenting with it. I first soaked a piece in a small tray by folding it first, which was a mess. Once that stuff is wet it wants to really stick together and there was no way to unfold it. So I borrowed my wife's oven pan and soaked another piece flat in it. This worked much better. I was able to transfer it to the frame, tape it down and remove the insert while it dries. I'll see tomorrow how much it tightens up.

 

[usedtosail]

I let the silk span dry overnight and it tightened nicely.

 

 

I had ordered some gummed tape to hold this down which has arrived since I took this picture. I re-taped the silk span down and wetted it with a spray bottle to remove the waves on the sides.

[usedtosail]

I am adding the wales to the hull. I started on the port side, which is not the display side. I bent a 3mm and a 4mm strip of pear wood to fit the hull, then deviated from the instructions. I painted them black before gluing them on the hull, because I think that will make it easier to keep black paint off the hull planks. I will probably still need to sand them after gluing but then I can touch up the black paint on them with a small brush. I may still mask them off depending on how much painting they will need. I prepared those strips by running them through the Byrnes thickness sander so they are the same thickness. I am using wood glue to glue them to the hull and clamps to hold them while the glue dries. I luckily used a light strip of wood as the plank under the wale so it easy to line up the first strip with the edge of that plank, which is the correct wale position. Here is the bow section glued on and drying.

 

[usedtosail]

I am so saddened to see the news about Jim Byrnes this morning. I never met him in person but from what I have heard he was a great guy and will be greatly missed. My condolences to his family and friends.

 

I finished adding the wales to the hull, then gave them a sanding to even them out. This took off some paint in spots, so I masked where it was needed and gave the wale pieces another two coats of black paint. I left the ends at the transom long, as these will be trimmed back when I add the fashion pieces later.

 

 

Next will be touching up the inside bulwarks paint again, then adding the stem, keel and sternpost.

 

On the sails experiment, I mixed up some unbleached titanium white paint with a little burnt umber and yellow oxide and lots of water so it was very thin. I gave the silk span three coats of this and let it dry between each coat. As per the TFFM instructions, I cut this one out of the frame and will use it for the reinforcement strips. I repeated the procedure with another piece of silk span, but this time left it on the frame after painting it.

 

 

I then made up a tick strip for the cloth spacing, with 21/64" divisions. I transferred these to the bottom tape and used a T square along the bottom of the frame to draw the lines for the clothes. Instead of using an ink pen I tried a Sharpie white paint stick and was very pleased with the result.

 

 

 

I know they are whiter than they should be, but I like how even the lines came out. I will let this dry then use it for the head sails, as the size of these is not as precise as the square sails.

[usedtosail]

After touching up the paint on the inside bulwarks, I removed the masking tape on the deck. There were a few places where the bulwarks paint bled under the tape, but I was able to scrape it off with an X-Acto knife and some small riffler files. I then added the prow, keel, and stern post pieces. I used the edge of a flat file to file a groove into the stem so the stern post fit flush to the hull. I used a combination of medium CA and wood glue on these pieces.

 

 

I traced the outlines of the jib and fore stay sail onto the piece of silk span on the frame. On thing I found out the hard way how easy it is to inadvertently punch a hole through the tightened silk span. Luckily I still had enough left to use for both sails, since they are triangular. I cut out the reinforcement strips and glued them on with diluted matte medium. When everything dried and tightened back up again, I cut some 0.021" tan line, that corresponds to about 1.3" at this scale, for the bolt rope for the jib. I seized a loop and started gluing the bolt rope on using a less diluted matte medium than I did for the reinforcement pieces, using small weights and T pins to keep the bolt rope in place. I then seized another loop and glued more of the bolt rope on, then one more loop and the rest of rope. For the other sail, I seized three loops on before starting to glue the rope on. The seizings are loose so I can adjust them at each corner as I glue it around. I'll use the matte medium to fix the loops at the same time as I glue the rope down.

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it here in the US.

[usedtosail]

I marked the waterline on the hull today, using a laser level on a tripod. I also finished the last step on the sails which was to paint spots along the front edge and then drill holes through the spots for the grommets. I found that it was better to use a T pin to push a hole through the paint instead of drilling a hole.

 

 

The next step is to cut the sails out and trim the reinforcement pieces and bolt rope ends.

[usedtosail]

I gave the hull above the waterline a coat of wipe on poly. I also did the same on the deck. I am going to add the copper foil to the hull below the waterline but I don't know yet if I will add them over the bare wood or give the wood a coat of primer first.

 

 

I cut out the two sails from the silk span using an X-Acto knife. I cleaned then up a bit and glued down the bolt ropes in a couple of spots that had come up. I am going to make the spanker sail next as I can get the dimensions from the plans.

 

[usedtosail]

I added a strip of pear wood under the keel, then marked off the waterline. I put the hull in the supplied cradle then used a laser level on a tripod to visualize the water line on the hull. I marked positions of the line on the hull with a pencil and used masking tape to connect them. I then ran a pencil along the edge of the masking tape to mark the water line.

 

The next task is to add the copper plating to the hull. The kit includes some photo etched copper pieces for the keel and two rolls of copper foil for the rest of the hull. I have used copper foil before and I like its flexibility. I tried gluing the photo etched pieces but found that they are too stiff and kept coming off the hull. So I discarded them and am using the foil for the whole job. I am applying the foil directly to the wood as it seems to hold very well without any finish on the wood.

 

I had made this jig when I built the Constitution for marking the foil and it turns out the plates for this model are the same size, so I am using it again.

 

 

I put a piece of copper tape into the jig copper side down, then place a strip of wood over it as a guide. I run a ponce wheel down each side holding it tight to the wood strip. I then remove the strip and carefully run the ponce wheel down the center of the jig. I then mark the edges of each plate by running the ponce wheel  through each of the openings between wood blocks on the jig. I then turn the copper strip over and offset it slightly and mark the plates with the back of an X-Acto knife in each opening.

 

 

It takes only a few minutes for each strip. I attach them to the hull in strips so it easier for me to keep the lines of plates straight. Before adding the first strip at the keep, I ran a strip down the bow and along the bottom of the keel and back of the stern post, wrapping the excess around each side. I then started add the copper strips. Here are the first few on the port side.

 

 

I burnish the strips down with a rounded off piece of basswood to finish the process. The "dimples" may be oversize but I like the look better than smooth copper tape.

Edited December 1, 2023 by usedtosail

[usedtosail]

I finished adding the copper foil to the port side and have started on the starboard side this morning.

 

[usedtosail]

And finished up the starboard side this morning.

 

 

Next up is building and attaching the rudder.

[usedtosail]

Again I used the copper tape instead of the photo etched copper pieces for the rudder.

 

 

[usedtosail]

I finished up the rudder and tiller and added the pintles and gudgeons. These will be added to the hull later. 

 

 

I added the cheek pieces to the bow. These will be painted black next along with the hawse hole pieces and the top rails.

 

 

I am working on the spanker and both topG sails, which I can make from the same piece of stretched silk span. I am currently adding the bolt ropes. I also transferred the hand drawn plans to the computer so I can have an electronic version of the sail plans and if I have to change the dimensions slightly, which I expect to have to do for the topsails and courses, it will make that task a lot easier.

 

[usedtosail]

I painted the cheeks and added the painted hawse hole pieces. I used a series of small to large drill bits to drill the hawse holes through the bulwarks.

 

 

I was having trouble getting the pins to stay in place while creating the loops in the bolt rope on the sails. I had some 1/4" balsa wood sheets laying around so I used them to make a new inset for the sail frame. I cut two 6" wide pieces for the top layer, which fills the whole frame, and some smaller strips for the bottom layer that holds the top pieces together and raises it 1/4" so the top layer is 1/4" from the sail, which is high enough that the sail doesn't touch it. I glued them all together and placed it in the frame (forgetting to take a picture of it). The pins stick into the balsa wood easily and stay upright even when the bolt rope is tensioned. This addition will make adding the bolt ropes much easier.

 

[AJohnson]

Really enjoying looking through your excellent log Tom. Your sails look very good, I shall have to download TFFM sail making supplement from David Antscherl as I want to add sails to my current build. 
What weight/thickness Silkspan have you used?  

[allanyed]

Love the sails Tom!!!  They look really good overall and far nicer than the out-of-scale sewn cloth sails we see too often.  

 

The use of the copper foil is also very nice, but I am curious as to why you chose to have what appears to be big bumps in the photos rather than the  indentations they would have had in real life from the small nails used to attach them to the hull.  

Allan

[usedtosail]

On 12/14/2023 at 12:10 PM, AJohnson said:

What weight/thickness Silkspan have you used?  

I a had some thin silk span which I didn't like. For these sails I am actually using something called tea bag paper, which is the same or similar to silk span I read. Here is the link to the paper I bought from Amazon:

 

https://a.co/d/jfCkwMM

 

21 hours ago, allanyed said:

I am curious as to why you chose to have what appears to be big bumps in the photos rather than the  indentations they would have had in real life from the small nails used to attach them to the hull.

I know this is controversial and I thought about leaving the copper foil smooth, but I wanted some texture on them. When I built the Constitution model many years ago there was a discussion on this forum about how the copper plates look on the real ship, and that's where the idea of the raised "bumps" came from. In fact I used the same jig I did for the Constitution build. I could have used the ponce wheel on the front of the foil to get indents instead of bumps if I wanted to but I didn't. I may smooth down the bumps a bit with a burnishing stick but maybe not.

 

Some sad news on the sail making. 🥲 This morning while tightening the bolt rope, I managed to drop my tweezers onto the middle of the spanker and put a hole in it. I am going to continue making the sail, maybe just for practice, but I also may try patching it after it is cut out. I am also going to keep the sail templates over the sails as I work on them so if I drop something again maybe it won't go through the template as easily as the tea bag paper.

[AJohnson]

7 minutes ago, usedtosail said:

I a had some thin silk span which I didn't like. For these sails I am actually using something called tea bag paper, which is the same or similar to silk span I read. Here is the link to the paper I bought from Amazon:

 

https://a.co/d/jfCkwMM

 

I know this is controversial and I thought about leaving the copper foil smooth, but I wanted some texture on them. When I built the Constitution model many years ago there was a discussion on this forum about how the copper plates look on the real ship, and that's where the idea of the raised "bumps" came from. In fact I used the same jig I did for the Constitution build. I could have used the ponce wheel on the front of the foil to get indents instead of bumps if I wanted to but I didn't. I may smooth down the bumps a bit with a burnishing stick but maybe not.

 

Some sad news on the sail making. 🥲 This morning while tightening the bolt rope, I managed to drop my tweezers onto the middle of the spanker and put a hole in it. I am going to continue making the sail, maybe just for practice, but I also may try patching it after it is cut out. I am also going to keep the sail templates over the sails as I work on them so if I drop something again maybe it won't go through the template as easily as the tea bag paper.

Thank you for the information about your sails and the link. I have the TFFM supplement now. 

Regarding the tweezer mishap, sorry to hear about that, is the hole anywhere near scale for Spanish/French shot?!  After all Speedy did have a busy career with Cochrane… 

[allanyed]

2 hours ago, usedtosail said:

that's where the idea of the raised "bumps" came from.

I totally understand your dilemma but the pic below is a copper plate from the Constitution with nail dents versus rivet bumps.   I think the reason Vanguard went with the laser cut circles is that they are much closer to scale (1/4" nail with half inch dents full size) and the larger number of them as on the actual ships.   Goodwin has drawings and dimensions of the plates and such in his Construction and Fitting book.  

Allan

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by allanyed

[usedtosail]

Yep those pictures surfaced during the last Constitution refit, I think, which was after I copper plated my Connie. I should have made dents instead of bumps but I didn't and I am not changing it now on this model. Enough said.

[usedtosail]

I am making progress on three fronts. I trimmed the aft ends of the wale planks then added the fashion pieces to finish them off.

 

 

On the three sails I have been working on, I finished adding the bolt ropes with all the loops and added small pieces of line across the loops. I added the reef points to the spanker after pushing holes through paint for the grommets. I am in the process of using matte medium to fix the knots of the reef points and hold them down to the sail so they fall correctly. Here is a picture of the balsa inset I made to hold the pins better when adding the bolt ropes and loops to the sails.

 

 

And I have also started making a new cradle for the finished model. I used the plastic cradle ends pieces and traced the shapes onto 1/8" mahogany sheet, then cut them out with a jig saw and sanded them with a sanding drum in the drill press. I milled the slots into them for the cross pieces and have squared them off with a square file since this picture was taken.

 

 

Next up for the hull is to add the trim pieces that contain the swivel gun supports. I also need to trim the reef points and cut the individual sails out and make the cross pieces for the new cradle.

[usedtosail]

I have started adding the side "trim" pieces that have part of the swivel gun supports. I have just added the last piece on the port side and the front piece on the starboard side. The kit comes with laser cut small strips of wood that go over the swivel gun supports but I will be using a 1mm square strip of wood that I painted ochre to cut out small pieces instead.

 

 

In anticipation of the step after that, I removed the swivel gun bases that sit on top of the rail, cleaned them up, and painted them black on the top and sides.

 

 

I have been securing the reef points to the spanker using diluted acrylic matte medium. I finished the back side and am close to finishing the front side. I still need to trim these to length and replace one that I took off because it was too short.

 

 

Finally I added a coat of wipe on poly to the new cradle after assembling it. I also rubbed some black paint into the lettering on the plastic name plate. I am not sure if I will use it but if I do I will trim it down.

 

 

[usedtosail]

I was looking through the Speedy build log by @Theodosius yesterday, which is a really nice build of this model, and saw that when I added the wale planks I let them get too high at the transom. As shown in the plans, the lower edge of the wale should be even with the bottom of the lower transom piece. I knew something was wrong because of the way the fashion pieces looked. So I did some surgery this morning. I carefully pried the wale planks up from the hull, cleaned the glue off the hull planks, cut the wale planks back to clean up the ends, and touched up the wipe on poly on the hull.

 

 

I used the holes in the laser cut sheet to trace new fashion pieces onto a piece of pear wood and cut out the new ones with an X-Acto knife. I plan to cut the plank extensions to exactly fit the fashion pieces, or at least fit better than the previous ones did.