HM Cutter Speedy 1828 by oakheart - from plans drawn by Bill Shoulders in 1972

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, oakheart said:

the top part is too wide !

Tim, the one I started in 2018 is about 1mm out either side and when I re-drew it just now I get the same.

 

Yours also seems to sit a bit high, have you joined it the same as Thunder did?

EDIT: Maybe you did and I'm wrong, it's hard to tell.

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by iMustBeCrazy

[oakheart]

7 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

 

Yours also seems to sit a bit high, have you joined it the same as Thunder did?

Hi Craig

Well spotted, you have a very keen eye, it is high and I did not join it the same as either you, thunder the booklet.
I went off on my own and it worked out wrong, I have no idea where those angles came from?

So back the the drawing board, printed out new templates and cut some new parts.

I now need to sand them to the correct angles and glue them up.

Back tomorrow

 

Tim.

Edited June 26, 2023 by oakheart

[oakheart]

With the angles corrected and the top part made narrower it looks muck more the part.

 

 

 

the shape begins to look like a cutter

 

 

now to glue the bulkheads in place.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

While the glue on the bulkheads was drying, I turned to the cannons.

I had ordered a set of  Amati barrels and wheels from my favourite model shop

https://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/amati-cannon-barrels.html

 

I drew out the carriage to scale, printed it out then assembled a stack of 2mm thick wood cut to those dimensions, a small strip was glued along each end to hold the block together. The template was pasted on one side of the block.

 

 

Then using a jewellers saw cut out the shape of the carriage.

 

There are a few errors with the cuts, but not too bad overall, a quick touch up with a small fine file.
I ended up with enough to make the required number of carriages

 

These were assembled and with the barrel in placed look pretty good, 

 

the barrels are a bit to garish so  gave them a coat of matte black that I dabbed on with an old scrubby brush.

 

 

Looking good.
But I have just realised looking the photo that the wheels are on the wrong way round, should be the larger at the front, lucky I had not glued them in place

 

Tim

[oakheart]

Managed to get some done to the hull over the last few days.

Masked up the keel ready for fairing the bulkheads. 

Noticed a fault ( hole ) in the plywood

 

 

made a quick and dirty repair

 

 

I had to add some temporary beams to strengthen the bulkhead tops while I was sanding.

 

 

they will be removed after I have done the planking.

 

 

the planks now sit nicely on the bulkheads 

 

 

I now need to make a jig to hold the hull upside down while I do the planking.

 

Off to do some research

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

47 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I now need to make a jig to hold the hull upside down while I do the planking.

Tim, I can't think of any reason you can't just screw something (or some things) to the false deck. I gets covered up anyway.

 

I think I just stood mine on the top timbers (bulwarks) but I think the above would be better.

[oakheart]

18 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

just screw something (or some things) to the false deck

You are right, I need to : KISS 

As the plywood is a bit suspect the blocks will be better.

Just some 4x2 ( measure it first ) blocks on the false deck would do the job.

 

 

 

thanks Craig

 

Tim

 

 

[allanyed]

Tim,

Were Blomefield cannon on Speedy as well as the carronades?   If they were indeed Blomefields,  you can take the STL drawing to any 3D printer and tell them the dimensions that you want and they can scale to size and print them black resin for very little cost.  I also attached the 2D  below to give you an idea of the actual shape of the cannon of that era.   

Allan

12 pounder Blomefield pattern WITH George the 3rd BADGE (1).stl.glb

 

 

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by allanyed

[oakheart]

On 7/14/2023 at 8:03 PM, allanyed said:

If they were indeed Blomefields,

Thanks Allan

 

For this build I have just gone with whatever Bill Shoulders has shown on his plans.
I have no idea if they are accurate or not.
I will try and find somewhere in the UK  where I can get things 3D resin printed, I have tried cannons at this scale on my FDM printer and they do not look good.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

So here I am back, it's been a long summer, so much to do.................

Managed to get a bit done on the Speedy. Garboard plank in place on both sides.

 

while I am plodding away building this 1:48 scale model some people build full size Cutters. Here is the real thing

 

 

Luke Powell built the 'Pellew'   

 

https://www.workingsail.co.uk/pellew?itemId=fihssy98q3833wr2jbjrsb17q7mzt6

 

 

loads of videos of it on youtube.

 

and some action video of other Cutters , really shows what it must have been like sailing these craft.

 

 

anyway, the sun is shining and I have more garden work to do.

See you soon

 

Tim

 

 

[oakheart]

The planking continues.

I made a simple jig to aid cutting the planks into the correct taper.

 

here it is with the steel straight edge ready to cut the taper

 

A few planks make it begin to look like a cutter.

 

the shape begins to appear.

 

 

close up of the bow.

 

 

Doing the Bounty launch helped me with understanding planking.

 

I want to stain the Alaskan Yellow Cedar to look like the old models in the RMG collection, so I have been testing a water based wood dye.

 

 

Pleased with the result, also found I could not coat with brush on acrylic as the stain runs, so used a rattle can from Halfords.

 

Tim

Edited September 20, 2023 by oakheart

[iMustBeCrazy]

Wow, that's looking really good Tim. Perhaps a hair (literally) more off the highpoints of strake 5 but that's being pedantic.

[oakheart]

 

Thanks for the compliment Craig, and everyone for the likes.

 

10 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

a hair (literally) more off the highpoints of strake 5 

 

I have only just noticed that gap between 4 and 5, things show more in photos than in real life.

Not sure if I will take it off and fettle it or not.

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 minutes ago, oakheart said:

Not sure if I will take it off and fettle it or not.

I don't think I'd bother.

[oakheart]

 

Could not resist, I started sanding the planking already done. Using 50 grit sandpaper on a small wood block.

 

But I have a problem with the 1.5mm thick planks flexing, while I am sanding the hull fair the planks are bending slightly in between bulkheads, I am not even pressing very hard.

This means that the plank on either side gets sanded a little bit more and becomes thinner.

This is sort of difficult to photograph, hope you get the an idea of what's happening.

 

On my next build I will use more bulkheads, meanwhile I have glued a small strip behind the planks to stop the flexing.

 

Has anyone else had this problem?

What have others done about it?

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

21 minutes ago, oakheart said:

What have others done about it?

I glue the plank edges. I do it full length using a syringe but even a few spots would help.

[oakheart]

1 minute ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

I glue the plank edges. 

Thanks Craig, I like that idea.

But as I am going to stain the hull, I would worry about glue getting on the front surface of the planks.

 

I need to do a test and see what happens if I do.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

7 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I would worry about glue getting on the front surface of the planks.

Keep a few cotton buds handy, dampen them with saliva and wipe up the excess. But I don't often need them.

 

Also my sanding stick is a fairly flexible ply about 20 x 180, it spans a few frames and follows the curve.

 

[oakheart]

15 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Keep a few cotton buds handy,

sanding stick is a fairly flexible

 

 

 

Good tip, Don't know about the spit, depends if I am drinking tea or beer, maybe a jar of distilled water might be better.

 

Sanding stick looks good, I have some sandpaper glued to a dowel for the lower curved part of the hull which seems to be working.

 

Tim

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

16 minutes ago, oakheart said:

maybe a jar of distilled water might be better.

Water spills, trust me.

 

17 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I have some sandpaper glued to a dowel for the lower curved part

Don't use too small a diameter, trust me.

[oakheart]

28 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Water spills,

🙂

I sometimes dribble these days, that's not good either.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

It feels like winter already. Heating on, managed to get a few more planks done.

 

Not sure about my planking run, do I need to try and correct it.  

Ignore the hacking on the last two planks near the stem, I got carried away with the scalpel blade

 

I was running out of room for the paper clip clamps, so I made some screw types, they work even better than the clips

some number zero self tappers and a bit of ally rod drilled, with an offcut of plank strip.

I have a knurling tool for the lathe to give the rod a bit of bite.

 

 

 A drop of glue on the head seems to be holding it okay.

 

 

[oakheart]

Thanks for the likes guys, it's nice to know you are still out there.
Hope to get another couple of planks done today.

 

Tim

[Javelin]

Stupid question from somebody who never did this: did you pre-drill the holes for your screw pins against splitting of the frames or was this not required? 

 

Great planking job so far!

[oakheart]

7 hours ago, Javelin said:

pre-drill the holes for your screw pins against splitting of the frames or was this not required? 

 

Hi javelin
I did pre-drill, the screws are 1.5mm dia. so I drilled 1mm holes, not so much to stop any splitting but it is much easier to start the screws and tighten them up. 

Thanks for the compliment on the planking

 

Tim

[oakheart]

I have now finished one side of the hull

really pleased with the overall result.

 

it even looks okay close up.

 

I did not manage to get the correct twist in the planks at the stern with the result that I sanded right through a couple of them.

 

Looks like it may be repairable.

 

I still need to do some clean up round the stem.

So when I do the other side I now know what to watch out for.

 

Not so sure if I will stain it, what a shame if it went patchy.

 

all comments welcome, please give me some feed back. is the repair doable?

 

Tim

Edited November 25, 2023 by oakheart

[iMustBeCrazy]

9 hours ago, oakheart said:

is the repair doable?

It's wood and you're only really worried about the outside surface, it's repairable.

 

 

Carve out the areas in purple until almost the depth of your planking, select wood with matching grain and glue in (clamp with your thumb if you have to), sand lightly.

 

Remove the plank from the stern post and do it all in one piece (edge glue 2 or more pieces to make a broad plank if you have to). I think it will look better if the grain runs parallel to the aft edge but choose what pleases you.

 

 

[oakheart]

13 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Carve out the areas in purple

 

Thanks Craig - Task completed for the first plank.

 

It looks a bit of a mess but it will not show.

 

New plank glued in place.

 

I will wait for it to dry and do the next one.

I may make some tiny slivers to fill the cracks as well. 

 

The sternpost plank was just a sacrificial piece while I sanded the main planks down.

I will make up a board as you suggest with the grain running parallel to the aft edge.

 

Thanks again for your help and support.

 

Tim

 

 

[oakheart]

Another plank and some slivers glued in place.

 

a bit of rubbing down

 

 

and you can hardly see the join.

 

Now just some more overall rubbing down with finer grit to get rid of the scratches.

 

then on to the other side.

 

 

[oakheart]

Thanks for all the likes.

I have pretty much decided to stain the hull as per the test I did earlier. So have ordered a larger bottle of the water based stain.

After it's applied the gaps between the planks ( caulking ) I hope will show much more clearly.

Once stained I will apply a coat or 2 of WOP.

 

Onto planking the Port side now

 

Tim

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by oakheart