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

[oakheart]

Got quite a bit done yesterday, deck planked with 5mm white maple from Mantua Models.

 

 

I think it looks good, there are a couple of planks I may replace. I was not taking notice, the brown blemish shows now I have sanded it down.

 

here is a close up

 

 

used the soft pencil for the caulking, it was glued to 1mm thick grey card, I have left it loose for the time so I can try other decking.

 

what does everyone think of the colour and width?

 

Tim

[kgstakes]

I like the color and the width what’s it measure out to be 4-6 inches?

 

 Looks great what ever the width.  Good job my friend.

Edited January 2 by kgstakes

[kgstakes]

I see what you mean by the blemish.  As much trouble as it is probably replace it if nothing will cover it as you build on.

 

 Had the same problem with my river boat build but one of the rooms covered it and with furniture in there it didn’t show as bad.

[oakheart]

3 hours ago, kgstakes said:

I see what you mean by the blemish

 

 thanks for the compliment @kgstakes.

Here it is with blemish removed, a bit more work than with photoshop, but worth doing.

a quick coat of WOP ( water based Tamiya matt, thinned). looks much crisper now.

 

width of planks is 5mm which at 1:48 equates to about 9.5 inches.

the gap at the stern top right, will be covered by the pantry or the W.C. can't remember which goes on which side.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

Tim, I think she's going to look very nice.

 

And to think it's taken me four days to draw six pieces of wood!

 

2 hours ago, oakheart said:

can't remember which goes on which side.

 

W.C.

 

Now, remember you are working off different drawings:

 

[oakheart]

1 hour ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

I think she's going to look very nice.

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

1 hour ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

remember you are working off different drawings:

 

I seem to have difficulty even following the ones I do have 🙂

Next jobs, glue down the deck, line the bulwarks, fit the spirketting and waterway, then frame the gunports.

 

I intend to leave it all natural wood so there will be no hiding any ( more ) mistakes..................

 

Tim

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

37 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I intend to leave it all natural wood so there will be no hiding any more

Perhaps some very very light stains to provide some contrast?

 

I'm looking at using Tassie Oak (our generic hardwood, actually more of an Ash than an Oak) and the Huon Pine which will provide the contrast, and will probably paint the wale black to stick with my theme.

 

 

[Thunder]

On 1/1/2024 at 10:00 AM, oakheart said:

Happy New Year to all onboard.

 

I managed to get the wales cut and glued in place, I was really happy with the result.

 

 

Then I went back to figuring out the deck.

I cut out the deck plan from the original design as drawn by Bill and laid it in place.
As I looked, the old saying of "measure twice and cut once" sprang to my mind.

How did I managed to do that?
I had measured from the transom taking measurements from the side view drawing, it looks like I had got the stern all wrong, it's too long, so that threw out the gun ports.

 

 

Not a lot I can do about it now, so I will crack on and finish this model knowing that it's wrong, I think it should make a nice looking model all the same.

 

I don't remember who said it, but apparently "we learn nothing from success."

 

Tim

 

Hi Tim,

 

Finally caught up with your build, and it is looking great. However, just wanted to jump in to avoid a potential issue regarding the gunport positions. Are you going to make the deck layout match the gunports? My concern is that the position of the belaying pins is arranged either side of the gunport. You will have to move these aft to match. If you have to do the same with the chain plates, external to the hull, then this will effect the shrouds. You will then have to move the mast back to match. It does then mean the bits and gratings at the base of the mast will need to move. Just wanted to make sure you considered this now rather than find it when you get to the rigging stage.

[oakheart]

1 hour ago, Thunder said:

Are you going to make the deck layout match the gunports?

Thunder, welcome onboard, glad you like the build so far, it was your original build that inspired me to start this model.

Thanks for taking a look and for some very welcome advice.

You are right I will have to move everything to match the revised gun ports.

I had been considering doing a sort of "admiralty" style with a stub mast and bowsprit, so no rigging, it's above my current pay grade anyway.

Could I get away with just moving the things you mention.

The anchor will also need moving, that was a costly ( in effort ) mistake I made ..............

 

Tim

 

 

[oakheart]

10 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

very light stains to provide some contrast

Hi Craig

That is a nice idea.

I did do some tests earlier using a water based stain which worked well on the cedar.

But I am terrified that it will all go horribly wrong and I will end up with patchy tide marks all over the beautifully smooth hull.

Someone suggested spraying the stain using a hand spray bottle, not sure if this would work

 

I think more testing is required.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 minutes ago, oakheart said:

not sure if this would work

Me neither.

 

Try on some scrap, a coat of WOP then a coat of lightly tinted WOP. I think it should come out nice and even.

[oakheart]

1 minute ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

a coat of WOP then a coat of lightly tinted WOP.

Off to test this out.

I have plenty of time here as we are hemmed in by floods all round, can't get out of the village by road, I could do a 2 mile walk across the fields.
People are saying I should have built a full sized ship.................

 

Tim

 

 

[Thunder]

Hi,

 

I am thinking that could possibly get away with just moving the belaying racks and then making sure you space the shrouds / deadeyes so they do not end up in front of the gun port. Looking at mine those belaying racks look a little forward anyway. 

 

The cutter is a nice rig to complete just worth noting that Bill Shoulder got the bowsprit rigging incorrect, i think i mentioned it in my log.

[oakheart]

2 hours ago, Thunder said:

get away with just moving the belaying racks and then making sure you space the shrouds / deadeyes so they do not end up in front of the gun port

Thanks Thunder, I can see how that could work.

I have just been working up some drawings in photoshop.

 

 

The rigging would take me well outside my comfort zone at this time. Lets see how I feel when I have completed the hull.

 

Tim

[druxey]

Check the position of the channels and deadeyes; usually the first shroud is very nearly abreast of the mast. See:

 

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-86243

Edited January 3 by druxey

[iMustBeCrazy]

17 minutes ago, oakheart said:

I have just been working up some drawings in photoshop.

I've had a little play myself. Note that the scaling of your model is pretty rough.

The forward three shrouds between the ports and the aft one moved a little further aft should work.

Edited January 3 by iMustBeCrazy

[oakheart]

9 minutes ago, druxey said:

usually the first shroud is very nearly abreast of the mast

Thanks druxey

So would it be better to move the shrouds back like this?

 

 

Tim

[oakheart]

13 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

The forward three shrouds between the ports and the aft one moved a little further aft should work.

Thanks Craig

Using the side view helps to visualise how it might work. I will have another go at sorting it out in the morning.

 

Tim

[Thunder]

Remember the shrouds do not have to be equally spaced, the first one should be in line with the mast but the others would be spaced tosuit the gunport so can make that gap larger if necessary if would interfere with the gunport lid.

[druxey]

That's the idea, Tim!

[iMustBeCrazy]

49 minutes ago, Thunder said:

the first one should be in line with the mast

While that's true of the kit you built I've taken the dimensions from the Lapwing drawings on which Speedy was based. Speedy may have been different but I've not found any contemporary drawings to show it.

 

[oakheart]

Thanks for the advice @druxey, @Thunder and @iMustBeCrazy.
 have done a new profile view and think I will be able to make it work.

 

This model will not represent any particular cutter but should work visually.

I am not sure now if the straps ( don't know what their real name is ) should bolt into the wale?

 

Tim

 

Edited January 4 by oakheart

[Thunder]

I think that will look better than the regular spaced shrouds and have seen exactly like that in some sources.

 

I would always try to get the straps down to the wale if possible.

 

I would still say that this is a good representation of speedy. Items of rig would change through a ships life as captains changed things to try and get a better trim and improve sailing quality. 

[iMustBeCrazy]

6 hours ago, oakheart said:

have done a new profile view and think I will be able to make it work

Looks fine to me but the straps will all be pointing to a spot up the mast about 54 feet above the deck.

1 hour ago, Thunder said:

I would always try to get the straps down to the wale if possible.

 

..... Items of rig would change through a ships life as captains changed things to try and get a better trim and improve sailing quality.

The Lapwing drawings are possibly wrong here except there were probably no clearly defined wales (other than by a coat of paint) just a thickening of the planking. (My Lapwing will have wales despite this).

 

Add in that Speedy was built 10 years after Lapwing and some changes are certainly possible.

 

This is one of the Vigilant class (enlarged Lapwings with 2 extra guns) showing the shrouds moved.

[oakheart]

1 hour ago, Thunder said:

I would still say that this is a good representation of speedy

Thanks @Thunder that encourages me to keep going.

Edited January 4 by oakheart

[oakheart]

25 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

Looks fine to me but the straps will all be pointing to a spot up the mast about 54 feet above the deck.

Thanks Craig @iMustBeCrazy, that will need to be worked out, but they should swivel on the bolt so I can adjust after they are fitted?

 

Tim

Edited January 4 by oakheart

[druxey]

Your mockup (post #112) shows the first deadeye stlll too far forward of the mast.The aft edge of the deadeye should be about level with the fore edge of the mast (see bottom pic, post #114).

[oakheart]

1 hour ago, druxey said:

The aft edge of the deadeye should be about level with the fore edge of the mast (see bottom pic, post #114

thanks @druxey I will amend the mockup, there is so much to learn and keep track of, I have learned so much on this forum.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

11 hours ago, druxey said:

(see bottom pic, post #114).

Talking about a lot to learn.

The drawings  in post #105 and #114 show the deadeye straps passing though the board attached to the hull, other drawings show it on the outside?

 

OK now I think I need to do some more research on the names for the parts of what I believe are called the "channel" or "Chains"

 

I found this webpage useful even though it seems aimed at a more general audience

http://www.ageofsail.net/aostermi.asp

 

Is there a good reference I can refer too?

here comes yet another rabbit hole......................if I don't get too sidetracked I might get some ship building done.

 

Tim

 

 

 

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, oakheart said:

I think I need to do some more research

There will be exceptions!

 

The channel is often notched for the chain plates and then a cover strip goes on the outside.

 

This gives a fairly clear example: