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

[Wintergreen]

Great progress on your serving skills, Tim!

And yes, it is difficult with the magnifier and hand coordination. 

For the moment I use x2 magnifiers, which is manageable. I tried the x3 but then everything got very distorted.

 

Keep it up!

[Thukydides]

3 hours ago, oakheart said:

I do have an Optivisor style head mounted magnifier, which I find can help to see things more clearly, but I do find it difficult to get the hand / eye co-ordinated when magnified, again I probably need to practice

Yes it does require a bit of practice to learn to keep everything within the focal range. But as your ropes get smaller, I found it really helps with getting things right.

[oakheart]

5 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

I tried the x3 but then everything got very distorted

Thanks for the compliment Hakan @Wintergreen

 

1 hour ago, Thukydides said:

I found it really helps with getting things right.

 

I just checked and mine are X3, that could be part of my problem... I will see if I can get other lenses for this model.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

I managed a couple of hours model making between eating, drinking and making merry.

Got the pumps made. Not sure if they need iron lids or not.

 

 

 

Hope every one has a great year in 2025

 

Tim

 

 

[oakheart]

work for this year has started.

I had to move the pumps back towards the stern and jack the ships boat up a bit to make it clear the skylight 

 

but I think it looks okay.

 

Tim

[Thukydides]

Those pumps look really good.

[SaltyScot]

I agree, it looks great. Your work is impressive, a very nice build sir!

[oakheart]

Thanks to both @SaltyScot and @Thukydides for the compliments and all of the likes.

Still more deck fittings and anchors to do before I get started on the rigging, oh and the cannons.

 

Tim

[archjofo]

Another excellent performance.

The boat is impressively beautifully executed.

[oakheart]

3 hours ago, archjofo said:

Another excellent performance

Thanks Johann

 

 

[oakheart]

After remodeling the kitchen over winter now the garden has started up again.

I did manage to get a stand made from a bit of mahogany I had, not sure if it works?

It's a lot redder in real life.

 

 

pleased with the brass fittings from Cornwall Model Boats, dulled down as they are bit bright otherwise.

Comments please.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

1 hour ago, oakheart said:

Comments please.

That's a tough question Tim, it all comes down to taste but it sounds like you're not convinced.

 

Myself, I feel that there's too much wood and too much straight grain. I think a black marble (or faux black marble) would add elegance and contrast.

Otherwise a heavily figured wood, something complex and contrasty.

 

My tuppence anyway.

[oakheart]

13 minutes ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

a heavily figured wood

 

Thanks for the feedback Craig, I agree about the straight grain, its what there was ........

Will search my wood pile for something more lively, I did not want to dominate the model.
maybe a paler wood with some nice grain.

 

Tim

[Thukydides]

As previously noted this is really a personal preference qurstion. If I was nitpicking I feel like the two keel holders are too close together.

 

But overall it looks good to me.

Edited Sunday at 12:42 PM by Thukydides

[oakheart]

7 hours ago, Thukydides said:

the two keel holders are too close together

 

Hi @Thukydides thanks for the positive feed back, I would have to agree on the spacing.

I will have to do something about the heights of the pedestals to get the model level if I move them wider.

 

On the wood front, I did find a bit of wildly grained parana pine but it looks a bit too goofey.

Might even do a painted base.

 

Tim

 

[iMustBeCrazy]

2 hours ago, oakheart said:

Might even do a painted base.

You can try sitting her on coloured paper to get a feel for how it looks.

If you go high gloss it's going to have to be perfect, if you go satin finish it will be more forgiving.

That said, I'd probably try a gloss black.

 

Another option might be a diorama type sea (just the top of the plinth) with her floating above.

[oakheart]

10 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

on coloured paper

I like that idea,.

Had considered the diorama idea, with the base a lump of rough stone / rock, could be a bit 'twee' if not done right.

Could even be sandy like the seabed.

 

Endless fun could be had. I could play all day, better than doing any real work on the ship.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

On 4/27/2025 at 1:41 PM, Thukydides said:

I feel like the two keel holders are too close together

 

OK. I have gone for a satin black base. I think this works, some of the contemporary models at RMG have black stands.

 

 

@Thukydides Thanks for the comment,  I have spaced them out further and the model is then not level, is that important?

I suppose the mast needs to be vertical, but as its not yet fixed in place, difficult to tell

 

as you say this is all down to a personal choice.

 

Tim

[oakheart]

The Postie has just delivered a nice new 'Apron' block plane so now I have no excuse, on with the build.

 

 

Tim

[Thukydides]

13 minutes ago, oakheart said:

@Thukydides Thanks for the comment,  I have spaced them out further and the model is then not level, is that important?

I suppose the mast needs to be vertical, but as its not yet fixed in place, difficult to tell

 

as you say this is all down to a personal choice

I think it looks much better.

 

In terms of the angle, that depends on the waterline. Cutters had a keel drag so you need to look at the plans and make sure the waterline is level with the base. It looks pretty close to my eye, but without looking at the plans you don't know exactly how much keel drag there was.

 

The mast on cutters is not straight, the exact angle to the keel you need to figure out from the plans. For example you can see below a picture of my alert (an earlier cutter), but you can see how far back the mast is angled.

[oakheart]

43 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

you can see how far back the mast is angled.

 

Thanks, I will check Bills plans to see what angle the mast should be.

Much happier with the look of the base now.

 

I can hopefully also adjust the pedestals to get the keel at the correct angle to show the drag.

 

Tim

[Thukydides]

36 minutes ago, oakheart said:

 

Thanks, I will check Bills plans to see what angle the mast should be.

Much happier with the look of the base now.

 

I can hopefully also adjust the pedestals to get the keel at the correct angle to show the drag.

 

Tim

So I took a quick look at the plans on RMG and it may be that the speedy mast was perpendicular to the keel, you can print off the plans and measure the angle. Though the waterline is at a significant angle.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-86216

[oakheart]

2 hours ago, Thukydides said:

measure the angle.

So I measured the angle on Bills drawing and as far as I can tell its the same as the RMG drawing.

 

That's assuming LWL means the water level.

 

Here is my stand with a 10mm spacer that brings it up to the correct angle, I think this looks too steep.

 

 

Probably half that would do it, I love tinkering until it looks right, all part of the build for me.

 

Tim

[iMustBeCrazy]

4 hours ago, oakheart said:

So I measured the angle on Bills drawing and as far as I can tell its the same as the RMG drawing.

Tim, I get it as 89-90° to the keel (leaning aft if 89°).

4 hours ago, oakheart said:

I think this looks too steep.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:15 PM by iMustBeCrazy

[oakheart]

8 hours ago, iMustBeCrazy said:

leaning aft if 89°

Thanks Craig, I need to make sure my mast is held tightly, at the moment it wobbles about all over the place.

And thanks to everyone for their help, it's what I love about this place.

 

Tim