Sloop Speedwell 1752 by baribeaujm (Jean-Marc) - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:32 Scale - POF Sloop

[Rustyj]

That is some very nice work!

[baribeaujm]

Hull Planking

 

I proceeded with the hull planking as per the instructions. The paper template is crucial for adjusting the position of the sweep ports and gun ports. The height of a few gun ports sills had to be corrected (never more than 1/32") to conform to the template. Some sweep ports were a bit off and this could be taken care of by tracing their exact position using the template. I guess these slight adjustments are unavoidable given all the possible variations in frame construction and positioning. 

 

Adjusting the upper wale height at the bow is a bit tricky. For this I positioned a 1/8" guide as shown here.

With the upper wale position established, I proceeded with the planking. For shaping the planks I used the travel iron and air dryer technique. I used a combination of CA and PVA for gluing. I typically would apply CA to 10 consecutive frames and ten PVA on the following 2-3 frames. The CA glued section is position carefully and once the glue is cured, the PVA glued buffer gives me easy access and time to apply CA glue to the next 10 frames. I found this approach insured that all frames were glued to the plank, avoided CA messes, and minimized the risk of opening gaps at the joints when CA is used at once over the whole length of the plank. 

 

Before planking above the wales, I checked the width of my 7/32" planks. My planks were a hair too thick (0.225" instead of 0.219"). I used my Varitas mini plane to narrow the planks down to the correct width. Slightly thicker planks would have led to complications when planking around the ports and shifted the position of the fancy molding.  I completed the first three rows plus part of the fourth. 

 

 A milestone has been reached. It is now time to remove the jig! 

[CaptMorgan]

Looks very nice.   Keep up the great work...   

Removing the jig is a fun step to get to.   Enjoy....

Steve

[baribeaujm]

Removing the JIGS

 

Before removing the jig, I decided like others to reinforce the frames by inserting fillers at the sheer. This is probably not needed, but should add some rigidity when fairing inside the hull.  Removing the jigs was straightforward. No issues here. As instructed, I used a long sanding sticks to create a smooth even sheer line. The hull template is useful here to tweak the sheer. 

 

The fairing Cap and Inboard Fairing

 

I added the fairing cap making sure I do not mix the two middle sections. Then came fairing inboard... This is a long process.  It took me several tens of hours to complete this. I used only sandpapers and sanding bars of various grits. Fairing at the bow is especially tedious because that section is quite concave and hard to reach. 

 

I also added the keelson as you can see. 

 

Planking Above the Wales

 

I completed the planking up to the 1/4" strake.  Here the planking template is very useful to shape the planks at the bow. I tried to follow the plan as much as possible trying to match the strake height with respect to the gun/seep ports. I found it important to check the exact width of my 7/32 planks and make adjustments where necessary. Errors are cumulative and it does not take much to deviate from the plan. A few photos follow:

 

 

The next step is treenailing. I will report on this in hopefully a not too distant future...

 

 

[Seventynet]

Looking really good! Nice clean transition of the frames into the deadwood.

 

Ian

[Chuck]

Beautiful work.  Really nice progress.

[Freebird]

Outstanding!

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[baribeaujm]

Treenailing

 

This step was faster than anticipated. I used a no. 78 bit and 10 lb. monofilament. The fishing line used is burnt orange, which softens the contrast with the yellow cedar planking. I found that for this repetitive task it is better to work in short sessions. After a half hour of marking, drilling, etc. it easy to loose concentration and make mistakes. Better to stop and return to it later...I inserted the fishing line directly into the drilled hole. It was a tight fit and no glue needed. 

 

Completing the Planking

 

The final two strakes and drifts were added next.  This is again fairly straightforward. The only tricky step here is to cut holes in the planks where the sheaves are positioned. Shaping and gluing the drift at the bow is also a bit tricky since it is above the rabbet. Here are a couple of views. 

 

 

in these shots you can see that WOP was applied up to the 1/8" stakes and that the second layer of the wales was completed. I decided to paint the wales before gluing them on. I used Admiralty Matt (Metal) Black, which I always use for wales, spars, etc. Applied in several dilute coats it produces a superb finish. Finally, I dare to show a front view of the bow. 

 

The overall result is not too bad. The strakes are slightly pointing upwards at the bow, which suggests insufficient fairing close to the stem. There are small strake height variations from starboard to port. Fortunately, a lot of this will be hidden when additional elements are added at later stage of the build. 

 

Preparing the qbadges and fancy moldings

 

For these, I used the fruitwood gel stain method. 

I am more or less happy with the result. The staining is not uniform and a showing too much orange shades and build up in some areas (stain too old?).  I will experiment with IPA to see if the coloring and uniformity can be improved before I glue those on the model. I welcome suggestions here.

 

[Chuck]

That looks excellent.  I have found that using some 90% alcohol on a paint brush helps remove some stain and lighten up some areas.  
 

chuck

[Rustyj]

That is some great looking work there!

[Seventynet]

Wonderful work!

 

Ian