Sloop Speedwell 1752 by Freebird (Rick) - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:32 Scale - POF

[Freebird]

This marks the start of my Syren POF Speedwell! I’ve been dealing with some medical issues and am now close to being 100%, so here we go! A POF has been a bucket list build for a long time as I’ve admired this style of model. Most of the offerings out there just didn’t appeal to me with the scaffold type of construction. Enter Chuck with his Speedwell, Bingo! I’m a huge fan of Chuck’s designs and all the help he (and the other MSW modelers) provides, it gives guys like me a lot of hope. I’ve built Chuck’s Medway (my first wood build) and it came out awesome. Thanks Chuck! I’ve started Cheerful but a POF build has extreme attraction for me. I’ll probably work on Cheerful when a break is needed. Last month at the New London Conference I got to meet Chuck (and Rusty, Ryland and Olha and several others! Awesome to meet you guys!). Had some great conversations and it was nice putting a face to the name. Also, I got to eyeball Chuck’s Speedwell, pictures in the build thread don’t do it justice. A real beauty! Anyway, here we go! When Chuck said there was a lot of wood in the 1st 2 chapters, he wasn’t kidding! The laser cutting is the best I’ve ever seen in a model. A lot of the parts had fallen out of the billets, so I took some time to place them in their proper place and used some blue painters tape to hold them in place. Because the thickness of the wood, I see a lot of billet sanding to remove surface char in my future. Here’s a picture of the wood. Stem will be started tonight.

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[allanyed]

Looking forward to your build Rick.  You surely picked the number one kit maker for our hobby, bar none.   One of the best things about the Syren model kits is that Chuck thoroughly researches each offering, confers with experts in ship modeling, then builds the model so he can work out any small issues before going into big production.

Allan

Edited May 11 by allanyed

[Freebird]

Thank you Allen. I totally agree with you about Chuck and his efforts to help the modeling community. Best in the business!

 

Best Regards .... Rick

[Freebird]

Here’s last night’s effort, the stem. It took a fair amount of time to get the parts to fit well, the angle cut of the laser is a bugger and careful sanding is required to get gap free joints. I mostly used a file and sanding sticks, I also used with excellent results my Byrnes 4” sander (RIP Jim, we miss you) for trimming down the joints that Chuck points out is his build. Overall it was a pleasant experience. Now to start the taper...

 

 Best Regards …. Rick

Edited May 11 by Freebird

[Rustyj]

Off to a great start Rick.

[Freebird]

Thank you Rusty, it's been fun so far. Thanks to All for the Likes, much appreciated!

 

Best Regards .... Rick

 

 

 

Edited May 11 by Freebird

[Freebird]

My first stem tapering with a figurehead. Thoughts? Also, how much of a radius should the stem have? I just knocked the corner off for now. 

 

 Best Regards …. Rick

Edited May 12 by Freebird

[Chuck]

Yes just knock the corner off a bit.  I would continue the taper lower a bit…not much by maybe a 3/4”.

[Freebird]

I thought it was still a little fat, but didn’t know how far down to go. Thanks for the eyeball Chuck!

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Freebird]

Here’s the final version of the stem. Still looking a little porky, Chuck?

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Chuck]

Maybe but it looks pretty good to my eye from the pics.

[Ryland Craze]

What a nice beginning to a great model.  It was great seeing you and your Medway Longboat at the Northeast Ship Model Conference.  Based on the work you did with your Medway, your Speedwell will be a terrific model.

[allanyed]

One of the many positive things to me about the thoroughness Chuck puts into his kits is the taper of the knee of the head both fore and aft as well as vertically.  This is a pretty basic design item and something seen on virtually all British naval vessels, (and maybe merchant or nations' vessels as well), yet, for whatever reason, the majority of other kit manufacturers seem to ignore this completely.  

Allan

Edited May 13 by allanyed

[Freebird]

Quote

What a nice beginning to a great model.  It was great seeing you and your Medway Longboat at the Northeast Ship Model Conference.  Based on the work you did with your Medway, your Speedwell will be a terrific model.

Ryland, thank you for the kind words! It was a pleasure for me meeting you as I've been a big fan of your builds. I just hope that I can do Speedwell justice!

 

Best Regards .... Rick

[yvesvidal]

On 5/10/2024 at 7:59 PM, Freebird said:

Impressive stack of precious wood !!!

Yves

[Freebird]

This morning marks my first contribution to the swear jar. I was trying to fit the stepped part of the keel and guess I didn’t have enough coffee or sleep and really butchered the part. Being this joint is visible, a new part will need to be made.

 

 Best Regards …. Rick

[Freebird]

When it comes to scrap wood, I very rarely throw it away, especially AYC. Digging around in the scrap box I found a perfect piece. It only took about 1/2 hour to make a replacement, now to continue with the build. The swear jar is happy as is the scrap bin, it got the messed up part. 
 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Chuck]

Nice save....I have a bit of room on that sheet so I have added a second pair of those parts 9 & 10 just in case.   Best to have a back up...   I am watching the current builds closely so I can add extra back up pieces based on which ones might need it if room on the sheet allows.  

[yvesvidal]

Syren Ship Models...the ultimate kit with spare parts. What a fantastic idea, Chuck.

 

Yves

[Freebird]

Here’s this morning’s efforts. I added the bottom of the keel, but first had to make the angle cut. To make the cut more accurate, I drew a line on the plan extending the required angle. Then placed the wood over the line.  Next, using your favorite cutting utensil score the wood using the lines on each side as a guide. After that, use a machinist square to draw a line across the wood. Now you have a guide for a straight cut. I used a new razor blade to make the cut and only needed a quick touch with sandpaper to make a perfect cut. Next, I used that cut to set the angle on my Byrnes disk sander for the mating part. All parts lined up perfectly for gluing in place.

 

Best Regards …. Rick

Edited May 17 by Freebird

[Freebird]

Thank you everyone for the likes, much appreciated and it keeps me motivated!

 

Here’s the completed keel, being on the long side, it’s hard to get decent pictures. I’ve also started on the forward apron, the wedges are glued together and ready to start fitting them. 
 

 Best Regards …. Rick

[Freebird]

Yesterday, I tackled the upper/lower apron. I had glued the wedge halves together a few days ago and had them lined up in the proper order on my workbench. However, I noticed that 8/9 wedge was missing! What the heck! Over an hour of searching produced negative results, swear jar was very happy. Only thing I could think of was the family cat took it as she likes to spend time with me. So, do I get a hold of Chuck and wait for replacement, or forge ahead. I really didn’t want to contact Chuck as he’s headed out for some R&R. I decided to make a replacement. I first tried the make the wedge by hand, I mean it’s all straight lines, right? Well I forgot that I can’t draw a straight line using a ruler. The results were very pathetic and not worthy. Well I forgot that I have a Proxxon mill, perfect! After about 1/2 hour of milling I dropped the part into the appropriate hole in the billet and it was a perfect fit. Yea! Sorry, but in my haste to move on, I forgot to take pictures. As you can see, the replacement really stands out on the apron. 
 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Freebird]

Question: I had a little time this morning to mess around and decide to assemble the frame with the O and X thru it. Assembly was easy and gave me an idea of how much sanding is in front of me. But me being me, I had to fit the frame on the keel. Small adjustments were needed as it was a very tight fit. Once fitted, I noticed the  bottom of the frame didn’t quite seat to the top of the rabbet, in other words, flush with the rabbet. Is this an issue? The plans clearly no space from the bottom of the frame to the top of the rabbet. So, question is, if the frame is to be flush with the top of the rabbet, do yo adjust the notch in the frame, or the notch in the rising wood?

 

 Best Regards …. Rick

Edited May 26 by Freebird

[Chuck]

Thats almost perfect.  When you fair the hull you fair into the rabbet.  The rabbet is a “V” shape.  But on our model just the top is angled to match the angle of framing into the rabbet when fairing.

 

Its almost perfect.  But to be safe…if you want to make the notch in the floor of the frame just a bit deeper it would be fine.  
 

BUT…are you sure you used the correct frame parts.  That doesnt look like the floors for that frame. But it could just be the angle of the photo.  

[Freebird]

The parts are the correct parts, must be camera angle. I did like Jean-Marie and placed each of the frames into its own separate baggie so there wouldn’t be any mixup of the parts. That was a great idea. I’ll add a few more frames and see how they seat before making a decision. If I do trim, it’ll be from the floor. Thanks for chiming in, Chuck. 
 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Seventynet]

Rick, you are doing a beautiful job. 

 

Ian

[Freebird]

Chuck had me second guessing myself if I used the correct floor for frame OX.  Because I never break up or throw away the billets, I was able to put floors 1a and Af  back into the billet and confirmed I used the correct floor. 
 

 Best Regards …. Rick

[Freebird]

Another problem. I started cleaning frame assembly Af and there’s 2 sets of uprights and they’re not the same length or shape. Which parts are the correct parts for frame Af and to which frame set do the other parts belong?

 

Best Regards …. Rick

Edited May 27 by Freebird

[Rustyj]

There was an error marking them. The longer ones should be 10A.

[Freebird]

Ah yes, thank you for the reminder. I read that but totally forgot about that. Another lesson learned, if you’re tired, no modeling.

 

 Best Regards …. Rick