jwvolz

Wonderful.

You know I was thinking of doing Cruizer next but how am I supposed to beat this? Very nice work Joe.

Love the tiller with blocks and rope work. Nicely done detail.

Nice job Joe.  Rigging looks fantastic!

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Started on the main mast.  Because it is best to use the same wood as the rest of the project, a 3/8" x 3/8" square strip of cedar is being used.  You could obviously replace this with a dowel of another wood already rounded off but the difference in wood texture and color would really stick out.  Most of the mast and boom and gaff etc will NOT be painted.   Its a good thing to try if you havent done so...rounding off a square strip like this.
 

First I used the template provided to line out the strip with a 7/10/7 ratio.  Just transfer the tick marks for the two center lines every four of five inches down each side of the mast.  Using a 7/10/7 ratio will create a perfect octagon after the corners are shaved away.  This is being done to make it easier to turn this in a lathe or chocked in a hand drill.  The strip is 20" long and its much longer than you will need so there is plenty of meat on either side to chock this in your hand drill.
 

 
Then connect you lines with a sharp pencil so you have a guide when slicing and planing off the four corners.  I used a sharp #11 blade to shave and whittle off the corners almost down to the lines.  It doesnt have to be perfect.....then I ran a sanding stick across the flats created.
 

Then drill the holes that will be needed for the sheaves you will simulate on the mast later.  There are three.  It is easier to do this now while the strip is square.
 

 
This is what my mast looks like after I shaved off the corners.  Its ready for me to chock in my hand drill and taper it.  This will take a while to do and be sure you use a mask because it makes a lot of dust.
 
Here is a photo of how I do it in my hand drill.....this is from another project.  I believe this is the lower mast for Cheerful.  Or if you are lucky enough to own a lathe, that would be a good choice.  I didnt worry about creating the small shoulder or stepped portion of the mast for the longboat.  I will do that by hand once I create the general taper.  In the end the lower part of the mast turned out slightly smaller than 3/8" which is just perfect.
 

Then finally,  I was able to finish up those sheaves so they looked good.  To simulate the sheaves I used a #11 blade and some round needle files....you can use whatever you feel most comfortable with.  Here is the final results.  This was done after I created the stepped portion or "shoulder in the mast as you can see.  This was just done by hand.  The cedar worked very well for this operation and I was happy with the results.  More to follow....

 
 

Here are the first four starkes in place. The pre-spiled planks are real nice and save a lot of work but still require
work on our part. A lot of time was taken with each piece. Heat, bend, very lightly sand any portion that needs
it and repeat over and over until a nice fit is obtained. As the AYC is a bit softer than boxwood I used fine sanding
sticks and files as anything course would take too much wood off.Slow and steady really applies to the planking here.
 
Though not as nice as Chucks I'm happy with it.
 

 

After nearly 5 years and many hours in the workshop, my Constitution is completed. In the course of building her I lost my brother and my father, so this build has been dedicated to them. I hope they were following along wherever they are. I really had fun building this kit and for $300 or so that I spent on it I sure got my money's worth. I am going to leave this build log open, as I plan to take some glamor shots of the model soon, as well as build a case for it when the weather warms up again next year. In the mean time I will build a poster board cover to keep the dust off it. Here are some quick shots I took of the completed model.





I really appreciate those of you who have been following this build, especially the comments and advice. I could not have built this without the logs of those who came before me or started after me and finished before me (yes, I'm talking to you Ken). I hope this build log will be helpful for current and future builders of this great kit. Thank you all.

Thank you Russ and Martin, nice to hear from you both.
 
Andante, thanks.  Good to know you have a record!  
 
Work continues on the cutter.   I've spent just a little time most days this week.  At least it's progress!
 
Making the seats and thwarts--
 
 
They are test fit here, not glued yet--

 
Still many parts to make.
 
Ron

The treenailing is finished.  Here are some photos of the process. 
 
A pencil line is drawn on Tamiya tape as a guide.  A pin then marks the appropriate places for the nails.  This provides a guide for the drill bit, and makes it less likely for mistakes to be made.  The first two photos show both the pinpricks and the drill holes.  Not shown, the tape is then applied closely to either side of the rows of drill holes and the filler scraped along the gap between the two strips of tape, filling the holes.  This is done so that not too much filler needs to be rubbed off (by a dampened piece of kitchen paper) in the finishing process.

 

Finished.

 
 

Hello all.  It's been a painfully long time since I've spent any time in the modelling shop, and I decided I needed to get back to it, but I was having difficulty finding the motivation to get back to work on the Cheerful or the Picket Boat. In an attempt to solve my motivational problems, I decided to commit myself to participation in this group build.
 
The kit arrived today, and there are a surprisingly large number of parts for an overgrown rowboat. The laser cutting is super crisp with very little burn-through and very small connections. Quality of this kit appears to be superb as I expected. 
 
No idea how much progress I'll be making for the next month as I have a lot of stuff going on in my life and I'll be out of the country twice between now and New Year's, but I hope to get started on this later this week.

Every photo I have from onboard Victory shows natural wood, though certainly varnished to prevent rot.
 
It really makes sense when you think about it. It had to move and you probably didn't want paint preventing it from turning properly with paint getting in the joint with the axle. 

Every photo I have from onboard Victory shows natural wood, though certainly varnished to prevent rot.
 
It really makes sense when you think about it. It had to move and you probably didn't want paint preventing it from turning properly with paint getting in the joint with the axle. 

Every photo I have from onboard Victory shows natural wood, though certainly varnished to prevent rot.
 
It really makes sense when you think about it. It had to move and you probably didn't want paint preventing it from turning properly with paint getting in the joint with the axle. 

Every photo I have from onboard Victory shows natural wood, though certainly varnished to prevent rot.
 
It really makes sense when you think about it. It had to move and you probably didn't want paint preventing it from turning properly with paint getting in the joint with the axle. 

Every photo I have from onboard Victory shows natural wood, though certainly varnished to prevent rot.
 
It really makes sense when you think about it. It had to move and you probably didn't want paint preventing it from turning properly with paint getting in the joint with the axle.