MEDDO

Enjoy your rest and relaxation.  Maybe we will see one of those little umbrellas in your next post 😁

Thanks for looking in, everyone.
 
The tholes were completed and the rub strake installed. The rub strake profile was rounded using a molding scraper and lengths then cut off using a slitting blade in the saw.
 
The last challenge was the roundels at the bow. The lettering was too small to paint by hand, so I created the roundels in PhotoShop at 600 dpi and printed multiple copies. The rope ring was beige thread. I formed the rings by wrapping thread around a drill bit shank, stiffening them with white glue. When dry, the rings were sliced off and glued to the roundels. The roundels were then cut free of the paper and the cut edges match painted. 
 
The rudder is next, as this completed the boat itself.
 
 

I want to thank everybody for the nice comments and likes it provides great motivation. 👍
 
All's that left is to paint and assemble, snip off rod and glue on end caps.
 

 
 

Completed segments D, E and F.  Practice does help when cleaning the second segment E it only took 3 hours to clean the char and I spent some more time on the first segment E char. Segments D and F were straight forward as the others with only segment F a little harder to hold because of its size. Only one more part to build which is segment F.
 
segments A, B, C, D, E (2x) assembled on square rod
 

 
Segment F added to assembly
 

 
I may redo the first segment E as I'm not very happy with show the bracket and standard fit together. Fortunately Chuck furnished spares just for this purpose.
 
 

Gaetan is right,  most of the benchtop mills don't have the capability to drill holes.  This benchtop mill is a Taig,  it came with the standard head on it,  no drilling.  I made a new head with a quill,  it has an ER-16 collet chuck on it up to 10MM  capacity.  It also has a 1/4 HP motor on it which will run from 600-10000 RPM and has  1 3/4 drilling capacity.  The run out on the spindle is .0002 which is about the best you can get.  It has a Fafnir taper roller bearing on the bottom and a ABEC-5 radial bearing on the top of the spindle and also in the pulley.  I put a Newall magnetic scale digital read out on it also.  The head is designed similar to the old Bridgeport M head.  Also made a vise for it because the one that came with it wasn't too good.  This machine is deadly accurate   
 
Jim
Model Machines

Moving on, the details at the bow have been completed. I noticed on the photographs of the actual boat that the flanges on the inner sides of the hawse pipes were larger than those on the outer sides. A protective  metal strap extends down the face of the stem as well.
 
I'm now working on the wash strakes. First the stub timberheads were sanded to uniform height. Short lengths of plank are being added and then reinforcing pieces of mini in-rail. There are pieces of timber with a gap between tholes 1 and 2 on the prototype. I have no idea what their purpose was, but copied them here.
 

Very nice cross section.  Can't wait to see it displayed on the stand and in the case
 
 
 

Okay, comments:
HMS Fly is a great kit. I know, 'cause I own a partially-built one and lots of finished ones dot the landscape around here. The only knock against Fly is that you absolutely should get the upgrade kit that goes with it. If you don't want to buy a separate upgrade kit, then ... ... get the Pegasus kit, which is a Swan-class sloop like Fly but already has all the upgrade parts included in the kit. Or ... ... consider Speedy or Flirt from Vanguard Models. Same designer as Fly and Pegasus, but newer and thus have improved construction methodology. Pride of Baltimore II is also a great kit and makes a beautiful model, but Model Shipways kits typically have fewer (often much fewer) pre-cut parts. MS expects you to be able to scratch-build many features, like deck houses, using dimensions taken directly from the plans. Don't let that scare you -- if you really like Baltimore clippers, this is the gold standard model kit of that type. Short answer: those are all very good kits.

It’s been a while since my last post, lots of stuff going on outside the shipyard.
 
Ratlines Completed
For all my delaying completing the ratlines wasn’t really that big a deal, it basically took me a days work for each side and was kind of relaxing in a weird way. Of course having only 4 shrouds per side and the the 1:48 scale made it simpler, but so did my revised method (from past models).
 

 
I put my own spin on what I’d learned from several other build logs by scanning a copy of the plans, printing a copy for starboard, reversing the scanned image using Apple Preview and printing that for the port side. I mounted the paper on stiff card with the bottom the right height to match the sheer pole on paper to the one on the model. This saved me the step of making a grid but more importantly gave me good vertical lines to keep the shape right. My shrouds at the start weren’t an exact match to the plans, but they are very close and consistent enough to act as a guide. The spacings are correct, the angle of the photo or the paper leaning back throws off the aspect.
 
I used .012 dark brown line (I should have been a hoarder, I’m going to miss Syren rope when mine runs out) I did them in sections, first the “five lines” which I’d highlighted in orange, then the “ten lines” in green ,then the three’s, ones, fours and twos. I glued each after I was done with a section, allowed them to dry and cut off the tails before doing the next section keeping the working field clean and lines from shifting.
 

 
I did all the lines using clove hitches working left to right (because I’m left handed). If you use some other knot, even if only on the outside shrouds I highly recommend using clove hitches instead. Once I got going I was whipping across the shrouds, the clove hitch allows adjusting for the right tension easily and frankly just looks good.
 

 
And then they were done. Another benefit of doing them in random spaced groups is I didn’t focus on ‘aargh…how many more rows until I get to the top….’ By doing sections I didn’t think about anything but that section and was almost surprised when there weren’t anymore to do. So I immediately strung 4 lines from my cabinet down to the worktop and weaved more ratlines for the pure joy of it….or maybe not.
 
Rope Coils
It was time to do final tension on lines, gluing them, and adding rope coils. I’ve again chosen to do them differently than on past models, I think the 1:48 scale makes me think differently. I went searching on MSW for ideas and found multiple posts on Flemish coils (which I’m not a fan of doing) however there wasn’t much on “working coils” or at least in a way I wanted to do them. I did locate a repost by @ccoyle of a method used by ‘Peter-V’ that served as a starting point, so credit and thanks to him and to Chris for further sharing it.  I once again put my spin on it and wasted a bit of rope sorting out a look I liked. I also didn’t determine key steps (see below) until Googling rope coils and finding a series of images related to actual sailing. Side note for Cheerful builders, I went through a lot of .018 Light Brown rope, in fact I wouldn’t have had enough to finish the boat if I hadn’t ordered some for my next build of Flirt. I had to cut into that stock, a problem for another day. I thought I was fairly judicious but likely used too much for rope coils. One coil is a lot of rope and I have made and remade them. I probably could have been more efficient with the lengths of tackle. I’m sure it’s my fault, so just a heads up.
 

 
I want the coils to look natural and each one be somewhat consistent but at the same time different from the one next to it - like the lines are in use, not inspection ready. Each one is made, then painted in very watered down white glue, then with a wet brush to avoid white glue staining. Once dry then smushed (that’s a technical term) with my finger and bent around to shape it to its location - again being different each time.
 

 
After a few false starts I came up with this ‘rope board’ using brass tubing, brass rod, and brass belaying pins. All the brass is removable, which is essential to how I make them. There are two set up for pin rails and two for cleats and another just for straight up coils, the differences being the size of the eye and length of the coils (the board shows it took a few iterations to get there).
 

 
I should do a separate post in the rigging forum to provide more detail from what I’ve learned, even more so since I took these photos. The short(er) version is to wrap the rope around the brass pins leaving the top extra long (it goes on for a few inches behind the board) before seating it in a split on the top, after 4-6 wraps (I varied them) the end of the rope seated in another split in the bottom. Loosen the top excess rope and grap the first (bottom) loop with tweezers (it’s tricky, sharp pointed tweezers are essential)and pull it out.
 

 

 
Loop it top over bottom (not bottom over top) then do a complete 360 degree clockwise loop (not 180) (the two key steps I’d missed from the research) and place that over the belaying pin at the top. It represents the pin rail on the boat (or the top of a cleat). Snug that up with the top rope.
 

 

 
Remove the top brass rod and tighten it further. Another lesson I learned is not too tight as it is in this photo - shape the loop a little. Then paint it all with watered down white glue. Remove the bottom brass rod after the glue dries and lift it off the board. Important point, I used a drop of CA (yes I like and use CA) on the back side of the coil’s top to seal the top rope that formed the loop (another lesson learned) before sniping of the excess of both the bottom and top ropes otherwise the whole thing may collapse into a wad (he said having done that). I then did the artistic smushing and bending before installing it on the ship.
 
I hope that makes some sense, each one I make I do a little different but this is the essence of what I learned from others then modified to work for me. A final point, getting the watered down glue the right consistency is another key - so the rope is not too stiff or not to loose. I’m still working to finding the magic formula.
 
Topmast Shrouds
 

 
These can’t be done until the ratlines are complete they thread through the ratlines (for me the second and third) following a straight-line from the trees to their belaying points on the channels. Done with .35 dark brown rope looped seized in a loop at the topmast they end in ¼ blocks after being glued to the slots at the ends of the cross trees. It's important to get the line snug without being tight, the topmast is a relative toothpick and easy to bend. I glued both into the slots of the trees at the same time, tricky but helps keep an even tension. I used .012 light brown tackle starting from another ¼ block seized to a hook and to eyebolts in the channels. Seems easy enough and it should be but I must say I had a lot of “fiddling” to do to get them even, the right height, and the tackle seized back onto itself (like the main shrouds) while working between the ratlines. Patience and perseverance in abundance is called for, the first which I’m always wishing I had more.
 
Topmast Stay
 

 
It’s a bit difficult getting a good photo of this long run of .018 brown rope. I didn’t have the light right for and my temporary off-white backdrop has fold marks. I just hang a piece of cloth behind and tacked over the window for quick and easy progress photos, not how I formally shoot white background photos on rolled white paper.  I’ll do better for finished photos (though at the moment my stands have been turned into an inside tent for my granddaughter, a far better use for them). It's made from lace and pink string lights, she asked for it the first day of her summer vacation and of course that's what I did.
 

 
Anyway, the stay is seized at the bowsprit, I elected to match the main stay by leaving the seizing long then securing the extra length with two clove hitches. I thought it gave it a more finished look.
 

 
The stay runs from there through a 3/16 block at the topmast and dangles about 140mm (really to where I thought it looked good) from the deck. A 3/16 block is seized with .018 tackle which runs through another 3/16 block seized to a hook (I’m getting pretty good at knocking hooks out from 24 gauge wire) into an eyebolt at the base of the mast then back through the upper block and finished off at a cleat on the mast. 
 
The plans do a great job of showing what rope and blocks to use in a table, how the run should look and includes an easy to follow belay map of the deck. I like sorting it all out from plans to model. If I haven’t mentioned the 3 sheets of plans are very well done and an excellent roadmap throughout the build.
 
Topmast Backstays
 

 

 
Chuck notes in the monograph while these are included in the plans in actuality they are rarely used and so are optional to install.  I chose to include them because they provide a little balance to the stern and because I didn’t want the third outside metal strap left empty. Besides who doesn’t want to run more string about the boat. They consist of a long length of .018 brown line looped and seized at the topmast with ¼ blocks about 130mm above the deck where .018 light brown tackle is carried down to another ¼ block & hook connected to the third metal strap on the outside of the hull, back up to the block then finished at a cleat inside the bulwark. All of this is shown nicely on the plans. I have not tensioned and glued either these or the main backstays. I have to move them out of the way to access the pin rails and mast cleats for the remainder of the rigging. For a similar reason I haven’t glued in the tiller yet, I need the working room for my hands. Once I’m finished the rigging for the yards I’ll come back to the tiller and gluing in these stays.
 
Standing Rigging
 

 
With that I have completed all of Cheerful’s standing rigging and 13 of the 14 chapter monograph. I now turn to the making the yards (back to the lathe and mill) and the remainder of the running rigging. My journey is almost complete.
 
Thanks for stopping by, as always I appreciate your likes and especially your comments. I hope you’re still finding the log enjoyable to follow.

Haha the first time I saw that it blew my mind 😵‍💫…. magic

Druxey, I like that you show what can be done with a 1/4" chisel.  Excellent work as always

Thank you for the compliments, and I'm glad the log is helpful.  When I see closeup photos, I start seeing all the things I need to try to do better next time around.  Those closeup show everything, things I didn't see until the photo.
 
I feel like this is hardly a beginner's kit, but it's great practice if you haven't made many model ships.  The manual is excellent and the kit includes a number of spare parts which is kind of unusual in my experience.   The small size is what gave me the most trouble.   I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the printed friezes looked; I'd never done anything like that before.  Building this pointed out, I sure need practice planking and rigging.  
 
I cut a mounting block from some scrap cherry I had and stained it.  I used gel stain for cherry because it's a porous wood.  Then several coats of spray-on lacquer (minwax from lowes).  I made small pedestals from 5/16" dowel, sanding a slight taper in them, and filing a slot for keel.  
 
Photo shows a test fit of everything.  Mounting block looks larger in photo than it is.  It's the wide angle lens effect from phone camera.  Since it all fit together, I'll do a final coat of lacquer on the board.
 
On the boat, I finished rigging, and made the oars.  Oars just require some sanding and painting.  I painted the red as per manual.  The red I'm using is actually darker than the photos.  I increase exposure of photos so you can see everything, and that makes the red look a little brighter.  It's Vallejo "dark red", and I think it looks real good on model ships.  
 
Only need to do the grapnel and mount everything to the board.  But I want to let lacquer dry several days before final assembly.  I've learned the hard way lacquer will feel dry, but takes a number of days before it really cures.  Wipe-on poly is another excellent choice for finish, and you don't have to worry about cure time.
 

Haha the first time I saw that it blew my mind 😵‍💫…. magic

It's one of the things I've done in the last 20 years. Inside is a miniature music box made in Japan. Shake the handle, tighten the inner spring and make a wonderful singing sound. In the Internet search of the same picture, I calculated the approximate size of the production.
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

More finishing details at the stern; a step and a hoop for an ensign staff. The photo I have of this area shows more metalwork, but it looks as if this was added later by the museum for the anti-hogging arrangement.
 

Haha the first time I saw that it blew my mind 😵‍💫…. magic

Haha the first time I saw that it blew my mind 😵‍💫…. magic

Haha the first time I saw that it blew my mind 😵‍💫…. magic

Exactly, Michael! My party trick is to cut an exact 45 degree angle without a protractor using the reflected image on the back of the chisel.

Druxey, I like that you show what can be done with a 1/4" chisel.  Excellent work as always

Druxey, I like that you show what can be done with a 1/4" chisel.  Excellent work as always

Druxey, I like that you show what can be done with a 1/4" chisel.  Excellent work as always

The many stub toptimbers have been cut and dry fitted. Their shapes vary along the length of the boat. I cut them using my favorite tool; a ¼" chisel. Using a larger blade makes seeing the cutting angles easier. Next will be refining the fit and gluing the toptimbers in. 
 

Took time today to cut the forward gunports fortunately without any mishaps as on the port side. Filed and sanded the opening to match my .571 tool and now on the stern frames.
 

 
Now on the stern frames removing the laser char was quite a challenge as the boxwood takes the char into the grain deeper than the other part of the wood which resulted in removing more surface than I would have liked. The X and Y were done singularly and I decided to glue the two Z frames together before removing the char. After the Z frames set the char was removed and while removing the char I glued the two sets of ZZ frames together and then glued to the Z frames. Removing the char from this assembly was much easier to keep the shapes while sanding to remove the char. 
 

 

 
With char removed from all the frames it was time to glue the Z assemblies to the rear frames. When the glue sets the Z frame assembly will be marked for the fairing as is the monograph.
 

 
Waiting for glue to set before marking to start fairing with a small sanding drum.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Very nice video Allan