MEDDO

Starting chapter 7
 
The first thing I wanted to do, just to get it out of the way...was to get all the gundeck beams made.  I cleaned the char off of all 11 beams now.  Then they were cut to length using the plans as a guide.  I also used the plans to establish where each deck beam is positioned.  For now I will just set them aside and grab them as I need them.   The last thing I wanted was to have to stop what I am doing just to clean char off a beam and cut it to length.  Its a comfort knowing they are all done and ready.
 
The photo below shows all the beams just resting on the deck clamp.
 

This allowed me the opportunity to cut all the templates and see what the planking scheme would look like so I can adjust it now rather than later.   I think its a good plan as is...and I wont make any adjustments, yet.
 

 
With the beams all ready and at hand, I could start making the cabins on the lower platform at the bow.
 
Each bulkhead will be made in two layers.   Both are 1/32" thick and are laser etched with a bunch of reference lines.   Now it would be easy enough to make these from scratch but this does make the building process quicker.  Especially since very little of these will be seen.  Below are the sections for the carpenters cabin on the starboard side.   It shows both sides.  I cleaned the char from the inside edges of the door panels and then glued up each layer.
 
Before I add any details I made sure they fit on the model.  I adjusted them to fit nicely in position and adjusted the heights etc.   This is why it is good to have those deck beams handy.  You need to have the first two beams in position to get the heights correct.
 

 
Once I was sure they fit on the model OK (see the deck layout for details), I started added the hinges and stanchions.

First I added the upright timbers which are either 1/8" x 1/8" strips cut to length or 3/32" x 3/32" strips.  The plans show which.   Then I added the door handles and hinges.   Make sure to add the handles on both sides of the door.   And be careful to put them on the correct side based on which way the doors open.
 
The outside view of both bulkheads completed.
 

The interior of the carpenters cabin detailed.

 
Finally they were glued into position on the model.  I placed the side with the doors first.  Just use your planking of the lower platform to position it straight and against the stanchion on the fcastle bulkhead.  
Then I added the smaller section along the aft edge of the platform.  This will probably need the outside edge to be sanded because I laser cut them longer than needed.   So adjust the side that butts up against the frames.   But remember, there isnt any planking on the inboard side of the frames so it is expected to show a gap.   Just get it as even and consistent as you can.  
 
The carpenters cabin and boatswains cabin completed.
 
Note how the top of the bulkheads against the deck clamp are flush with the top of the deck clamp.    
 

Next up will be the sail room.  But that needs to be built a different way because of the louvered walls for ventilation. 
 
Chuck
 
 
 

Putting in his lunch order. 
 
But seriously….they are same figure and just used for scale.  I actually move him around as I develop the drawings.  Insane how tight the spaces were and low the ceilings were.  
 
I placed him near the tiller on the poop deck also…no railings port and starboard.  Crazy stuff…lucky if the bulwarks are knee high…
 
Just high enough to trip overboard.
 

 

 

@glbarlow Thanks a lot - there have certainly been a lot of challenges to overcome, not certain that I've quite "mastered" any yet though :-).
 
I've been continuing work on the lower deck framing and while not perfect I'm happy with how the cross section is shaping up. I struggled for a little bit trying to determine how to score the mortises (joints?) for the ledges and carlings until I recalled my mantra for this build - go re-read TTFM book 1 and of course there was a nice tip for how to easily make pseudo joints which I attempted to follow. The picture thats follow show how I set the angle for the score on beam and then the finished cut.
 
 

I did my best to get the matching score aligned, but they are slightly off - though it isn't very noticeable until you really start staring at the deck and I think it will be even less noticeable when the upper deck is added (though I will have to be more exact there).


I have to add the center hanging knees and lodging knees before finishing out the deck framing, but here is where I currently stand.

Time to build up the port and starboard sides of the mast head.  I used the mast template to determine the dimensions.  A real mast would have its top cut at an angle to lock it into the mast cap.  This detail is not visible so I shaped it as a simple square.  The full- sized dimensions are 9” square by 11”tall, which is the thickness of the mast cap. 


Iron bands were placed around the mast head at regular intervals.  I used paper dyed with archival ink.  On this photo you can see that I have added bolts to the cheek.  The bolts are made from 24 g copper wire patinated with liver of sulfur. 

 
The wooldings provide extra strength to the mast.  The number and composition varied based on the era.  At this time, they were made of 2.5” tarred rope (all rope dimensions are circumference).  Because I will be using several diameters of line in the build, I made a table consisting of the full-sized circumference, the circumference at  1:48 scale and the diameter at 1:48 scale.  The easiest way to determine the diameter of your rope is to wrap 10-20 windings around a dowel, measure the distance and divide it by the number of windings.  Remember, circumference is πd so the rope diameter is circumference/π.  I used eight wraps for each woolding.  To hide the ends of the wooldings, I tucked them in the gap between the mast and the cheeks. 

Above and below the wooldings are wooden hoops.  I simulated them by cutting strips of paper and wrapping two layers around the mast.  This gave the hoops the appropriate thickness.

 

As I mentioned before, the bit pins will be glued to the “B” spacers.  I measured and marked two feet (½” scale) aft from the aft surface of Frame 4 and nine inches (3/16” scale) inboard from the spacers.  These are the centers of the bit pins.  Small pilot holes were drilled up through the deck.
 
I planked the inner bulwarks, starting at the waterway, using ten-inch-wide planks.  I applied a clear finish at this point.  The top of the bulwarks was sanded flat in preparation for installing the cap rail.  Simply turn the model upside down and sand the bulwark the way you did the base.  This also gives a fresh surface to glue the top rail onto.
 
Templates were made to determine the shape of the rail.  This is how I made these.  Masking tape was run along the upper edge of the hull planking to prevent marking the wood.  The model was turned upside down and, hugging the side of the ship, a line was drawn along the top of the hull.  Don’t forget to mark fore and aft, port and starboard.

The rail is 12” wide with a 1” overhang inboard and outboard.  I drew lines 1” (0.02”) outboard and 11” (0.23”)  inboard of the original line.  The picture shows the templated line and the overhangs.

 
I cut out the templates with a lot of extra paper on either side of them because long, narrow pieces of paper are prone to warping.  They were glued to the 1/32” wood sheet.  I use either Elmer’s glue stick or glue spray that is not water based (3M-45) to help prevent warping.  Both of these adhesives can be removed with isopropanol and scraping.  This is another opportunity to check out your scrap pile for a piece of contrasting color wood.

Cut out the rails and mark the undersurface with the side and orientation before removing the template.  Remove the template and round over the edges.  If you want a contrasting color for the rails, paint or stain them before installing.

Finished the planking up to needing to start ribbing. I've never nibbed a deck into the waterway so I'm going to Rocky Mountain Shipwrights meeting tomorrow. The club is part of Nautical Research and has a meeting on the first Saturday of each month to help and just meet on the third Saturday is the club general meeting. This is a very active club and I'm glad to be a member.

More after the meeting tomorrow

That is some great progress there.

That is some great progress there.

That is some great progress there.

The NRG is an educational organization, dedicated to providing our members with the knowledge to improve the quality of their model ship building.  One of the most common problems model builders have is rigging their model.  Kit instructions are poor.  Often, the materials provided in the kit are improperly sized or the cheapest that the manufacturer could obtain.  We all know that blocks are not square!  I wanted to develop a project whose purpose would be to teach ship modelers how to mast and rig a ship without having to build a complete hull.  This model is a 1:48 scale cross-section at the level of the main mast of a late 18th century British sloop of war, Swallow 1779.  To keep the size of the model manageable and eliminate the need for a building board, the hull is cut off just above the waterline.  For the same reason, only the center portion of the lower yard and the lower part of the topmast are constructed.  Also, because this is a cross-section, certain lines, such as the stays and backstays, are not included.  My emphasis will be on demonstrating techniques to improve your rigging skills.  Skills that can be used on your next project.
 
As this was developed as a teaching aid, certain shortcuts and compromises to historical accuracy were taken.  Wherever possible, I have used measurements provided by the plans and such authorities as Steel and Lees.  I apologize in advance to the master modelers who might criticize my shortcuts.  I have kept the use of power tools to a minimum.  The only thing that is outside the normal collection of hand tools is a serving machine.  The Guild hopes to begin selling this kit in the next few months.
 
The kit contains all the materials required to complete the model.  But I always keep my scrap box nearby for those times when a piece of a contrasting color wood is desirable.  I will mention those times as the build log progresses.  Also, the build log is made up from the best photographs taken from three builds of this model.  A sharp eye will notice some differences in the wood color because of that.
 
The hull is constructed in typical plank on bulkhead style.  There is a notched spine and notched bulkheads.  The laser cut sheet of one-eighth inch basswood ply also contains a template for the top and four types of spacers, A through D. 

The spine and the frames are assembled as seen below.  Frame 1 is installed with the printing facing aft.  This gave me the option of painting the exposed bulkhead after construction was completed.


 
The mast fits in the slanted slot between Frames 3 and 4.  To keep the mast vertical, support spacers are glued on both sides of the spine.  They will be sanded flush to the spine when the hull is faired. 


To prevent the hull from twisting and to strengthen it, spacers are placed between each frame.  The three aft spacers are “B”, the next one is “C” and the two foremost ones are “D”.  They are placed close to the edge of the frame for maximum stability.  The laser char only needs to be removed from the fore and aft sides so that their surfaces are flat.  If too much wood is sanded off, I glue strips of paper onto the edge as a filler to prevent distorting the hull.
 
The hull and deck were faired so there are smooth curves fore to aft.  I used a sanding block for this.  I did not fair the bulwark extensions (the thin strips of wood above the deck) to prevent them from breaking off.  This model has a significant camber to the deck.  Sanding sticks help getting into the corners.  You can see that the mast supports have been sanded down to match the height of the deck.

Next up is planking the hull.
 
 

So the move is completed, I'm working on getting my new workshop together - BOTH Pegasus and Winnie survived the move with no apparent damage ( better result than my last move ).

A little bit of progress this week.  I'm new at metal working, so it took some trial and error to figure out how I am going to make the backstay plates and chain plates.  One of the main issues to getting the ball rolling was figuring out how I was going to make these without the availability of 1/64" x 3/32" brass strip.  It would appear that K & S has discontinued nearly its entire line of brass strip, and I couldn't locate any of the size I needed in my internet search.  Many years ago I had bought a package of various sizes of 6" x 12" brass shim stock (used to shim the plates when molding parts in plastic injection molding machines so that they align correctly) just in case I ever needed sheet brass.  These sheets came in thickness of .001", .0015", .002", .003", .004", .005", .006", .007", .008", .010", .012", and .015".  The .015" thickness is the decimal measurement of 1/64".  So I have my material.  I used a pair of ancient tin snips I have in my toolbox to cut 3/32" wide strips off the sheet.  I then had to flatten the strips since they curled both along the face and the edge.  Next I filed the sharp edges flat.  Then used flat pliers to eliminate the lengthwise cupping caused in cutting the strips off the sheet.  Now that I had my self-made strips ready, I then shaped the backstay plates following Chuck's instructions in his monograph.  Since the strips I created were rough and with blemishes, I polished the finished backstay plates with a fine file after shaping was complete, just because I'm a perfectionist, and that's how I roll!  Yes, I know they'll be painted black.  Haha.
 
Erik

Not a ton of progress this week.  I did finish fashioning and installing the boarding ladders and channels though.  I must say ripping the boards by hand out of sheet stock to make these parts is a bit of a pain in the rear.  lol.  Also, it was tough getting the pattern cut into the scraper to make the boarding ladder profile.  I think my limitation there was my lack of precise small files.  I deliberately made the filed notches in the channels that will house the chainplates narrower than they'll be.  I just wanted to get the notches placed correctly and the angles in, according to the plans.  I'll finish the notches up when I fit and attach the chainplates.
 
And lastly, I'm patting myself on the back.  My third photo below manages to capture the elusive and hard to photograph lower step of the Cheerful's boarding ladder (located on the wale and painted black).  Haha!
 
Erik

Most of us model buidlers know that the covering boards are the pieces of timber that cover the hull-deck joint structure. Chances are you know that they are very complicated things to build. This step of the build simply confirmed that.
Covering boards usually are solid pieces of wood that are penetrated by holes that accommodate the stanchions that must travel through them. For me to produce them like that would have simply been impossible. These will be complicated enough to build as is. Essentially, I will fabricate the inboard side of the covering boards with “teeth” that project between the stanchions, then the outboard edge will be added in a separate step. The seam between the two pieces should be effectively hidden in the alcove formed by the stanchions and the bulwarks planking.
Here I have covered the deck structure adjacent to the stanchions with tape because I was wishing to protect my paint job of the deck structure that would remain visible in an unplanked area of deck. The protection was needed because I knew I would need to fair down the ledges to the level of the sheer in order for the covering boards to fit, and I didn’t want to harm the paint job.
 

In order to start the process, I needed to obtain the shape of the sheer from the plans. These were transferred using tracing paper to 3/64” stock. These shapes were then cut out excessively wide.
 

This results in six overly-wide and overly-long pieces, with generous areas of overlap.
 

Using double-sided tape, an individual piece was tacked down to the level of the deck structure. The forward and aft edges of each stanchion were marked, keeping track of station locations.
 

Now the really slow part began. Under the microscope, I began cutting out notches to make the “teeth” that will extend between each stanchion. Again, each covering board piece was made so that its inboard edge was continuous. The outboard edge of the covering board will be added as a separate piece later on in the build.
 

This piece shows many of the notches at full width, while others are still being widened. The width of each stanchion was relatively standard, but the gaps between the stanchions varied just enough to require extensive trial and error fittings.

But wait, that’s not all. Once all of the notches are wide enough, now they each need to be made deep enough. And none were of exactly of the same depth, due to individual differences in the shapes and angles of the stanchions. This again required many trial and error fittings with the goal of leaving minimal gap between the covering board’s notch and the inboard surface of each stanchion.
 

In the real ship, there is only about a 2 inch gap between the inboard surface of the stanchions and the margin plank of the deck. This is 1/32” in model scale. You can see the anticipated final inner edge of the covering board marked with a continuous pencil line here.
 

Perhaps it is a little more clear in this image. At this point there is a lot of excess wood on the inboard edge of the covering board. Removal of this excess will have to wait until later, as trimming it all off at this time would leave a piece of wood that is impossibly fragile.
 

The process of cutting the notches was accelerated when I realized I could use my table saw and miter to at least start the notches in a more efficient manner.
 

After having cut the notches to proper spacing, width, and depth, it was time to prep and paint the stanchions. Paint would add just enough thickness to each surface of the stanchions to require further tuning of the notches.
 

For primer, I used some old Badger Model-Flex gray, which had thickened considerably. It was diluted with water to a usable thickness, but it still maintained enough body to serve as an effective filler.

Overall this achieved a pretty smooth surface, but some defects were hard to fill completely, even after using primer and model filler.

I can’t remember how long it took to make all of these very bespoke pieces, but keep in mind that my last proper post was back in July…

There is lots of overlap, way more than I really needed, which also slowed the process.

The stanchions and the inboard surfaces of the bulwarks planking are a burgundy color. I slowly added drops of blue Tamiya paint into a small jar of Tamiya red to achieve the desired shade of burgundy. The one small jar may in the end not be enough, because I will also use it to paint the inboard surfaces of the bulwarks planking. It took 3-4 coats to get a good smooth surface.

And as already mentioned, the notches had to be tuned again after painting the stanchions was finished.

So despite my efforts to protect them, I had to scrape and sand away portions of the previously painted deck structure. In fact, re-shaping of the deck beams and ledges was necessary in order to get the covering boards to sit flush with the sheer.

This ledge shows considerable downsloping toward the sheerline to accommodate the shape of the covering board.

So there will need to be repainting of the deck structure that will remain visible, after all.

The deck beams and ledges also required re-fairing of their curve once I had removed enough material to accommodate the covering board.

The covering boards were painted with a medium gray. Excess paint that ended up in the notches had to be sanded away after this was done.

At this point, I used the X-acto blade to begin removing some of the excess wood from the inboard edge of the covering boards. This helped make it easier to tune the pieces to sit against their underlying deck beams and ledges. It was also necessary to shape the undersurface of the covering boards to accommodate the camber of the deck structure. I carefully sanded the undersurface to change the cross section from rectangular to an angular undersurface.

In addition to trimming away wood from the inboard edge, I also carved down the thickness of the remaining excess wood in a way that left an edge that corresponded to the final inboard edge of the covering board. This involved scoring the surface of the piece with the X-Acto, then coming along with a fine chisel and planing away the surface of the piece along the inboard edge. The edge is visible as the bright line in this photo. This will make it much easier to identify the final edge when the last bits of excess are trimmed away, and to create a smooth and fair surface against which the margin plank will rest.
 

Next problem: now that I have this piece that sits fair when I press it down against the deck beams and ledges, how do I do the glue-up in a way that makes sure that I am not left with the kinds of gaps I can see in this picture? I don’t have that many fingers.

I used a 1/16” thick piece of scrap wood to create a curved piece that roughly followed the curve of the rail, then glued it to the tops of the stanchions.

This is a sacrificial piece that will hopefully come off easily when I am done with the next step.
 

Some of the stanchions were a tiny bit shorter than their neighbors. These differences will be hidden by the rail and its supports that will be added later.
 

Using scrap wood, wedges of wood thin enough to fit between the stanchions were created.
 

In preparation for glue-up, the areas of the undersurface of the covering board that will need to be wetted with glue were marked with pencil.
Then the mating surfaces of the deck structure were wetted as well. I put small amounts of glue into the notches of the covering board as well. The board was put in place, and the wedges were used to press them to the surface of the deck structure. Care was taken to make sure that the covering board was pressed in fully against the deck, as well as against the bases of the stanchions, without leaving any gaps.

After suitable drying time, the wedges were removed and the sacrificial piece was easily separated from the tops of the stanchions with the X-Acto.

I never would have been able to hand-paint such a clean appearance if I had simply glued up unpainted pieces of wood.
Now I only have to do this five more times, with the remaining covering board pieces! The joints between the pieces in real life would have had an angled appearance resembling a scarf joint, but I won’t be able to duplicate that here.
Once all the covering boards are installed, the next 2 jobs that would make sense are the beginning of the deck planking and also the bulwarks planking. I don’t know yet which I will do next, because it will probably take me awhile to get the rest of the covering boards in place.

Somewhat better lighting.
 








 

Though I feel like I didn't get much done on the Cheerful over the last week, I do feel a sense of accomplishment.  After about 9 hours of work total, I finished both boom crutches.  These are easily the most complicated shapes on the build so far.  I read and reread Chuck's instructions on how to get the angles correct many times before I started.  I formed the first boom crutch and glued it on and painted it before I started the second one.  It probably would have made more sense to make the second one before I glued on and painted the first.  Doing it the way I did made it harder to get them the same size and symmetrical to one another.  I wound up spending some time sanding the first to get it to look like the second, after it was already glued into place.  A delicate task, to say the least.  At any rate I'm happy with how they turned out, more or less the correct angles and the same as one another.  While carving/cutting these out of single pieces of wood, I couldn't help but think of the guy who carved this out of a single piece of Carrara marble 500 years ago: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Pieta_de_Michelangelo_-_Vaticano.jpg/1024px-Pieta_de_Michelangelo_-_Vaticano.jpg
 
Erik

I spent the week building the windlass mini-kit.  Hats off to Chuck for the engineering of this little thing!  It goes together easily, with the biggest challenge being beveling the edges of the windlass faces.  These didn't all turn out perfectly symmetrical, so I test fit the sub assemblies on the center strip in a bunch of different combinations.  I settled on what looks symmetrical when viewed from the top, and put the best sides facing up.  To get the windlass to snug down on the deck I taped a piece of sandpaper to a 1/16" thick wood sheet and then sanded each of the supports with one side on my cutting mat while the other side was being sanded on the 1/16" sheet with sandpaper.  Since the deck is angled towards the scuppers from the center line, sanding the windlass support bottoms like this allows them both to sit flat on the angled deck.  As far as getting the windlass positioned correctly on the deck in relation to where the bowsprit will go, I put a straight wooden dowel where the bowsprit will be and then marked the center line on the stern cap rail and top of the stem.  I positioned a steel yardstick on the center line and adjusted the dowel parallel to that.  Everything measured out and looked correct.  The proof will be down the road on the build when I'm installing the bowsprit step and bowsprit though!
 
Erik

It's been a long time...
First of all, a big thank you to all the people who have encouraged me and commented pleasantly on my work.
While working on my Batelina, I made a few small advances on the Cheerful.
First of all, I finalized the stern details. Just follow the instructions, which are really the best you can do. Don't be in a hurry, and take things one step at a time...


I also fixed the windless definitively to the bow, using a small piece of wood to make sure it was placed at the right distance and in the right position.

To be continued

The Sharpie has its new home.  The display case was my second adventure with acrylic after making some additional shelves for one of my display cases, and the first time I tried gluing it.   I'm very happy with how the display case came out.   It is 1/4" acrylic with a peruvian walnut base.  I still have some fogging to rub out from where I sanded and polished the joints, but they are on the side and not that visible.  I got to use the acrylic table saw blade and router table I got for Christmas - it was a fun project.

No log entries in two years, but I have been slowly plugging away a few minutes a week.  I had a pretty steep learning curve silver soldering the brass fittings for the masts and figuring out how to make the mast hoops.  Rope was made with Chuck Passaro’s rope rocket.  Rigging relies heavily on John Leather's The Gaff Rig Handbook.  When the book didn't have the necessary detail, I defaulted to the advice from the Mystic Seaport staff restoring their Sharpie - "These boats were built in people's backyards with what they could make or get from their local hardware store."  I did not want to make sails and there is no rigging exerting downward pressure on the gaff, so rather than having limp rigging, I lowered the gaff as if a mainsail was about to be attached.  Both kids were with their partner’s families this Christmas, so I got to spend some concentrated workshop time and finished this morning. 
 
Next project is a case – I got some good tools for Christmas (router table, acrylic cutting table saw blade) so I should be able to build one.  I made some acrylic shelves for my display case, so I’ve got the cutting and edge polishing down, and just need to sort out the gluing.
 
Happy New Year Everyone!

Back in July I lost momentum on working on the hull of the model. Happily, one of the distracting projects was deciding to work on a carved version of the transom carving, shown above. This decoration was added to the schooner after its refit in the year 2000 time frame. I don’t know who created the carving for them.
 
In the off season, the carving hangs on the wall at the skipper’s house. I took a picture of the carving hanging on the wall in the winter of 2022. Its actual dimensions are 5 ft 9 inches across and about 2 feet in height. Its approximate thickness is 3 inches total. At 3/16” scale, this will translate to a total width of just over 1 inch.
 
I was able to take an image and reduce it to the appropriate scale, then I used tracing paper to copy the outline of the shield, pennant, and eagle. This was then transferred to a piece of boxwood about 1/8” thick. To be safe, I transferred the pattern to two pieces of wood in case I screwed something up along the way. So far, though, the backup piece has not been necessary.

This and other pics that look like it were taken through the viewpiece of my microscope. The traced pattern is evident, and I have already started working out the right side of the eagle, shield, and pennant.

Now both sides are getting worked out.

This photo shows some relief involving the body and legs of the eagle.

Now jump forward substantially, and lots of details have been worked in. Dots on the pennant indicate where the stars will be. The talons haven’t been worked out yet.

As predicted, the carving has a maximal dimension of just over 1 inch.

This is my microscope setup. Thanks to Margie Buckingham, widow of Doug Tolbert, who offered for sale this articulating microscope!

A jeweler’s ball vise is essential for this kind of work.

And now I am carving out the stars from the surface of the blue area of the pennant. The talons have also been defined.

Painting is now under way. The blue is much too electric, so I added a small amount of black paint to it. White paint has been dropped into the recessed stars. I was warned that the paint may obscure the surface details of the eagle, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

I have darkened the blue paint. Much better.

And now I have carved away some of the splotches of paint that were on the backing wood.
 
So after about 45 hours of work, it is pretty much finished! When the time comes to mount it, I plan to very carefully carve off the wood from the backside of the piece. The piece and its backing is glued to a separate piece of wood that is clamped in the vise. Rather than soaking the piece to free it from the other piece of wood, I plan to gradually carve it free. I will wait to do this step until it’s time to mount it because the freed piece will be exceedingly fragile on its own and I don’t want to risk damaging it. The workpiece started out as a 1/8” thickness piece of wood, and when I am done carving off the backside it will be around 1/16” in thickness. Wow.
 
I am happy to report that I have regained momentum on the rest of the model project, so I should soon have a new post that is about the covering boards.
 

Thanks everyone for the likes and comments. 
 
Rob - great advice - I have been test fitting the fuselage halves as I add parts to the cockpit and am optimistic that it will come together OK. The Greek color scheme is neat - another nice variation from the usual olive drab and tan DH9 colors.
 
Progress continues.  I'm working on the seatbelts and engine- more pictures soon. I'm not much into weathering.  Plane should look like it is ready for its first flight when done.

That's a very smooth run there.  Your attention to detail is really showing 

Those look really nice I can’t wait to see how they work out

I feel like I reached a bit of a milestone on my build today, so I have included a ton of photos in celebration! While being a perfectionist, things frequently don't turn out quite as well as I'd like, but I'm happy with the build so far.  And it's turning out pretty well considering it's my first major wooden ship build, after my Model Shipways longboat project many years ago.  Though there is still quite a ways to go on the project, with the exterior painting complete, there is a certain finished look now.  I really like the lines of the Cheerful.  I spent the week painting the cap rail, repainting the wales, and spending much time doing the final sanding of the hull and tweaking the finish (after viewing these photos, I cleaned up where the black paint meets the wood in the stern area).  Now on to Chapter 7 of Chuck's monograph, and adding the deck fittings, and planking the deck.
 
I have a couple of questions for you folks.  I used Wipe-On Poly back on my longboat build.  Applying it to the hull, and then applying any paint to those areas that needed it afterwards.  On my Cheerful, I applied WOP above the wales way back when those were planked, but have since sanded it off as I cleaned up that planking in preparation to add the fancy molding.  I never applied WOP anywhere else on the model.  Now, as you can see, the hull has painted areas amongst the bare wood.  I'm thinking I might not apply WOP at all.  The hull has made it nearly 7 years with temperature and humidity fluctuations without any noticeable signs of aging.  My questions then are, is it really necessary to apply some kind of protective coating to the wood?  Has anyone here not applied WOP, or similar finish to their build?  And if you did apply WOP to a model with areas that you already painted, how did you go about applying the WOP (apply it carefully around the painted sections, apply it to the painted areas also, etc)?  Thanks!
 
Erik