Chuck

Gesso Thick milky white base used to coat canvases for painting. see this link http://www.art-is-fun.com/what-is-gesso.html Chuck

Hopefully not to confuse the situation, But here is a better image of Cheerfuls stem parts. You are using the outboard plan. This is from the inboard draft. I have seen this arrangement on two other cutters but sadly these details are not shown on most cutter drafts. The Alert is much younger also so this may not even be applicable. But I wanted to mention how all of the lines on the draft you posted are dashed for these elements. On the inboard sheet however it shows the dashed lines as if they were parts cut for the other side of the stem only. Meaning that the stem was intended to be cut in one piece and the two other elements used for the boxing joint and apron on the other side only. That is ...if I am reading the draft correctly. It seems unlikely that they could find such a large piece to make the stem like that. So I agree with Ed that in all likelihood it depended on what wood they had on hand and probably ended up with a much different "made up" stem that may not have matched any of these choices. So I simplified it a great deal for my project because I dont find all of these elements an attractive addition to a ship model anyway. Its too distracting and busy. In fact....you never see the separate pieces on almost all of the contemporary cutter models I have seen. The stem is always one piece down to the boxing joint.

Thanks Guys.... Tom, I will bring her to the meeting tonight along with the plans to show our Jersey Club Members. Its bring a model night!!!! I finished framing the port openings in Boxwood. I used the reference line from the batten to mark to top of the gunport sills. They should paint nicely because they are all boxwood. Unlike the first port which will be cut from ply fillers. You can see it marked in pencil. I am about to cut it out right now. I also laser cut and tested the stern frames. They are not glued in yet. Its just a test and all looks good. It helps make the shape of this little cutter come to life. I will begin permanently framing the stern as soon as I cut those two forward ports. Before painting them I will prepare the surface with wood filler or even gesso to smooth it out. This creates a nice surface to paint on after its sanded with a very fine sandpaper.

I have yet to use a full can before having to throw it away. Th e plastic top gets crusty and the poly gets thicker over time. I end up buying a new one every six months. So I am very interested as well. Chuck

Kevin....look a few posts back. It was already discussed. Thanks guys, I am glad you are enjoying the process. Yes ....this is the process. Usually any questions are bounced off a few guys and different research aspects are exchanged. I figured it was best to do it publicly so everyone can see the decision making process. Most of it is done. I have only a few things left to decide on.... Chuck

Yes Alistair...that is exactly what a buckler is. I have seen bucklers in many configurations. For example...sometimes a half lid was hinged on the bottom of the port opening and the buckler used only on the top half. In other instances the buckler was full size for the port. They are usually temporarily secured by ring bolts on the inboard side of the buckler and tied off to ring bolts on the bulwarks. Even the same ring bolts used for the breech line of the cannon or the gun tackles.

That absolutely works for me.....makes as much sense as any other theory I have thought of. That would mean Cheerful had no lids but probably had a rabbet so bucklers could be used in rough waters. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

Also note the vertical planking on the square tuck in that drawing. This cutter has the same based on the original planking expansion. Normally you see the diagonal planking.

I absolutely agree and I thought the same thing. BUT....then I found these. All contemporary and from the same time period. I have dozens more with and without port lids. I guess we shall never know. I will add the rabbet......and have no lids. That is a safe bet I think. Chuck

As I am about to start framing the ports, I would like to have a bit of a discussion about the. Please feel free to chime in if this is something you are familiar with. I have seen cutters with and without port lids in paintings and drawings. I am talking about 1800-1830ish. My issue is that I have never or rarely seen a contemporary model or set of plans with port lids. I am already resolved not to show them on Cheerful. BUT, that leads to my question. On many contemporary models I can see the rabbet around the port opening. On others still there is no rabbet. I can only assume there wasnt and standard with this. Maybe some sort of buckler was used rather than a port lid. But then why some models without a rabbet. I have yet to decide if I should show this feature of a rabbet around the sides and bottom of the port openings. Cheerful in the rogers collection has them This contemporary model does not...except at the bottom maybe... All of the others from this period that I have seen have no rabbets. Any thoughts or research out there to help me in my decision? Thanks in advance.

Today I wanted to get the crappy part out of the way. What a mess. Fairing the outside of the hull before I start putting in the port sills. Lots of saw dust. You folks are very familiar with this. Even with a smaller hull it took the whole day. This is the single most important part of the project. Unfortunately because its such a pain its easy to understand why people rush through it only to have issues later on. At the bow is the usual "Bow filler piece" and a few horizontal pieces which is where the forward port will reside. Fairing the bow was challenging. Whenever you think its done...its really not. This is easy to spot using a batten. I dont angle my rabbet for the planking until this stage. And its important. Most folks angle the rabbet before gluing the bulkheads into the former. But I can never get the angles right. Its easier for me to visualize when fairing the bow and inserting battens every now and again to see how they fit. Before fairing After a good start at fairing the bow. Notice how the bulkhead former within the rabbet is faired to match the angle of the bow filler after its faired. If you dont do this then the plank wont fit nicely into the rabbet and defeats the purpose of having one to begin with. This is what takes lots of time. Small chisels nd sanding sticks...the usual suspects to do it. I am using the laser char on the bulkhead edges to check how the fairing is progressing as I work towards mid ship. Then I switch around and work from the stern to midship again to complete the fairing. Here are some battens added to check the run of the port sills. There are laser reference marks on each bulkhead as is usually the case. After some careful adjustments the top of the batten was marked off on each bulkhead edge to indicate the top of the port sills. Notice how the batten fits into the rabbet and because of how its faired, I didnt have to even pre bend this strip. It lays in there perfectly and no pins are used to hold it in the rabbet. That will make planking so much easier.....which would have been a fight if I didnt take my time with this fairing. I am gald its all done, but I can still see some spots... Tomorrow I will add the port sills and port framing before starting on the stern framing.

Yes indeed it will Lou. Thanks for the kind words. Yes I plan on using National balsa when the time comes. I have used them a lot in the past and they are my go to source. The last batch of ply I got from them was awful though so I will have to call them first and make sure I get the good stuff. It is so great see you back on the site. I am literally working on her as we speak. Chuck

Its a great start and dont hesitate to ask me any questions. The Mayflower II was a fun project to build. Chuck

That looks very good. Well done.

I received my copy and read through the entire book. Its a just a great book and I have already picked up a few tricks from it. There are quite a few nice techniques described in this book that will help you as a model builder construct fittings and ship's details that would be part of any Eighteenth Century vessel. I highly recommend it. Well worth a look!! even if you dont plan on building the Comet. Chuck

You are the second person to ask me that.... The problem is that it would only be an estimate. I wont know for sure until I actually build it. I usually keep track of what I use and then add just a bit more to make the materials list. So far I only have one 48" x 48" sheet of ply that is 1/4" thick and one 3" wide sheet of boxwood or whatever you prefer to use for teh keel and stem and rudder. It should be 7/32" thick. Other than that I haveent got a clue. I would be afraid that after examining the plans carefully I might forget something....so keeping track as I work is usually foolproof. But maybe I will give it a try this weekend. But like I said...I may overlook something. It will be real close though. Thanks for the interest in the project. If all goes according to plan the 3 sheets will be released around the new year but February at the latest. I basically just want to plank it outboard to prove the hull design. I also want to write the first few chapters so folks will have a guide. Chuck

Just as Druxey mentioned. It takes practice but after doing a few it will get easier. Chuck

No it actually removed material. If you use a soft wood it will not. A soft wood will crush into shape. But a hard wood actually scrapes bits from the strip. You can sharpen the scraper edge carefully by filing on an angle. This helps to remove wood as it scrapes.

yes...i usually just use my cheap a small files because the edge will end up getting ruined over time. I also use a small razor saw sometimes. I prefer NOT to use the dremel. This is what works for me but maybe others have different idea. That file in the photo is the one I actually used. The tip is quite small in diameter. Careful slow deliberate strokes. It takes a while. Chuck

You can unfortunately not buy the beaded molding any longer. That was a long time ago that I bought those. Basically you need to create a profile in a piece of sheet brass.or a straight razor. See below...its pretty clear. There are many ways to create the profile...needle files, dremel cut off wheel etc. I am sure others will chime in here. Chuck

Just sand the heck out of it. The wood is thick enough and can take it. Start with 220 grit and then follow up with some really fine stuff. I see this all the time in my local club. For whatever reason they are scared and nervous about it. They dont think 1/32" or even 1/16' thick strips can take sanding. Usually I just ask the model builder if I can grab the hull and show them. Its a very easy thing to do and there is no danger at all. Most of the glue will not have soaked well below the surface at all. Surface prep is key to getting a good finish. Sanding with a fine grit will leave a super smooth surface free of glue stains and show no blotches.. If you are still nervous about it...plank a dummy piece of wood and leave similar stains and blotches...test it out to see how far you can go and what it will look like after you are done. Chuck

New article "Modeling small figures for Ship Models" placed in the database and is ready for download. Thank you Dave Fellingham for the article submission. Very well done. I enjoyed reading it and I am sure most of our members will also. Click Here to download article Chuck Remember if you wish to submit an article to the database or for consideration in the Nautical Research Journal...please contact me. We welcome all submissions!

Windlass 2.0 The final version....no photoshop this time

Seeing as I have to make another windlass anyway...I will alter the plans to show the bar holes on every other face. Its an easy fix. I can see that it would make sense...or to alternate their position should they appear on every face like shown on John;'s example he posted above. Dont y0u wish making changes in real life was as easy as having Photoshop. Heres what she looks like with every other...piece of cake...

Thanks guys... Druxey...Like you, I thought that was true. Holes on every other face of the windlass. However, I kept seeing more and more of these that showed them on all sides. I may switch it later...but I am torn. Do you have have any info on these that would clarify. Other than contemporary models....few even show the holes at all, I could only find secondary sources. For example, The AOS for the Cutter Alert has an almost identical windlass with holes on all eight faces of the windless. Go figure. Its easy enough to change, just need to find something definitive. Any help would be appreciated. You can see that Roger Cole also added the holes on every face of his windlass on his model of Alert below. Chuck