Chuck

Well done....the pint job looks good and so does the caulking seams. 

Well done....the pint job looks good and so does the caulking seams. 

Boxwood carving for the barge in progress.  Using a #11 blade.   Its half done.   Left side shows the laser cut blank while the right side is almost there.   The blanks are glued to a piece of scrap with elmers glue.  In this case I just used a glue stick.  Make sure its really glued down good.  Especially the ends of the thin parts that are susceptible to breakage.  I sandwich the glued up piece with another scrap sheet and clamp them together so the piece stays flat and doesnt curl up. The blanks are just 1/32" thick and sandwiching keeps them flat so all the surfaces glue up nicely.   Leave them overnight to dry really good.....now you are ready to carve.
 
The finished carving is removed from the base by just dumping it face-first into a bath of 90% rubbing alcohol for 5 or 6 hours.  They usually just fall right off the base.   Let them air dry and you are good to go.
 

 
When you dont have lots of time to spend on the model its good to keep these carving blanks around the shop.  You can easily spend a half hour or 45 minutes doing a little at a time.  There are nine such pieces in this kit that will need to be carved.  But dont worry .....a resin casting kit will be available for those who dont want to carve them or give this a try.  But I urge to to do so...its a lot of fun and addicting.   The guys in the club cant get enough of them to play around with.
 
Chuck

Today I didnt feel like working.  So instead I took a crack at carving the monogram of Queen Anne that will appear on the inside of the flying transom.  These will be boxwood in the kit probably but the before and after examples pictures are actually cherry.   The blanks like the one on the left are just 1/32" thick.  
 
I basically used four easy beginner carving techniques.   Lots of stop cuts.   But they are at a micro level.  Its hardly woodcarving and more like chip carving in my opinion.  This is the first wood carved decoration I have made in 25 years.  I usually prefer to sculpt as you know.  So this was a really fun learning experience.  I am far far from being any kind of expert and consider myself an absolute beginner.  The whole thing was carved with a number eleven blade in my hobby knife.  It is far from anything noteworthy but I am happy with it and excited about doing more carving.  Which is the whole point.
 
It was mounted/glued to a thick base for carving as you can see.   It worked great.  After I was done,  I literally soaked it in a cup of 90% rubbing alcohol.  1 hour later this carving literally fell off the baseboard.  This was just a test for me and I will be carving another in boxwood for the model.
 

 

 
This is the piece I wanted to use as a group tech session here as an intro to carving.  Not a class of any kind because I really dont know what I am doing.  But just a cheap way for folks to get together and exchange techniques.   Learning from each other.  This piece and the few others for this kit would make a great tech session build.  I am planning on getting my whole club together in my workshop next month.  We will all be practicing on this and talking about it as a group......lunch included.  I think it will be a blast and I hope other clubs might consider it as well.
 
 

Thanks Ben,  
 
I hope you are doing well.
 
I actually made a good deal of progress on the benches for the barge.  Just finished painting the bench details.  So far,  everything except for the molding along the shear has been laser cut for this kit.  Some etched details Include the panels on the bench armrests....and beading along the bench seat tops.  
 
Next up will be planking inboard with the risers and adding the thwarts...Its a very quick build in comparison to other projects.  The last photo shows just how large the model is.  It is not a small model.   A bit longer than 18".
 

 

 

 

 

 

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck
 

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck
 

Well done....the pint job looks good and so does the caulking seams. 

Fantastic!!!  Makes me want to start one.

Lovely!!!

Well done....the pint job looks good and so does the caulking seams. 

Thank you for the kind words guys.
 
The lower backstays are completed so next up was to make the sling and then add the mainstay.
 

 
The sling for the lower yard is served its entire length.  I used .035 dark brown rope.  It has a thimble seized to it with a hook made of 22 gauge wire and eyes formed on each loose end.  After determining the length for the loose ends I formed the eyes and you can see how the eyes close up the sling by being inter-twined.  I originally thought it would be easier to make the sling off the model.   Which it was.  BUT there were trade-offs.  This meant that I had to unhook all of the blocks on the mast to get it in position.  That wasnt too bad BUT afterwards I discovered that the sling wasnt long enough to get around the forward spreader.
 

 
This was bad.  I either had to cut the sling off and make another one...rigging it in place.....OR, try to carefully remove the forward spreader.  I ended up removing the spreader without any damage.  BUT I wouldnt recommend this to all the Cheerful builders out there.  Best to rig it in place.
 
The main stay was rigged from .054 dark brown rope.  It was served around the masthead only down to about 1/2" below the splice.  Thats right....a splice rather than a mouse.   This was very common on cutters of the period and appears much more often on contemporary examples than the one or two found with a mouse.
 
  
 
The other end of the stay had the 5-hole deadeye turned into it.  The lanyard was rove through it as usual but the loose end was taken up around the stay once and then finally seized to the stay as shown.  I used very fine fly-tie thread for this.  It finished it off nicely.
 

 
Now that the main stay is completed I can go back to all these loose ends at the belaying points and re-tension the lines.   After that I will cut off the excess and add rope coils....
 

 

 
Next up....ratlines!!!!!

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck
 

Finished rigging the gaff today.  Nothing unusual or interesting about doing this.  It was fun and I basically created the gaff just like the boom.  One interesting feature to point out might be how the blocks are hooked to thimbles/bullseyes on the gaff.  The blocks were not just seized to the gaff.  This follows a method I saw on another cutter from the time period.  Just seemed more interesting than doing it the other way.
 
It has gotten harder to photograph now.  Its a much bigger subject to get in frame.
 
Next up will be the pendant tackles and shrouds....none of the falls or loose ends have been glued to their belaying points yet.  You can see them left a bit long on deck.  They are just made fast to each belying point and can be undone easily.  I did this just in case they have to be retensioned after the shrouds and stays are completed.  Some lines have a tendency to go slack as rigging progresses.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

Shrouds are completed.  I also added the lower backstay on the port side.  The fiddle block is a min-kit from Syren (13/32").   You can see another one on top of the companionway which will be used for the other side.  It is built up from three laser cut layers.
 
Here is a shot of the growing shroud gang.  The aft pair as well as the lower backstay are served only along the top that goes around the mast head.  They are served down to a bit below the cheeks.
 

 
Once that is finished it will be time for the sling for the lower yard and then the main stay.
 

 

Thank You very much, and happy Thanksgiving.   
 
I rigged the Burton Pendants and started the shrouds.  The Burton Pendants (.035 dark brown) are served the entire length with a 1/4" single block seized on it end.   It hangs down from the trees a bit more than we are used to with a typical frigate.   Then  a tackle was set up to the pendant.  The tackle is only shown on a few contemporary models and I thought it was interesting so I decided to show it.  This particular version is based on the cutter model in the London Science museum and Peterson's book.
 
The Shrouds are pretty standard,  I used .045 dark brown rope.  The forward shroud is served its entire length.  The serving was all done on the "Serv-o-matic".  The remainder of the shrouds will only have the portion around the mast head served down to just below the cheeks.  
 
Below you can see my shroud gang taking shape with this first pair of shrouds done.
 

 
The deadeyes were turned in and set-up with the usual methods.  I dont particularly care for this aspect of rigging.  Especially getting that first seizing done just above the deadeye.  Its an awkward one as its oriented differently but it is important because it creates that shape of the shroud doubling you strive for.  The lanyard was rigged with .018 light brown rope and not glued permanently.  This was done once again so I can easily re-tension the shrouds after all the standing rigging is completed.
 

 
Now to finish up the three remaining pairs. 

Thank You guys.
 
The thimbles are made from thin wall brass tube.  In this case 1.5 mm brass tube.  I tap them with a blunt point as shown in this image.  Not to hard.  The brass is soft and the thimbles will tear.  They will also stretch larger in dia. and become thinner than you cut the original length.
 
Here are some close ups of my thimbles thus far in use on the model.  Also note the thimble not yet punched to flare its ends in that first photo.  See how much longer and smaller it is.  Hooks are shaped from 26 gauge black wire.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

 

Insert some wire the same size as the I.D. of the tube.  Then roll an xacto blade over it.  See this video even though they didnt stick a wire into it.....thats the best way though.
 

Thank you for the kind words guys.
 
The lower backstays are completed so next up was to make the sling and then add the mainstay.
 

 
The sling for the lower yard is served its entire length.  I used .035 dark brown rope.  It has a thimble seized to it with a hook made of 22 gauge wire and eyes formed on each loose end.  After determining the length for the loose ends I formed the eyes and you can see how the eyes close up the sling by being inter-twined.  I originally thought it would be easier to make the sling off the model.   Which it was.  BUT there were trade-offs.  This meant that I had to unhook all of the blocks on the mast to get it in position.  That wasnt too bad BUT afterwards I discovered that the sling wasnt long enough to get around the forward spreader.
 

 
This was bad.  I either had to cut the sling off and make another one...rigging it in place.....OR, try to carefully remove the forward spreader.  I ended up removing the spreader without any damage.  BUT I wouldnt recommend this to all the Cheerful builders out there.  Best to rig it in place.
 
The main stay was rigged from .054 dark brown rope.  It was served around the masthead only down to about 1/2" below the splice.  Thats right....a splice rather than a mouse.   This was very common on cutters of the period and appears much more often on contemporary examples than the one or two found with a mouse.
 
  
 
The other end of the stay had the 5-hole deadeye turned into it.  The lanyard was rove through it as usual but the loose end was taken up around the stay once and then finally seized to the stay as shown.  I used very fine fly-tie thread for this.  It finished it off nicely.
 

 
Now that the main stay is completed I can go back to all these loose ends at the belaying points and re-tension the lines.   After that I will cut off the excess and add rope coils....
 

 

 
Next up....ratlines!!!!!

Well done....the pint job looks good and so does the caulking seams. 

These two pieces were done with just #11 blades.  No finish applied on the top one yet.  They are about 1/4" wide and just a few inches long.....only 1/32" thick.   I think a large chisel would obliterate them.
 

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck
 

Mark out first, then prick the spots with a sharp point. That way the drill point won't 'wander' off the marks.

Barge instructions to date for those that are interested.
 
Click here

The Alaskan Yellow Cedar barge has been planked.  Still lots to do on this one.  I havent even faired the hull inboard yet.  But before the molding and red paint is added I thought this would give you guys a nice idea of how the yellow cedar looks.  I have just applied some wipe on poly.  You can see the cherry version behind it.   They are actually the exact same size but digital cameras do these funny things....
 

 
I would like to get the cedar version to the same point as the cherry version so I can progress with both simultaneously.
 
All the cedar is wood project source
 
 
Chuck