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Erik W

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  1. Erik W
    Bob, I'll add to the chorus of kudos here. Your Cheerful looks wonderful. It's truly an inspiration for me as I continue my own Cheerful build. I really like the results of your rigging. I'll definitely continue referencing your build log regularly from here on out. Erik
  2. Erik W
    Here are a couple of photos of the port side of the Cheerful. You can see my high tech set up of how I'm holding it while planking this part . . . an old towel. It's something soft that won't damage the hull, and I can position the ship the way I want it. Also you can see the small clamps and clothes pins I'm using to hold the planks in place while the glue sets. These photos are the raw look before any sanding has been done . . . with finger prints, glue smudges, etc. Erik
  3. Erik W
    I reached a mini milestone by getting the above-the-wale portion of one side of the hull planked up to where the cap rail will be. The planking between the gun ports is fun, but a bit tedious. I've done the preliminary sanding of what I've planked so far, and a rough faring along the top of the bulwark. Still needs more work, but I'd rather wait until both sides are done before I tidy things up. So . . . it's still a bit rough looking. Erik
  4. Erik W
    Bob, As one who strives for accuracy himself, I feel your pain with this decision about the aft braces. With that said, I'm sure 99% of us, if not 100%, wouldn't have noticed the inaccuracy of the gaff below the lower yard as well as including the aft brace, if you had not pointed it out. While striving for accuracy, at some point we have to admit that we are creating a representation of the real thing. So in a case like this, in my humble opinion, what looks most interesting on the finished ship is what I'd go with. Either choice will in no way detract from what you've accomplished with this build. Erik
  5. Erik W
    I like option D followed by B. Not sure about authenticity, but those options visually look best to me. I haven't done tree nailed yet myself, but am pretty sure it's not worth doing on parts of the hull that are painted. I don't think they'll show up. Erik
  6. Erik W
    Well done Mike! I also like your lighting and photography with these. The bow and stern photos look awesome. Erik
  7. Erik W
    I'm working my way upwards with the planking around the gun ports. I'm taking my time. It seems best to wait to sand this area until I have all the planks down. This is the rough look then. I usually clean things up a bit for the photos I post. So . . .this is kind of the equivalent of meeting someone for coffee without first showering, brushing my teeth, and combing my hair. Erik
  8. Erik W
    "I guess holding it up to the light could help judge plank thickness." - This is what I did on with my longboat when I was sanding. Erik
  9. Erik W
    Your plank run actually looks good. There does appear to be some unevenness in the finish that I think can easily be smoothed out by more sanding. Ideally the hull should be smooth to the touch as you're holding it. Your planking material is the 1/32" (.031") thick strip, which has some extra meat to it as far as how much you can sand off in order to get a smooth finish. The planks included in my kit were .020" thick (MS had substituted lower quality planking material than what the kit was designed for), and still had enough material for a good sanding. See the plank ends in this photo to see how thin my planks were: http://modelshipworld.com/uploads/monthly_08_2015/post-20029-0-22931000-1438540971.jpg Erik
  10. Erik W
    Druxey, Thanks for the second opinion. That's exactly the kind of feedback that is so much appreciated. It keeps me from screwing up what will otherwise be a good build because I pull an amateur move that seemed like a good idea to my inexperienced mind. All, I'm not going to go with the blue. If you compare the photos of the model in the Rogers Collection I posted above, with my high tech coloring project below, you'll see that rather than simply being trim, the two blue strakes will make up a greater portion of the above-the-wales planking. Also, as Chuck stated, it looks a little odd as those planks narrow at the bow and stern. Erik
  11. Erik W
    Thanks for the feedback Chuck! Glad to get an expert opinion on the chamfer . . . and glad I asked before I went that route. I didn't have my mind set on the blue. You have some good points about the blue planks being wider than the wale. At this point then, I'm leaning towards not doing the blue option. I will do some tests using color paper, and coloring in a printed side view of your plans to get a visual on how it would look. Erik
  12. Erik W
    I've been considering going with an alternate paint scheme for my Cheerful than what others are doing. My thoughts were to paint the top two planks on the sides (the two between the top trim strip and the cap rail) blue. I'd also paint the transom blue, but leave the counter a natural color. I have two questions. 1. My thoughts were to sand a very slight bevel on one edge of one of the two planks to be painted, so once painted the planks can still be seen to be individual planks. Do you think this will work? Or is this not something that is done. What are the potential problems? 2. Is blue a realistic color on a cutter or ship from this era? It doesn't have to be accurate for the Cheerful, but if there's no chance a cutter had blue paint, I might skip it. I borrowed these photos from Chuck's build log to demonstrate what I'm talking about (thanks in advance Chuck!). The side view of the plans showing the top two planks. Photos from the Rogers collection in Annapolis showing some blue (but at Chuck has pointed out, not the Cheerful). Erik
  13. Erik W
    Chuck, I almost didn't post the photos. I'm very much in the in-progress stage with this part of the planking. I know that the WOP will make the simulated caulking stand out . . . that and wiping off all the saw dust. Erik
  14. Erik W
    I'm continuing with the planking above the wales. Things are temporarily looking very rough in these photos. Some of the planks are partially sanded. Other planks are not sanded yet. Like Chuck, I only did the pencil caulking between planks in areas where it won't be hidden by the wales or trim pieces. So, it looks a little odd at this stage. The two red pieces of wood next to the ship are parts of the stern gun port framing I accidentally just broke off! Grrr! Thought I'd take a break, and snap a few photos . . . Erik
  15. Erik W
    Ed, Impressive! Equally impressive is building 4 of these in a row. I know they're all different, but I'd imagine their is a lack of motivation that builds up by the time you get to the last one! Erik
  16. Erik W
    Since my progress is slow and steady . . . you get photos of every little step forward! I added the molding strips on each side, just below the gun ports. These were actually quite challenging to get a smooth run since they're so narrow. It's easy to accidentally kink them. The first side I did I wound up pulling off and reattaching the main strip 4 times, and the short strip in front of the forward gun port 2 times. I blame Mike (Stuntflyer) for setting the example of pulling things apart and starting over. The second side went much smoother with no need to start over. Erik
  17. Erik W
    That looks better. Also, don't worry about the roughness of how the planking looks. Once you do the final sanding after you're done planking, it'll look a lot cleaner. Erik
  18. Erik W
    Thanks Jack! Al, I figure the longer it takes, the more bang for my buck I'm getting. This book arrived in the mail today. About a third of it is dedicated to rigging an English cutter built in 1778. While not rigged in the same way as Cheerful, it is similar enough to really get a good 3 dimensional view of the rigging, as well as an understanding of how a typical cutter was rigged. Here's a link to the book's description: http://www.amazon.com/Rigging-Period-Fore---Aft-Craft/dp/159114227X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457738065&sr=8-1&keywords=rigging+period+fore Erik
  19. Erik W
    There definitely is something to be said for measuring a bunch, checking things a bunch, and taking it slowly. I've been concerned about getting the wales correct, and identical on both sides. I think I pulled it off. Both sides, to the best of my observation, have identical runs, and line up perfectly at both the bow and stern. I used the batten strip again to determine the run of the thin 3/64" x 1/16" plank that is located just below the gun ports and is higher at the forward most gun port. I drew that plank run with a pencil. Again, taking my time is key. So, in other words . . . this baby will be launched some time in 2028! Erik
  20. Erik W
    Looks good Rusty! I'm glad so many of you guys are ahead of me on the planking. It gives some good visuals on where I'm headed. I have to say, it's kind of crazy you just started your build only 7 weeks ago! Erik
  21. Erik W
    The strakes look a little high to me. I tried to get mine to be to the same height as Chuck's original, after also reading about Stuntflyer's issues in his log. I don't know if it matters or not though. Here's what mine looked like: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10743-18th-century-longboat-by-erik-w-–-model-shipways-–-scale-148-first-wooden-ship-build-finished/?p=330687 Erik
  22. Erik W
    Chuck, I think red would look better than natural. And definitely not black. They'd probably look good if you left them natural, but stained them golden oak, or something similar, but since you're not staining anything else, when viewing the deck area in it's entirety, they might look out of place. Just my humble $.02. Erik
  23. Erik W
    Thanks for the kind words guys! Per, The other guy's building the Cheerful have set the bar high, I'm just hoping mine turns out anywhere near as well! This thing is much more complicated than the longboat. I've turned Chuck's advice into my mantra, Be patient and take my time. Also, to all who hit "Like" on my posts, thanks! As I'm sure other's have found, it's definitely motivating when I know folks are checking my work out. Erik
  24. Erik W
    After the last bit of tweaking on the hull, I've started planking. I attached the first layer of the wales on one side. The run came out pretty well. Not perfect, but it'll do. I lightly sanded the wale, but since it will have a second layer over it, I didn't get to crazy with the sanding. I'm hoping the other side is a match. Erik
  25. Erik W
    I drew the run of the wales using the tick marks on the laser cut bulkheads as a guide to pin down a batten strip. Once I was satisfied that the plank run was smooth, I drew my line. I also noticed at this point that I had made an error in over-fairing the underside of the center 4 stern frames, where the bottom of the counter meets the square tuck. So . . . I added 1/32" wood on one of the frames, 3/64" wood on the other three, and then a further .020" on the center two. Yeah, I had accidentally taken off a lot of material. I feel like I'm taking one step back with every couple steps forward sometimes. You can see the beefed up frames in the first two photos. I made sure my shims were sanded smooth and filled as necessary since these parts of the frames will be exposed on the interior. When painted they should look as if they are a single piece. Knowing modelers are fond of jury rigging. I threw in a photo of my work area showing my jig for holding the ship upside down (while addressing the stern frame issue), with a ceramic tile holding it down so it won't move . . . and the scrap wood extension I made for my lamp. This is easily the largest model I've ever worked on, so my space felt a little cramped. Erik

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