Erik W

With outdoor temperatures up to 98 degrees (37 Celsius) here this week, it was easy to want to stay indoors and work on my Cheerful.  After procrastinating for a bit, I tackled a couple of things I've been putting off.  I built the ladders.  These were a bit of a challenge as they are not straight, even though they looks straight.  They actually lean aft with the sheer of the deck.  It took a while to get all the steps cut to exactly the same length, and the notches filed into the ladder sides, since I did all that by hand.  They wound up turning out the way I had hoped with the right amount of lean and both ladders being symmetrical when compared with one another.  I know the model will rarely be viewed from dead ahead or dead astern, but hey, you have to put your best foot forward.
 
The other thing I had been procrastinating was making the belaying pins.  In my 45 years of model making I've never fashioned a part using a power tool.  So, the photo you see below is my first attempt at making a belaying pin.  I used the Dremel rotary tool my dad gave me as a gift in 1985 when I was fourteen years old.  I followed the dimensions Mike (Stuntflyer) had used for the belaying pins on his Cheerful build.   The pin is .375" long, or 18" in 1/48 scale.  I turned the square stock down to .045" in diameter, then shaped the top.  The bottom shaft was then reduced to .030" in diameter.  It looks rough obviously, but turned out OK for a first attempt.  The little collar between the lower shaft and the handle looks a little clunky, so on the production pins, I'll reduce the width of that a bit.  I still have some playing around to do with which specific files I'll use, but I'm happy I got over the mental hurdle of giving it a try in the first place!
 
Erik

With outdoor temperatures up to 98 degrees (37 Celsius) here this week, it was easy to want to stay indoors and work on my Cheerful.  After procrastinating for a bit, I tackled a couple of things I've been putting off.  I built the ladders.  These were a bit of a challenge as they are not straight, even though they looks straight.  They actually lean aft with the sheer of the deck.  It took a while to get all the steps cut to exactly the same length, and the notches filed into the ladder sides, since I did all that by hand.  They wound up turning out the way I had hoped with the right amount of lean and both ladders being symmetrical when compared with one another.  I know the model will rarely be viewed from dead ahead or dead astern, but hey, you have to put your best foot forward.
 
The other thing I had been procrastinating was making the belaying pins.  In my 45 years of model making I've never fashioned a part using a power tool.  So, the photo you see below is my first attempt at making a belaying pin.  I used the Dremel rotary tool my dad gave me as a gift in 1985 when I was fourteen years old.  I followed the dimensions Mike (Stuntflyer) had used for the belaying pins on his Cheerful build.   The pin is .375" long, or 18" in 1/48 scale.  I turned the square stock down to .045" in diameter, then shaped the top.  The bottom shaft was then reduced to .030" in diameter.  It looks rough obviously, but turned out OK for a first attempt.  The little collar between the lower shaft and the handle looks a little clunky, so on the production pins, I'll reduce the width of that a bit.  I still have some playing around to do with which specific files I'll use, but I'm happy I got over the mental hurdle of giving it a try in the first place!
 
Erik

I did a variety of things over the last week.  I built the jib outhaul block (shown in the painfully enlarged photo below . . . warts and all, haha).  Mike (stuntflyer) has an excellent tutorial for that on his Cheerful build, so I followed that.  I then made a card stock mock up of the starboard side seat.  I used the card stock templates as a pattern to cut out the parts.  As others have said this is a bit finicky.  I have a feeling the second one will be more of a challenge as I try to get it to match the first.
 
I spent some time this week reading ahead in Chuck's monograph chapters to get a list of the last little bits I need to finish the build.  I ordered some Albion Alloys brass tube.  I also messaged Chuck, Mike, and Glenn (glbarlow) with questions about the thread type/size/color they used with Chuck's scale rope for seizing and serving.  Today I went on a region wide road trip to fly fishing shops and fabric stores.  Most of my dark brown rope is Chuck's old style rope, other than the .012" new Ultra for rat lines (so I don't need thread for seizing or serving the brown Ultra rope).  My tan rope is a mix of his old rope and the new Ultra rope.  These tan colors are close enough in shade to mix on the model, but I wanted thread for seizing that matched each shade.  The photos below are color corrected to be as close to accurate as I could possibly get the images.  The Gutermann thread is for most serving and seizing.  The smaller diameter UNI-Thread fly tying thread is for tiny serving and seizing.
 
Here's what I came up with based on what I could find locally.
Using with Syren old brown rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 593 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Dark Brown
Using with Syren old tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 512 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
Using with Syren new Ultra tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 509 - also UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
 
Also, as Chuck had answered, the thread he uses for seizing and serving his new Ultra rope is as follows (I researched what actual size/diameter it is in wt and tex).
Ultra Brown rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 682 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
Ultra Tan rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 263 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
This is hard to find in the US, so Chuck recommended this place: https://www.williamgee.co.uk/product-tag/mara/
 
Erik
 

Equipment of the mizzen royal yard - Vergue de cacatois de perruche
With the outfitting of the mizzen royal yard, the smallest yard of the corvette, this chapter - outfitting the yards - now comes to an end. 
The mizzen royal yard of the model has a length of approx. 11.3 cm and a thickness of approx. 2 mm in the middle. The tye has a diameter of 0.25 mm. For the block slings I used ropes with a diameter of 0.25 mm, which were served. The results can be seen in the two pictures:


I am currently researching the equipment for the gaff rigging. There are still a lot of details to clarify.
See you soon ...
 

Beautifully framed!

To Hubac´s Historian: Thank you for nice comment, but be careful, we're just at the beginning (that was a joke ).
The most beveled frames are done, the frames in the middle part don't have as much beveling anymore so it went a little faster.

Thank you, friends!
 
I begin the construction of the swivel guns: as for the deck guns, I prepared a master with the lathe and from this I make a silicone rubber mould from which I will obtain all 16 guns using an alloy of lead, tin and antimony
 










 

Johann,
 
Thanks for the nice compliment!  That means a lot coming from someone of your skill level.
 
Erik

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

Johann,
 
Thanks for the nice compliment!  That means a lot coming from someone of your skill level.
 
Erik

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

little steps:

Johann,
 
Thanks for the nice compliment!  That means a lot coming from someone of your skill level.
 
Erik

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

Johann,
 
Thanks for the nice compliment!  That means a lot coming from someone of your skill level.
 
Erik

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

This is extremely clean and precise work. A wonderful model!

I decided to finish and fit the frames in the front and back of the model first - these frames require more beveling and I want to get this done as soon as possible.

Log #87: The Anchor Buoys
I have not posted an update in a while as I have been slowed down by a combination of general busyness at work and my current project on the model being very fiddly. As you will shortly see I think I somewhat achieved the look I was aiming for, but certainly there is room for improvement.
 
I decided to add anchor buoys to the model and so started by shaping some with wood using some spare dowel on my drill.

For reference all the dimensions I got from p192 of Steel (https://maritime.org/doc/steel/part6.php).
 
In retrospect I think I should have tapered the ends a bit more. Next up was to add some wooden bands. I couldn’t get any clear answers on what the function of these were, but both Goodwin and Lees depict the buoys with them and Steel mentions them on p167 so I decided I would at least attempt to depict them. I used the black paper from the kits cut into thin strips glued with wood glue.

I then painted and dry brushed them.

Next came the most tedious part of the process, making the slings. These were very fiddly parts to make. Given their small size and the fact that they all need to be the same size, even very minor error resulted in noticeable differences. I needed to make 8 of these, but I probably made at least 12 in total. They were served along their whole length (as per Steel) using fly tying thread.

The eye splices etc were made using my previously described method. Once they were all done I took a pair of them and served with my 0.2mm rope around the end to make a double loop with 4 “tails”.

These were then fixed in place using super glue and the buoy hoop (confusingly the same name is used for the wooden rings and the rope that goes round the middle of the buoy) was run through the eyes.

And here is the result. I would do a few things differently if I was doing them again, but good enough for this model.

Finally I spliced a 0.5mm rope into one end for the buoy rope and a 0.35mm rope into the other end for the lanyard. The buoy rope was attached to the anchor as per the description in Goodwin (though it matches what is in Lees). The lashing is done with 0.2mm rope. The length of each rope is long enough to allow a reasonable coil to be attached to the shrouds. I only have one of the anchors done, but the second will have to wait till next time.

Thank you to everyone for all the encouragement.

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik

Thanks for the kind words and likes.  When photographing a couple weeks of work it doesn't really look like I made much progress!  I attached the rest of the cleats to the bulwarks, drilled all the holes for the cannon eyebolts, formed the 60 or so eyebolts needed, and then made and attached the side pin rails.  When attaching the eyebolts, I only glued in the top ones, and left the lower ones off.  I made a jig out of styrene to get the holes in the bulwarks consistent.  And being a perfectionist, the forming of the eyebolts themselves wound up taking some time.
 
I had a question regarding the inboard bulwark ladders for you Cheerful builders.  The instructions say, "You will find the template on the plans to cut the sides for the ladder.  But just to make life easier, print the next page as all of the elements are provided".  None of the 3 plan sheets have a template for the sides of the ladder.  And I'm not sure what the print the next page reference means.  There are no plans for the ladders in the written instructions either.  Does anyone happen to have a plan that shows the side shape of the ladder?  I guess I can make a good guess based on photos of the ladder pieces shown in Chuck's instructions, but it would be a little easier if I had a template to reference/print.
 
While still working on the Cheerful almost daily, my progress has slowed down a fair amount.  With the warmer weather and longer days, there's lots to do outside, so the path forward on the build will be a bit slower while I enjoy the summer.
 
Erik

This was a fun week.  I finished the stern details.  These included building the second seat, which I'm happy to say is close to identical to the first.  I made the horse for the boom sheet out of 22 gauge annealed wire, with washers made from .062" diameter styrene rod with the center .028" drilled out for the wire.  I cut and formed the transom knees, and glued those on.  I then shaped and added the cleats.  These I had bought from Chuck a long time ago.  I see he currently offers cleats in 5mm, 7mm, and 9mm.  I have 9mm and 6mm on hand.  So for the cleats on the transom knees, I shortened the 6mm to 5mm, and used the 9mm and 6mm cleats in the other areas of the stern.  I see in these enlarged photos a couple of spots that need touching up, but I'm otherwise happy with the way these details turned out.
 
Erik

I did a variety of things over the last week.  I built the jib outhaul block (shown in the painfully enlarged photo below . . . warts and all, haha).  Mike (stuntflyer) has an excellent tutorial for that on his Cheerful build, so I followed that.  I then made a card stock mock up of the starboard side seat.  I used the card stock templates as a pattern to cut out the parts.  As others have said this is a bit finicky.  I have a feeling the second one will be more of a challenge as I try to get it to match the first.
 
I spent some time this week reading ahead in Chuck's monograph chapters to get a list of the last little bits I need to finish the build.  I ordered some Albion Alloys brass tube.  I also messaged Chuck, Mike, and Glenn (glbarlow) with questions about the thread type/size/color they used with Chuck's scale rope for seizing and serving.  Today I went on a region wide road trip to fly fishing shops and fabric stores.  Most of my dark brown rope is Chuck's old style rope, other than the .012" new Ultra for rat lines (so I don't need thread for seizing or serving the brown Ultra rope).  My tan rope is a mix of his old rope and the new Ultra rope.  These tan colors are close enough in shade to mix on the model, but I wanted thread for seizing that matched each shade.  The photos below are color corrected to be as close to accurate as I could possibly get the images.  The Gutermann thread is for most serving and seizing.  The smaller diameter UNI-Thread fly tying thread is for tiny serving and seizing.
 
Here's what I came up with based on what I could find locally.
Using with Syren old brown rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 593 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Dark Brown
Using with Syren old tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 512 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
Using with Syren new Ultra tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 509 - also UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
 
Also, as Chuck had answered, the thread he uses for seizing and serving his new Ultra rope is as follows (I researched what actual size/diameter it is in wt and tex).
Ultra Brown rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 682 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
Ultra Tan rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 263 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
This is hard to find in the US, so Chuck recommended this place: https://www.williamgee.co.uk/product-tag/mara/
 
Erik
 

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.
 
One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.
 
As always, thanks for looking,
Erik