Erik W

Wonderful work Mike,
 
lovely built hull !
 
Nils

Mike, your cutter is so crisp and clean. Masking is not one of my favorite things, but you have executed it to perfection. Great job!

Mike,
 
It really looks great!  I like how you've really gotten into the use of your airbrush on this build.  I know you weren't entirely happy with the brush painting of your longboat.  Seems like you've adapted to emphasize your strengths.  Your perfectionism and the high standards you set for yourself are really paying off.  Your build is incredibly clean and crisp.  Being relatively new to this like you are, you are definitively a role model for those of us just getting started.  While I'm at it, I've always admired your willingness (and this includes on your longboat) to pull things apart and start over when you're not satisfied.  Your results show your high standards. 
 
Erik

Mike,
 
It really looks great!  I like how you've really gotten into the use of your airbrush on this build.  I know you weren't entirely happy with the brush painting of your longboat.  Seems like you've adapted to emphasize your strengths.  Your perfectionism and the high standards you set for yourself are really paying off.  Your build is incredibly clean and crisp.  Being relatively new to this like you are, you are definitively a role model for those of us just getting started.  While I'm at it, I've always admired your willingness (and this includes on your longboat) to pull things apart and start over when you're not satisfied.  Your results show your high standards. 
 
Erik

Sure does look sweet Mike.  I cant wait to see it in person.  Well Done!!!!  

Beautiful job on planking and painting your hull, Mike. Looks perfect.

I've been hard at work completing a number of tasks and thought that it would be better to post after all of them were completed. Here are a few notes that might be of interest to others who are building Cheerful.
 
Before installing the false deck, the four stern frames were thinned down gradually, 1/16" at the top to 1/8" at the bottom.
 
The 2nd layer of bulwark planking is slightly rounded at its top outside edge where it sits directly below the gun port sills.
 
The Caprail's fancy molding was added after painting its bottom edge black. It was glued to the caprail using medium CA from the top. Consequently, there was no CA seepage below its bottom edge. The width of the Caprail, which includes its fancy molding, is slightly under 5/32". 
 
After shaping the boarding ladder steps I installed the top one to the hull before starting on the remaining fancy molding. This was easier for me than to try and cut out the space for the top ladder after the molding was glued to the hull. All of the remaining fancy moldings were then added to the hull including the small “ear” at the stem. The moldings are quite thin being under 1/32". I could see that the 1/32" Hawse Plates would stand proud of the molding, which I didn't like, so I made them from .025 sheet.
 
On the transom, the port lids are stationary with simulated hinge straps using Chuck's Laser Board kit. There are tiny holes in the hinges that are filled with glue during application which aid in holding the hinges in place. They are stiff, easy to paint and easy to install. Highly recommended. Missing are the four hinges on the top of each strap. I am still trying to decide how I want to make them.
 
Some prep work was necessary before painting the bulwark planking. Using soft 4-6 lb balsa (left over from the airplane building days) I fitted plugs into each gun port to protect them from any overspray. They are only 1/8" thick and were easy to shape and fit into the ports. Then the entire hull including the false deck was masked off. The paint was applied using the Paasche air brush. W&N Galeria Acrylic paint, when properly thinned, does not clog this airbrush. I also noticed that cleaning the airbrush between coats was not necessary. Seven coats were applied.
 
I laid down some 3M fine line tape inside the hull along the bottom edge of the caprail. Using a black .020 Micron Archival pen, I scribed a line against the tapes edge to establish the bottom of the caprail. Now it was a simple matter of painting from the line up to the top of the caprail.
 

 

 

 

Mike,
That is one super nice and clean hull.  The planking and paint pop when you look at it.

Mark,
 
I just stumbled onto your build log.  Impressive!!  The Hahn building method intrigues me.  I'll be following your progress.
 
Erik

ok.....best i show some progress........oh.......had to lower the lantern, because of the boom.......
 used micro kristal klear for window sample.....not sure if i will use, although it looks ok.....
bindings on the mast not finished, but came out too shiny......will have to do something with them, althought i like the fact that the sythetic line doesn't have hairs, althought a little beeswax help there........c'est tout for now, until i get well into the rigging....cheers.............

Mark,
 
I just stumbled onto your build log.  Impressive!!  The Hahn building method intrigues me.  I'll be following your progress.
 
Erik

Few more photos 
 

 

 

 

 

I attached the chainplates.  I used a ruler held up against the side of the boat to figure out the correct angle each chain plate needed to be attached so as to have a straight line towards the area of the mast where the shrouds and backstays will be seized.
 

 

 

 
Erik
 
 

Mark,
 
I just stumbled onto your build log.  Impressive!!  The Hahn building method intrigues me.  I'll be following your progress.
 
Erik

Mark,
 
I just stumbled onto your build log.  Impressive!!  The Hahn building method intrigues me.  I'll be following your progress.
 
Erik

Mark,
 
I just stumbled onto your build log.  Impressive!!  The Hahn building method intrigues me.  I'll be following your progress.
 
Erik

After cleaning up the shipyard a bit, here goes....   New framing wood has been ordered but due to Jeff at Hobbymill's schedule it won't be here until late (very late) April.  I'm planning on using up my existing stock of swiss pear, ebony, pear, silver maple, and cherry and maybe some boxwood if I see fit. 
 
At this stage, I'm poring over the plans and notating such things as wale, gunport, and deck clamp locations on the individual frame drawings as I'm planning on putting some reference points on the frames physically as I cut them.  This should solve some of my previous issues..  With 60 frames, this is going to take a bit.
 
I have a new build board laid out and prepped but not cut.  The frame reference board is ready to go.
 
I'm still making a final decision on whether to stick with cherry or go with boxwood for the keel, stem, and stern items.   Version 1.0 sits forlornly in another part of the shipyard waiting for various bits and pieces to be cannibalized.  I'll be re-using my old fabricated measuring tools and making some new ones.
 
Hopefully, by the time the framing stock arrives, all the plans will be annotated and scanned, all the bits and pieces from V 1.0 will be cannibalized, and bunches of new bits will be fabricated and then ready and waiting. 
 
It's time to do this beast right and proper... and to have some fun doing it.
 
Footnotes to the build:  I'm adding to this as I discover things.
The Hahn plans lack a lot of details so additional sources will be needed.
    a) Hahn's "Ships of the American Revolution" is a must to understand the building method.
    b)  I also recommend the "La Belle Poule" monograph from ANCRE.  This has period bits and pieces along with the proper rigging as Hahn used La Venus which has pointed out to me as being from a later period.
 
 

Still hammering away...    Thanks for the likes and comments.
 
Here's the latest pics.  Starboard side wide wale planking is complete.  Needs final sanding and bit more caulking (  ) of some planks that I didn't quite get fitted right.  Relatively minor fix, in my opinion.  the splotchiness is from wiping it down with water to raise the grain for the final sanding.  An interesting effect is that not all Swiss Pear is the same color.. some is darker than the others.   Interesting.
 
Next comes the narrow planks.  per measurements, I need 28 strakes.  Seven strakes at the stern to the deadwood so I need to take those into account as they are 9" planks on the counter to the deadwood. After that, they can be wider as they run to the garboard.  The bow will need serious tapering and I'm starting to mark everything out.
 
Any tips, oops, or advice appreciated.
 




 

A minor milepost in the overall build but a major one for me...
 
Six strakes have been added and to check how the tuck planking went, I taped the sternpost into position and took a few extra shots.   Roughly sanded (sorry about the sawdust) and there's some gaps need filling.  Overall, I'm feeling pretty good at this point.  At the stern area, I'm off by about 3" (scale) which could be tolerance buildup or one side was of the transoms was off by that much.  I'm thinking it has more to do with some tolerance buildup and the angle the planks came into tuck.  The bow is about 2" (scale) off.   
 
I do like the way the lines are shaping up with planking.
 
I need to re-mark off the hull and re-check the measurements and then do a few more strakes before putting the garboard back on.  And sand, sand, sand.... <cough><cough>:  Luckily the air filter system I've added to the workshop is doing it's job.
 



 
Comments, questions, abuse is always allowed.  Ok.. maybe not the abuse part... 

Thanks for the likes and comments.   Short update time.
 
I've laid 12 stakes of the 8" wide planks...  15 to go.   Looks rough but I'm seeing light so what appears to be gaps is just mismatch in thickness and shadows... I hope.
 
From the re-lining off I just finished a strake ago, I won't need a stealer at the stern.  Looking at the French ship monographs I have, a short, wide plank can be added such that the strake is continuous.  I've added one and probably won't need any more. From the dead flat, the strakes run from 8" to almost 4" and then back to 8" at the sternpost. 
 
On the bow side, the planks run from 8" at the dead flat and then eventually taper to 4".  However, at least one drop plank is needed which will be put in in my next two strakes.  I'm trying hard to keep scale on this even though it looks strange due to the scale (to my eye at least). 
 
First two pics show her in all her unsanded, rough looking planking.
 
The third pic is my side project, the longboat.  I needed a way to do this so thought, fiddled, thought, and then came up with a plan I think will work.  I'm using a variation of Chuck's method.  I did have to re-do this once already as for scale, the frames should be 2" (1/32") wide, but I kept breaking them and then realized there wasn't enough meat to hold the planks securely. So, I doubled the width of the frame.  We'll see where this leads.... hopefully not the scrap bin.
 
All in all, I'm pretty pleased.  There's some things I need to think about for the next ship, like is scale planking better or worse than eye-appeal cause these planks are relatively tiny compared to the planks I've used in the past.
 
Enough over-thinking for now... pressing on.
 

Minor update for the ship... a big one for me.
 
Planking continues.  No pics yet.  But while waiting for glue to try, etc. I've been busy working on carvings... or trying to anyway.  Also made minor progress on the longboat and a few drawings for parts needing to be cut out.
 
So.. the carvings.  The picture shows the first one I've attempted..  well actually it was the 4th attempt and hopefully, I can live with it.  The first two carvings I'll need are the name cartouche on the stern and Arms of France above the stern windows.  Mulling it over, I went for the "easy one".    I soaked them in isopropyl for about 12 hours and that removed most of the char.
 
I ended up doing bas-relief style on it after several failures of trying to carve the letters such that they stand proud.  Not going to happen in my lifetime. So I ended up removing the char as I carved out about 1/2mm deep leaving the lip and lettering (as one area not the individual letters) standing proud.  A touch of well-thinned brown paint (used a needle for this) and what I wanted highlighted is now about as good as it will get.  It actually looks better in real-life as most of us don't have eyes with macro mode.  
 
Onwards...... 

 

Minor update... planking is ongoing but I needed a break.  So back to the longboat.
 
Reworking again... 5th time I think, the form for making the longboat.  1st was the hand carved plug... tossed it.  2nd was the bulkheads like Chuck uses and BE did so well at 1:64...  broke the bulkheads.  3rd was the same using thicker bulkheads, still broke off the framing bits.   4th was a plug that used the laser to cut out... Something hiccupped and it came out 1" too long.  I'm still not sure what happened...  So.. number 5... in all it's glory.  Exact size and I'm happy.   Now to put it together and start adding stuff like frames and keel. 
 

I appreciate the comments and insight.  We're pretty sure surgery isn't the answer.  We do need to get her off the opiates due to bowel problems and still get pain relief.  Being in Oregon, we're working on the "alternative" but her back isn't simple due to a lifetime of compensation.  We think the pain clinic is on the right path.... we'll see.
 
Back on topic... here's a pic... 6 more strakes to go and one (at the bow) will need to be a drop plank...  <sigh>  I tried to get it without one.. but not going to happen.
 

Hull after the finish
 

Paul,
 
Of the 4 models listed, I think you should go with the Armed Sloop Virginia as a second build.  Like Brian said, the rigging is more complicated, which will get you prepared for the Constitution build.  The Bounty launch is similar enough to the longboat that I don't now if it will really give you the opportunity to enhance your skills much beyond what you've already developed with the longboat.  That said, anything you build at this point is just more practice for a bigger build down the road.
 
Erik