Erik W

Over the last week I finished the larger grating, the small coaming for the galley stack, and built the skylight mini kit.  I got the idea to paint the inside of the skylight black, as well as the framing underneath the skylight below the false deck.  Once complete, I didn't like the completely blacked out interior though.  It made the skylight look like the glass panels were painted gloss black rather than being clear, since there was absolutely nothing visible inside.  So . . . I painted the interior of the skylight wood color and will put a small planked section low down in the framing underneath the skylight.  It's a subtle thing that no one will consciously notice when viewing the ship, but by having something visible inside the skylight area it hints at an interior, rather than a completely black void.  Live and learn.  Also, I test fit planking around the skylight and didn't like the look of the 90 degree red corners at deck level after rounding off the coaming corners, so I carefully scraped the red paint off.  It looks a little funny now, but will look sharp and clean when the decking is complete.
 
Erik

Over the last week I finished the larger grating, the small coaming for the galley stack, and built the skylight mini kit.  I got the idea to paint the inside of the skylight black, as well as the framing underneath the skylight below the false deck.  Once complete, I didn't like the completely blacked out interior though.  It made the skylight look like the glass panels were painted gloss black rather than being clear, since there was absolutely nothing visible inside.  So . . . I painted the interior of the skylight wood color and will put a small planked section low down in the framing underneath the skylight.  It's a subtle thing that no one will consciously notice when viewing the ship, but by having something visible inside the skylight area it hints at an interior, rather than a completely black void.  Live and learn.  Also, I test fit planking around the skylight and didn't like the look of the 90 degree red corners at deck level after rounding off the coaming corners, so I carefully scraped the red paint off.  It looks a little funny now, but will look sharp and clean when the decking is complete.
 
Erik

Over the last week I finished the larger grating, the small coaming for the galley stack, and built the skylight mini kit.  I got the idea to paint the inside of the skylight black, as well as the framing underneath the skylight below the false deck.  Once complete, I didn't like the completely blacked out interior though.  It made the skylight look like the glass panels were painted gloss black rather than being clear, since there was absolutely nothing visible inside.  So . . . I painted the interior of the skylight wood color and will put a small planked section low down in the framing underneath the skylight.  It's a subtle thing that no one will consciously notice when viewing the ship, but by having something visible inside the skylight area it hints at an interior, rather than a completely black void.  Live and learn.  Also, I test fit planking around the skylight and didn't like the look of the 90 degree red corners at deck level after rounding off the coaming corners, so I carefully scraped the red paint off.  It looks a little funny now, but will look sharp and clean when the decking is complete.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

Mike,
 
My plan is once I fasten the skylight in place and begin the planking around it, I'll make the final call at that point.  Obviously, if I chose to, repainting the corners will only take a few seconds.
 
Erik

Mike,
 
My plan is once I fasten the skylight in place and begin the planking around it, I'll make the final call at that point.  Obviously, if I chose to, repainting the corners will only take a few seconds.
 
Erik

Over the last week I finished the larger grating, the small coaming for the galley stack, and built the skylight mini kit.  I got the idea to paint the inside of the skylight black, as well as the framing underneath the skylight below the false deck.  Once complete, I didn't like the completely blacked out interior though.  It made the skylight look like the glass panels were painted gloss black rather than being clear, since there was absolutely nothing visible inside.  So . . . I painted the interior of the skylight wood color and will put a small planked section low down in the framing underneath the skylight.  It's a subtle thing that no one will consciously notice when viewing the ship, but by having something visible inside the skylight area it hints at an interior, rather than a completely black void.  Live and learn.  Also, I test fit planking around the skylight and didn't like the look of the 90 degree red corners at deck level after rounding off the coaming corners, so I carefully scraped the red paint off.  It looks a little funny now, but will look sharp and clean when the decking is complete.
 
Erik

FWIW, I'm not sure that will work out. I looked at mine a few minutes ago and the all red base for the skylight looks right. Place a few  simulated planks around the skylight, just to see how it will look once the deck is in.
 
Mike

Over the last week I finished the larger grating, the small coaming for the galley stack, and built the skylight mini kit.  I got the idea to paint the inside of the skylight black, as well as the framing underneath the skylight below the false deck.  Once complete, I didn't like the completely blacked out interior though.  It made the skylight look like the glass panels were painted gloss black rather than being clear, since there was absolutely nothing visible inside.  So . . . I painted the interior of the skylight wood color and will put a small planked section low down in the framing underneath the skylight.  It's a subtle thing that no one will consciously notice when viewing the ship, but by having something visible inside the skylight area it hints at an interior, rather than a completely black void.  Live and learn.  Also, I test fit planking around the skylight and didn't like the look of the 90 degree red corners at deck level after rounding off the coaming corners, so I carefully scraped the red paint off.  It looks a little funny now, but will look sharp and clean when the decking is complete.
 
Erik

Caprails
 
Maybe not the most exciting thing, still installing the caprail is a test determining how well I did at the very beginning building the ship's infrastructure. That work and the pre-testing and fitting I did back then (nearly two years ago now) turned out to be ok for the most part. The laser cut caprail fit the top curves of the hull, finally finishing off the last of the exposed hull.

First up was the waist, a 5/16 plank fit the bill. Seemingly simple, this was a first example of early testing making it so. Originally my run of planking did not leave the flat surface between the scrolls required. It was so much easier to correct that back then than it would have been now.


Way back before I started building I admired how the caprail fitted with the two scrolls and wondered how I’d manage to make that happen. Naturally Chuck has a great design starting with those hance pieces from chapter one on to the scroll moulding and friezes, finally arriving at the curves of the caprail up from the main deck to the quarterdeck, it all works together.
 
The curved portions of the caprail are two pieces pieces glued together extra wide for good reason. First the rail narrows from 5/16 on the main deck to ¾ on the qdeck, plus there is an inward angle as the hull narrows going towards the stern. There was a lot of sanding and fine tuning to create a proper transition up and back. Also I appreciate the extra sets of this curved piece Chuck provides, I’ll just call the first attempt a prototype.

Next up was the quarter deck, first closing up the bulwarks having first painted them red then adding the cap rails. I switched to Admiralty Paints Dull Black for the rails, not sure why the name, it is the very opposite of dull. Though I had to make a few adjustments, for the most part I had a good fit matching the laser cut rail with gentle inward curve from mid-ship to stern.

I always look ahead to determine what I can do now that might be easier than doing it later, the two gangway platforms are an example. They aren’t a simple fit given the angles and placement required, including the tricky fitting of a knee below. It was much easier to build and install them now than later in chapter 11 when I’d have to work around, and likely knock off knowing me, the qdeck rail. The decking for both is fitted, but not glued on, it can wait as can the rest of the gangway.

Staying with the look ahead concept I elected to build the catheads and use them as guides to cut the opening in the hull to the deck called for later. A small laser cut template is provided which of course would work, I just wanted to have as tight a fit as possible and match the angle to the rest of the simulated cat tail below the beams. More importantly I wanted to get this cut made before I’d risk damaging any deck planking. The cat heads are just laying there, this is not how later they'll be mounted further out and at a much higher angle. It’s kinda cool how they make up from seven parts (including sheaves inserted in the slots) to look as one, they will stand out nicely in the final fit.

The bow section of the cat-rails are added, with the catheads laying in the slots confirming a tight fit. It took me a minute to recognize the grain in the wood wasn't more char.

That was followed by the remainder of the forecastle caprails. It’s worth mentioning again as I did in a much earlier post, and as suggested by Chuck and others, to use the paper caprail templates way early as the bow is being framed. Matching them up then makes installing the laser cut caprail easy now. I wouldn’t want to get to this point and find out they didn't not follow the curve of the bow.
 

The final result of the forecastle caprail installed, again with catheads just laying in the slots. You might notice there is no windscreen behind the stove. I did fit it but decided I’d rather have a peek of the stove visible from the main deck. It's such a cool stove and much of it will be hidden by the partial forecastle decking.
 
Note in this photo I’ve also pre-fit the breasthook though I won’t paint it until I can make a final fit after the planking is installed. An over-sized laser cut piece is provided, it took a lot of sanding to get a decent fit for my hull, including a little work on the back side of the bollard timbers.
 
With that I’ll move onward with the balance of chapter nine. Can’t wait to remove more char, if anyone comes up with a char removing formula I’ll be first in line. Wouldn’t it be nice to dip a piece of laser cut material in a little vat and it came out free of char…
 
By the way, while RED, my paint isn't as red as these photographs always make it out to be.  Apparently my workshop lighting and iPhone combine to make everything more vibrant.
 
As always thanks for stopping by with your likes and comments, I appreciate you’re doing so.
 

Thanks for all the 'likes' folks.  This week I finished the margin planks/waterways.  These took some time.  Those scarph joints aren't easy to get clean and tight, but by the last one I had a system down.  The 1/32" x 1/32" waterways were straight forward.  The only real challenge there was making them 1/4 rounds.  I did that by holding the square stock at a 45 degree angle on my cutting mat and running an emery board over the edge.  I'd do a few inches at a time, and lightly sand back and forth about a dozen times as I worked my way down the length of the wood strip.  I repeated this process two more times.
 
I'm excited to move on to building the deck structures now.  It will be a nice break from the various planking tasks I've worked on for the last couple of months (fancy molding, bulwarks, cap rail, margin planks, waterway).
 
Erik

With the holiday thrown in, my time to work on the Cheerful over the last week has been a bit limited.  I did make some progress though.  I'm part way through fabricating the margin planks.  The 5 short planks across the stern were a bigger pain to get correct than I expected.  I wound up scrapping 7 by the time I was satisfied with the 5 good ones you see here.  The port side margin planks were slow going as well.  I first made a 1/4" wide paper template in order to get the inner bulwarks shape correct as well as the location and basic shape of the scarph joints.  I made a card stock mock-up of a scarph joint from Chuck's plans that I used to transfer the shape of the joint onto the margin planks after they were formed.  As of now, I have all three port side margin planks complete, I just need to glue them together and attach them to the model.
 
I added a photo of the tools I used to fabricate the margin planks.  This photo actually shows about 90% of the entirety of the tools I've used to build my Cheerful.  Not pictured are more files, sand paper, more emery boards, and some clothes pins and clamps.  This project is very much a manual and low tech process for me!
 
Erik

I feel like I reached a bit of a milestone on my build today, so I have included a ton of photos in celebration! While being a perfectionist, things frequently don't turn out quite as well as I'd like, but I'm happy with the build so far.  And it's turning out pretty well considering it's my first major wooden ship build, after my Model Shipways longboat project many years ago.  Though there is still quite a ways to go on the project, with the exterior painting complete, there is a certain finished look now.  I really like the lines of the Cheerful.  I spent the week painting the cap rail, repainting the wales, and spending much time doing the final sanding of the hull and tweaking the finish (after viewing these photos, I cleaned up where the black paint meets the wood in the stern area).  Now on to Chapter 7 of Chuck's monograph, and adding the deck fittings, and planking the deck.
 
I have a couple of questions for you folks.  I used Wipe-On Poly back on my longboat build.  Applying it to the hull, and then applying any paint to those areas that needed it afterwards.  On my Cheerful, I applied WOP above the wales way back when those were planked, but have since sanded it off as I cleaned up that planking in preparation to add the fancy molding.  I never applied WOP anywhere else on the model.  Now, as you can see, the hull has painted areas amongst the bare wood.  I'm thinking I might not apply WOP at all.  The hull has made it nearly 7 years with temperature and humidity fluctuations without any noticeable signs of aging.  My questions then are, is it really necessary to apply some kind of protective coating to the wood?  Has anyone here not applied WOP, or similar finish to their build?  And if you did apply WOP to a model with areas that you already painted, how did you go about applying the WOP (apply it carefully around the painted sections, apply it to the painted areas also, etc)?  Thanks!
 
Erik

I finished adding the fancy molding to my Cheerful.  I planned ahead with the lower molding and didn't glue the portion that will be removed for the addition of the top boarding ladder step.  I spent a few evenings thinning and fairing the inboard bulwarks.  Yes, this was a messy pain in the butt.  There was a bit of a learning curve to sand/fair the inside of a curve vs. fairing the hull planking.  The bulwarks framing/gun ports measure in at a hair under 1/16" of an inch thick, which is what Chuck recommended in his monograph.  I also faired the bulkhead tops so the false deck will sit flat on them.  Lastly, I added the keel plates.  I still haven't touched up the paint on the hull exterior, so the build still looks a bit rough at this point.  I've decided I'll do that after the deck planking is finished.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

Looks great Mike!  And yes, you've definitely reached a milestone.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

Looks great Mike!  And yes, you've definitely reached a milestone.
 
Erik

Framing (final pieces)
I have finally finished all of the framing. About nine months to do them all including about 160 milled scarph joints. It certainly feels like a milestone. Though mostly done, I still need to do some minor cleanup fairing, especially where the cants transition into the deadwood.

FYI: Here is the fit that I was shooting for when adding the last frame, #29.

Mike

Lovely!!

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik

As always, thanks for the 'likes'.  Those always help keep me motivated.  Over the last week I've been working on the gratings.  The small ventilation scuttle grating towards the stern was straight forward and quick.  The other two larger gratings have taken some time.  Chuck's grating mini-kits make the gratings themselves easy to reproduce.  The coamings though were a bit finicky.  There are several surfaces to pay close attention to in each lap joint to get a tight fit.  As always, taking my time was what was needed.  Chuck's instructions for making a right-angle jig out of 3/64" thick sheet (the thickness of the deck planking) was brilliant.  It sure made rounding off the corners of the coaming easy while leaving the 90 corners at deck plank level looking crisp and 3/64" thick.  I darkened the lap joints and the joint between the coaming and grating with a pencil.  I'm still working on the larger coaming.  And though you can't tell from the photos, all three gratings have the camber that results from using the Syren min-kit.  The last photo has the gratings just set in place on the deck for the sake of the photo.
 
Erik