niwotwill

Lower masts completed today. Took the time to make 5mm cleats out of pear wood I had laying around. The process was to be a mass production method so I drilled blind holes at .05 centers for copper support wire. and then used the table saw to cut the piece to width along with controlled depth slices making the ears. Using a razor saw and mitre sliced off .05 tee shaped cleats. Some hand sanding was done prior to slicing. With each cleat I sanded the corners and edges with a radius along with a slight sanded radius on the top of the cleat. On the masts holes were drilled for the copper wire supporting the cleats. Then it was a matter of putting the cut wire in the blind holes on the bottom of the cleats and glueing the cleat to the mast. The boom rest was also pear wood and straight forward.

I had been procrastinating about the foot ropes so after promising myself that I'd do them today I did. It was more work than I had expected with the lines seized to the tips of the spars amongst the rigging. Deciding to tie the foot knots prior to hanging the foot ropes was the correct decision. Tied half hitches at 3/8" intervals seemed to be correct as this would be 24" at full scale. I had previously made a mixture of 50/50 white glue and water to soak the line and then hung it up with an alligator clip to weigh it down hanging straight. A piece of masking tape was marked at 3/8" intervals and the knots tied. rigged the after lines first and weighted the with alligator clips. Just like hang up the laundry. Completed foot ropes Tomorrow I set the droop getting rid to the kinks. So that complete chapter 16 and now on the chapter 17 in earnest.

Glad its holding. I've been using a piece of 3" thick foam rubber cut to fit inside the bulwarks to protect the stem and make a firm steady working medium. I buy the foam at a fabric store and its normal use is seat cushioning.

I straightened the foot rope line yesterday but I kept putting it off all day to make lower masts. I promised myself to do the foot ropes tomorrow. In an earlier post I mentioned that I used heat shrink tubing for the iron bands on the bowsprit with good results. I liked the results so much that I'll do them on the masts. When cutting a 1/16" piece with parallel lines it took many trys to get 3 that were needed so I had to figure a new method. I kept trying to design a jig that would hold the tubing while keeping a set dimension to cut with a #11 blade. Had a wow moment and remembered a tool I had from years ago and dug it out of the closet. Don't remember who make it but its vacuumed formed plastic with a handle holding a razor blade for chopping. Heres a photo I tested the cutting and it made a perfect slice of the tubing. The tubing has white lettering that is easily removed with paint thinner. So now all I had to do was glue a piece of wood perpendicular to the backing edge at the correct dimension. Looking at the pictures I can see it was made/sold by Amati. I chopped up enough of the rings for both masts in 5 minutes. Must keep track of tools I have and don't use regularly. I shaped the masts by hand using a mini plane to get the 4 sides for the square and then turned the taper in the Proxxon lathe. Next the cheeks needed to be shaped with the curved top and reliefs cut to clear the iron bands. Next was to glue the cheeks on the mast and put on the iron bands that go over the cheeks. Glued the fish to the front and it was ready for the final fittings. ONLY I used the material from the kit and you can see the mast at the top of the picture. The wood colors were not what i had hoped for and I don't like the look. The lower mast is a new mast with material from another kit. A much nicer color and I will use wood strips from the kit also to match the mast. Fore mast and main mast mounted on the model Comments appreciated

Oh! so bad. I know how it hurts and am hoping your fix will be perfect and you can proceed. Best of luck.

After waiting a few days looking at the planking above the wales I am not happy with the way it looks. I realized that I had sanded the entry into the stem rabbit as if it was a wale strake. This caused the uneven planks in the front. So I'll take it off and make another correctly. I had been concentrating of the spaces adjacent to planks and not the entry to the rabbit. Too much sanding. Thanks for all the looks and especially the likes it really helps with all my redos.

Much better color and the size looks correct

A lot of progress since the last update. Got the bobstays finished using my little alligator clip jig to space the closed hearts. It took quite a bit of time but all went well. I just finished the martingales inner, outer, and back all that is left are the foot ropes. I'm running a little test of conditioning the foot rope lines. I thinned LePages white glue and soaked the lines before hanging them to dry with a weight. LePages glue drys translucent when thick and when thinned it become almost transparent so we'll how how the test piece looks in the morning.

Finished the first strake above the wales. The planks were made using 3/16" wide strips shaped to fit the 1/2 distance between the wales and 1/16" moulding. The aft most plank had to be made from 7/32" wide strip as the moulding sweeps up from frame 14 and beyond. Started the first plank of the 2nd strake and will finish tomorrow. A few pictures of the planking so far. I think I can finish the 2nd strake tomorrow. Time will tell and how much sanding, fitting, sanding, fitting it will take.

Well we've had a change of plans and postponed or cancelled our vacation due to the Delta variant infection rate and my poor health. Started putting the starboard side back together with the wales. After placing the 1/16" trim moulding and starting the strakes between the wales and trim I had forgotton how hard it is to get two strakes fitting between them. I measured the distance at each frame dividing it in half to shape the plank. The first one from the stem was easy since it is so short it was just a matter of an angle. The second plank goes to frame 8 and starts wide narrowing towards the middle and then straight to the end. The fourth plank fits as it should but the proof will be the second strake. Just a quick update and tomorrow will be finishing the first strake and starting the second.

Made the rope necessary to get the bowsprit rigged. 24 feet of tan .008/010, 48 feet of .018 very dark brown, 24 feet .021 very dark brown and 48 feet of .012/.014 very dark brown this should be enough to give me plenty of error margin. I borrowed an idea from _SalD_'s Syren log only I ground the teeth off rather than use smooth jaw alligator clips.. I formed a 1/16" brass rod and soldered it to the alligator clips but when a heart was held the clips made dents so I found off the teeth. I ordered some from Amazon if my modified one don't work as hoped. Before I ground off the teeth After the teeth ground off Tomorrow rigging starts. A very exciting day as it represents the end is in sight ie a light in the tunnel that's not a train.

We postponed our vacation due to the Delta infection and my health so I'm back and will start on my Cheerful tomorrow. The nice thing to follow along is I get to use some of you great ideas and skills.

Paul the mast coat looks really nice and a good setup for the dremel. Glad you found the post I referenced. I can not figure out how to post another referenced log. Hope it helped with the belaying pins.

Well back in shop I go. We were planning on taking to month of August to tour Maine to Massachusetts coasts for lobster and museums but with the Delta variant and my health we cancelled. After breaking all the open heart while cleaning the laser burn I made new out of boxwood. Served up 9cm of line making a loop with a faux splice per David Antscherl's tffm vol 4. Made loops at the ends and attached to the open hearts. Served up 4.3cm making loops at the ends leaving the severing thread to be use for seizing the loop. Seized the line around the heart. Lashed the hearts to the bowsprit with tan thread per monograph. Finished up the bowsprit parts and glued them to the ship. Made the splash guard for painting and mounting. When all items dried overnight I lashed the gammon 9 turns and finished per tffm vol 4. Today I'm making rope for the rigging. Not very exciting.

You're on the right track. Its looking like the way to go with sculpy.

I agree with others that I use both scalpel and xacto for different cuts. I find xacto #11 good for cutting and carving the #11 scalpel is used for slicing and paring to flexible for cutting. I also use the Micro-Mark mini chisel set but they don't hold and edge and I've upgraded to the Vertas mini chisels.

You're on the right track for the belaying pins. I did mine for the Syren a while back and now that they're on the model Im very glad I took the time and effort. I used Thomas Gahms method and he was most helpful to getting me started. His method is explained in his Syren log page 8 post #218 and up. His suggestion I used most was to keep a drawing of the shape you want right in front of your work area for instance reference.

its looking really nice Paul. Great work on the boarding steps. Did you cut a relief in the top step for the 1/16" moulding or cut the moulding for the step? The treenailing looks great I am very impressed with the pattern and your prior explanation of how you treenailed. I'm not sure if I want to treenail or leave mine plain so looking at your impressive job will help me make a decision.

Patrick I love your out of the box ideas. You're on a good path here. Love to hear your ideas for the next step.

Interesting result after your basswood pattern. Looks good. I like the comments of two different approaches to the garboard strake.

Patrick Its not necessary for me to add more about how bad the quarter badges are!!!!! There are several posts where scratch quarter badges were made in lieu of kit slop. One in point is Thomas Gahms you might try looking at what he and others did . Give it a go and the light work might keep you busy while you recover. My wife has had both shoulders repaired and the recovery time was long and painful. Best of luck on the surgery regards Will

good idea to using basswood. I also have trouble with card stock patterns with things beyond planking.

Bowsprit, jib boom, and flying jib boom constructed and painted. Tried to make the dolphin striker with individual pieces as described in the monograph but not satisfied with my results. So I made it out of Boxwood I had laying around. Made a copy of the drawing and glued it to the material using sticky glue. Drilled the holes and then cut it out with the scroll saw. Filed and sanded to final shape adding the blocks. image glued to wood with holes drilled part cut from piece Finished dolphin striker ready for final sanding and painting Completed and ready for the hearts to be added Next the hearts and splash guard

Completed making all the parts of the bowsprit, jib boom, and flying jib boom. The jack staff was straight forward using the Proxxon lathe to shape a dowel to size leaving the cap. The travelers were made from 20 AWG copper wire bent around a larger dowel and soldered to a circle. Using jewelers sizing pliers to hold the circle at 2mm line pinched the circle which caused the traveler shape. Putting the traveler on the sizing pliers at the needed diameter and pinching the traveler causing the middle to squeeze to shape. Wrapped the center with 30 AWG copper wire simulating the rope wraps. Secured the wraps with solder. Used the same process to make the flying jib boom traveler only smaller. The securing bands are two circles with a wire between. Used the 20 AWG copper wire that was flattened by hammering on an anvil creating a 3/64" wide strip. Hammering hardened the strip. I annealed the strip before wrapping around a dowel to make circular bands. The 2 bands were placed with a piece of 20 AWG wire between and soldered. Cut excess wire from the joint and filed to clean flash. Now on to painting and seizing blocks for the bowsprit cap and flying jib boom tip. Travelers ready for paint Jib boom and flying jib boom link (with travelers) All Bowsprit, jib boom, and flying jib boom parts ready for paint

Well my fears have come to pass and I'm starting the starboard side planking over. When running a #11 blade between the planks in between the bulkheads I pushed the blade too deep causing a gap when a new straight plank was placed. I did this at multiple locations and it was such that gaps were very noticeable. Tried to use a wider plank and shape it to fit the gaps but getting the gaps starting, depth, stopping correct was not working. So the decision was made to start over and do a better job the second time. Had quite a mess of glue to cleanup. Got out the 80 grit and faired the entire gunport area stem to stern. Next down to 150 grit to smooth the bulkheads, sill, and port sides and finally 320 grit to finish. Painted the ports and when dry start over. Bare boat before sanding. Sanded and painted boat Inventoried the wood pile and not sure if I have enough so I ordered wood from Modelers Sawmill and I'll start when the wood arrives. Its going to be the end of August before I can get back cheerfully working on Cheerful. We are going on vacation for 3 weeks and won't be back until 8/24/21. See You Then