Mike Y

Work has started on the interior.   Not much in this initial step but it was good to get started again.
 
First up was to add the limber strakes.  In the photo below you can see the completed limber strake below the keel.  This was made up up three lengths.   Above the keel you can see the 3 lengths not yet glued into position.   They are laser cut for you and are 3/32" thick.  There is a laser etched rabbet which runs along the inside edge.  Each of the three lengths were first sanded free of laser char.   This included carefully sanding the rabbet more or less.   But it doesnt have to be completely clean.   This will be completely covered up in some areas with the lower platforms anyway.  But do your best.  You might also notice the little ….long, triangular pieces called Limber Fillers for lack of a better term.   They were glued to each limber strake ahead of time.  They are at the extreme ends fore and aft.  Dry fit all three lengths in position first.  This is important.   Make sure they are lined up with the correct frames.   You can take their positions on each end from the plans.
 

The center limber strake was added first.  The ends are 5/32" away from the keelson.   So it was just a matter of taking a scrap piece of wood 5/32" thick to use as a spacer when gluing it in position.   This is shown below.  Once again...make sure you position it in the correct spot and use the plans to find which hull frames this should line up with.   Its good practice because so many items moving forward need to placed in the correct spot...the hull frames are a great reference to start with. Once the center segment was glued in place the two end sections followed.   Make them the same port and starboard of course.   But you may also wish to pre-bend these before you glue them in position.  Especially at the bow and stern sections.   There is a little bit of twist to these and it is always better to not force them.  It is so much easier to pre bend and twist so no forcing of the limber strakes will be needed to get them to sit flush against the frames.

With the limber strakes completed, the mast steps can be assembled and installed.   I would also note that I didn't bother treenailing the limber strakes because it will just not be seen.   But you can do that if you feel compelled.
 
The mast steps are laser cut in three layers to make life easier.   Glue up the three layers first and remove the laser char.  Once they are nice and clean, check their fir over the keelson.  You should get a nice tight fit and the sides should fit snug down on top of the limber strakes.   Note how the outside edges of the mast steps follow the shape of the limber strakes.   You should sand them as shown in the photos and plans.  The main mast step is shown below.   You can clearly see the three layers.   Dont worry about the char in the mortice for the mast.   Leave that as is.  The main mast step also has little wedges fore and aft as you can see.   These are laser cut for you.   They were glued into the correct position on top of the keelson.   This is important!!!  place the mast step in the correct place or your masts placement will certainly become problematic.
 
A small length of 3/64 brass rod was used as the pin to "lock in" the little wedges after I glued them all in position.
 

A look at the mizzen mast step...no issues here other than the fact that the sides of the mast step have more shaping here.   They also follow the outside edge of the limber strakes.  I have not applied any finish inboard at all up to this point.  I actually might not apply any finish.   I will wait to see how things develop first.
 

An overall view of the mast steps and limber strakes.   I will not be adding the limber boards, choosing instead to follow Greg's construction and to simplify the building process.   "Less is more" when you leave the framing visible below the wales.  You wont want to see much stuff between the frames when you looking at the outside of the hull.  It could start to look sloppy with too much interior details and glue showing between the frames.  So I will follow the style as outlined in the Seawatch books for the most part.
 

 
Next up the forward lower platforms!!!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post.  I'm taking my time planking the deck.  Like everything on this build, it's more complicated and challenging than I had initially thought it would be.  Haha.  I've managed to get eight more rows of planks down since my last post.  I only did a rough sanding, which is why it still looks a bit crude.  I'll do a final sanding once the entire deck is planked.  Even though I have tick marks on the deck and the planks drawn in, it still takes some effort to get the planks a uniform width, and the run of each plank to flow smoothly when viewed down the length of the hull.   At any rate, for a first deck planking job, I'm happy with the results so far. 
 
Erik
 

Thanks for all the 'likes" folks.  I spent the last week building the companionway, so I'm now finished with the deck fittings that will be placed along the center line before planking the deck.  For the companionway I used pencil to darken the board seams.  I also slightly beveled the edges of where the companionway lid and doors are hinged.  I applied several layers of much thinned red paint that allowed the board seams to show through.  After painting was complete, I used a pin wash made of black oil paint thinned with Turpenoid that I applied to the hinged joints in the lid and doors, as well as around the bottom and side edges of the doors.  Annnnnnd  . . . . you can't really see any of all that effort in the photos.  Super frustrating!  I must've taken 30 photos of the finished companionway, with different background colors, and lighting and lighting angles, trying to show the board seams showing through the semi-opaque red paint.  What you see is the best I could come up with.  The funny thing is the board seams are so pronounced when viewing in person that I had seriously considered painting one more coat of red over the whole thing, particularly on the lid (which you don't see any seams at all in these photos).  And I was worried the black wash was too pronounced.  None of which you can see in the photos.  Can you tell I'm still annoyed?  Haha.
 
At any rate, the next step is gluing all these deck fitting on to the deck.  Some other Cheerful build logs have good advice on getting these aligned correctly.  After that, it's on to deck planking.
 
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

After a short, er . . . 6 ½ year break, I’ve resumed work on my Cheerful.  I imagine few of you actually remember my build.  It was sort of unexpected to be bitten by the wooden ship building bug again.  In August I was on a vacation in the Netherlands visiting the Museum Kaap Skil maritime museum in Oudeschild on Texel Island, off the north coast.  They have a huge 60 foot long diorama of the Texel Roads as it appeared around 1660.  It looks to be about 1/100 scale.  There are 160 ships/boats represented in the diorama!  Seen here: https://kaapskil.nl/en/discover/expositions/ship-in-sight-the-roads-of-texel-and-the-world/ That led me back to Modelshipworld.  And here I am.
 
I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle waking up from a long sleep.  This website itself has changed.  Yellow Cedar is a new wood of choice. Wood suppliers have changed.  No more Crown Timberyard, but it looks like a good replacement with Modeler’s Sawmill.  Chuck is a few projects further along after the Cheerful (the laser cut fully framed Speedwell is a fascinating project, by the way).  There are still a lot of the same faces here, but the skill level on current projects has kicked up a few notches.  So, my hat is off to you folks.
 
It’s been an interesting few years for me.  We had this global pandemic thing.  After 14 years at the local government, I changed jobs a few times.  I was a bicycle tour guide in Boulder for 7 months (a great way of keeping in shape as a 53 year old).  Was the accountant for Left Hand Brewing here in Colorado.  And finally settled into being an accountant for the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
 
Though not working on Cheerful, I’ve still been active modeling from time to time.  One thing I seem to gravitate towards is building things in smaller scales than the norm, and detailing them to a level of the larger scale (which is why Cheerful is unusual for me, I’d be more comfortable building something 1/96 to 1/144 scale! Haha).  A few of my latest projects - A resin tugboat featured on this website: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22995-ytl-45-taiwanese-navy-tugboat-by-erik-w-finished-1350-scale/    For my model railroad, an N scale (1/160) 3d printed boxcar that I scratch built full underframe details: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55256.msg758608#msg758608   and finished here:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55365.msg760492#msg760492   A 1/72 scale WWII F6F Hellcat on a carrier deck with super detailed engine and cockpit:  https://www.militaryimages.net/threads/f6f-5-hellcat-wwii-usn-fighter-plane-1-72-scale.10858/   And probably my favorite, a 1/72 scale M1A2 Abrams tank with over 400 individual pieces of styrene and wire add by me to customize the tank.  Scroll down to see the scratch built stowage items:  https://www.militaryimages.net/threads/m1a2-sepv2-w-crows-ii-lp-1-72-scale-kitbash.10777/
 
Well, I’ve prattled on enough.  Where I had left off was having finished the hull planking.  The next step is supposed to be tree nailing.  I’ve put a lot of thought into that and I’ve decided to skip it.  It’s not because it’s time consuming and tedious as much as it’s a process that you can’t pull out and redo.  Most things on the build can be pried loose if you’re unhappy with them.  That, and I’d rather jump right back into cutting wood.  That’ll help maintain my motivation to keep making progress.  There are a few really good Cheerful builds out there where the builders have skipped tree nailing, Mike (stuntflyer), Glenn (glbarlow), and Ian (Seventynet).  You all have some outstanding other builds as well by the way.  Something to really aspire to for us newbies.  Ian, I particularly like your Hayling Hoy.  Never thought I’d desire to build a fully framed model before, but now . . .
 
So, where I am now is I’ve done what I’d call an almost-final sanding of the lower hull.  There were a few spots that needed attention.  I’ll do an absolute final sanding and paint touch up later.  That’s why the planking and hull still looks a bit rough.  I’ve also been adding the fancy molding.  It took a little trial and error to get my brass scraper made the way I wanted it.  I’ve added the molding to the stern, and port side.  Feels good to be building again!!
 
If you’re new to viewing this build, it’s good to have you along.  And if you’ve followed along before, welcome back!  Without further ado, here are some proof of progress photos.  It's hard to get the lighting right to show the contour of the fancy molding, but you get an idea from the last photo.
 
Erik
 

That's the way to do it without torturing either the plank or yourself.

Hull planking (prep)
One of the things I've been wanting to do was to see whether or not I could get away without having to spile the hull planks from 3/64" sheet. I was hoping that I could just edge bend boxwood planks to match a spiled shape. With that in mind I ran a test to see if indeed it could be done.
 
The sequence is a little off since I thought of taking the photos after some of the steps were completed. I retraced the steps as best I could. For better viewing I have focused in on a smaller area of the hull.
 
The first thing I did was to attach the hull template to my hull. I ran some 1/4" striping tape along the lower edge of the template and then back masked the upper edge of the tape. After that the original layer of tape was removed. You can see a bit of the back masking at the stem. I could have just drawn a line along the bottom of the template instead of using tape. Being a test of only one plank, I didn't want to do that. Hey, that's just me complicating things.

Here is the back masking (original taping removed) where the lower edge will line up with the upper edge of the plank.

 
I traced the lower edge of the tape (the shape for the upper edge of the plank). This gives me the shape needed for spiling or hopefully just some edge bending. You should be able to see the pencil marks across each frame.

The resulting shape resembles a gentle "S" curve. Something like this.

I was able to edge bend the boxwood to match the spiled shape without any difficulty. Clamping the test plank to the hull was done without having to do any twisting or bending. Mission accomplished!

Mike

The build is on hold at the moment.  Life happened between 2017 and now.  Retirement from the Air Force in early 2018, a move from Texas to Georgia, started and new job, etc, etc.  All of these things sent the build to the back of the closet along with my 18th century longboat and USF Confederacy.  I have just now pulled them back out and started back on the longboat.  I plan to get back onto this build soon, just not sure how soon.

Closing in on wrapping up the galley.  I am underway with the rigging.  Nothing is glued yet, so lots of loose ends of rope.  I had a lot of mental debate about mounting the yards inside or outside of the shrouds.  I ended up going with the instructions and mounting outside the shrouds.  I'll admit I'm not sure I see how this would work in practice, but not sure how it would work the other way either.
 
Next I will move on to making the anchor and the swivel gun mounts.
 
 

Now let’s go for the last mile of this thickness sander.
 
The drum or roller is massive beech and has only 2 centred holes of 6 mm at its ends. So it must be supported from both sides by a 6 mm steel axle. I mount these 2 axles with a flanged bushing in the MDF side plates. The 2 holes (26 mm diameter) for the bushings are drilled in one go on the drill stand with the side plates aligned. Each bushing holds 2 bearings so that there is almost no play on the 2 axles.
The next picture shows the side where the drive of the drum is done, shown from out- and inside.
 

 
The other side has just a free running axles, shown next from in- and outside.
 

 
I changed the flange such that I can easily take it out without needing tools. It comes in handy when you want to change the sanding drum.
 

 
Now that the drums can be driven, I took some time to sand the wooden drums so that they are parallel to the height table and have almost no eccentricity. A thin flat metal plate with some sanding paper mounted with double coated tape was used. Patience and regular checks of the eccentricity with the motor turned at low speed resulted in a nice set of sanding drums.
 

 

 
A dust extraction is the only thing yet to add. It is made with 3 pieces of MDF that will cover the top of the sanding drum. The sides are covered with segments cut from a plexiglass pipe (50 mm outer diameter, 3 mm thick).
 

 
You can see that I use the 3 MDF pieces to transform the round hole into a slit that covers almost the total roller width. The plexiglass tube segments got small tabs crewed on to have some grip for placing or removing. The bottom of the large MDF piece has 2 grooves (2 mm deep) where it will meet the plexi segments. I added 4 small pieces of beech that are glued in these grooves and then got a round-up with a chisel. They should hold the plexi segments in place and provide some ‘click’ when mounting.
Here the top part is mounted.
 

 
And next is shown how the plexi segments are added. They just sit on tiny nylon tube parts sticking out about 3 mm from the side plates. Once supported the plexi segment is rotated up until it click’s against the MDF part.
 

 
I almost forget to mention the drive of the DC motor. Its a 15V 10A power supply with a PMW (Pulse-Width Modulation) circuit added that feeds the motor.
 

 
Now the thickness sander tool is ready for use. It is shown on my workbench with the dust extraction attached to the vacuum system.
 

 
And to complete the circle I add a size comparison of old and new sander.
 

 
This ends my story on the new DIY thickness sander. I hope that you enjoyed it and maybe it can inspire you for some more tooling projects.
 
Best regards,
   Kris
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Just messing with it seeing actually how small a piece I can do.  Dam good to me anyway.
 

Hello,
after some days with snow and sunshine I'm now back at the shipyard. In Dec. we had here in Schleswig-Holstein an average of 5 hours sunshine!
Cutting the planks for the gangway

The painter has painted the knees and the carpenters made the planks ready for installing.

In the front on both sides are cavel blocks

And now is the gangway ready, except for the rails to the outside, who come when the whole ship would be mainly ready.

Installed one length of the upper of three gundeck clamps using my large wooden clamps to hold them in place while the glue sets.
Found the pivoting shoes didn't work so I rushed and removed them.
Clamped without elastics but need a spacer block so I used a shoe.
I'll get the other long piece on the other side tomorrow and work my way through them.
I decided I will install the orlop deck clamps.

Square tuck
I wanted to give this a try at least once before making use of the laser cut versions. #1. I copied the angle from the laser cut piece onto the joined strips. #2. The frame was made and set parallel with the angled line. #3. The curves were done with the spindle sander and disc sander along with a bit of hand work. #4. Almost ready to place on the ship. I Still needed to taper the frame.
The most difficult part was trying to get symmetry between the two sides. It's not perfect, but certainly close enough. I was kicking myself when I noticed that the top of the port side square tuck is 1/64" lower at the stern post compared to the other one. Of course this won't be seen once the moulding is on. I left the outer area of the frames without any tapering. There is a tiny filler plank that goes between the tuck and the first strake. I will wait until that's on the ship, so I can sand that area all at the same time.
 
Anyway only one shot at it for this result.
Mike

some progress:

the quarter badge:

as I said before, I chose not to paint the decorations but to carve them into bas-reliefs, even though it does not conform to the real ship:




 

I redid the columns, I did not like and added small friezes:
 

I do not generally like painting on my models; I know that in reality, on this model, the lettering and the various decorations were painted, but I decided to give my model a certain style, certainly a personal one, and I will try, if I can, to make the decorations with boxwood bas-reliefs
Meanwhile, the model is ready for the exhibition in Pisa next weekend:





 
 

The planksheer:

I redid the columns of the base by reducing their size and added two side support bars. Now I feel it has more harmony and above all more stability
 

The upper capstan:

some progress:

I finished the chain pumps: