egkb

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

Bought some 2.5mm & 3.5mm deadeyes from Forum sponsor Crafty Sailor which were close to the size of the iron straps I made, but did have to file the edges so that they were more round.
Once that was done I stained them black with India ink.

To connect to the chain plates I used .035" bolt head and .035" nuts, these I filed down the head of bolt and nut thickness to that the size looked better.

The one on the right has been filed, then made a quick jig so that I could install nuts onto bolts, now the chain plates are all installed into the slots but still need to pin chain plates to hull, these chain plates will now only stick out .005" 

Next up was to install the two pumps, put the three parts together with .016" brass rod and then mounted to the bases with small bolts, then mount both onto deck.
 

Started to paint the Companionway, skylight, deck-house and steering box, it says to use burnt umber and white, so have used this paint True Earth for the burnt umber and it goes on brilliantly with a brush, masked off where white will go.
 

Once dry I masked off the burnt umber then sprayed white. Also sprayed up the small parts which go along with these items.
 

This is how it turned out.
 

Had the Quarter bitts the wrong way round opps, now corrected, at the same time glue the grate down.
Did glue the steering wheel to shaft, installed a bolt at front of wheel and painted brass on the ends of each wooden handle, I read somewhere they had brass inlays.

Mounted the painted scroll to see how it will look but have not glued on yet, did get the scroll thickness down to .012" from .018" before painting.
 

Couple of pic's in black and white.

 
Until next time.
 
Regards
Richard
 
 

Continuation of parts already made, which had parts needing to be made and painted, starting with the boom buffer.
Made the two U-shape shackles from a piece of .010" brass using my turbo carver ground to shape then filed to finish shape then made ring next was to drill holes for .016" rod to go through. 
 
 

Painted boom buffer and installed onto model.
 

Next up was to finish the catheads, needed to make small chain link then attach it to the chain as per drawing then put into slot in cathead.
 

Last thing will add is the rope which goes on the end of chain as per drawing from The American Fishing Schooner, the information on this did not come on the drawings of the Bluenose, but I am sure they would have been the same.
 

 

 
Finished the hawse scroll work then painted them yellow, will add to model later.
 
 
 
Couple of pic's to show how they will look before painting.
 

 
Thanks for all the comments and all the likes do apricate it.
 
Until next time
Regards
Richard
 
 

Another update
 
I bottled it and decided not to put scarf joints into the moulded rail so I'm using simple butt joints instead.  I wanted the rail to look as best it could with all of the details lining up.  So I marked out the position both sides - I like to use automotive lining tape to see the run and I leave it on until the glue has dried.


I then bent and glued the rails on which needed quite a lot of heat to get a tight fit around the bow.  I have got a very tiny crack in it on the starboard side but I think it will be ok.



I really wanted to get a good joint into the rabit with this plank - I think it came out ok


So next I am going to make and fit the planking in between the whale and moulded rail.
 
Mark

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

A few photos to show a milestone in the build. (The pumps are standing loose at the moment so I can move them out of the way when rigging.) As I said above, the next big job is the masts and everything that goes on them. 
 
George
 



 
 
 

To continue on the update I spray painted the Jumbo boom crutch, Riding bitts, Engine box then hand painted the windlass chain/wood welps then proceeded to put it together with quadrants, quadrant links and Rocker, did make a rough little jig to hold parts while I installed shackles.
 



Then using the 1/12 motorbike chain I had mention back when I machined the gears I file the chain down so it looked like the size it should be, after that I sprayed it black.
 

 

Bought some 1/64 scale fishermen from Vanguard Models which are brilliant here's couple of pic's so that you can see how big these gears were.
 
 
Next was to install the steering linkage to the rudder, the steering box still needs to be painted.
 

last pic added the three circles between name on stern, still need to paint the cabin housing but did spray paint the Liverpool head and Dreadnaught head.
 


Until next time.
 
Regards
Richard

Been working on the Victory and kept looking over at the Bluenose and felt it was well due for an update, 1y 2m since last one 🤔
 
So thought I would start with getting the name and scroll work on a black board, used Clover House dry transfers, Railroad Roman Condensed Bold - yellow which I think was the closest to the drawing. Scroll work I hand painted, do think I should have left a bit more space between letters or letters could have been smaller. 
 



Now the stern name plate was white, did try dry transfers but failed miserably, so started to make a decal, used word to make this but had quite a few rejects.
 


Tried Inkjet printing first, printing was fine used Experts Choice white decal film for inkjet, then followed the instructions to cover the decal with Microscale Liquid Decal film then let it dry for a couple of days. 
 

Then went to put decal on the model once I left in water for 45 seconds the ink just peel off the decal leaving more of a white space, so kept trying and could not get it to work (this was the first time making decals) so went on you-tube and one guy was saying you should use a Laser printer, so went and bought a laser printer then had to get white decal film for laser printer.

So for me this worked yeah 
 


The three white rings to be done later.
To be continued.
 
Regards
Richard
 

Thanks for the kind words and likes folks!  This week's progress was getting the fancy molding on the edge of the cap rail.  I used the same method as I did creating the other fancy molding, but once the profile was scraped in I sanded the back side down to reduce the 1/32" thickness so it wouldn't add too much to the overall cap rail width. 
 
My next task was making the stern gun port lids.  Back when I completed the planking on the stern, the gun port interior framing did not line up correctly with the stern planking.  A bit of an irritant, but I knew with the port lids modeled closed, it wouldn't be noticeable when all was said and done.  The top photo below show the misaligned interior port and planking.  The port lids pictured below are the 5th and 6th ones I made.  I wanted to get the exterior planking lined up correctly as well as the lid interior level and lined up correctly also since you can see the individual boards under the slightly opaque covering of red paint (hard to see in these photos).  The port lids are a bit Frankenstein-like, but look correct from both the interior and exterior.
 
The port lid hinges were ordered from Chuck 7 or so years ago (it looks like he has updated those hinge kits since back then).  To simulate the actual hinge I used .030" styrene rod painted black along with the hinge straps.  The rings at the bottoms are made from the .016" wire that came with the port hinges secured with a small loop of .010" brass wire.
 
Erik
 

I was out of town visiting family in Annapolis, Maryland, for a few days this week.  While there, I went to the US Naval Academy Museum.  Not my first visit there, but always a fun outing.  And grabbing lunch downtown afterwards is a must as well.  On the 2nd floor, the museum houses the Rogers Collection of wooden ship dockyard models, as well as newer built models from all eras of naval history on the 1st floor.  If you haven't been to this museum, I highly recommend it.
 
I did manage to make some progress on my Cheerful.  I added the cap rail.  The cap rail is 7 pieces cut out of 1/16" sheet.  One piece for the stern, and 3 for each side.  I have quality digital calipers accurate to .0001" to measure with, so getting the rail to a uniform width was easy enough, it just took some time to sand down.  The cap rail measures in at a bit under 5/32" wide.  I also fashioned the hawse plates out of 1/32" thick sheet.  This was pretty straight forward with first cutting the plan out and then transferring the lines to the wood sheet.  Drilling the hawse holes in the hawse plates and bulwarks was pretty easy as well.  I had an issue with drilling and filing the bowsprit hole though.  While the hole was aligned properly, parallel to the keel and level with the keel, I got a bit carried away with enlarging the diameter up to the final bowsprit diameter.  When I inserted the a 5/16" drill bit shaft to double check the diameter, there was a little slop as it passed through the hawse plate.  I did that thing where I tried to convince myself I could live with it.  I couldn't.  So, I pried it off and fabricated a new one.  This time though I deliberately left the bowsprit hole a smaller diameter than what the bowsprit will be.  I figure it makes the most sense to tweak the hole diameter when I have the bowsprit made, so I can adjust it to the actual diameter.  Live and learn.
 
Erik

Another update from me - its all or nothing with me at the moment I can only apologise 😀
 
The final 2 breast hooks for the hawse timbers.  The upper one is made of 3 pieces which then go on to be attached to the forward deck beam supports.
The second is one piece  - so I dimensioned the wood and roughly cut them out as per usual.  It's worth noting that the upper breast hook is made from a piece that starts at 11mm thick.

The lower breast hook is very straight forward and is just like all of the others that I have made.  The only difference is that you have to cut a channel for the bowsprit which is set at 17 degrees.

Installation is also just as before - take your time and get a good fit onto the hawse timbers.  I see this bit as a challenge to get it as tight as possible.


Now the very top breast hook is a very different thing to make.  It has a gentle curve to match the clamp and the forward deck as the deck timbers sit directly onto it.  It is also parallel in thickness throughout its curve; is recessed onto the clamp and has to align with the bowsprit too.  I hope your keeping up 😆
So after a bit of thought this was my solution to making this piece which cost me quite a bit in wood as I didn't have anything else in the house other than Castello.  
Firstly I shaped the perimeter of it as per the drawings - this is the easy bit.  Next to shape the inside curve I attached it to an angle plate to ensure a 90 degree cut.



I then made a jig which matched the curve that I had just cut and once again attached it to an angle plate for a 90 degree cut.


Next was to cut the recess for the clamp and again cut another recess for the bowsprit


Then finally installation (btw this did take me 2 attempts to get right)


The bowsprit view which just needs a little fettling to bring it all to the final diameter.  You will notice that there is a small gap between the clamp and the breast hook.  One of the spin off benefits of making this part as accurate as possible is that it has put the correct curvature on the model for the forward deck.

Finally one of my most favourite pictures of my build so far - just a little tidying up needed.

Now I was going to start planking the outside of the hull next but I have realised that the bowsprit partners are a little vulnerable.  So instead I've decided to finish the forward deck first.  So I need to make the small office and the ships stove and quite a few other parts too.  I want to get the forward deck beams in before attempting any planking.
 
Can't thank you all enough for the likes, advice and encouragement  - cheers Mark
 
 

Hi All
 
Some more done on my build - I decided to move to the front of the ship and make the bowsprit partners and the manger.  The first job was to make the metal liners for the scuppers as once the partners were in place this would reduce the space in this area.
 
Having read the article on using lead in model ships I opted for pewter or as some places call it brittania.  The sheet I used is 0.15mm in thickness and I needed to find a solution to the angle of the scuppers.  
 
First I made a tube 4mm in diameter that would fit snuggly inside the scupper hole.

I then made a simple jig to match the angle of the scuppers.  This allowed me to place the tube inside and carefully sand the tube on a face sander.

I then needed to roll the mouth of the tube over slightly to create a lip to stop the part from falling straight through the hole in the hull.
 

Then it was simply a trial fit and repeat for the other side.

Next I made the two bowsprit partners.


Now making them was a whole lot easier than fitting them.  They fit into slots that I had previously cut into the beams and they have to line up precisely.  The reason being is that not only do they need to be inline with the bowsprit, they also tie into the beams of the deck above.  It's not too difficult I just had to check the overall height of these pieces before gluing.

 
 


Then it was onto the manger itself  - I have decided after all not to plank the main deck.  I did though need plank the area for the manger.


I then made the back walls for the manger and pretty much got on with lining the whole thing with the pewter.  I think that the results are ok - but just ok.  I do like the way the scuppers just sit nicely in the corners as they should.  I used cyano to glue it in and I remembered why I don't use this glue.  I personally just cannot get on with the stuff.





So my next job is to make the final 2 breast hooks for the bow.
 
Cheers Mark
 

Just curious as to why?

The two fore riding bits are so much larger and more ‘beefy’ than the main mast bits  on Winchelsea. 

Were they used differently or have a different purpose?  Just curious. 

Thank you all for the comments and likes.
 
at the moment I am working on the dispay case.
As I showed above, I want to make a case for three models. My Queen Anne-barge 1"/2' scale and my bone model of the azorean whaleboat wich I showed in my other build log on MSW, also 1"/2' scale. They will be together in the "ground floor" and above them the Winchelsea. Last year I cut a pear tree and so I have some nice pearwood for the case.
 

 

 
by now it is dry enough and I started on the table of the case.
 
I started with the legs for the table, dimension 40/40/400 mm
 

Then the table was put together...

some parts to stiffen the construction in the corners...

Some strips to cover up the top...
 

Here ist one of the models for the ground floor, the mirror-basement will come into the display case as well.



Matthias
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oars and sails and stowing
 
Oars
A comprehensive account of oar construction is presented in The Art of Making Masts, Yard, Gaffs, Boom, Blocks, and Oars by David Steel, 1797, which can be found on https://www.thebigrow.com/?p=659#more-659 . I used this as the basis for my oars and combined the entries for single banked boats with those for sculled wherries and skiffs. No doubt there were local variations in the design and manufacture of oars and the results of this research should not be regarded as a universal truth. 
(dimensions in mm)
I made the oars from three layers of polystyrene strip. The centre strip is 2.0x0.5mm (80thou x 20thou) and is 50mm long. The outer strips are 1.0x0.25mm (40thou x 10thou) and 31mm long. The task is largely one of sanding, filing and carving and I like to think of it as 'micro whittling'. 

I painted the oars to give a wood effect then cut away the ends of the blades, trimmed the blade tips and touched up the paint finish.
 
Grapnel and boathooks
These are etched brass items from Caldercraft. I added a coil of rope to the grapnel. 
 
Sail
I wanted to show the mast, yard and sail dismounted and stored in the boat. A drawing of a sprit sail in https://boatbuildercentral.com/support-tutorials/Tutorials/sprit-rig.pdf and some thinking suggested that the sail would be wrapped around the mast and the sprit yard inserted in the last few turns. The sheet from the lower corner (clew) of the sail could be wound around the sail to hold it, in the same way as the gaskets are used on a square sail. The size of the sail is also my guess.
Sprit sail
The mast is from 0.5mm diameter brass, 45mm long and painted to look like wood. The sprit yard is from 0.3mm diameter brass, 41mm long and also painted to look like wood. Only the ends will show.
I made the sail from thin paper that was previously a tea bag. Different manufacturers use different papers and some have a distinct perforation pattern on them but I found one (PG Tips) that had no discernible texture. The slight brown staining from brewing the tea gave it an aged look.
I drew the shape of the sail and the seams in pencil. It can then be cut out leaving a wide margin (about 1cm) on the luff (front edge). Fold the front edge over a ruler then put in the mast with about 2mm protruding beyond the top of the sail at the throat. Hold the sail and mast together and apply small drops of superglue to the sail where it folds over the mast. The glue grabs the mast through the paper and only a few drops are needed. The excess margin can now be cut off with a sharp knife.

I folded over the peak (top corner) so that the head (top edge) is parallel to the mast. I glued a bolt rope to the leech (rear edge) from the clew up to where the sail folds over. A second bolt rope is glued to the last 10mm of the foot and left to hang as a sheet from the clew. I allowed about 10cm to hang free. Use PVA glue and let it dry before the next step.

The sail is now rolled up around the mast. Keep the turns quite tight and continue until about 10mm to 15mm is left. Now drop in the sprit yard and resume turning until the whole sail is rolled. Continue by winding the sheet around the sail so that about three turns bring you to the top of the mast. Add two more turns as half hitches to secure the end of the sheet. I cut the sheet so that about 5mm was left free. The whole assembly is now ready to mount in the boat. 

Fill the boat
There is a lot to put into a small boat and everything has to be tied down so that a rogue wave cannot wash anything out. It’s fiddly work. I started with the oars and boathooks which I gathered into a bundle, some pointing forward and some aft, and placed it on the thwarts with the head of the bundle tight into the bow. I looped a thread around the bundle and the thwarts to tie them together, no glue here! I used simple reef knots and left the ends to dangle down towards the keel, though they needed a small drop of superglue to persuade them to hang in the right direction. I had made seven oars and mistakenly included all of them in the bundle. I have left it like this because I did not want to risk damaging the boat to take one out.
The rudder and tiller fit on the thwarts to one side of the oars and port was my arbitrary choice. I tied them down and even put the rope through the mortice in the tiller. No one will notice but I know.
The grapnel fits into the boat on the same side as the rudder and I did not tie it in, reasoning that a large piece of ironwork will stay put if a wave splashes over. The rope coil tucks into the space between the transom and the stern seats.
The sail and its mast and yard fit neatly in the remaining space to starboard. It is tied to the thwarts in the same way as the other parts.

The securing ropes for the boat can be tied now. I used the same Guterman thread as elsewhere on this model and tied a 15cm or 6” length to the starboard eye on the cradles with a bowline hitch. The line goes over the hull, through the port eye then back over the boat where a ‘truckers hitch’ is formed. (There are lots of descriptions on the internet.) The difficult step is to tie a small loop in the rope about midway between the two wash strakes. Once this is done the rope is threaded through the starboard eye, then through the loop and then back down towards the starboard eye. I gave it a couple of turns around the tensioned ropes below the wash strake then fixed it with two half hitches. The free end hangs down and I cut the length so that it ends just above the deck.

The boat and cradle is now ready to fit to the deck. This has been an enjoyable project in its own right. 
 
George
 

Rudder and tiller
I made the rudder from 0.5mm thick polystyrene sheet and shaped it by eye, guided by several photos and drawings. The Admiralty drawings display a range of profiles so choose one that pleases you or design your own. The tiller is also from 0.5mm thick polystyrene and has a curve to it. 
The tiller on the Victory boat at Portsmouth had a mortise at the end which is built up from extra layers of wood. It sits over the top end of the rudder and is locked into place by a peg that passes through a hole in the rudder. I replicated this on my tiller and also added a rim around the rudder to stop the tiller from slipping lower. I painted the rudder and tiller white. 

The rudder hangs from the boat on two gudgeons and pintles. I made the pintles first from scrap offcuts of etched brass – I looked for a straight, narrow piece with a stub that projects to the side. The straight sections are bent to sit on the hull and the stub gets two bends so that it looks like a pintle projecting from the stern post. I painted them black then fixed them in place with superglue.
I added two gudgeons to the rudder at heights which match the pintles on the stern post. I made the gudgeons from small, etched brass eyes painted black. Hold the eye with fine pliers then bend the tail so that it is closer to being a tangent to the round eye instead of perpendicular to it. Trim the tail to length and glue it to one side of the rudder. A separate length of brass goes on the other side of the rudder. 
The rudder and tiller will be stored in the boat and lashed to the thwarts. 

Cradle
It was probably a job for the ship’s carpenter to build the cradle and I suspect that there were many designs. I chose vertical posts (relative to the waterline, not the keel) and glued short pieces of 1x4mm walnut between them. These should then be carved to fit the boat’s hull and I started with a cardboard template rather than attacking the wood straight away. I added a strengthening cross beam to each cradle and also planned for angled supports to stop them from tipping over.

Eyes for lifting ropes
I glued two etched brass eyes into the hull. The forward one sits in a hole drilled vertically into the stem post, between the wash boards. I placed the aft one inside the transom and also glued it into a drilled hole. 

Oars
The Caldercraft etched brass oars are not really suitable: there are only four of them in the set and the shafts are far too thin. I am currently exploring how to make a set and will probably try laminating styrene strips. 
 
George
 
 
 

Thank you David, other photos.

Hi photo Victory.

Hi everyone,
 
Three weeks later, and I've had another good day to work on Stefano. I finally made and died some more .5mm rope for the standing rigging, which allowed me to complete the backstays. I've also got some more work done on the yards, adding eyelets, blocks, and bending the forecourse to the main yard on the foremast. Again, this has caused the model to take up significantly more space on my desk, but it feels like we're on the home straight now as we move towards running rigging. I counted, and I think I have 8 sails left to bend to yards / stunsail yards. There's a lot of tidying up to do with rope ends fixed with watered down PVA (a big advantage of making your own rope with DMC cordonnet thread, as it's natural, not synthetic), and trimmed to make them neat.
 
Thank you so much to all of you who've hung in there through what has proved to be a lengthy build
 
Here are a few shots of how she stands right now.  




Happy building
 
Rob

Thanks for the likes.  My progress this week has been to get the bulwarks painted.  I used Vallejo brand Flat Red 70.957.  I can't recommend Vallejo paints enough for brush painting.  The pigment is extremely fine, and they're easy to apply without any visible brush strokes.  I used a new 3/16" wide flat brush to apply 6 thin coats of paint.  Every handful of strokes I dipped the brush tip into water to thin the paint, and then applied the paint over several seconds with around half a dozen strokes in a given area.  It's important to stop brushing over the area before the paint starts to thicken (thickening causes the brush strokes to be visible).  I didn't worry too much about how well each coat covered the surface knowing that I'd continue to apply more coats until I achieved a solid coverage.  The important thing with each coat is even coverage with no visible brush strokes.
 
Erik

Ian, Thanks for the kind words!  I have had your Cheerful build bookmarked.  I like the way your Cheerful has more bare wood showing than most.  It looks great!  And thanks for noticing my efforts at getting good photos.  It actually takes some time to set everything up.  Since I photograph on my work surface, I have to move everything out of the way.  And I can only really photograph on the weekends when I have time during the day while the sun is shining, as a good portion of the overall lighting is from a window.
 
I added the 1/32" thick planks below the gun ports.  I did these as hull length single planks to keep the plank run looking smooth.  I also wound up adding a 1/32" x 1/32" strip along the bow area between the 1st and 2nd gun ports beneath the two main planks.  This was probably unnecessary, but when I measured the gap it came out to be pretty close in height to what will be the 3/64" thick deck plank plus the 1/32" thick waterway.  So, better safe than sorry.  I then did a bit of sanding to thin the 1/32" planking as Chuck suggests in his monograph.  Once I have the port side planking to the same point, I'll further thin both sides slightly, and round the hard edge a little.  I've always found when modeling 2 sides that are supposed to be symmetrical, completing them to 90% or so, while working on first one side and then the other, and then finishing both sides at the same times helps make it easier to get them where they look identical.
 
Erik

My progress over the last week has been to plank the first layer of planks of the starboard bulwark.  With my extended time off from this build, 6 1/2 years, I sort of forgot how long it takes to get quality planking done!   I had to break out the hair dryer again to get the bends toward the bow in the planks that sit below the gun ports.  There was a bigger gap than I was comfortable with between the false deck and the bottom of the planks between the forward two gun ports, so I used 7/32" wide planks for the lower plank in that area.  I wasn't too concerned with the finished look of the planks below the gun ports since they'll be covered with a second layer of planks.
 
Once this first layer was sanded smooth, I measured the total thickness of the bulwark at the top.  It comes in at 5/32", or a hair less.  With this new layer of planking I then painted the frames of the gun ports.  This revealed areas that needed sanding to hide the visible seam between the gun port frames and the interior planking.  I used a hard sanding stick to do that.  Then I applied another layer of paint.  It seemed like a good idea to paint the gun port frames at this point as it also gives a good opportunity to visually confirm that the port frames are a proper shape and thickness.  The next step is adding the layer of 1/32" thick planking below the gun ports.
 
Erik

Hi All
 
Time is not a friend of mine at the moment but I have been watching others build projects (enviously 😆).  I have got some done hence the update and thanks to everyone that took the time to give advice and the very lovely comments.
 
The first thing was to fit two more plank strakes on the bulwarks and then pierce the holes for the scuppers and hawse holes.  Nothing really tricky about this you just have to be careful cutting the holes so that you don't tear the wood too much.





Next was to make and fit the deck clamps for the smaller aft and forward decks.  Learning from my previous attempt at placing clamps I really took my time marking these out with a digital height gauge.  I think this took me about 4 hours to get right until I was absolutely happy with their placing.  I also used a technique that @Tobias uses with tiny spirit levels athwartship.  These things are so cheap and yet they allowed me to checked my levels even further.  I used quite a lot of clamps to make sure that my efforts stayed where they were.  Cheers Tobias  


 
Next was to plank the gap between the already fitted planking and the clamp.  All I would say about this is if you measure and plan it accurately it's a fairly straightforward job.  I can imagine it being a nightmare if you don't.  The clamps are slightly thicker than the planks and just need tapering into the planks below. I've put a photo below to show what I mean.






Note to self - use a lower resolution camera as these photo's show everything
 
Ok so as always - what did I do wrong?  Well I cut the planking too short  - Its not a problem but I forgot to allow for the scroll to the gunwale.
 
This is how I cut it.

And this is what I missed

Its not a problem as I will fix this later on when I plank the outside but for fellow builders this could save you from doing the same.
 
I'll get some more done as and when I can - I think I need to be retired so that I can enjoy my hobby more!!
 
Cheers all - Mark
 
 
 
 

I got a new 3D printer (Elegoo Mars 3) that has more print volume (larger prints), more resolution (better detail), and actually cost less than my original printer did.
First thing, I printed a test batch of "draft" screws as above. 

They printed perfectly, though the model needs some adjustment; the eyes at the bottom needed to be smaller, and the thimble at the top needed to be bigger around, per the photo of the originals.  I also had them print standing almost straight-up, meaning more layers, meaning more more time to print - it took about 5 hours to print these because of that.
I attached a pair to chainplates and put them on the model to see how much tugging they would stand.  They seem to be tough enough, especially once they're all connected by a sheer-pole.
 
The 3D model's updated and I'll print it more one it's side to take less time to print.  I enlarged the thimble, reduced the eyes, and thickened the screw a little.  I also reshaped the arms a bit.
30 of them printed in 3 hours 20 minutes, and I temporarily put two on the model under tension to see how they hold up.
 

Thanks for the likes and nice words guys.  And it's always nice to get an 'Outstanding' from Chuck!  I installed the false deck this weekend.  I used a piece of 24" x 8" x 1/16" basswood.  I cut it in half lengthwise and taped the two halves together.  I cut the false deck template out of the plans.  I then cut all the square deck furniture locators out of the paper plan.  I used clear tape to tape this onto the Cheerful (The plan is wavy in my two photos below.  It was reattached after the fact for these photos).  The clear tape made it easy to locate the center line running through the cutouts.  I then followed Chuck's instructions in the Monograph and used masking tape around the edges to get the actual size of the false deck.  I removed this carefully and taped the false deck plan to the two basswood sheet halves, again using the clear taped sections of the deck furniture cut outs to locate the center line.  Once that was done, I carefully removed the clear tape one section at a time and used the cutout borders to draw their locations on the wood false deck.  Reapplying the tape to that square when finished and moving on to the next opening.  Once the false deck was cut out of the basswood sheets, I faired the edges to get a good fit.  I also wound up adding a thin basswood strip to the stern section of the deck.  There had been a bigger gap than I wanted there.  I installed each half of the false deck using the visible center of the middle of the five plies of the piece of plywood running lengthwise on the center line as the true center line.  Lastly I enlarged the hole in the deck for the mast to it's actual size.  I had left it slightly under size when attaching the decks halves, and trued it up afterwords to make sure it was precisely placed where it should be.
 
Erik