egkb

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

fore topmast staysail
 
This as well is set furled. By reducing foot and leech each by 20%, I got a sail area of roughly 2/3 of that on the plan. The sail was again made in a simplified way and bent to the fore topmast stay.
 
Because I did earlier rig the preventer stay above the main stay I had to set the staysail on the stay itself. Perhaps thismeans, that the arrangement of the stays is in fact incorrect.
 
The sail was bent to the stay with robands and all lines were added.
 
While now furling the sail  tried to follow the explanations of John Harland in 'Seamanship in the age of sails' - as well as I understood them. The outcome doesn't look to bad and after belaying the lines, I'm now ready to move on to the last sail, the jib.
 
 
plan with reduced sail area
 
 

sail set, not yet furled
 
 
 
...and furled
 
 

looking ok
 
 

@rwiederrich - It truly is.
 
I had a good day yesterday working on Stefano - I've added the mast hoops to the Mizzen topmast - these 9 hoops were formed from brass wire and chemically blackened. Then they were put in place on the mast and thread tied to them ready to attach the sail. I added the running rigging holding this sail in place, and then went on to add the spanker sail.



Now that these fore and aft sails are in place, I can add the backstays. So far I've added the starboard foretopmast backstay.

Thanks for looking in, and for your kind words and encouragement. Getting to this stage is really spurring me on to complete Stefano, but there's still a fair bit to do. 
 
Rob

Finally got a chance to work on a draft of the Constellation's rigging-screws.
It will average 2.5" (63mm) long.  It won't be "functional" that is they won't be adjustable but rather one solid piece.  If a test print works out, the length will be adjusted in the software to account for the different angles the shrouds take up so the tops will level with each other, basically, I'll print a set for each mast, port & starboard.

 
 
 

I am back from holiday, it was very nice. However, the last few days I started to feel ill, and when we got home, it turned into full blown flu. So I have been out of action this past week, not being able to do anything but moan, sneeze, ache like hell and moan! So no work until next week now, dammit...

Building a boat from a decent kit should be a simple job but a little research leads to a lot of research that raises more questions. 
I have not found Admiralty drawings for a 12 foot cutter and relied on drawings of larger boats, photographs of restored examples, and information from sailors. ‘The Boats of Men of War’ by WE May is a classic and a web page by David Manthey summarises part of it https://www.thebigrow.com/?p=1043 . I have accepted the shape of the hull as supplied in the kit but there are a lot of other features where judgment is needed. 
Single banked or double banked. A double banked boat has two oarsmen on each seat and this is far too wide for Whiting. In a single banked boat there is one oarsman per seat and he usually has one oar. A cutter that I photographed at Portsmouth in 2011 has six thwarts with thole pins, alternating port and starboard like on a racing eight. When there are only two or three oarsmen it is likely that they have a pair of oars each which makes it easier to balance the thrust by sculling. I assume that Whiting’s cutter has two oars for each oarsman, and this is seen on a recently restored gig at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.  Thwarts. The Vanguard hull has an internal, horizontal rail and the thwarts rest on them. The width of the thwarts varies and I chose 9 inches as a compromise between comfort and space. The pitch from thwart to thwart (=gap + width) is between 2’3” and 3’0”. The hull is long enough for three thwarts for oarsmen and one in the stern for someone to steer. However, the oarsman in the bow sits in a narrower area and has poor leverage on the oars, so it is possible that there are only two oarsmen. The Portsmouth gig has three thwarts (plus one in the stern) but the one in the bow does not have rowlocks. I decided on three thwarts for Whiting’s boat, all with oars, though I might yet provide oars for just two.  Stern seat. Most boats with a wide transom have a seat (stern sheets) that runs across the stern and forward from it along the sides of the hull. Some add another cross-wise thwart at the fore end of the seats on the sides. Others dispense with the seats that run across and only have two along the sides. The Portsmouth gig just has a thwart with a back rest. I am not sure yet what to do here.  Gunwale and washboards and wale. The top edge of the hull on the Vanguard kit looks low to me, both for water splashing over it and for the oarsmen banging the oars into their knees. The vertical separation between a thwart and an oar was between 6 and 10 inches. The kit hull also tops with a clinker plank and there is no sign of a gunwale. I will build up a gunwale to add an extra millimetre or two in height, and a wale (rubbing strake?) below it. Washboards above the gunwale are also wanted, about 2mm high.  Rowlocks or tholes. These provide a fulcrum for the oar and both were in use at the time. The rowlock is a metal ‘U’ on a pin that would swivel. Tholes were wood pins fixed into the gunwale and they also supported adjoining sections of washboard. I will use tholes on my model.  Rudder. The rudder itself hangs on two pintles. Most depictions show them with a tiller that comes in over the stern of the boat, but this is difficult to use on a narrow boat. Some boats such as the Portsmouth gig and modern racing eights replace the tiller with a bar that runs from side to side and has ropes tied to its ends. The rudder is controlled by pulling on the ropes. The choice here ties in with that for the stern seat.  Floor. The floor of the Portsmouth gig is made from six tapered planks and has raised boards for the oarsman to brace their feet when pulling. Larger boats have a grating below the stern seats and another forward. My model just has the tapered planks.  Mast and sail. Boats carried a mast or two and sails. My guess is that a small cutter would have a mast well forward and hang a simple sprit sail from it. The boat is stowed aboard on my model so I do not need to worry much about the detail of the sail. I guess that the sail was wrapped around the mast with the yard bundled into it, and then the whole assembly would be tied in place on the thwarts. The thwart in the bow would have an extension to support the mast, and I will put a block of wood with a hole in it on the floor to step the mast. (A lug sail is also possible and the mast could then be set further aft next to the second thwart.)  Oars and grapnel. These were stored on the boat, tied to the thwarts. Mine are based on etched brass items from Caldercraft.  Here are a few sketches of the options I am considering. The current front runners are C and D though I reserve the right to change my mind after hearing sound advice and opinions from the good people at MSW.

A selection of photos from Portsmouth dockyard that I found useful. 

Victory’s boat in Portsmouth, 2011. Six tholes, alternating port and starboard
 

Restored gig in Portsmouth, 2023. Rudder bar with ropes, pairs of holes for rowlocks, floor
 
George
 

Viewing distance is all that matters. None of my family have ever requested a magnifying glass.
 
Tony

Back home after a long break and with time set aside for modelling I want to get the hull finished by next spring. 
 
The two cannons on Whiting are now in position. I fitted simple pegs in the gunwale above the gun ports and tied the falls from the gun runout tackles to them, before making a few simple loops and hanging them over the pegs. The Gutermann thread I used for the tackles is not keen to absorb PVA glue and the ropes are scruffier than I like. It's obvious in the enlarged photos but not a problem at normal viewing distances. 

The training tackles from the rear of the carriage to the deck are stored 'below' on my model. I doubt if they were left in place because they would be a serious trip hazard on a narrow and crowded deck. I may yet add them, possibly hooking them over one of the pegs on the gunwale. 
 
Carronades
The carronades in the Ballahou kit are horrible and their only use is to melt them down to use as weights. I bought a pair of Caldercraft brass carronades with their mounts and they are good. A few minor changes:
I replaced the eyes for the breeching rope with 'hinged eyes' that can swivel and change direction.  I replaced the brass rod for the elevating screw with real screws which look much better. A pack of 50 from Ebay is cheap: look for M1x5mm Philips pan head micro screws with a black finish.  I glued an eye over the cascabel to guide the breeching rope in the same way as on Blomefield cannons.  A fore sight made from scrap etched brass and a tompion (a slice of cocktail stick painted yellow) finish the firing end.  The breeching rope was lashed in position is the same way as with the cannons. 

The runout tackles made with 2mm blocks are too bulky to fit on the model because there is simply not enough room between the eyes on the bulwarks and the eyes on the bed. I hooked the tackles over the pegs on top of the gunwale and then tied the falls to the pegs leaving just a short length dangling down. The crew will have to reposition them when they go into action...  (I notice on the enlarged photo that the double block looks like it is 90 degrees twisted. It's too late to change it now.) 


Carronade in Nelson's Harbour, Antigua on a modern mount. It's missing the elevating screw and the fore sight
 
Boat
The next job is to make a boat and its cradle. I have a 12 foot cutter from Vanguard Models and photos of a recently restored gig at Portsmouth Museum and am currently planning how to add a gunwale and wash strakes and all the internal fittings. 
 
George
 
 
 

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

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
 

Some nicer photos of Stefano with her stay sails attached to the stays... 
 

After a very enjoyable day off, more progress has been made. I've been attaching the stay sails... These are attached with tiny rings which are opened up one by one, and threaded between the bolt rope and the sail... The sail is then lifted into position and the rings closed one by one. I've found that a pair of tweezers is essential for holding and opening the rings, then a pair of pliers with grooves helps to grasp the ring to close it (a smooth pair of pliers won't stop the ring pinging round flat, and that led to considerable frustration at the beginning of the process. I've got quite good at it now.
 
 

There are two staysails waiting to be attached. I wanted these in place before I added the backstays, so that I still had easy access to the centreline of the model, where all this takes place. I think that's proven to be the right approach. 

Thanks for all your comments, and for showing an interest
 
Rob

It's been a while since I posted an update, but today I managed to get the remaining forestays, and some of the main stays set up.  Here are a couple of photos of progress, since the weather was playing ball...
 
 


 
 
 
Happy building, all
 
Rob
 

Proof of life and work post.    Still re-working the hull planking but not ready to show anything.   However, I did take the last week or two to build the ship's boat.  I re-used the plans and laser cutting drawings from Licorne as they're the same.   So here's photos of the boat.  This little beasty is only abot 6" (15 cm) long. At some point I'll decide if I want more boats or just let it go at the one.
 
Back to working on making myself happy with the hull planking.  
 

Hi Everybody,
still no progress with my display case, but I mounted the stern lantern on the model. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Matthias

Morning all,    I decided   to  do  my  photo  editing  to  some  of my Pearl   photos,   hope  you  like   - 
 
OC.

Thanks Bob.  I'm doing what I can to stay indoors.   I thought the Alemeda fire we had a few ago was bad and it was but while there's none near me, it's just been very heavy smoke.   We had some nice off and on rain the last two days and today, minimal smoke but the crews and water bombers are still working hard down along the border.
 
It's so nice I've spent next to no time in the shiop today and probably won't tomorrow. 

Thanks for likes and comments.   Very slow going still but getting there.   
 
I've re-looked at the carvings that have completed.... I hate macro shots as they much better just using the eyeball. 

just over two years and yr log has come alive again, will be great to see yr progress on her again

Aye, it indeed is and I have been.   Shop has been cleaned up, Belle Poule plans hung and work has started.   I did remove about 10 strakes on each side as I wasn't happy with them and have been putting them back on.   With the smoke from the fires and other things going on in life right now it's rough to get any shop time.   

Hi all,    during my flurry  of photo editing  I decided  to  do a  few  crops  of the  pics  I  took   or  the  Ole  Lady   during my  build  log  here  -  hope  they  give  a  bit  more detail  than the  ones  I posted  before.
 
OC.

Hi Marc and thanks for you comments - You are right in some ways that everything is on show and it needs to be accurate but as I have discovered there are loads of ways to hide small errors - thank goodness 🤣
 
Sorry for the lack of updates I'm just really busy elsewhere at the moment so I fit in the ship building as best I can.
 
So onto the binding strakes and I soon realised that there is an easy and hard way to make these pieces.  As per usual I chose the hard way in my opinion to get better results.
 
The first front pieces at the bow are simple and pretty much more of the same.  Cut them to length and carefully mark out the cuts and get going on the mill.  It's difficult to explain my weird markings on the pieces that I cut too, as I use them as a guide to what I know to be correct in my mind?  It works for me  - it's not for everyone.


Next is where you can either make the job relatively easy or a bit more difficult.  The binding strakes partially pass over the top of the deck hatch openings.  I really wanted to maintain the integrity of "Width A" in the picture below to keep the strake uniform in thickness along is full length.

So to do this I had to scribe the strakes around these obstacles.  So instead of just cutting straight joining slots I ended up with the complex joints below.  Have no idea if this is how they should be made its just the way that I wanted to do it.


I did find that doing it this way once again made the fitting very easy as they locked into place and followed the curve of the deck so easily.  I'm very happy with the results and I have also caught up at last with the required nailing.  A few pictures below




I'm very tempted now to leave the main deck as it is now?  I understand that everything that needs to be placed on the deck will require lifting to the correct deck height but what are your thoughts on this?  I have no experience of doing what I'm suggesting but I think that it would allow anyone that looks at the model to see the work carried out inside far better.  Please let me know your thoughts.
 
So my next jobs are to make the bits, bowsprit partner, windlass supports and finish planking the inside of the bulwarks.
 
Thanks everyone - Mark