glbarlow

Where's the fun in that, sometimes I think I wind up doing the most painful rebuild possible 😄 Being willing to step back and improve something is the sign of a good modeler, its only the impossibly great ones that never have do-overs.

Amazing detail and quality, museum ready.

Fine work Rusty, your skill is showing thru as usual with the quality of the planking not to mention how quickly you reached this point.

This is really good work Tim. Rigging is fun for me, it means you’re close to the end. I thin your mouse and stay collar look fine, as BE points out you won’t notice it once you step back other than seeing it as a unit. The rigging and deck looks great, you’re going to finish with a fine model.

Thanks, so now we know👍🏻

I don’t know the answer either, Chuck points out it’s historically accurate though.

Probably still plenty of thickness to fill, sand, and repaint the hull. Nice job on the Wales, remove and replace is a way of life for me...

As others mentioned clove hitches are the way to go, but the lazy way is half hitches on the inner shrouds but these may slip. I hate rat lines, but do find once I get in a rhythm it becomes almost meditative. An option is a touch of your choice of glue on each knot to keep them there. One key suggestion is to create a grid on paper the height of the shrouds (I use Excel, but there are better ways) with horizontal lines spaced per the plans but also vertical lines to make sure the shrouds keep their line and don’t get pulled in. Place this paper behind the shrouds. It’s both a guide and keeps you from going cross-eyed trying to see the ropes.

Thank you all for your kind comments, they are really appreciated. @chuck has designed such a nice model, it’s a fun, but challenging, build. Also thanks for the new likes and followers. I’ve finished one side of the deck, I hope to complete it by this weekend.

Thanks for the comment. I wrote a separate post on how I rip planks. Keep in mind this is how I do it based on what I learned from others, there is more than one opinion on the topic. Here’s the link to that post.

You did very nice work on this. I built the AVS 10 years ago and have had no problem with the wood separating

I haven’t tried my servomatic yet, glad to hear you had no problems.

Great tutorial detail we can all use, thanks BE!

Thank you all for the kind words. I appreciate your taking the time to have a look. Thanks to all for the likes as well.

This will be fun to follow Rusty. I have Flirt and will be first in line Sphinx so I’ve passed on this one and will enjoy it vicariously.

Things are proceeding slowly right now, one because some of the deck details are slow work but also because the holidays are coming up and Covid or not life gets a bit more hectic. I’ve decked a few models in my time but here we are again with another first on Cheerful, the curved planked deck. The deck is planked in two belts (much like the hull only flatter) The first step of the process is to establish the curve for the inner belt of six planks either side from the five already laid. I used thin artist tape, perfect for the job. I had one clear staring point, the full six plank width at midships. maybe a general idea of the bow and stern end point from studying photos of Chuck’s model in the monograph. But then its no more than a feel for what looks right, not easy for my metric based mind. I stuck and unstuck tape until it wouldn’t stick any more then pulled out a new piece and started again. I had to ask for a little affirmation from Chuck I was in the ball park and that finally I was. With that done I duplicated my 'artistic' curve on the other side - which I might add is harder to do. It did help to confirm equal distances from each bulkhead using small scrap wood. Then it’s time to line the deck just as I did with the hull. I had marked the bulkhead locations back when I installed the false deck, that was a wise move on my part, no need to guess where they are at this point. I converted the tape line to a pencil line and removed the tape. Using the planking fan and strips of card stock I worked each each bulkhead on both sides. This is tedious but essential work, it took me a full day to complete this task, there are no shortcuts to measure, mark, measure. In order to avoid slivers of planks on the sides of the deck furniture the monograph notes to instead cut the plank at an angle creating a notch to fill with the next plank. I had six of these to make as it turns out. I made templates by cutting one card to be just the plank width then a second card to fit the notch, then used double sided tape to combine them and complete the template. These are not easy to make right. The concept is easy, the execution not so much in order to get a tight fit. I used more double side tape to attach the template the the ¼ plank and used my trusty #11 blade to cut the plank. Then I did that 5 more times…ok more than 5 more times was needed to get 6 that fit right. I was thankful this was not a kit (yet again) because I just kept ripping and cutting ¼ planks until I had what I wanted. In the end it creates a nice look I think. As with all the deck planks I ran a #2 pencil line down one side of each plank to simulate the caulking. In the process of making these I twice knocked a hinge off the companionway, I decided not to replace them a third time until I was done with the decking. I’m happy with how these came out and will admit to two modifications I made, on purpose, because I’m of limited skill. With creating the notched fits around the furniture I elected not to taper the first run of 6 plank belt because I didn’t think the combined tapered and notched plank looked right, at least not to the extent I could make them. I also modified the butt shift pattern from the plans on this first row for a similar reason. As a result I spent a good deal of time on a paper copy of the plan modifying it to stay true to the four butt shift pattern, then transferred those marks to the deck. I elected to use a razor saw to cut butt joints partway through a full length plank for those close to the stern or bow. This was the best way for me to ensure a clean taper given my limited skill. For model purposes I really only needed one actual cut joint per row. Here’s the first belt competed, I’m not sure I got the curve exactly right, I think it will look fine once the 2nd belt is installed. I have not done the final sanding and scraping or applied any WOP, I’ll do that with the finished deck. I’m ok with the color and grain variation, the WOP will even it out and, like the hull, it gives the deck character. Off to cutting hooded planks for the second belt and finishing up the deck.

I’m not sure than $13.95 is a lot of money as opposed to buying two and determining the proper mix and then having three cans to store. But it’s good those that don’t have access to Home Depot have options.

Looking great, nice work on the details. Rigging is one of my favorite parts of the build.

Nice photography work!

So with the Alert or others on this list, you could build it without gun ports and paint the hull a subdued color. From an on the shelf model perspective I’m not sure a hull painted black would be very appealing though. From the little I know I’d think their would be very little difference for a repurposed ship. Not many if any were built to be smugglers. Aside from subtle differences to make it quieter and faster it would look much like the original commercial or war ship. Britain’s cutter fleet like Alert were in part to chase smugglers so .....

The truth is breaching ropes are probably enough for those tiny cannon. Especially after the ship is rigged. But is enough good enough. I only did breaching ropes on my Nelson, but that was because I was ready to move on to Cheerful. I will fully rig Flirt when I get there, as very painful to my fingers and eyes that will be. 🤣😂. Only you will notice....😳

Aren't you using 3/16th for hull planking? My planking fan downloaded as part of the monograph only has a pre-defined line for 3/16th.

I scratch built the bowsprit bits for Lady Nelson because the kit pieces were so out of scale. Take a look from the link below if your interested.. Very nice work on main bits, excellent craftsmanship.

I don’t know about the finger plane part, but I get the taper my taking measurements at various points from the plans then frequently check it against the wood with my digital caliper as I turn it with a drill or lathe using various grits of sandpaper.

https://www.ustoolandfastener.com/woodpeckers-mini-square-minisquare/?utm_term=&utm_campaign=ECI+- I have three of these and two mini triangles they work great for keeping things square. Sorry for the huge photo and crazy long link. +Google+Shopping+-+All+Products+(non-mobile)+(non+Brand)(medium)&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=3922278569&hsa_cam=672881209&hsa_grp=37100490674&hsa_ad=146185118552&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=pla-138196596032&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2af-BRDzARIsAIVQUOf44CAKLTrRNMeHZZfYGp91qKjmxr66YcjFtctVW4TSYHnA9nCH0cMaAm8SEALw_wcB