glbarlow

The slow work of planking continues, now with the first port side belt completed to go with 16 starboard rows. Just a couple of progress photos. No WOP at this point and only preliminary sanding. I’ll do the next port side belt then work from the keel up after that. Here a plank here, there a plank there, everywhere a plank plank. Thanks as always for your comments and likes

Thank you. What I know I learned from others and improved by doing. I too have a lot to improve, especially with the stern.

I use WOP on the deck and often cover painted areas with it as well.

Congratulations Rusty! The Confederacy was an early introduction for me on what a great model was supposed to look like.

Very nice looking deck, excellent planking.

Agree with others, it isn’t a race. Planking a deck around hatches with a tight fit at bulwarks takes time. The best way to do it right is a plank at a time. I see more potential for problems than for a good outcome trying your suggested approach.

Thanks Frank. Thank you!

The OPs question was answered long ago………

Bad customer experience and shoddy product. I got a very tarnished and scratched up brass pedestal that had been obviously repackaged. After long delays in responses they finally shipped a replacement that was in worse condition than the first. Didn’t get a response back at all after that. I admittedly gave up after that. So many other places to buy from.

That’s a good diagram. The two loops are the closed with a separate lashing .

The best tool for rigging are cuticle cutters and embroidery scissors - your snips won't help a lot with thin line. I wrote a bit about them in my Cheerful log somewhere.

Here's an example of one of those clumsy efforts done 12 years ago on my Pegasus (and long before I knew of Syren rope) along with the now no longer made Warner blocks.

Thank you for saying so, I appreciate it. Thank you, if only my work shop was remotely clean now 😄 Thanks. I definitely struggled, now if I can only remotely match it on the port side.

Thank you Derek, I say that a lot with your work. A side note, I use (and keep sharp) my Veritas chisels so much now, so thanks for both the lead on tools and the Kell sharpening wheel. I’d be lost without them.

Thank you BE, I feel that way a lot when I see the work of some others, including yours. Side note, when my mini-chisels are too big I turn to the Swann Morton surgical chisel blades I picked up after seeing your use of them. They do come in handy.

I recommend you look at Vanguard Models in the UK. Chris has great kits from beginner to advanced, with excellent plans and detailed, including photos, instructions. In fact you can download those before buying a model and Chris, like Chuck, is an active member of MSW. Even better there are lots of build logs on this forum to help you along. Better to get a good start with a good kit than struggle with pirated stuff with poor instructions and no help from others here on the forum.

Trying to avoid the insane part, but definitely some truth there. Thank you. Thank you, as we say, each plank a project, sometimes two or three projects. Thanks Bob, I enjoy following your build and thinking someday mine will look like that. Thank you for that, though I’ve got plenty of room to improve. Yours looks great, enjoy following your progress Thanks Rusty, I appreciate your saying so.

Thank you Chuck, something I have to keep telling myself.

Very meticulous and impressive. How did you close the loop (the photo of just a loop of served rope)? Very clever modification of the servo-matic.

I have never understood that and consequently have never done it. Why risk black ink stains on the ship, hands, work bench, etc. when you can just use black rope.

By not putting those eyelets in until the blocks are attached. I drill the holes per the plan but don't add those particular eyelets until the rigging phase, same with any on the outer hull. So at this point pull them out, attach the blocks, re-drill the hole and add them back. blocks attached. Seizing the blocks to the eyelets is well explained above by Keith and David.

With the exasperation of my previous post behind me... Planking Continues It’s been a while since my last post, but it’s not been due to a lack of effort. I have struggled a bit with the transition from the counter to the stern post on the starboard side as you’ll see below - and I get to do it again on the port side, anyway… I elected to continue starboard with the 2nd belt. There was a slight bend I wanted to correct, plus the counter to stern post was on my mind and I wanted to get past it. There is a lot of remakes and broken wood involved (by me when It doesn’t fit properly, stupid wood). Things started well enough as I climbed up towards the keel (working upside down). The bend to the transom was challenging but manageable. As always I used my travel iron and dry heat to achieve the necessary bend and as I moved to the stern post also a twist. The craft hot air tool I mentioned in an earlier post is helpful in achieving the twist although if I’m not careful I can scorch the wood, something I have never done with the iron. After I’d finished the second belt I decided I didn’t like the look and so I ripped it off…it would be three more attempts before I got past this point. I still don’t know if I’m happy with it, I’ll wait until I get the the port side transition. The objective obviously is to have them match up, though practically once the ship is upright it and the fact generally we see our models from one side, and not zoomed to macro scale it becomes one of those obsessions I could do away with (he said knowing he wouldn’t). The bow is looking ok. Lessons learned (or re-learned) for the port side on how to avoid getting off track. While I single planked Cheerful there is just so much more to Winnie as all of it’s builders know. The top belt has two coats of WOP the bottom only one, it will even out when I do the final sanding and apply additional coats. Right now it’s more protective than finishing. That white plank at the top and the top of the port will be covered by the frieze later. The quarter shots continue to show the long graceful lines of this wonderfully designed model. With the first two belts on the starboard side complete I now turn my attention to the many planks it requires to get to this same point on the port side. Maybe by the end of May I’ll get there. Once again I say how much I like the golden glow of the Alaskan Yellow Cedar. Thank you all for your likes and especially the comments, they are inspiration and motivation.

You have a nice touch with the paint mixes. It’s all really coming together, we’ll done.

Nice work on the boat, these little things frustrate me far more than any ship model ever has.

Having built Cheerful and now working on Winnie, a couple of observations: First, there is no way it can be double planked, it would throw off everything, like the square tuck. Cutting down the bulkheads would just make it worse. Second, while it’s true it’s a lot smaller than Winnie, it is not easier and some cases it’s harder with things like the square tuck, boom crutches, etc. With Winnie we are fortunate to have a lot of mini-kits and lasered parts, more of Cheerful is scratch. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really great model just no more a first kit than Winnie. My suggestion is to look at Vanguard Models (he’s in the UK but shipping to the US isn’t bad). for a true kit kit, and double planked, like Flirt or Sphinx to gain experience then come back to Cheerful and Winnie. Btw, the Byrnes line up of tools is second to none. Best of luck whatever direction you take.