glbarlow

It gives the masts and yards a nice matte finish and more of a real world look I think. I use Dull Black, which is oddly named as it’s the opposite of dull, on other places but more and more I like the Ironworks.

Well said Derek and Chris. It’s impossible to consider and identify every possible problem and answer. No one is wrong, it’s just a problem to solve. I think we’re all kinda in it to solve problems and build stuff.

Thanks Derek, I did give leaving them natural a passing thought, but the black does look good. I use Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black, I get it from Cornwall Boats on your side of the pond. It gives a really nice finish.

I’ve used both, I’d say it’s more than Syren being the Rolls Royce, there is a big difference in quality. Enough that I consider it a big step down to fall back on Amati stuff. To me it’s more Amati being the KIA of rope. There doesn’t seem to be many options in between. I don’t want to make my own but I may have to learn how.

Thank you. I enjoyed making them.

Not as long as you don’t over-tighten the chuck

Making the Yards Aside from the anchors the yards are the last thing I’ll make for Cheerful, my voyage is getting close to the end. One last trip through the machines. Although the yards will be painted black I elected to use a bit of the boxwood I purchased from Modeler’s Sawmill for no real reason other than I wanted to work with a little box - its such beautiful and easy to work wood. Not that the Yellow Cedar isn’t, they are both excellent woods for modeling. It’s great that Modeler’s Sawmill gives us a new source of quality wood. First up after cutting square lengths to size was to drill the holes for the sheaves on the square stock, much simpler to do now then trying to add them to a rounded yard. Back to my octagon jig and the finger plane I’ve described earlier in this log, it’s the perfect tool for this job. First it was marking the wood using the 7-10-7 rule, then cutting to the pencil marks with the plane. I marked the center part of both yards that remain in octagon shape after shopping as shown on the plans, I wanted to be sure to have a nice pretty octagon for that part and gave it extra care. Off to the lathe, I cut both yards long to provide a good hold for the chuck. I had no problem with the length, not having a tail stock doesn’t present any issue. I just hold the end in one hand and sand with the other. I rounded the side furtherest from the chuck first for extra support. I measure and mark the plans at increments then frequently check those with my calipers as I sand with various grades of sand paper. I also used a 00 file to cut the ends clean and sharp. Although I removed it for this photo I also wrapped Tamiya tape at the outer edges of the center octagon do ensure a clean line there as well, then smoothed out the transition as the last step with a very fine grit sanding stick. Of course the real challenge with yards is sanding the second side to its mirror twin of the first - I mark them side I and side II to keep track and take measurements much more frequently. It’s true rounding masts and yards can be done with a hand drill. Having done both I believe the lathe makes it simpler and easier to manage the incremental sanding required. Where the lathe shines, or at least this particular Proxxon model, is in the ability to slide the yard inside the chuck to expose only one half. This particularly helped with the 12 ½ inch main yard. After checking and rechecking the measurements I added the stops and my yards are made, the machines go quiet. The main yard sling is first served then a thimble (selected from my jar-o-thimbles) is added. The short end of the sling is cut off just short of the thimble (done after this photo) and the long edge turned and glued using CA to form the loop. I seized it with twelve turns, crossed the two ends of the seizings twice through the center, and finished off with a square knot on the bottom where it won’t be seen. The seizing covered the two glued ends of the loop, you’d never know it was there. The topmast sling was made the same way except it isn’t served and of course is shorter. I added the topmast lift and tackle, working near the trees to complete the block seizing. Once again I marvel the difference the addition of the Quad Hands has made for my work. I have the medium plate size but added a 4th 16” arm. This tool comes in handy so many times throughout the rigging process, I can’t recommend it enough. So with that the yards are complete - oh wait that’s not how they go. 🙂 It seems I have some rigging to do, back to the Quad hands and my dwindling rope supply. Thanks for the likes and the comments, they are always appreciated.

The little mini kits are all a highlight of this build. Well done.

I don’t think I was paying anything extra for a US shipment, does that change?

I understand your not being able to make it, just wish there was a third option. Maybe with Ben there will be.

That would be great if it meets Syren quality, I’m looking forward to see your offering!

My one request for your consideration is to provide the best quality rope to go with such an amazing kit. Normally I replace kit rope with Syren products but that is no longer an option and I have little interest in making my own.

Wonderful, can’t wait to get mine.

I’m really impressed with the quick service and quality of the wood from Joe’s Modeler’s Sawmill! I purchased some boxwood of various thicknesses just to have on hand. I’m too far along with Cheerful to make much use of it but just for the joy of working with boxwood I made the two yards from what I bought. Really excellent quality wood! I’d encourage everyone just to buy some stock to help get Joe’s business off the ground. Most of us know how much we miss Hobbymill, let’s contribute to keeping a great source in Modeler’ Sawmill. I’m so tempted to build ‘Surly,’ paint it blue and make it from boxwood. 😜

I know the places that gave me an extra challenge or two, getting the bow right was one of them.

Remember a plank has to run smoothly from the bow rabit slot down the side, the angle there is tight. It looks like from the photos you have more to do at the bow. The transition from the second to the fourth bulkhead is also a challenge, maybe just the angles but it looks like the second is lowere than 1 and 3. Also the first gun port area can be tricky. Running battens, even actual planks over and over is time well spent.

Good that you clarified your issue was with your scan of the plans. I wouldn’t want other Cheerful builders to think there was any problem with Chuck’s plans.

The sills may be three angles, it’s a lot to account for but fun when you figure it out.. One trick is to measure the width of the bottom sill up next to former to keep from pushing the bulkheads out of alignment.

Interesting, but not a problem with my plans. The top rung and bottom rung and all in between of my completed rat lines using the plans as a guide are the same distance, 6mm, apart. Not sure what might happened to your copy.

There is a lot of fairing to do, a lot of it at the bow. By the time it is done right you really don’t need filler, most of it would be faired away anyway. I can’t stress enough how important it is to spend time on the fairing, way more than any kit due to the single planking. When you think you have it faired, check and recheck with battens, especially at the bow. Did I mention getting bow faired well is important. As to where to start as Chuch says, whatever works. It’s all has to be done. I started at the bow and worked back both sides at a time but with multiple passes, no way I could get it right all at once.

Thanks for the video. I terminate the line just as it shows but with a reverse loop at the end and less turns. I’ve been doing my actual boat that way for years, as the guy says, the friction holds it fast. Interesting to see how large the lines are on that ship.

Thanks for saying so. I still have more to add with the yards and to arbitrarily fill some of the empty pins after that. Every time I look at them I feel like I could make a better one but at some point I just have to move on. The technique works, it’s just that balance of not to stiff, don’t fall apart mix of the watered down glue.

I'm thrilled to see another Cheerful log, congratulations on a fine start. I'll follow along. You'll like how the Yellow Cedar looks once you've added Wipe On Poly (which I hope they have in Canada, apparently they don't in Europe).

Thank you. Scotch maybe. I hope you can follow the rope coil section. I tried to explain it without writing more of a book than I did. Use scrap rope to practice, something I wish I'd done and saved a little good Syren rope.

Thanks Chuck, I kind of regret that - its been such a challenging and rewarding build. I'm going to miss it when it's finished.