glbarlow

There were a number of things about building Cheerful I’d never done or seen before. In the case of the square tuck I didn’t even know what one was. Fortunately @Chuck instructions are clear enough - I just dove in and took it a step at a time.
 
I’d already made it challenging by not leaving enough of a gap between the bottom layer of the of the square tuck and the counter. So I filed and sanded until what once was a 1/32 backing triangle was now equal in thickness to a communion wafer. I elected to use 3/32 wood for the square tuck itself instead of recommended 1/8 for a better fit.
 

 
Step one is adding the center piece and the two top pieces, that was pretty easy, if only I could stop there.
 

 
And then the fun begins, I got a little involved and forgot to take a lot of photos. The next step is shaping a solid piece to fit against the top and center pieces, lightly attach it to my wafer thin backing with just two small drops of CA, then shape it to fit flush and follow the flow of the bottom of the hull. My recently acquired foam sanders in different shapes came in handy. Of course the key is to sand the piece flush but not go through the bottom of the already sanded hull, which I managed not to do.
 

 
With it sanded smooth and a flush fit, using 180, 220, and finally 320 sandpaper, I pried it off with pair of pliers...not... Actually very carefully with an extremely thin putty blade. I marked a 1/8th line along the curve using my digital caliper and a series of marks as I moved it around the outside of the curve. I don’t have a scroll saw, I was able to rough out the curve with my #11 blade, one benefit of using the thinner 3/32 wood I suppose. I cut away from the line and then carefully sanded it down to the 1/8 mark - measuring the top flat part of the wood. The sanded slant doesn’t matter and is not included in the 1/8.
 

 
With both sides complete I attached them permanently and began the process of filling them with 3/16 wide planks cut from the 3/32 wood (although plank width, regular planks are too thin). I didn’t take any photos of that process. I first sanded the top angle to match the top piece (I never changed that angle on my Byrnes Sander so it was easy to match). then measured the two lengths of the bottom angle to fit….and yes while 10 planks are fitted, more than 10 were cut - my scrap pile got a little taller. I also used my phatic glue and cedar saw dust to fill in gaps. There was only one, otherwise I was perfect. I can say that because they are all nicely filled and no one can tell now…ok there were two…ok more than two.
 
All sterns are different, mine being no exception - I had to use a piece of 6mm wide (about 1-2mm wider than 3/16 wood) for the teeny tiny triangle of the outer most piece to fill the gap. This is the mindset I have been able to adjust to, differing from kits. I have a lot of uncut wood in various thicknesses, I’m not limited to what’s in the kit - so I needed wider piece I cut a wider piece.
 

 
And now I have a square tuck, though I still don’t know what’s square about it. It's not perfect. Once I finished mine I stopped looking at Chuck’s nice photos in his monograph, no good can come from that. So I've added a little more character to my model.
 
I have the counter sanded ready to paint red but I’m not going to do that until I get a good tight fit of the stern post. For whatever reason at the moment I’m not close to it fitting tight - hard to know what part to sand where. That’s a challenge for tomorrow.

Those are some nice looking Cannon!  I do think the tiny handles add a nice touch and are worth the effort. 
 
My cheat is to use some small brass belaying pins cut off and drilled in. 
 

Thanks guys. I’m kinda happy with it if I can just stop looking at the errors. 
 

 

I need to again be clear that Cheerful comes with a live coach. On many more than one occasion I’ve reached out and quickly got expert advice from Chuck, including here. Thanks Chuck!!

There were a number of things about building Cheerful I’d never done or seen before. In the case of the square tuck I didn’t even know what one was. Fortunately @Chuck instructions are clear enough - I just dove in and took it a step at a time.
 
I’d already made it challenging by not leaving enough of a gap between the bottom layer of the of the square tuck and the counter. So I filed and sanded until what once was a 1/32 backing triangle was now equal in thickness to a communion wafer. I elected to use 3/32 wood for the square tuck itself instead of recommended 1/8 for a better fit.
 

 
Step one is adding the center piece and the two top pieces, that was pretty easy, if only I could stop there.
 

 
And then the fun begins, I got a little involved and forgot to take a lot of photos. The next step is shaping a solid piece to fit against the top and center pieces, lightly attach it to my wafer thin backing with just two small drops of CA, then shape it to fit flush and follow the flow of the bottom of the hull. My recently acquired foam sanders in different shapes came in handy. Of course the key is to sand the piece flush but not go through the bottom of the already sanded hull, which I managed not to do.
 

 
With it sanded smooth and a flush fit, using 180, 220, and finally 320 sandpaper, I pried it off with pair of pliers...not... Actually very carefully with an extremely thin putty blade. I marked a 1/8th line along the curve using my digital caliper and a series of marks as I moved it around the outside of the curve. I don’t have a scroll saw, I was able to rough out the curve with my #11 blade, one benefit of using the thinner 3/32 wood I suppose. I cut away from the line and then carefully sanded it down to the 1/8 mark - measuring the top flat part of the wood. The sanded slant doesn’t matter and is not included in the 1/8.
 

 
With both sides complete I attached them permanently and began the process of filling them with 3/16 wide planks cut from the 3/32 wood (although plank width, regular planks are too thin). I didn’t take any photos of that process. I first sanded the top angle to match the top piece (I never changed that angle on my Byrnes Sander so it was easy to match). then measured the two lengths of the bottom angle to fit….and yes while 10 planks are fitted, more than 10 were cut - my scrap pile got a little taller. I also used my phatic glue and cedar saw dust to fill in gaps. There was only one, otherwise I was perfect. I can say that because they are all nicely filled and no one can tell now…ok there were two…ok more than two.
 
All sterns are different, mine being no exception - I had to use a piece of 6mm wide (about 1-2mm wider than 3/16 wood) for the teeny tiny triangle of the outer most piece to fill the gap. This is the mindset I have been able to adjust to, differing from kits. I have a lot of uncut wood in various thicknesses, I’m not limited to what’s in the kit - so I needed wider piece I cut a wider piece.
 

 
And now I have a square tuck, though I still don’t know what’s square about it. It's not perfect. Once I finished mine I stopped looking at Chuck’s nice photos in his monograph, no good can come from that. So I've added a little more character to my model.
 
I have the counter sanded ready to paint red but I’m not going to do that until I get a good tight fit of the stern post. For whatever reason at the moment I’m not close to it fitting tight - hard to know what part to sand where. That’s a challenge for tomorrow.

Can’t see them; looks really nice!

Hang on to that boxwood.  The way things are going it will be worth it's weight in gold.

Glenn,  that's amazing!
Mr. Watton has done a terrific job of creating another grand model.

I need to again be clear that Cheerful comes with a live coach. On many more than one occasion I’ve reached out and quickly got expert advice from Chuck, including here. Thanks Chuck!!

Here’s some photos. They may be a little disappointing because the parts are in their sealed plastic bags. I have a long way to go on Cheerful so in their bags they’ll remain. 
 
I included a bag of boxwood next to my bag of pear for Speedy. Again sorry also in their bags. 

You can see how neatly it’s packaged, every bag has a part number including the ropes and blocks  Many of the lasered parts are also numbered. 
 
I can say I’ve never seen a kit so well packed and packaged... well except for Speedy .. but Chris has taken it up a notch with this MS version of Flirt. 
 
I really want to tear into the bags, but will resist. 
 


Pear from Speedy on top, Boxwood for Flirt on bottom

 
Notice the thick, full color, spiral bound instructions. 


So much boxwood

Here’s some photos. They may be a little disappointing because the parts are in their sealed plastic bags. I have a long way to go on Cheerful so in their bags they’ll remain. 
 
I included a bag of boxwood next to my bag of pear for Speedy. Again sorry also in their bags. 

You can see how neatly it’s packaged, every bag has a part number including the ropes and blocks  Many of the lasered parts are also numbered. 
 
I can say I’ve never seen a kit so well packed and packaged... well except for Speedy .. but Chris has taken it up a notch with this MS version of Flirt. 
 
I really want to tear into the bags, but will resist. 
 


Pear from Speedy on top, Boxwood for Flirt on bottom

 
Notice the thick, full color, spiral bound instructions. 


So much boxwood

Sure, I’ll take a few and post them

Here’s some photos. They may be a little disappointing because the parts are in their sealed plastic bags. I have a long way to go on Cheerful so in their bags they’ll remain. 
 
I included a bag of boxwood next to my bag of pear for Speedy. Again sorry also in their bags. 

You can see how neatly it’s packaged, every bag has a part number including the ropes and blocks  Many of the lasered parts are also numbered. 
 
I can say I’ve never seen a kit so well packed and packaged... well except for Speedy .. but Chris has taken it up a notch with this MS version of Flirt. 
 
I really want to tear into the bags, but will resist. 
 


Pear from Speedy on top, Boxwood for Flirt on bottom

 
Notice the thick, full color, spiral bound instructions. 


So much boxwood

Well this is pretty cool. I’m honored to have kit number 1 of Vanguard Model’s HMS Flirt Master Shipwrights Edition  

Thanks Chris for including the nice lasered board!
 
Everything inside the box is such high quality. I’ve never seen so much boxwood. Very nice!

Admiral Cochrane also approves 

Here’s some photos. They may be a little disappointing because the parts are in their sealed plastic bags. I have a long way to go on Cheerful so in their bags they’ll remain. 
 
I included a bag of boxwood next to my bag of pear for Speedy. Again sorry also in their bags. 

You can see how neatly it’s packaged, every bag has a part number including the ropes and blocks  Many of the lasered parts are also numbered. 
 
I can say I’ve never seen a kit so well packed and packaged... well except for Speedy .. but Chris has taken it up a notch with this MS version of Flirt. 
 
I really want to tear into the bags, but will resist. 
 


Pear from Speedy on top, Boxwood for Flirt on bottom

 
Notice the thick, full color, spiral bound instructions. 


So much boxwood

Those look nice and I’m sure a challenge to get on so straight. 

Those are some nice looking Cannon!  I do think the tiny handles add a nice touch and are worth the effort. 
 
My cheat is to use some small brass belaying pins cut off and drilled in. 
 

Those look nice and I’m sure a challenge to get on so straight. 

Those are some nice looking Cannon!  I do think the tiny handles add a nice touch and are worth the effort. 
 
My cheat is to use some small brass belaying pins cut off and drilled in. 
 

I thought I had a great idea to make assembly line quoins, then I cut them too narrow and split 3 in a row trying to drill out a hole for the handle so back to doing them one by one for now. I have two cannons "completed" until I get to the rigging so I placed them on a deck for some pictures that I thought I would share (boy does everything look rough under a macro lens though). I have broke my two spare PE cap squares before figuring out a better method for shaping them (off model with a block that I filed a half circle into and using a metal rod that I had from a PE rolling kit from when I did some Metal models, not perfect, but it works).
 


 

Thanks for all the likes and comments!
I ordered a few of these and a few assorted sizes from Rosemary Co in the UK (I feel like almost everything I've been ordering lately has been from the UK; if they had some beaches like FL I might be interested in relocating 😄).
 
I've been working on my cannons and had a question. I started cleaning up the carriages with a file and assembled them.

The kit doesn't come with quoins (at least I think that is what they are called) and I felt that the guns were too elevated so I tried my hand at scratch building one to see how it would look. I unfortunately couldn't get the handle centered, so I may toss this one (realistically, I'll probably make a handful extra and see if I have any better luck centering the handle and toss the extras). This is quite the closeup, so you can see where I'd need to touch up the paint on the handle. I took a page from BE's book and used a blob of PVA to make the handle. I dipped the tiny nails that come with the kit for the first planking into PVA. Once the glue dries I painted it black and trimmed of the rest of the nail. I also contemplated simply using the block with no handle, any thoughts? I don't think the AotS diagram showed a handle if that makes a difference, but I'm not inclined towards complete historical accuracy for this build.

This view of the rear shows the off center drilling 🙁.

Finally, what is an appropriate elevation for the gun? Does the below look reasonable?

I've also received my shipping notice on the fly thread recommended by Derek (also coming from the UK) so I'll be able to start on the rigging once I finish all of these carriages up.
 
Thanks for following along!

I finished up with cannonballs (and ended up with a large assortment of steel ball bearings in the process to replace the one I lost, unfortunately there were not any spares). I cut a piece off of the 3mm pear sheet to attach the shot holders.

I touched up the cannonballs after I had glued them to the holders and of course I couldn't do this without a slight incident (slightly painting the holder). Due to this I have some "nice" brushes on order, with cleaner, etc to hopefully keep a nice tip. After these were attached I moved onto the ring bolts on the deck. I decided to follow in BE's footsteps on his Alert and used aftermarket eye pins and rings instead of the included PE parts. I bought some from Amati and had some on hand from hismodel, which were already blackened (I ordered some hooks for rigging the cannons and grabbed some eye pins as well. Side note - everyday my young son asks when I am going to do a cannon, so I may need to start on one soon :-). 

These pictures show off all my flaws, the blackening looks quite rough, but it isn't really noticeable from normal viewing distances. I do think that I need to improve in this area though.

Here we are for now:
 

I think they look good in your pic..
What I feel is important on a model, it that it doesn't look too close to upper or lower port sills..

Quoins is what they are called and they would have a handle - with such tiny guns I'm not sure how essential that is. In my view not having the handle but including the quoin is fine, it's also a nice touch if you included them, either works.. It's also likely they are necessary to have in order to adjust the elevation. My view on gun elevation is what looks best with it sitting in the gun port. But check them all before finishing. The gun ports may vary in height based on the curve of the deck. You're photo looks fine - I think as long as they aren't pointed below 90 degrees whatever looks good and fits the gun port works. The ship the cannons are aiming at is probably level with the ship they are on, so......
 
You're painting is nice and precise - always an important point.

An 18/0 brush for these small touch ups is your friend.