glbarlow

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.