glbarlow

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

Cheers Guys,


 
Thanks Bob, and Michael, I’m pleased you like what you see.


 
@ Glenn

Thanks BE, that makes sense. I wasn’t thinking like a fisherman 😊


 
It’s nowt to do with me Glenn, a few weeks ago I’d never heard of a Fifie, but I’ve done a load of speed reading.😉


 
@ Richard – ask away no problem. To some extent it depends on the tightness of the bend, but I tend to use cold water for a few minutes only, and then use a hair dryer on max heat to fix the shape I  formed.


 
I don’t think Chuck even bothers with water, just bends by degrees and uses heat alone to fix the shape.


 
Regards,


 
B.E.

Absolutely.
 
I'm a member of the group but so far I've only got as far printing the bulkheads and buying a scroll-saw. I watch the ongoing builds with much interest. My skills are definitely in the humble range (but getting better). 

Thanks BE, Derek, and Jean Paul.  I appreciate the encouragement and feedback.
 
I’m trying to provide a log that will help others just as I frequently consult BE’s, Rusty’s and Chuck’s Cheerful logs. I’d be nowhere with out Chuck’s detailed monograph, but it’s my belief logs from us of more humble skills will both help in construction and encourage others to take on building their own version of this great model. 
 
PS: I wasn’t able to use great in a sentence for a few days there, but I’m past that now, or should I say I’m past that for now😜

Thanks BE, Derek, and Jean Paul.  I appreciate the encouragement and feedback.
 
I’m trying to provide a log that will help others just as I frequently consult BE’s, Rusty’s and Chuck’s Cheerful logs. I’d be nowhere with out Chuck’s detailed monograph, but it’s my belief logs from us of more humble skills will both help in construction and encourage others to take on building their own version of this great model. 
 
PS: I wasn’t able to use great in a sentence for a few days there, but I’m past that now, or should I say I’m past that for now😜

I second B.E.'s praise - those fashion pieces look beautiful, and your detailed explanations and photos will help other modellers.
 
Derek

Very Nice work on these fashion pieces and a big thank you for the step by step.

Mark of a good modeller Glenn, fortitude and persistence, and yours has paid off handsomely, well done. 👍
 
B.E.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

Every stern on every model I’ve ever done has been an adventure, they rarely come out the way the plans show, I have to improvise and adapt to make them work, and have fun doing it. I expected the challenge of the scratch built Cheerful to be no different - but I was wrong.  This is probably the first stern that came together just the way it’s supposed to. Not that it was easy and I still had a few challenges, but Chuck’s design, for lack of a more elaborate description, - works as planned.
 
But to be fair I haven’t figured out the square tuck yet, 😂

 
Reducing the frames in the last post was hold my breath time but wasn’t that hard with the process I described. Then it’s just a matter of planking up the counter.
 

 
The first plank is a challenge because the counter is curved both in and down. But thanks to my Chuck Passaro plank bending station it’s a problem quickly solved. No way that plank was bending with out some help. The benefit of Chuck’s method is there is no soaking or its potential for warping. Rub a wet finger along the board and the steam travel iron and clamps do the work heating the bent board into shape. If you haven’t tried this method I highly recommend you search out the instructional videos here on MSW and give it a try.
 
I gave a little more information and detail on using this technique in my Lady Nelson log if you’re interested.
 

 
I’m a CA planking guy, no clamps to hold PVA for me. With the bent plank (and the lower side of each beveled for a tighter fit), a little CA, and 30 seconds of finger pressure… plank complete, on to the next. In no time I was up to the transom and doing some sanding.
 

 
Here’s a thing to remember - the inward side of the counter is also a final product, it won't be covered, so be neat with the glue. The reverse side result of the beveling looks like Shiplap and adds a little character. It’s a good time to use some sanding sticks on the counter, much easier to get at it than after transom is on.
 

 
The transom is a little more fun than the counter, having to fit the planks around the stern ports. Since I plan to have these closed I left a little larger rabbit for the port lids to grab onto, I may leave them, or one of them, open - I still have the option later to decide. The third row is fun since it has to be cut to fit over the top fourth of the ports. I elected to use a 7/32nds plank on the top instead of a fourth 3/16ths one. I liked the look better and it gave a little more clearance above the top fo the frames inside.
 

 
Back to the inside of the transom to sand a little to remove any excess glue. Unlike the natural transom outboard, the inside will be painted red eventually so it doesn’t require extensive effort. I’m glad I sanded and shaped up the stern frames before they were installed, I’d hate to be removing laser char at this stage. I have already learned from building the winch my Cadium Red won’t hide laser char. Eventually I’ll be cutting a hole in here for the rudder, which should provide another hold my breath moment.
 
Now to cut some fashion pieces having only a #11 blade, maybe the jewelers saw to do it. Anyone want to hazard a guess how many I’ll do before I get two I can use?
 
On another note, I ordered a Proxxon MF70 micro mill today - I think Cheerful will provide me some opportunities to learn how to use it since I haven’t the slightest clue, though thanks to Delf for giving me some pointers. MSW is certainly a worldwide resource of talented people.

So who here besides me was expecting a train wreck after my last post. I cut the fashion pieces only to decide the plan size was too short for my ship, I decided that after they were glued on, because they curve into the ship dry-fitting didn’t help. So I remade them, more in a moment. The concept of a drop plank is simple and works great once you’ve done your first three and then it clicks - seems obvious and maybe that was my problem, trying to outthink it - figured it out eventually so let’s start:
 

 
I “adopted” my process for cutting out the planks from Rusty. I made copies of a section of the plan, cut out the fashion pieces and then used rubber cement to attach them to a section of 1/16th board. This process worked well, but here’s what I learned - to be clear this applies to my model your milage may vary. I noticed right away the first ones I cut seemed to “small” so to make me feel better I enlarged the copy of the plans to 105% and used those for the template. As I mentioned those still turned out too short so as you can see in the photo I added a few marks to them extra long so I could trim to fit. I’m not going to say what iteration of cut-outs wound up on the ship, let’s just say more than four are in the scrap heap though in fairness a couple were intentional victim prototypes to try stuff like bending and curving. First-timers…
 

 
I found this simple little jig helpful. a strip of 1/32nd up against the hull for the right distance of the piece back from the transom and another scrap on top of it as a backstop to align the piece equal to the run of the transom. Yes that's a cracked plank but its the lower level of the wales so no problem - else it'd be gone.
 
A good place to note I ended up adding a 1/64th shim on frame 16 to get a better flow to the eventual square tuck -or maybe I'm overthinking it again, no this time I'm right, maybe.
 

 
You might note the two fashion pieces are on opposite sides of the ship, that didn’t stop me from making as near exact copies as I could as my multiple measurements (sorry Chuck, in millimeters) taken multiple times until I got them near copies. I'm not sure why I was going to the hundredth of a millimeter, seems obsessive.
 

 
I learned from attempt one I have a bit of a curve on the lower wales plank, so to make the fit easier I modified my plank bending station to roll the fashion piece into a curve over a dowel. I did this having first “stretched” it because my counter was longer/wider/shallower that the plans - really not very much at all, but enough that bending the curve out helped. I would like to add - this worked and other than dipping it in water or wiping on a little water with a wet finger I soaked nothing (at some point I knocked my beer over, but that’s not the point). This advertisement of Chuck’s Plank Bending method brought to you by me.
 

 
Don’t look too closely at this photo because those planks don’t exist anymore except as a waste of a perfectly good Alaskan tree. I didn’t like the fit (there is a gap at the drop plank, or would be on the next row of planks) and I just wasn’t going to compromise. On a double planked kit I know I could easily make it up with the remaining planking, but here I was concerned it would just compound as I went. The problem, for me, was the alignment of the drop plank extension. First I pushed it up too far, and then let lay down too much which makes the subsequent planks less than a clean run. I figured out, and while this might come as a surprise, to glue it down the way it wants to lay naturally…go figure. easy for you to say.
 
So I ripped off the below wales planks on both sides (you'd think you'd learn the second time but no. And while I was at it, see above on fashion pieces, taking those all off with the rest. I walked upstairs and told my wife - you know how I’ve been working on this ship for the last several days - well I wasn’t because everything I did is gone. At least the frame hadn’t dropped on the floor and exploded again, at least not yet - let’s not think about that…
 

 
I lightly sanded the entire hull down and will apply a new coat of poly after installing the wales and before moving on to the rest of the planking. I'll be using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black on the wales. I did a test strip - it both looks fine with wipe-on Poly with a slight satin look or the Poly can be painted over if I want to keep it flat. I'll see when I get there.
 

 
So, anyway, I arrived to a point where I’m ready to move on. I’ll add the 2nd layer of the wales next then start the process of lining the hull, cutting more sticks, I mean planks. Did I mention I was impressed with myself for ripping the thin 1/32nd (.79mm) thick planks required as the top layer of the wales. I figured I needed 6 but I was having fun so I cut 12. I hope I don’t need them but who knows.
 
On we go.

Thanks. I’m making good progress yesterday and today. Back to photos soon. 

It would be hilarious to put a 1:64 chair on the kitchen counter with a note that says “how many more chairs do we need”

Thanks. I’m making good progress yesterday and today. Back to photos soon. 

This is one of my concerns.  Nice to see your progress.  I am going to have to practice a ton before I start using the good stuff
 
good to see you fix those things you are unsatisfied with.  It will be worth it in the end

Nicely done! That's a bold move having it on a single pedestal, great look.

Every stern on every model I’ve ever done has been an adventure, they rarely come out the way the plans show, I have to improvise and adapt to make them work, and have fun doing it. I expected the challenge of the scratch built Cheerful to be no different - but I was wrong.  This is probably the first stern that came together just the way it’s supposed to. Not that it was easy and I still had a few challenges, but Chuck’s design, for lack of a more elaborate description, - works as planned.
 
But to be fair I haven’t figured out the square tuck yet, 😂

 
Reducing the frames in the last post was hold my breath time but wasn’t that hard with the process I described. Then it’s just a matter of planking up the counter.
 

 
The first plank is a challenge because the counter is curved both in and down. But thanks to my Chuck Passaro plank bending station it’s a problem quickly solved. No way that plank was bending with out some help. The benefit of Chuck’s method is there is no soaking or its potential for warping. Rub a wet finger along the board and the steam travel iron and clamps do the work heating the bent board into shape. If you haven’t tried this method I highly recommend you search out the instructional videos here on MSW and give it a try.
 
I gave a little more information and detail on using this technique in my Lady Nelson log if you’re interested.
 

 
I’m a CA planking guy, no clamps to hold PVA for me. With the bent plank (and the lower side of each beveled for a tighter fit), a little CA, and 30 seconds of finger pressure… plank complete, on to the next. In no time I was up to the transom and doing some sanding.
 

 
Here’s a thing to remember - the inward side of the counter is also a final product, it won't be covered, so be neat with the glue. The reverse side result of the beveling looks like Shiplap and adds a little character. It’s a good time to use some sanding sticks on the counter, much easier to get at it than after transom is on.
 

 
The transom is a little more fun than the counter, having to fit the planks around the stern ports. Since I plan to have these closed I left a little larger rabbit for the port lids to grab onto, I may leave them, or one of them, open - I still have the option later to decide. The third row is fun since it has to be cut to fit over the top fourth of the ports. I elected to use a 7/32nds plank on the top instead of a fourth 3/16ths one. I liked the look better and it gave a little more clearance above the top fo the frames inside.
 

 
Back to the inside of the transom to sand a little to remove any excess glue. Unlike the natural transom outboard, the inside will be painted red eventually so it doesn’t require extensive effort. I’m glad I sanded and shaped up the stern frames before they were installed, I’d hate to be removing laser char at this stage. I have already learned from building the winch my Cadium Red won’t hide laser char. Eventually I’ll be cutting a hole in here for the rudder, which should provide another hold my breath moment.
 
Now to cut some fashion pieces having only a #11 blade, maybe the jewelers saw to do it. Anyone want to hazard a guess how many I’ll do before I get two I can use?
 
On another note, I ordered a Proxxon MF70 micro mill today - I think Cheerful will provide me some opportunities to learn how to use it since I haven’t the slightest clue, though thanks to Delf for giving me some pointers. MSW is certainly a worldwide resource of talented people.

I’m still here both enjoying and being frustrated by this build.
 
I just ripped off both fashion pieces after staring at them several days and have ripped off planks below the wales more than once, my first drop plank and my desire to do the best possible work hasn’t proven to be a good combination thus far. I’m hoping there is plenty of 3/16ths wood, based on the number of pieces I’ve cut and rejected I'm going to need a lot. To be clear it’s the builder not the model that’s the challenge. Seems everything I do is something I never did for a kit, so I get to learn on the job....good stuff.
 
Here is one recommendation I’ll pass on. My first layer of wales must be a tad low because the fashion pieces, cut exactly to the plans, turned out about 1mm short - which is why I ripped them off to make them longer at the bottom. My counter also needed the fashion piece bent out a little, no two models will be exactly the same. 
 
Three months ago I couldn’t rip planks worth a darn, now I’ve ripped 5/32nds at 1/32nd thick, .79mm, which is thin...so yay. 
 
So no pictures worth sharing. Patience and perseverance...

I’m still here both enjoying and being frustrated by this build.
 
I just ripped off both fashion pieces after staring at them several days and have ripped off planks below the wales more than once, my first drop plank and my desire to do the best possible work hasn’t proven to be a good combination thus far. I’m hoping there is plenty of 3/16ths wood, based on the number of pieces I’ve cut and rejected I'm going to need a lot. To be clear it’s the builder not the model that’s the challenge. Seems everything I do is something I never did for a kit, so I get to learn on the job....good stuff.
 
Here is one recommendation I’ll pass on. My first layer of wales must be a tad low because the fashion pieces, cut exactly to the plans, turned out about 1mm short - which is why I ripped them off to make them longer at the bottom. My counter also needed the fashion piece bent out a little, no two models will be exactly the same. 
 
Three months ago I couldn’t rip planks worth a darn, now I’ve ripped 5/32nds at 1/32nd thick, .79mm, which is thin...so yay. 
 
So no pictures worth sharing. Patience and perseverance...

I’m still here both enjoying and being frustrated by this build.
 
I just ripped off both fashion pieces after staring at them several days and have ripped off planks below the wales more than once, my first drop plank and my desire to do the best possible work hasn’t proven to be a good combination thus far. I’m hoping there is plenty of 3/16ths wood, based on the number of pieces I’ve cut and rejected I'm going to need a lot. To be clear it’s the builder not the model that’s the challenge. Seems everything I do is something I never did for a kit, so I get to learn on the job....good stuff.
 
Here is one recommendation I’ll pass on. My first layer of wales must be a tad low because the fashion pieces, cut exactly to the plans, turned out about 1mm short - which is why I ripped them off to make them longer at the bottom. My counter also needed the fashion piece bent out a little, no two models will be exactly the same. 
 
Three months ago I couldn’t rip planks worth a darn, now I’ve ripped 5/32nds at 1/32nd thick, .79mm, which is thin...so yay. 
 
So no pictures worth sharing. Patience and perseverance...