MikeB4

Thanks for the likes.  My progress this week has been to get the bulwarks painted.  I used Vallejo brand Flat Red 70.957.  I can't recommend Vallejo paints enough for brush painting.  The pigment is extremely fine, and they're easy to apply without any visible brush strokes.  I used a new 3/16" wide flat brush to apply 6 thin coats of paint.  Every handful of strokes I dipped the brush tip into water to thin the paint, and then applied the paint over several seconds with around half a dozen strokes in a given area.  It's important to stop brushing over the area before the paint starts to thicken (thickening causes the brush strokes to be visible).  I didn't worry too much about how well each coat covered the surface knowing that I'd continue to apply more coats until I achieved a solid coverage.  The important thing with each coat is even coverage with no visible brush strokes.
 
Erik

Over the last week I planked the port side bulwarks.  I spent a few hours today doing the final sanding of both sides of the bulwarks which included thinning the areas of the bulwarks tops that were thicker than the others in preparation for adding the cap rail.  I carefully thinned the 1/32" thick spirketing to a thickness somewhere between 1/32" and 1/64".  I then rounded the edge of the top spirketing plank a bit.  Lastly I softened the edges on the stern frames to reflect the look of Chuck's visible stern frames on his Cheerful build.
 
Erik

Ian, Thanks for the kind words!  I have had your Cheerful build bookmarked.  I like the way your Cheerful has more bare wood showing than most.  It looks great!  And thanks for noticing my efforts at getting good photos.  It actually takes some time to set everything up.  Since I photograph on my work surface, I have to move everything out of the way.  And I can only really photograph on the weekends when I have time during the day while the sun is shining, as a good portion of the overall lighting is from a window.
 
I added the 1/32" thick planks below the gun ports.  I did these as hull length single planks to keep the plank run looking smooth.  I also wound up adding a 1/32" x 1/32" strip along the bow area between the 1st and 2nd gun ports beneath the two main planks.  This was probably unnecessary, but when I measured the gap it came out to be pretty close in height to what will be the 3/64" thick deck plank plus the 1/32" thick waterway.  So, better safe than sorry.  I then did a bit of sanding to thin the 1/32" planking as Chuck suggests in his monograph.  Once I have the port side planking to the same point, I'll further thin both sides slightly, and round the hard edge a little.  I've always found when modeling 2 sides that are supposed to be symmetrical, completing them to 90% or so, while working on first one side and then the other, and then finishing both sides at the same times helps make it easier to get them where they look identical.
 
Erik

My progress over the last week has been to plank the first layer of planks of the starboard bulwark.  With my extended time off from this build, 6 1/2 years, I sort of forgot how long it takes to get quality planking done!   I had to break out the hair dryer again to get the bends toward the bow in the planks that sit below the gun ports.  There was a bigger gap than I was comfortable with between the false deck and the bottom of the planks between the forward two gun ports, so I used 7/32" wide planks for the lower plank in that area.  I wasn't too concerned with the finished look of the planks below the gun ports since they'll be covered with a second layer of planks.
 
Once this first layer was sanded smooth, I measured the total thickness of the bulwark at the top.  It comes in at 5/32", or a hair less.  With this new layer of planking I then painted the frames of the gun ports.  This revealed areas that needed sanding to hide the visible seam between the gun port frames and the interior planking.  I used a hard sanding stick to do that.  Then I applied another layer of paint.  It seemed like a good idea to paint the gun port frames at this point as it also gives a good opportunity to visually confirm that the port frames are a proper shape and thickness.  The next step is adding the layer of 1/32" thick planking below the gun ports.
 
Erik

Thanks for the likes and nice words guys.  And it's always nice to get an 'Outstanding' from Chuck!  I installed the false deck this weekend.  I used a piece of 24" x 8" x 1/16" basswood.  I cut it in half lengthwise and taped the two halves together.  I cut the false deck template out of the plans.  I then cut all the square deck furniture locators out of the paper plan.  I used clear tape to tape this onto the Cheerful (The plan is wavy in my two photos below.  It was reattached after the fact for these photos).  The clear tape made it easy to locate the center line running through the cutouts.  I then followed Chuck's instructions in the Monograph and used masking tape around the edges to get the actual size of the false deck.  I removed this carefully and taped the false deck plan to the two basswood sheet halves, again using the clear taped sections of the deck furniture cut outs to locate the center line.  Once that was done, I carefully removed the clear tape one section at a time and used the cutout borders to draw their locations on the wood false deck.  Reapplying the tape to that square when finished and moving on to the next opening.  Once the false deck was cut out of the basswood sheets, I faired the edges to get a good fit.  I also wound up adding a thin basswood strip to the stern section of the deck.  There had been a bigger gap than I wanted there.  I installed each half of the false deck using the visible center of the middle of the five plies of the piece of plywood running lengthwise on the center line as the true center line.  Lastly I enlarged the hole in the deck for the mast to it's actual size.  I had left it slightly under size when attaching the decks halves, and trued it up afterwords to make sure it was precisely placed where it should be.
 
Erik

I finished adding the fancy molding to my Cheerful.  I planned ahead with the lower molding and didn't glue the portion that will be removed for the addition of the top boarding ladder step.  I spent a few evenings thinning and fairing the inboard bulwarks.  Yes, this was a messy pain in the butt.  There was a bit of a learning curve to sand/fair the inside of a curve vs. fairing the hull planking.  The bulwarks framing/gun ports measure in at a hair under 1/16" of an inch thick, which is what Chuck recommended in his monograph.  I also faired the bulkhead tops so the false deck will sit flat on them.  Lastly, I added the keel plates.  I still haven't touched up the paint on the hull exterior, so the build still looks a bit rough at this point.  I've decided I'll do that after the deck planking is finished.
 
Erik

After a short, er . . . 6 ½ year break, I’ve resumed work on my Cheerful.  I imagine few of you actually remember my build.  It was sort of unexpected to be bitten by the wooden ship building bug again.  In August I was on a vacation in the Netherlands visiting the Museum Kaap Skil maritime museum in Oudeschild on Texel Island, off the north coast.  They have a huge 60 foot long diorama of the Texel Roads as it appeared around 1660.  It looks to be about 1/100 scale.  There are 160 ships/boats represented in the diorama!  Seen here: https://kaapskil.nl/en/discover/expositions/ship-in-sight-the-roads-of-texel-and-the-world/ That led me back to Modelshipworld.  And here I am.
 
I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle waking up from a long sleep.  This website itself has changed.  Yellow Cedar is a new wood of choice. Wood suppliers have changed.  No more Crown Timberyard, but it looks like a good replacement with Modeler’s Sawmill.  Chuck is a few projects further along after the Cheerful (the laser cut fully framed Speedwell is a fascinating project, by the way).  There are still a lot of the same faces here, but the skill level on current projects has kicked up a few notches.  So, my hat is off to you folks.
 
It’s been an interesting few years for me.  We had this global pandemic thing.  After 14 years at the local government, I changed jobs a few times.  I was a bicycle tour guide in Boulder for 7 months (a great way of keeping in shape as a 53 year old).  Was the accountant for Left Hand Brewing here in Colorado.  And finally settled into being an accountant for the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
 
Though not working on Cheerful, I’ve still been active modeling from time to time.  One thing I seem to gravitate towards is building things in smaller scales than the norm, and detailing them to a level of the larger scale (which is why Cheerful is unusual for me, I’d be more comfortable building something 1/96 to 1/144 scale! Haha).  A few of my latest projects - A resin tugboat featured on this website: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22995-ytl-45-taiwanese-navy-tugboat-by-erik-w-finished-1350-scale/    For my model railroad, an N scale (1/160) 3d printed boxcar that I scratch built full underframe details: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55256.msg758608#msg758608   and finished here:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55365.msg760492#msg760492   A 1/72 scale WWII F6F Hellcat on a carrier deck with super detailed engine and cockpit:  https://www.militaryimages.net/threads/f6f-5-hellcat-wwii-usn-fighter-plane-1-72-scale.10858/   And probably my favorite, a 1/72 scale M1A2 Abrams tank with over 400 individual pieces of styrene and wire add by me to customize the tank.  Scroll down to see the scratch built stowage items:  https://www.militaryimages.net/threads/m1a2-sepv2-w-crows-ii-lp-1-72-scale-kitbash.10777/
 
Well, I’ve prattled on enough.  Where I had left off was having finished the hull planking.  The next step is supposed to be tree nailing.  I’ve put a lot of thought into that and I’ve decided to skip it.  It’s not because it’s time consuming and tedious as much as it’s a process that you can’t pull out and redo.  Most things on the build can be pried loose if you’re unhappy with them.  That, and I’d rather jump right back into cutting wood.  That’ll help maintain my motivation to keep making progress.  There are a few really good Cheerful builds out there where the builders have skipped tree nailing, Mike (stuntflyer), Glenn (glbarlow), and Ian (Seventynet).  You all have some outstanding other builds as well by the way.  Something to really aspire to for us newbies.  Ian, I particularly like your Hayling Hoy.  Never thought I’d desire to build a fully framed model before, but now . . .
 
So, where I am now is I’ve done what I’d call an almost-final sanding of the lower hull.  There were a few spots that needed attention.  I’ll do an absolute final sanding and paint touch up later.  That’s why the planking and hull still looks a bit rough.  I’ve also been adding the fancy molding.  It took a little trial and error to get my brass scraper made the way I wanted it.  I’ve added the molding to the stern, and port side.  Feels good to be building again!!
 
If you’re new to viewing this build, it’s good to have you along.  And if you’ve followed along before, welcome back!  Without further ado, here are some proof of progress photos.  It's hard to get the lighting right to show the contour of the fancy molding, but you get an idea from the last photo.
 
Erik
 

It's been awhile since I posted anything but I have continued this build. I've completed the thwarts.

It's been awhile since I posted anything but I have continued this build. I've completed the thwarts.

Nice Job Mike, Looks like a fun build
 
Best Regards,
Pete

I've installed the rub rail. I'm going to paint a blue strip underneath the rail a 1/4" wide.This is a fun project, I'd recommend this kit to anyone new to the hobby.

I've installed the risers and the seats.

What kind of paint are you using for the gold?

175.00 is more than reasonable for what your getting. Will there be a hard copy of the instructions with the kit or is that something that would be downloaded?

I don't know how many people will be able to start in this group but I would like to be in it if possible. If not in the first wave maybe the second.

I picked up a glue stick and a board made of birch. I think that should be hard enough to mount and carve the blanks on.

It's been a while and I've been slowly making progress.  I am almost finished the running rigging.  Does that mean I'm finished if I'm not doing sails or do I need to rig the sail tackle?  It seems to me of the sails are not on the ship that the rigging for the sails would also be off.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

The head grating battens are complete for now.  I added them all between the knees and the hull.  These were just 3/64" x 3/64" strips.  They were painted black ahead of time and cut to length.  Then glued into position with the slots.   I sanded them gently with 600 grit sandpaper and touched up the paint.  Next will be the forward pair seats.  Once these are done I can add the false rail and the two remaining seats of ease.  Its hard to photograph all these pieces painted black but I am trying my best.
 

For the head gratings, you have to be methodical.   I started by lightly sanding the initial for pieces and painting them black.  These are 1/16" thick.  Each of these pieces is laser cut slightly longer than you will need because everyone's model will vary a bit.
 

The first two pieces are the two cross beams with a camber or roundup on them.  These are the two that run port and starboard.
 
Sand them to length a little at a time taking equal amounts off both sides until they fit snug in the notches of the main headrail.  Dont make it so tight that it spreads your rails apart.  Make it fit just right.  
 
Then the two pieces that run fore and aft can be added next.  I recommend a dry fit of these four pieces before you glue them in permanently.  Make sure you have the notches facing the correct way.  Study these photos.   Because next we will be adding the smaller gratings pieces.
 
When you have these last two pieces in dry-fit only.  Examine them to see if they are running straight with the center line of the hull and that they are both centered.  Dont worry about the dust...you will be screwing up the paint job.   Once you glue them in permanently you can give the top a light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper.  Then touch up the paint.  But dont worry about it being perfect yet because you will be sanding and painting more with each step.

Next up are the smaller 3/64" thick battens which are also laser cut for you.  These are laser cut really long because you have to cut them to fit your model exactly.  I painted them black first. They have a slight curve as you can see.
 

I inserted one end into a notch in the head gratings and then marked the length I needed as it spanned across to the other side.  You will only be added the first six on each side at this point.  Those last two wont be added until after we put the seats in position later.  Carefully measure and cut all six grating battens and dry fit them first.  Then glue them in with yellow glue or tite-bond.   Brush away any excess glue to keep it neat.   Once dry you can lightly sand the joints and paint.  It should look like this at this current stage.
 

Then go back to the 1/16" sheet and remove the two knees with all the notches in them.   And also remove the long curved pieces with notches.   These can be painted black ahead of time as well.  Yes, even the bottom side.  The knees will be put in position first.  The longer leg of the knee sits along the main headrail.   You will no-doubt have to adjust the angle of the knee so it fits your model properly.  Both legs should sit firmly against the inside of the main rail and also the cross piece of the head.  
 
Note how it sits against the inside edge of the main rail.  Do you see how it slopes down rather than sit flush with the top of the main rail.  THIS is very important.  You see, there is the other curved piece with notches that will sit against the hull.  Those notches will have more battens running from them to its corresponding notch in the knee.   You want the platform created by these battens to have a nice flow into the hull.   You dont want them slopped up or down.   
 
Remember this when you place the curved piece against the hull.  As designed, I intended for this piece to fit directly under the fancy molding as shown in the photos.  Does this make sense?  Its real important but may vary on your model.  You may have to place it lower...every model will vary slightly.  
 
In that same photo you can see that I started added the battens between it and the knee.   I did the first two.  The inner two lengths.  I added these first because I wanted to show you guys that these two battens will/should run parallel to the center line.  This is yet another important piece of the puzzle and when you add the notched curved section along the hull be conscious of this.  You want that first notch to line up directly across from the one on the knee so those first two battens are straight with the center line.  Makes sense???  Plan the placement of those curved and notched pieces against the hull carefully.  
 
One end of this curved and notched piece is longer than the other.  I did this purposely so you would know which side should be the aft end closest to the catheads.   The longer end is towards the cathead.  
 
Tomorrow I will continue adding the remaining battens.  Then its onto the seats of ease.  Speaking of seats of ease.....until tomorrow then.
 
You should ask questions if you have them when doing this part.  There are lots of little details to remember about the placement of these pieces.  Read through the instructions a few times.

 
 

Beginning to prototype the parts for the head gratings. Absolutely no glue yet.  Just a dry fit of all parts.  So far so good.  Lots of curves and lots of notches.  All are lining up well.  I think you guys are up to the challenge and its actually good fun.  Compare with other kits…even the newer ones.  Its well worth the extra effort.
 
Once all the parts are cut and tested , I will do the step by step because the build sequence will be important.  But I wanted to give you a sneak peek.  So far I am thrilled with the results.
 

I completed the Stretchers. I did notice that a few of  the cross members are a different size. I probably used pieces of wood that were meant for something else. Not a big deal.

I completed the Stretchers. I did notice that a few of  the cross members are a different size. I probably used pieces of wood that were meant for something else. Not a big deal.

I just completed the hull
of Nantucket. Keel and cap rails placed as well as the anchor opening, bulwark stiffeners, freezing ports and Hawse lip. I painted the hull with 3 coats of acrylic red paint sanding between coats. I tried to use a pencil marking around the ship for the waterline but was unable to see the markings on the paint. I measured the waterline from the plans and masked the area and painted the bottom of the ship with flat black acrylic paint. After drying I placed the adhesive letters on both sides. The ship is on a temporary cradle until I buy brass pedestals and a baseboard.


 

I completed the Stretchers. I did notice that a few of  the cross members are a different size. I probably used pieces of wood that were meant for something else. Not a big deal.

I was able to get the risers in place and also the front platform.