Stuntflyer

The ship is coming together beautifully Augie. It just keeps getting better with each update. I really like the contrast between the colors too.
 
Mike

I've now done the upper belt of the lower planking on the starboard side. All of the same procedures were used as on the port side. As on the port side , the planking is only rough sanded at this point.  Usually the second version of any work goes faster and easier, but for whatever reason that was not the case here.
 
In any event, it's time to face up to doing the square tuck stern. Although Chuck has made it look easy on his model, it just doesn't look easy at all when I look at the necessary work ahead of me. We shall see.
 
Bob

Plans and bulkheads arrived today.... they look great. I'm really looking forward to working at 1:48th scale. Can't wait to get started.

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last update so hopefully others will come more frequently in the future. Below is a photo showing all the planking completed on one side. Unfortunately I'm having to cope with wood strips that don't have square edges as delivered from the source. This makes things very tedious and slows down the process tremendously. The gun ports were originally done with no pencil edge and were very hard to see. After carefully removing them I made new ones using pencil edging. The last strake has been gradually tapered down to 1/64" and the wale will sit directly below it. The lighter planks at the top will eventually be painted and should give some uniformity to the hull overall.
 

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last update so hopefully others will come more frequently in the future. Below is a photo showing all the planking completed on one side. Unfortunately I'm having to cope with wood strips that don't have square edges as delivered from the source. This makes things very tedious and slows down the process tremendously. The gun ports were originally done with no pencil edge and were very hard to see. After carefully removing them I made new ones using pencil edging. The last strake has been gradually tapered down to 1/64" and the wale will sit directly below it. The lighter planks at the top will eventually be painted and should give some uniformity to the hull overall.
 

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last update so hopefully others will come more frequently in the future. Below is a photo showing all the planking completed on one side. Unfortunately I'm having to cope with wood strips that don't have square edges as delivered from the source. This makes things very tedious and slows down the process tremendously. The gun ports were originally done with no pencil edge and were very hard to see. After carefully removing them I made new ones using pencil edging. The last strake has been gradually tapered down to 1/64" and the wale will sit directly below it. The lighter planks at the top will eventually be painted and should give some uniformity to the hull overall.
 

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last update so hopefully others will come more frequently in the future. Below is a photo showing all the planking completed on one side. Unfortunately I'm having to cope with wood strips that don't have square edges as delivered from the source. This makes things very tedious and slows down the process tremendously. The gun ports were originally done with no pencil edge and were very hard to see. After carefully removing them I made new ones using pencil edging. The last strake has been gradually tapered down to 1/64" and the wale will sit directly below it. The lighter planks at the top will eventually be painted and should give some uniformity to the hull overall.
 

Hello everyone! It has been a while since my last update so hopefully others will come more frequently in the future. Below is a photo showing all the planking completed on one side. Unfortunately I'm having to cope with wood strips that don't have square edges as delivered from the source. This makes things very tedious and slows down the process tremendously. The gun ports were originally done with no pencil edge and were very hard to see. After carefully removing them I made new ones using pencil edging. The last strake has been gradually tapered down to 1/64" and the wale will sit directly below it. The lighter planks at the top will eventually be painted and should give some uniformity to the hull overall.
 

Lower hull planking progresses. Chuck says that Cheerful can be planked without spiling by edge bending the planks (and has proved it beautifully on his own model). Well, so far, so good. I have now done the upper belt of the port side lower planking. While it doesn't look anywhere as good as Chuck's, I'm reasonably satisfied. 
 
Each plank was first tapered, then bent, then edge beveled where necessary for a tight fit. I followed the butt pattern shown in the plans.I must admit that it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and I went back to my old methods of plank bending, using water and heat, rather than the method used and shown by Chuck. In any event, it's now on to the same work on the starboard side.
 
Bob 

A couple of quick shots of the two platforms.  I wasn't comfortable gluing the edges of the boards.  I didn't want to have glue smudges before I stain/poly.  I used left over .020" planking material along the bottoms and glued the boards to them.  This also reinforces the platforms to keep them flat when I stain/poly.  A considerable amount of sanding was necessary to get the bow platform to snug down low enough in the hull.
 

 

 
Erik

Thanks so much Augie, Druxey, George and the "likes".
 
You're so right Druxey. I'm afraid that I had a case of foolish overconfidence this time.
 
Bob

I glued in the floorboards.  I used pieces of .030" stryene as temporary spacers between the boards as I was gluing them in so they would be a uniform distance from one another.  Also, now that I'm working on the interior, I'm using the build board I had made.
 

 

 
Erik

Here is a photo of the "iron work" for the boom, bowsprit, and mast.  Rather than using brass flat stock to form the various pieces, I thought I'd try something a little different.  Every fitting was made with slices of brass tubing.  In each case the components were silver soldered together.  I've never done any silver soldering, so this was a new experience for me, and I have to admit that I enjoyed it.  It's quite possible that Stay-Brite would have worked just as well, but I wanted to try something new.

I really lucked out on this procedure.  In every case except one, the inside diameters of the tubing were spot on for the boom, bowsprit and mast locations.  The one exception was the top bracket on the mast, which had a little play at the location where it should be mounted.  I solved that problem by applying some Stay-Brite solder to the inner surface of the ring, and reaming it out.  It really didn't take much to snug up the bracket.
 
BobF

Congratulations on a great painting job Eric. After looking at all the logs I might as well replace all the wood in my kit.
David B

Bob, Really nice! I'm always looking forward to your next post. It's great how you go about adding extra detail to the model.
 
Mike

Thanks John
 
The beauty of lining off the deck is that it allows you to create a great plan of attack.  If you connect all of your tick marks you will have a really good idea of how it will look.  If it needs adjustment then just sand it off and start over.  You can do all of this before you lay one deck plank.  Imagine if you just wing it and have half the deck planked...you are sunk.  Lining off the hull first helps you avoid this.
 
I will do this at the stern next and then start cutting wood. 
 
Now if you were just going with straight planks nibbed into the waterway,  would you need to line off the deck like this?  Maybe not.   But I think it is worth the extra work.  And keep in mind you want have to cut into your waterway and risk a cutting error with a bad joint while nibbing.  That takes a huge amount of time and careful chisel work.  So its pretty much a wash as far as the amount of time and effort goes.  
 
 
 
The contemorary model of a cutter shown below also has tapered and scarfed deck planks vs. nibbing.   You can see the tapering very clearly here.
 

 
Chuck
 
 

I stained the longboat. It's a little darker than I expected.  Of course, I'm used to looking at the boat with the wood an almost white color, so maybe I'm just not used to seeing it a more realistic color. Also, I applied the stain in an even and uniform manner, but the wood just didn't absorb it uniformly. Does it look alright?
 
That and the real color isn't showing up well in the photos with the light blue background I've been using.  I took 3 more photos with a darker blue background.  The warmer brown is closer to the true color.  It's hard to show accurate color rendition sometimes!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Erik

Deck planking has started.  
 
Just a quick note about the two styles of deck planking.  There were the times when deck planking was straight and nibbed into the waterway.  Most are familiar with this style.  I in fact drafted the plans for Cheerful this way.  However,  I believe that the earlier style was still in practice at this time and probably both were used.  More like a transition period.  In my opinion up to possibly 1820 or even later. This second style would be where tapered and hooked scarf joints were used.  No nibbing into the waterway.
 
I have decided to use the second style as the first is so common.  You see it all the time.    I find this more pleasing to look at as the planks are curved.   Straight planks are to harsh in contrast with the curves all over the rest of the model.  Folks can choose which method they prefer.  I did use the scarfed method on the Confederacy but I simplified it with straight planks.  In reality the planks would have tapered and curved a bit at the bow and stern.  Like this below.   
 

 
Also note the curvature of the planking on this contemporary model.
 

 
After gluing the six deck structures in position,  I drew reference lines for where the deck beams would be located.  This will become important later.  Then I planked down the center with one strake (3/16" wide).  I followed that with 2 on either side of that one.  These were straight-non-tapered planks.  Then I started lining off the deck much like I did for the hull planking.  Although in hindsight,  I should have probably tapered these 5 center planks as well.  See the contemporary model image above.  But they are already done, so I am moving on....
 
First I measured with a tick strip in 3/16" increments at the deck's widest point.  The beam reference line on the forward side of the main hatch.   This showed that I still have ten deck planks to put on each side.
 
I used blue tape in thin strips to separate the deck into two belts both port and starboard.  The inner belt on each side has 6 planks....the outer has four.
 
I manipulated the tape until it curved nicely from bow to stern.  Remember these are not straight deck planks.  The curve is not very drastic.   But it has to be taped out so you can visually check the symmetry port and starboard.  Once I was happy with it,  I traced the inside edge of the tape to define each belt.  I removed one strip of tape in the photos below.  Note the curve of the blue tape still on deck.
 

 
Then, just like I did for the hull.  I used my planking fan and tick strips to divide the deck up at each reference line for a deck beam.   This will show me how much taper I will need in each deck plank.  Its just a matter of measuring the total distance at each deck beam and transferring it to a tick strip.   Then you take that tick strip to your planking fan and divide that space into six equal parts.   Then you come back and transfer those ticks to your deck beam reference line.
 
All of the planks in this inner belt will be cut flat on the ends with no scarf joints yet.  I find that on most contemporary models there are only a few scarf joints.... as opposed to modern models where the builder uses way to many.  I have always seen just two or three and on the rarest of occasions four hooked scarf joints against the waterway.  Most people start way too early and end up with too many of them and it looks very busy.  This is also true of just plain nibbing into the waterway.  In addition,  by curving and tapering the planks it actually reduces the need for that many of them.
 

 

 
Thats it for now as I continue to use tick strips to define the width of the planks at each deck beam location.  Then I will start cutting more wood.  

With those last two planks installed, I could see where I over sanded a few of the bulkheads in the fairing process. I found five areas that needed a 1/64± shim. I ripped them from some laser cut soft ply I had lying around. Once glued, I sanded them to the proper curve.
 

Mike, Chuck,
 
I'm totally jealous you can get together face to face with your builds.  Those of us out here on the frontier request photos to be posted of the meeting of the Cheerfuls. 
 
Erik

Don't forget to bring the model to our next club meeting.  I want to have a good look at it.   I will will be bringing mine.  We can compare notes.
 
Since you seem to be moving right along at a rapid pace,  I also completed the next chapter and its available for download.  I should have another available shortly as well.
 
http://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/revenue-cutter-cheerful-1806.php
 
Its really looking great.  The guys are going to flip over that planking job you are doing.

Working my way up from the garboard plank.  Four more strakes to go.  Everything going smoothly so far.  I'll sand out the rough spots once the planking is done.
Maury

Danny,
 
Yes.  The plan is to stain and then use WOP afterwards.  Depending on how the stained hull looks, I may add another coat of stain if I think it should be darker . . . then the WOP.
 
Erik

At last the Shipyard re opens (well not the permanent one).  After getting estimates of building out my new workshop - I've decided to put that off until next year.  We have more pressing priorities with the house.  
 
So I made a trip to Home Depot - bought a great new tool chest that locks (which is great for child proofing) and a desk from Ikea and have set up shop in my library/office.  I've also dusted her off and cleaned her up.   Most of the messy parts of Confederacy are finished - all thats left is finishing the head rails, channels and deadeyes, and stump masts/anchors. I can always go saw in the garage if needed
 
I'm a bit stuck on the headrails - the forward most timber is proving to be a bear.  So I may finish up the channels and deadeyes so I can glue all of the gunport lids (these guys get knocked around easily) and then revisit the head.  
 
Im going on 6 years into this build as of end of November - really hoping to wrap it up this year.

I added the 1/32" molding strips on both sides.  I wanted to glue these before I stained the boat, but add the friezes afterwards.  What I did then was cut the friezes out with a #11 xacto blade with a piece of blank paper underneath so the piece of paper was exactly the same shape as the frieze.  I used removable double sided tape to temporarily attach the piece of paper to the side of the hull.  I then used that as a guide on where to glue the molding strips.  Once the strips were glued on, I easily removed the piece of paper.  The friezes fit in the space perfectly.
 

 
Adding the 1/32" x 1/32" molding strip turned out to be a pain in the butt.  The kit supplied wood ranged in size between .025" and .040" within the same strip, and was so porous and fuzzy that I broke 4 pieces at the bow.  Luckily I had some Northeast basswood strip of the right size in my stash.  I used that instead.
 

 
Lastly,  after much help off line (thanks Mike and Toni), I've tested and chosen the finish I'm going to use.  This photo isn't the best, but you get the general idea.  I'm going for a look that is a relatively light shade.  The hull came out well enough I plan on leaving the portion below the waterline unpainted.
 

 
Erik