Stuntflyer

I completed all of the bulkhead and filler pieces today using PVA glue. Only one false keel slot had to be adjusted to allow for a 90° bulkhead fit. All of the laser cut bulkheads had just the right amount of slot clearance and no additional work was necessary. Very impressive since the false keel was .230" thick and the bulkheads slots had to be adjusted for this when the laser cutting was done, I think. The 3 piece port fillers call for an overall thickness of 3/4" so I added a 1/16" soft ply filler piece to make up the difference.
 

 

The completed stem post and keel assembly is now glued to the false keel. I used a # 4b pencil to darken the seams. Treenailing was done using Chuck's method as described in chapter one of his Cheerful practicum. Once completed, the stem post and keel were given a coat of Wipe-on-Poly. The WOP was buffed immediately in order to prevent a gloss finish.
 

The two halves of the false keel are joined using 1 hour epoxy.  A 1/8” x 1/16 rabbet strip is glued along center of the false keels edge. The false keel has been tapered from the bearding line to the rabbet strip.

 

They are thinned down....thats their finished thickness.  Check the plans.
 
See this example of a cutter stern from inboard...see how the frames are exposed?  The top is the Cheerful from rogers collection and the bottom is Surly from the museum in Ontario.
 
Chuck
 

 

 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

The port sills, port uprights and chase ports are now finished. I opened up the chase ports by 1/32" on each side so I could line them with 1/32" boxwood strip. I wanted to have a clean look and knew that this would achieve that. This should make it a lot easier to paint them when the time comes. With the final sanding of the sills and uprights completed I took another look at the hull fairing and did some more fine tuning. It seems like the more you look the more you find.
 

 

 

After almost three days work the hull fairing is completed. The temporary battens run smoothly with no dips or rises and fall nicely into the stempost. Viewed from above they appear to have a symmetrical run from bow to stern.
 

 

 

I completed all of the bulkhead and filler pieces today using PVA glue. Only one false keel slot had to be adjusted to allow for a 90° bulkhead fit. All of the laser cut bulkheads had just the right amount of slot clearance and no additional work was necessary. Very impressive since the false keel was .230" thick and the bulkheads slots had to be adjusted for this when the laser cutting was done, I think. The 3 piece port fillers call for an overall thickness of 3/4" so I added a 1/16" soft ply filler piece to make up the difference.
 

 

Very nice as usual Chuck! When do you thin down those stern frames?
 
Mike

Some progress was made today.  I wanted to get this crappy part of the project over with.  The bulwarks inboard were faired and thinned down.  I use the sanding drum on my dremel.   What a mess. Then I touched it up with some sandpaper after chiseling some areas away where the bulkhead extensions met the deck.   The bulkhead extensions were thinned down to about 1/16" thick.  I may take them down thinner still.  Maybe 3/64" thick.  You can see them in the close up image below.
 

 
Then I took the template for the false deck from the plans.  I cut it down the middle so I had two halves port and starboard.  You could also make four pieces but I made two and it was fine.  The important thing is to use the center line on the template to line it up with the center of the bulkhead former.  I wanted to try something new with this project.  I intentionally made the template drawing about 1/8" smaller than need on the sides of the hull.  Trying to get a perfect match for folks is tough.  It all depends on how much someone thins down the bulwarks etc....how they fair the hull inboard and its tough to get a perfect match for everyone's model.   
 

 
So basically I took each half one at a time...lined it up with the center line and the mast hole.  I taped it along the bulkhead former.  Then I used thin strips of blue painters tape to find the perfect size and shape for my false deck template.  I just rand lengths of tape along the bulwarks as shown in the photos.   When I peel it up I will have a template that is the perfect match for making my false deck.  It will be cut from 1/16" basswood.   I will get that done tomorrow and post some new pics.   Once the false deck is in position I can plank the inboard bulwarks.
 
Chuck

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

I'm now onto the hull planking starting with the first of the two wale layers. I made sure that each plank fit nicely into the stem to avoid as much sanding as possible. I don't have the clamp and glue technique sorted out yet so I just worked my way aft by hand and glued two or three bulkheads at a time. Although the wale location was previously marked, I did make some tiny adjustments as I went along. This was especially true where I had to ensure that both wales end up at the same location where the break of the counter and square tuck meet.
 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Very nice planking Mike....

I'm now onto the hull planking starting with the first of the two wale layers. I made sure that each plank fit nicely into the stem to avoid as much sanding as possible. I don't have the clamp and glue technique sorted out yet so I just worked my way aft by hand and glued two or three bulkheads at a time. Although the wale location was previously marked, I did make some tiny adjustments as I went along. This was especially true where I had to ensure that both wales end up at the same location where the break of the counter and square tuck meet.
 

Why?!?
 
Why did this gem did escape my attention so far? Wonderfully build and thank you for showing so much of the "how to".
 
Cheers and congratulations!
 
DAniel

I was able to complete the port painting after applying about 15 thinned coats of red over a dark pink base. The temporary battens marking the bottom edge of the wales were pinned evenly on both sides of the hull. For the most part the batten runs matched the reference lines along the bulkheads very closely.
 
 

 

I'm now onto the hull planking starting with the first of the two wale layers. I made sure that each plank fit nicely into the stem to avoid as much sanding as possible. I don't have the clamp and glue technique sorted out yet so I just worked my way aft by hand and glued two or three bulkheads at a time. Although the wale location was previously marked, I did make some tiny adjustments as I went along. This was especially true where I had to ensure that both wales end up at the same location where the break of the counter and square tuck meet.
 

Thanks Mike.  I see you are building Chuck's Cheerful as well as the Mayflower.  I can't comprehend building two models at once.
Anyway I will follow both.
Cheers.

I'm now onto the hull planking starting with the first of the two wale layers. I made sure that each plank fit nicely into the stem to avoid as much sanding as possible. I don't have the clamp and glue technique sorted out yet so I just worked my way aft by hand and glued two or three bulkheads at a time. Although the wale location was previously marked, I did make some tiny adjustments as I went along. This was especially true where I had to ensure that both wales end up at the same location where the break of the counter and square tuck meet.
 

● Stem, Keel and Stern Post: I used both boxwood and basswood to make these parts. I'm hoping that this wasn't a mistake. Everything looks good right now but I'm now wondering if the transition point between the boxwood and basswood will look the same once painted. I think that it would be a good idea to harden the basswood in order to protect its edge and fill the grain with primer. Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
The kit supplied laser cut stem post was used as a template for cutting the boxwood and then used on the bottom to complete the part. 
 

 
The stern post was done in boxwood since a small portion at the top will be unpainted. It has a slight taper as per the plans.