KenW

Hey Dave. This is certainly a project like no other that I've seen. I'll be following along with interest. Your workmanship looks outstanding. Cheers.

What a beautiful boat! And it is the scale you wanted. You were able to meet every challenge with impressive results. Cheers.

Mike: You're doing a great job. I think the problem Dave sees is that in the photo the vertical is not straight up-and-down. And the bow, because it is farther away, seems less vertical than the stern. I hope I'm right.

Planking the deck is complete. I used basswood and liked using the wood but each plank seems to have a different color tint. I guess I should have paid more attention when I selected the wood at my local art supply store. I also made some of the deck furniture. I made whatever was to be placed into the deck planks. The smoke stack and its coaming is not shown here. (It keeps falling over.) The main hatch has two holes drilled into the forward covering plank. The holes are for the anchor cable. The kit has the cable coiled on the deck and the amount of line in each coil is obviously not accurate. An anchor cable can be several leagues long and is much better stored below; thus the holes. I’m not sure if I need rope handles on that plank. Next up is more fairing of the hull in preparation of the first layer of hull planking. There is always more sanding to be done.

Can't wait for the tape to come off.

In addition to your skills as a wood worker, you have come up with some great 'tricks'. Supporting the bulkhead extensions would have saved me a lot of grief on my last model. And, clamping a temporary batten for the gun port alignment is another great idea. Keep the ideas coming; and keep showing your results. And - keep bringing the model to our club meetings. Cheers.

Your work is progressing with your usual high quality. And nothing like getting a new toy (i.e. a camera). Keep up the good work.

Another great model! I have admired your skill ever since I discovered your build logs. In fact, I find myself referring to this build as I progress on my latest build attempt. You are giving me much appreciated help. Great work and I can't wait to see your next project. Cheers.

Those sails look great anyway. Cheers.

So, you are a good woodworker and metal worker, and now I see that you can make sails as well. Congrats.

I’ve cut the false decks and glued them into place. I then measured to determine if I had them cut/centered properly. I also planked the main deck and drilled that deck’s tree nails. For the tree nails, I used the method described in Chuck Passaro’s Cheerful log (page 10). That log is full of good modeling ideas and techniques. A brief description of his method, taken from his log after some small holes are drilled (he uses a #78 drill): - sand the area smooth - use a sharp awl and GENTLY insert into each. Don’t push it too hard or you will distort the hole shape. - Take a very , very , very sharp #2 pencil. Insert point into each hole and twist lightly. You must keep a sharp point and sharpen the pencil every ten or so holes. Use one of those cheap kids pencil sharpeners. - Then fill each hole with Elmer's wood filler. Scrape off excess with a piece of wood. - Sand it smooth to get a nice surface. - Then apply some wipe-on-poly. For me, I used a #72 drill and didn’t use an awl. The pencil must be sharp. I could hear/feel when the point broke and sharpened the pencil again. Also, the hole had to be re-drilled to get the lead out. The deck planking was also done based on another method from Chuck’s Cheerful log. It’s described on the 17th page. Basically, the outer planks are curved and, where needed, hooked scarf joints are used when the curve of the bow or stern gets too steep. For the best description, check out Chuck’s Cheerful log on page 17. My planking will not have a water way. I don’t know if that’s authentic, but the kit’s plans doesn’t have one. I’m worried about that curve at the bow which forms a unique stubb-nose on the forecastle. I figure that if one deck has a water way, they all should. A closer look at the tree nails: A better log on the Independence is the one by DocBlake here on MSW. Also Clare Hess’s log is excellent and can be found here: https://shipmodeler.wordpress.com/category/ship-model-build-logs/als-independence-build/ Clare’s log is odd since his first entry is at the end rather than the beginning of the narrative.

I glued the bulkheads on to the keel former. I was surprised that after I was so careful when I cut out these parts, they still were not ‘square’ and centered properly. So I had to do a lot of scraping, filing and adding shims; and I still have fairing to go. Oh well, there is a reason I, among others, prefer to start with a kit and laser cut pieces. Well, I plan to install the false decks and then fair the bulkheads. I think I will need more sand paper.

Hey B.E. I'm enjoying your Cheerful build log and have already learned a few things. The Admiralty model of the Cheerful/Surly is here in the US at the museum of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. I took these photos on a recent visit there. Thought you would enjoy them. The back of the case is a mirror - there aren't two models in the photo. Cheers.

Thanks for your reply. And, yes, I've seen them now that I see them. I'll check them out. Cheers.

I just discovered this build and enjoyed reading it. I’m also very impressed with the excellent result. A great looking model. I do have one question - what does your wife’s soft metal hairpin look like? Nne of my wife’s hair pins are made of soft metal. Maybe it is a British/American thing. Great work - now I have to look up your Cheerful log. Cheers

Hey Bob. Looks like an interesting ship. I'm sure you'll do an excellent job. Can't wait to follow along. Cheers.

Thanks Russ. I'll change the post. Cheers.

All of my builds so far have been American Revolutionary War Privateers. I’m continuing that trend with this build of the Independence, an American Privateer that was possibly built in 1775. There were several privateers named the Independence during the war, but I found a reference to a privateer in the book, ”A History of American Privateers”, by Edgar Stanton Maclay published in 1899. In the book, Maclay states, “The 6 gun schooner Independence, Captain Nichols, in September, 1776, captured six vessels”. I’m using the Artesania Latina kit, Independence 1775, as the basis of my build. It is a 6 gun schooner which matches the quote by Edgar Maclay. However, there are issues with the scale of this model. It is listed as a 1/35, which I assume is a metric scale. That scale would translate to a 1/32 or 1 foot equals 3/8”. That scale would make a boat that was extremely small compared to other kits of similar models. When I assembled the bulkheads and false keel that came with the kit, with the sub decking the resulting boat looked much too large. The kit model looks very much like Harold Hahn’s plans of the Halifax and, to a lesser extent, the Hannah. So I decided to make the kit smaller. Specifically I want to construct a model that was about 2 inches smaller than the Halifax based on H. Hahn’s plans. My modified model will assume the boat is 1:48 scale. That decision means I will have to make all of the basic parts from scratch without any power tools except for a Dremel. The first step is to make a copy all of the Artesania Latina plans reduced by 80%. Reducing the plans is probably the easiest task I will attempt. Next is to order some sheets of wood. I went to the Wood Project Source and ordered several sheets of Cherry at various thicknesses. I chose cherry because it was the cheapest they had and I liked the color and strength of the wood. When the wood finally arrived, I cut out each bulkhead and the false keel from my reduced copy and pasted it onto the 5/32 inch cherry sheets. After cutting the parts out, I sanded and filed each part until I was satisfied with the way each fit together. I hope they look as good when the parts are fit together.

Well done! A great model; almost complete. Enjoy your accomplishment - and... what's next? Cheers

I haven't tried it yet, but someone somewhere suggested hollowing out the lead from a pencil. Sand off the paint and you have a long eight-sided tube. I don't know how hard it would be to get the lead out, but ... Just an idea. Cheers.

Mitbok: Just discovered your tremendous model. The only thing better than your woodworking skills is your metal working skills. (Or it could be the other way round.) Sometimes I get confused about whether your photos are of a real boat or of your model. Great, great model. Cheers.

I vote for the Chebacco. That is the kit I would purchase the minute it became available. Cheers.

The carving looks great! Outstanding!

Looking good! What kind of wood are you carving? Looks like you don't have problems with splitting. Cheers

I can't see a thing. Great work.