HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by Stuntflyer (Mike) - FINISHED - 1:48 scale

[Maury S]

Mike, it looks great.  BTW, shouldn't the hook open side be facing upward?   Just kidding!

Maury

[wyz]

Sweet looking Mike!  You should be very proud of how this model is coming along.

 

Tom

[Stuntflyer]

I finished the Forestay today. The rope is .054 Brown served with 50wt thread. To thin out the splice as much as possible I decided to include only one served end into the splice. To make this work I had to measure exactly how much length of serving would be needed. That turned out to be 4". The serving adds quite a bit to the thickness of the splice, so doing it this way reduces the overall thickness of the splice considerably.

 

Here you can see where the serving ends (as indicated by the green arrow) and where the beveled cut rope was glued to the served side.

 

 

As you can see, I didn't tighten anything up yet.

 

 

The gang of ropes turned out to be a bit too tight once the Forestay was added and it's crushing the ropes below it. I'm thinking that perhaps I should move it up as shown in "Rigging Fore-and-Aft Craft" Lennarth Peterson: The British Naval Cutter

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Chuck]

Looks very good Mike.   I wouldnt move it like the book.   Think about what would happen over time if on the actual ship it was there.  Small movement in the mast would cause that rope to shimmy back and forth and move around.  The top edge of that strap although not razor sharp would slowly act as a knife weakening and  tearing/cutting through the stay over time as the mast moved ever- so slowly back and forth.....

 

Can you picture that?

 

Chuck

[Chuck]

The main stay isnt situated on top of the shroud gang....just slide it over and around the back of the shroud gang...This is actually more stable and typical.   Take a look at this contemporary model... although it is not a cutter, it is still typical of how the stay appears around the shroud gang rather than stacked "next in line" on top very neat.  If that makes sense.  It need not be stacked.  Although mine did seem to fall that way naturally.

 

 

[druxey]

The stay collar should loop around behind the gang of shrouds rather than over them. As the stay tightens, the shrouds will be cinched in slightly. As Chuck says, avoid that strap!

Edited February 13, 2017 by druxey

[Stuntflyer]

I've been tidying up a bit lately. Managed to get some paint on the chainplates, which are now ready for weathering. I just need to decide what look to go for. Most of the rigging needed some tightening up as well. The two eyebolts that secure the bobstay to the hull where moved forward to prevent the bobstay from interfering with the anchor hoisting. The eyebolts are now 1 1/4" from the stem. The original holes where filled and re-painted. The two ladders that were apparently not glued down securely and knocked off during the rigging process are now on the deck.

 

The thrill of the day, at least for me, was getting the starboard side ratlines completed. The shrouds where checked after every square knot and clove hitch was tightened to insure that there was no hourglass shape creeping in. I found this to be an very interesting process. I learned a lot and planning ahead definitely helps things go easier.

 

Hopefully this is what ratlines are supposed to look like. . .

 

 

Mike

[Stuntflyer]

Hey guys,

 

I apologize for redoing doing the last post three times.  Still learning the new format.

 

Mike

[druxey]

Those shrouds and ratlines look very fine.

[Stuntflyer]

Thanks, druxey! It's doesn't hurt to have good material to work with. Using Chuck's rope certainly helped in making the work go a whole lot easier.

 

Mike

[Erik W]

Mike,

 

The ratlines look great.  How long did it take you to do the them?

 

Erik

[Mirabell61]

excellent work Mike,

 

it looks so clean and crisp...

 

Nils

[EdT]

First time through your build today, Mike.  Beautiful work.  Picture perfect in every way.

 

Ed

Edited February 25, 2017 by EdT

[michael mott]

Mike you really are doing an outstanding job on this model, definitely an inspiration for us all. your photographs are also very clear and uncluttered.

 

Michael

 

 

[Stuntflyer]

4 hours ago, Erik W said:

The ratlines look great.  How long did it take you to do the them?

 

Thank you, Erik! I'm embarrassed to say, but almost three days. The third day was spent getting the lines into some sort of uniformity. Some of the clove hitches needed tightening and some of the line lengths needed adjusting. Not a big deal, just time consuming.

 

Mike

[Erik W]

Mike, 

 

I had figured ratlines were something that took weeks, rather than days.  So, three days sounds quick to me!

Erik

[Stuntflyer]

Well, I don't know how long it would take a more experienced modeler to do this. However, waiting those three days to see the final result felt more like a week.

 

Mike

[Tigersteve]

I agree with Erik. Three days was quick. Fine work! 

Steve

[Stuntflyer]

Well, I'm happy to say that the ratlines are done. The next step will be to complete the standing rigging and add some rope coils. Getting there!

 

 

Mike

[KenW]

Looking great Mike. 

Hope to see you at the next meeting.

Cheers.

[rafine]

Really nice work on the ratlines, Mike.

 

Bob

[Stuntflyer]

Hello everyone,

 

I've completed a few projects ahead of finishing up the standing rigging. One being the repainting of the workroom and the other being the necessary shortening of the two yards, as per Chuck's instructions. No doubt he will have the drawings and related comments available when he has time. I could have made all new ones, however I wasn't really happy with the idea having to do that. Since the stock thickness remains the same for both. I just shortened them and re-tapered them to the proper spec with the use of a hand drill. The lower yard needed new sheaves and there was just enough length available to allow for this. I left them unpainted so you can see what they look like at this time. I was able to salvage those pesky to make stops as well. 

 

Mike

 

[Erik W]

Looks good Mike.  How much did you shorten the yards?  Were they mistakenly drawn too long on the plans?

 

Thanks,

Erik

[Stuntflyer]

Erik,

 

The topsail yard was reduced approx 1 1/2" (actual) and the lower yard was reduced by approx 1 13/16" (actual) . As to why they where drawn longer on the plans, I really can't say.

 

Mike

[Erik W]

Mike,

 

Thanks.  In looking at my plans, and then looking at your yards in the photo, I understand what you did with the diameter of the yards when shortening them.  One of the good things about starting my build after you guys is that you figure out some of this stuff before I get to that point in the build.  Also, that shorter main yard is a good thing.  I've been wondering just how wide the shelf will have to be that I display my Cheerful on!

 

Erik

[rafine]

The other side of the coin is that having done it early on, I didn't get the benefit of that correction. Now, looking at mine, I'm thinking that the yards look too long.

 

Bob

[Stuntflyer]

Well, I have finally made it past the standing rigging. I recently noticed that the cleats going around the lower mast are evenly spaced, just not in the right starting position. They all need to be shifted 5-10° in one direction to match the plans. I don't see this as anything to be concerned about, but I will leave the top mast stay tackle long, should I need to move it to another cleat later. It's impossible to take the photos the way I want to show them, that is the entire image, full size and high resolution. Can't have everything, but hopefully you will get the idea.

 

Mike

 

[Rustyj]

Yes l agree that's really nice.

 

Another great reference when I finally get to that point.

[Stuntflyer]

Dirk, Rusty, thank you for the kind words, and for all the "Likes"

 

Mike

[Stuntflyer]

Today, I started the running rigging with the jib halliard and related components. The traveler ring, was made by Chuck and is available on his website. I decided that stabilizing the traveler ring was key to making it all go smoothly. The photos below show the steps taken to achieve this. Note that the jib halliard #2 is temporarily wrapped around one of the bowsprit bitts instead of being fully rigged through the block at the mast head. That will come later after the jib inhaul is completed. The jib outhaul #1 is routed correctly.

With the traveler ring stabilized I made the jib inhaul.

Lastly the inhaul was seized to the traveler ring and the jib halliard was routed correctly.

Hope this all makes sense. .

 

Mike