HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by Erik W - 1:48 scale

[Erik W]

I did a variety of things over the last week.  I built the jib outhaul block (shown in the painfully enlarged photo below . . . warts and all, haha).  Mike (stuntflyer) has an excellent tutorial for that on his Cheerful build, so I followed that.  I then made a card stock mock up of the starboard side seat.  I used the card stock templates as a pattern to cut out the parts.  As others have said this is a bit finicky.  I have a feeling the second one will be more of a challenge as I try to get it to match the first.

 

I spent some time this week reading ahead in Chuck's monograph chapters to get a list of the last little bits I need to finish the build.  I ordered some Albion Alloys brass tube.  I also messaged Chuck, Mike, and Glenn (glbarlow) with questions about the thread type/size/color they used with Chuck's scale rope for seizing and serving.  Today I went on a region wide road trip to fly fishing shops and fabric stores.  Most of my dark brown rope is Chuck's old style rope, other than the .012" new Ultra for rat lines (so I don't need thread for seizing or serving the brown Ultra rope).  My tan rope is a mix of his old rope and the new Ultra rope.  These tan colors are close enough in shade to mix on the model, but I wanted thread for seizing that matched each shade.  The photos below are color corrected to be as close to accurate as I could possibly get the images.  The Gutermann thread is for most serving and seizing.  The smaller diameter UNI-Thread fly tying thread is for tiny serving and seizing.

 

Here's what I came up with based on what I could find locally.

Using with Syren old brown rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 593 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Dark Brown

Using with Syren old tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 512 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan

Using with Syren new Ultra tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 509 - also UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan

 

Also, as Chuck had answered, the thread he uses for seizing and serving his new Ultra rope is as follows (I researched what actual size/diameter it is in wt and tex).

Ultra Brown rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 682 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex

Ultra Tan rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 263 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex

This is hard to find in the US, so Chuck recommended this place: https://www.williamgee.co.uk/product-tag/mara/

 

Erik

 

[glbarlow]

Glad you were able find the Uni-thread. 

[Erik W]

This was a fun week.  I finished the stern details.  These included building the second seat, which I'm happy to say is close to identical to the first.  I made the horse for the boom sheet out of 22 gauge annealed wire, with washers made from .062" diameter styrene rod with the center .028" drilled out for the wire.  I cut and formed the transom knees, and glued those on.  I then shaped and added the cleats.  These I had bought from Chuck a long time ago.  I see he currently offers cleats in 5mm, 7mm, and 9mm.  I have 9mm and 6mm on hand.  So for the cleats on the transom knees, I shortened the 6mm to 5mm, and used the 9mm and 6mm cleats in the other areas of the stern.  I see in these enlarged photos a couple of spots that need touching up, but I'm otherwise happy with the way these details turned out.

 

Erik

[Freebird]

Very clean and neat!

 

Best Regards …. Rick

[Nirvana]

Love how clean your work is!

[Erik W]

Thanks for the kind words and likes.  When photographing a couple weeks of work it doesn't really look like I made much progress!  I attached the rest of the cleats to the bulwarks, drilled all the holes for the cannon eyebolts, formed the 60 or so eyebolts needed, and then made and attached the side pin rails.  When attaching the eyebolts, I only glued in the top ones, and left the lower ones off.  I made a jig out of styrene to get the holes in the bulwarks consistent.  And being a perfectionist, the forming of the eyebolts themselves wound up taking some time.

 

I had a question regarding the inboard bulwark ladders for you Cheerful builders.  The instructions say, "You will find the template on the plans to cut the sides for the ladder.  But just to make life easier, print the next page as all of the elements are provided".  None of the 3 plan sheets have a template for the sides of the ladder.  And I'm not sure what the print the next page reference means.  There are no plans for the ladders in the written instructions either.  Does anyone happen to have a plan that shows the side shape of the ladder?  I guess I can make a good guess based on photos of the ladder pieces shown in Chuck's instructions, but it would be a little easier if I had a template to reference/print.

 

While still working on the Cheerful almost daily, my progress has slowed down a fair amount.  With the warmer weather and longer days, there's lots to do outside, so the path forward on the build will be a bit slower while I enjoy the summer.

 

Erik

[glbarlow]

You'll need space on those pin rails for all the rigging you'll later belay.  Could just be the angle but they seem a bit narrow.

 

It all looks so tight and crisp - exceptional build. You clearly got the eyelet making drill down, those look great.

 

[Erik W]

Glenn,  Thanks for the compliments.  I think it's just the angle of the photos for the pin rails.  They're made/shaped exactly to size from the plans.

 

Erik

[Erik W]

Over the last couple of weeks I made the catheads and bow pin rail.  These were pretty straight forward, though they required a lot of measuring, and as always I proceeded slooooowly.  It was a bit nerve wracking cutting out the sections of the cap rail.  The more hours I have into this build, the more nervous I get when I have to remove material!  This was my first time cutting sheaves into wood.  I used a technique Chuck had posted about a while back for those of us using hand tools.  I practiced a couple of times on some scrap wood before creating them on the catheads.  The results turned out decent.

 

One technique I'd like to share with you folks is when you look at where my catheads meet the bulwark you see that it's seamless.  To achieve this look I shaped the cathead as close to the correct profile as possible, and then after they were glued in place I made a mix of 50/50 wood glue/water and using the tip of a straight pin to apply, ran a thin bead down the seam.  Once dry, I then used a small paint brush to paint the red or black over the seam.  It's pretty effective on parts that will be painted.  I've found if you do the same with mat medium thinned with water, it even works on seams between painted parts and bare wood.  The mat medium is used in this case to avoid a shiny seam on the unpainted joint between the painted and non-painted parts.

 

As always, thanks for looking,

Erik

[archjofo]

This is extremely clean and precise work. A wonderful model!

[Erik W]

Johann,

 

Thanks for the nice compliment!  That means a lot coming from someone of your skill level.

 

Erik

[Erik W]

With outdoor temperatures up to 98 degrees (37 Celsius) here this week, it was easy to want to stay indoors and work on my Cheerful.  After procrastinating for a bit, I tackled a couple of things I've been putting off.  I built the ladders.  These were a bit of a challenge as they are not straight, even though they looks straight.  They actually lean aft with the sheer of the deck.  It took a while to get all the steps cut to exactly the same length, and the notches filed into the ladder sides, since I did all that by hand.  They wound up turning out the way I had hoped with the right amount of lean and both ladders being symmetrical when compared with one another.  I know the model will rarely be viewed from dead ahead or dead astern, but hey, you have to put your best foot forward.

 

The other thing I had been procrastinating was making the belaying pins.  In my 45 years of model making I've never fashioned a part using a power tool.  So, the photo you see below is my first attempt at making a belaying pin.  I used the Dremel rotary tool my dad gave me as a gift in 1985 when I was fourteen years old.  I followed the dimensions Mike (Stuntflyer) had used for the belaying pins on his Cheerful build.   The pin is .375" long, or 18" in 1/48 scale.  I turned the square stock down to .045" in diameter, then shaped the top.  The bottom shaft was then reduced to .030" in diameter.  It looks rough obviously, but turned out OK for a first attempt.  The little collar between the lower shaft and the handle looks a little clunky, so on the production pins, I'll reduce the width of that a bit.  I still have some playing around to do with which specific files I'll use, but I'm happy I got over the mental hurdle of giving it a try in the first place!

 

Erik