Cheerful 1806 by GuntherMT - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:48 scale - Revenue Cutter

[GuntherMT]

Greetings everyone, and welcome to my first 'concurrent' build log, as I begin the semi-kit (or semi-scratch, depending on your point of view) build of the revenue cutter Cheerful, from Syren Ship Model Company (Chuck Passaro).  I've chosen to place this log in the kit build section, since I am using laser cut parts from Syren for the 'back bone' - the former, keel, and bulkheads, as well as all the mini-kits that are available for the ship.

 

This log is starting due to a set of materials that were put on sale in the trade section of this website, and I couldn't resist grabbing it, even though I have far too many kits on the shelf right now.  Included in my purchase was everything that Syren produces for this ship except the new pump kit, along with what was apparently a custom wood order from Crown Timberyard with a Holly deck package and boxwood planking strips.

 

As with my other current build log, the Picket Boat #1, this first post will be primarily for an index.  The actual log begins in post #2 to follow.

 

Section 1 - Constructing the backbone (former, keel, bulkheads).

1. The beginning - the former (false keel).

2. The keel.

3. Bulkhead start (side trip - beginning the windlass).

4. Bulkheads all on (side trip - windlass part 2).

5. Gunport sills - starboard side.

[GuntherMT]

Here is the package that got me into this mess, the plans, all the mini-kits from Chuck, the wood from Crown, and of course the former and bulkheads laser cut from Chuck.

 

 

I found very early on that I'm going to need to acquire some tools that I don't currently own (like a scroll saw) in order to go too deeply into this build, so it will be interesting to see how far I can get down the rabbit hole before getting more toys.

 

I started by gluing the two parts of the former together after cleaning up most of the laser char.  After it was glued I discovered that a bit of one of the pieces was warped a bit, so I used heat and weights to straighten it out over a period of about 3 days.

 

 

Once I was happy with the former I used a piece of 1/16 x 1/8 holly strip that I had on hand for decking for a future project to shape the rabbet strip along the bottom of the former.  Again using heat, I pre-bent the strip to mostly fit the former, so that it wouldn't gap when clamped.  I then glued the rabbet strip in place.

 

 

And that's where I am today.  Next I can start on the keel parts, which are laser cut, so require some cleanup before assembly.

 

As with the Picket Boat, this log will likely progress very slowly due to a limited amount of time that I have available to work on ship building currently.  Also, needing to get a scroll saw.

Edited May 9, 2016 by GuntherMT

[alde]

Count me in for the long haul. I have Chuck's parts and plans waiting in the wings.

[heksanol]

Hi GunterMT

 

Stupid question from my side, but what is the purpose of the rabbet strip to the model overall? Is it to add extra length to the false keel for when you add the bulk frames?

 

Regards

[_SalD_]

Great start on your new build Brian, I'll be trailing along on both.  I have to learn how to do those indexes it's a nice feature, thanks for doing it.  

[Canute]

Excellent, another Cheerful build. I'd like to follow along, too.

[Elijah]

I can easily say I am following too many build, but I can't resist clicking the button for this one ! This should be fun!

[mrshanks]

Hi Brian.  I'm hanging out as well...

[markjay]

Looks like your going to be busy for a while...hope to see you at the meeting, I'm still tentative.

[GuntherMT]

Welcome aboard everyone.

 

Stupid question from my side, but what is the purpose of the rabbet strip to the model overall? Is it to add extra length to the false keel for when you add the bulk frames?

 

 

 

Not a stupid question at all, as this is the only model I've ever seen use this method.  In most models you have to carve a rabbet into the former (false keel) either before or after attaching the keel (or some combination).  This rabbet strip sits between the keel and the former, giving you a ready made rabbet all along the keel.  At the stern the former is shaped down to the rabbet strip from the bearding line, and everywhere else the edge of the former will be angles appropriately for the planking as it's done if I understand it correctly.  I've got to read through that section and look at the other logs a few more times before I get there.

 

If you look at Chuck's build log in the scratch section, you should be able to see how he did this.  It's really a pretty cool idea.

 

Mark - hope you can make it, I do plan to be there.

[Seventynet]

Count me in Brian. I've got this build on the shelf for sometime this summer.

Ian

[heksanol]

Welcome aboard everyone.

 

 

Not a stupid question at all, as this is the only model I've ever seen use this method.  In most models you have to carve a rabbet into the former (false keel) either before or after attaching the keel (or some combination).  This rabbet strip sits between the keel and the former, giving you a ready made rabbet all along the keel.  At the stern the former is shaped down to the rabbet strip from the bearding line, and everywhere else the edge of the former will be angles appropriately for the planking as it's done if I understand it correctly.  I've got to read through that section and look at the other logs a few more times before I get there.

 

If you look at Chuck's build log in the scratch section, you should be able to see how he did this.  It's really a pretty cool idea.

 

Mark - hope you can make it, I do plan to be there.

 

Thanks for the info!

[GuntherMT]

On we go, with another small update and a bit of progress on the Cheerful.

 

First I completed the rabbet strip at the stern.

 

Next up I cleaned up the laser-cut boxwood parts that form the stem, and glued them together.  Frank showed me these clamps that he used from Lee Valley so I ordered some for myself.  They are really great little clamps and I believe they'll be seen a lot during my build logs!

 

Next up, I transferred the bearding line to the side of the former that didn't have the line laser-etched into it, and then using a chisel and some sand paper I did the beveling at the stern from the bearding line to the rabbet strip.  Not sure it's perfect, but it's as good as I think I'll get it, and I believe it should work fine.

 

I really didn't accomplish anything else yet, but I did dry fit the keel parts to verify that things are tracking good for a nice fit.

 

From that photo, and indeed from looking at things in person, the appearance is that the keel is pretty flat.  However, flipping the aft portion of the keel over so that it is upside-down reveals the truth!

 

Hopefully I will have time tomorrow to complete the keel and the tree-nailing that goes into it, and get it glued up to the former, after which I can start looking at the bulkheads.

 

Thanks for all the visits, likes, and comments everyone, and see you next time, whenever that is!

[GuntherMT]

Looking good Brian!! Where did you buy those little clamps?

 

 

 

 

Zoltan

 

Lee Valley Tools.

[GuntherMT]

Two updates in the same weekend.  Something is terribly wrong!

 

To get the treenail placement correct in the keel, I pasted the pattern from the plans onto the parts using a kids type gluestick.  For actually drilling them, I did a number of test holes in scrap wood and decided to use a larger bit than Chuck did on his proto-type, and not do the pencil, instead I chose to use a #68 bit and a darker wood filler.

 

Instead of drilling holes partially through, I used the mill and drilled all the way through instead of trying to make a mirrored pattern for the other side.  There was a slight bit of cleanup to do on the holes where the drill exited doing it this way, but I probably should have been running a much higher RPM on the mill.

 

 

Attachment of the stem was next, followed by the forward portion of the keel, and finishing with the aft portion of the keel (not pictured).

 

I then used a 'golden oak' wood filler to fill the treenail holes and then sanded everything and cleaned it up prior to applying a coat of Min-wax satin wipe on poly.  The result...

 

The sternpost is later, after the bulkheads and stern framing.  Next up, this pile of bulkheads...

[rafine]

You're off to a great start Brian.

 

Bob

[GuntherMT]

I went back to working on the bulkheads and got started gluing them into position.  Because I have to wait quite a while in between each bulkhead for the glue to dry before moving to the next one, I decided I would start on one of the little mini-kits for deck furniture, and grabbed the one for the windlass.

 

The AVS didn't have a windlass or a capstan, which is probably not very realistic, but the Cheerful has a windlass and also has a separate winch too.  

 

No better time than the present, so lets do this.  I started with the inner drum, which is made out of 10 parts, two octagonal end pieces and 8 'slats' for lack of a better word.  Each one of these 8 tiny slats has to be beveled on both edges where they meet the next slat, or there will be ugly gaps between the slats (and they won't fit).  Construction starts by putting the end pieces on a 1/16" square stick, and then beveling a couple of the slats, which are then glued onto opposite sides.  More slats are then added until all 8 are on and the drum is complete.  The entire assembly is then removed from the square stick, and finish-sanded being careful to retain the nice octagon shape.

 

 

End result, 3 hours after I started, is that this much of the windlass is done!

 

This is the rest of the pieces...  4 more sections, plus other bits, but to make it more interesting, the rest of the drum sections are tapered too!

 

I also got the first 3 bulkheads done.

 

Now I need to fold laundry and get some sleep for work tomorrow I suppose.

[KenW]

Hey Brian:  Great job; your build looks fantastic.

Where did you get those little clamps?

Cheers.

[GuntherMT]

Where did you get those little clamps?

Cheers.

 

Lee Valley Tools.

[GuntherMT]

It's almost sort of shaped like some sort of a boat now. I continued adding bulkheads using the same system for alignment that I started with, but adding a couple more clamps as I got to the wider bulkheads.

 

 

At a rate of 2-4 bulkheads per day, eventually all 16 bulkheads were completed earlier today (yay for work from home days where I can sneak in every couple of hours for 10 minutes to do the next bulkhead).

 

 

One evening I even had some time to work on the windlass, and got the first section that's angled done. Took less than an hour by switching to a sanding stick instead of the tiny file so I could sand across the entire width instead of along the grain. The sanding stick takes off material much faster than the file, so have to be very careful, but massive difference in time. Here it was after gluing, then after finish sanding once dried, and finally, where this piece will drop into the overall windlass model.

 

 

Next up is bow fillers & port fillers before I can start fairing the hull, which will be a very time consuming task, but as we all know is the most critical part of any build.

[WackoWolf]

That clean up nice.

[DocBlake]

Great progress, Brian.  That is a well designed hull!  It almost has as many bulkheads as a real ship has frames  .  The AL "Independence" I'm working on has a grand total of 9!

 

This will be fun to follow.

[Mahuna]

Nice start, Brian. Hope to see it on Saturday.

[GuntherMT]

I'm currently working on one of the more time consuming, and least enjoyable parts of the build (at least to me) - the hull fairing.  

 

Before fairing began, I added some port fillers and bow fillers.  Forgot to take any pictures of these in place prior to beginning the fairing, but here are a couple of shots of them being clamped in and glued.

 

 

The hull is now rough faired on one side, and all except 'finish' faired on the other (just some minor sanding left to do with 220 grit sandpaper to finish this side).  The last photo is with a strip clamped in place to show the flow along where the top of the gun-port sills will be.  At the front I'm going to have to add some wood as those port fillers should be flush to the top of the bulkhead extensions.  The third picture is me trying to get a good angle to show how the fairing will allow the planks to smoothly flow into that 'rabbet' along the keel, which is why that strip was placed between the former and the keel earlier in the construction.

 

 

Changed the oil in my car today too!

[WackoWolf]

Nice work. So I guess you like those clamps, I have the same ones, got mine from Lee Valley is that were those came from?

[Mahuna]

Looks like a very nice job on the fairing, Brian.

[DocBlake]

Nice job, Brian.  Your keel looks great!  I like those clamps too.  Where did you get them?

[DocBlake]

Duh...It pays to read the posts!  Lee Valley Tools!  Sorry Brian.

[John Maguire]

Brian,

 

I'm really enjoying this .  .  .

 

Respectfully,

John

[Stuntflyer]

Very nice, Brian!

 

Mike

Edited June 3, 2016 by Stuntflyer