HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by Blue Ensign - FINISHED - Syren Ship Model Company - 1:48 scale

[Kurt Johnson]

BE, Thanks. I placed my order. I searched for that print as cutter 1806, Surly and Cheerful an number of times and it never showed. It's funny that it isn't listed with the other 3 prints.

 

Kurt

[Blue Ensign]

They are all there Kurt, if you go back to the site and enter ‘Cheerful’ in the search box all the plan variations come up to select from.

 

B.E.

[Kurt Johnson]

I don’t know what I was doing wrong, but thanks to you my order has been placed. Do you have any special B.E. embellishments in mind for your Cheerful?

 

Kurt

Edited December 27, 2017 by Kurt Johnson

[Blue Ensign]

It's a nice plan Kurt, much larger than the scale plan provided, they do look good framed.

 

My attention is fully engaged in the fairing process at present, but I think Chuck has it all covered as far as the detail is concerned. 

 

B.E.

 

 

[Martin W]

Nice work, BE, and good save on that gap.  Surely, if there is a warp, it won't be enough to lead to other problems. (?)

 

Looking over your tool setup again, I noticed you had a vacuum hose hooked up.  (And I've often wondered how you took care of the dust in a carpeted work room.)  Does that lead to a shop-vac, or do you have a fully-blown dust-collection system (one of the many, many upgrades I've been craving)?

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Martin,  I only usually bother with the vac if I'm making serious dust; all the Proxxon machines take my Henry vacuum cleaner connection, but I have been toying with the idea of getting the Proxxon version which comes on automatically with the machine.

 

Nor sure Mrs W of the Shires would appreciate industrial grade extraction equipment running around my office cum workshop.  although she likes the idea of the Proxxon cleaner, has visions of using it around the rest of the upper floor, when I'm out of the way I think.

 

B.E.

[Landlubber Mike]

Happy new year to you BE!  I haven't been on much lately, but missed your Cheerful project.  Great start already, and even better, you have extra toys to play with   Hope you don't mind if I follow along, it's always a treat and a learning experience.

[DBorgens]

Hello BE, I too just happened to find your new build. Your logs are instructive and very entertaining. If you don’t mind, I will pull up a chair and follow your build. Have a wonderful new year.

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Mike and Dave, and belated New year greetings to yourselves. 

Post 6

That fairing business

Not done much work in the Shipyard since before Christmas, lacking some enthusiasm most probably because one of my least favourite aspects of a build is now required. Fairing seems to go on forever, and there is always the worry in the back of my mind that I may overdo it, and end up having to shim the bulkheads.

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One needs a good supply of sanding sticks for this task and I've added to my supply a curved stick made from a strip of Yellow pine left over from a much earlier scratch build of a twelve gun Brig, put into ordinary for many years and then abandoned due to terminal wood worm.

The wood comes off pretty easily during the bevelling operation, but the devil is as always in the detail of the process.

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I made a simple block jig to support the inverted hull whilst working.

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Once I reached the point where I felt there was a smoothish transition a walnut batten was pinned along the hull at gunport cill level.

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getting there I think, at least on the starboard side.

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The fairing continues, a further batten strip will be added at Wale level, and a third lower down.

 

B.E.

[Mirabell61]

Looks all neat and tidy B.E.

 

surely it will be a beautiful cutter....

 

Nils

[Kurt Johnson]

Looking good. I am just a little bit ahead of you. The fairing itself isn’t too bad since the bulkheads are so close together. A suggestion if I may. If I were to do it over again, when It comes to installing the stern frames. Create some sort of jig so everything ends up where it is supposed to be in regards to alignment. I ended up ripping out the first set and replacing them. I still did it depending upon eyesight and a million measurements. I’m still fussing and tweaking things. I also placed sacrificial supports between the frames to be removed at a later point. This helps keeping things were they belong when fitting the gun ports. It also strengthens the area while fairing. Snapping one will break your heart. Been there. I actually discussed this with Chuck and he agrees. Hope this will lessen some anxiety when you reach that point.

 

Regards, 

Kurt

Edited January 13, 2018 by Kurt Johnson

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Kurt, very useful tips, I would hate to snap a bulkhead extension. 

I haven’t really thought about the stern frames as yet but I’ll certainly take your advice onboard.

 

Regards, 

 

B. E.

[Kurt Johnson]

Snapping a bulkhead extension is no problem at all. Just mate it to a brace that bridges the extension and body of the bulkhead. Placed on the side away from the gun port. Everything will be pretty much removed prior to inboard planking. Have two on mine, quite proud of them really. The bulkheads and profiles set on the shelf for 1 1/2 years and the entire thing developed a twist at the bow and stern. Deviateing 1/16” to the right at the bow and to the left at the stern 1/16”. Took some work, but she’s pretty much dead straight again. Snapping a stern frame is different, they remain exposed and have quite a bit of leverage just begging and pleading to be snapped until planked. Mine laid in wait and pounced on my shirt sleeve, they’re very devious.

 

Enjoy,

Kurt

[Blue Ensign]

Ah shirt sleeves, the bane of ship modellers, especially when it comes to masting and rigging  I shall take great care Kurt when it comes to those stern frames, a little way off yet I think.

Post 7

Fairing, fairing, and more fairing.

Another day of sand and check, sand and check, and for a bit of light relief, check and sand.

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The test strips seem to be sitting fair across the bulkheads, only the central four bulkheads seem to require no adjustment although they will have the char taken off.

At this point I think I can fit the batten strip to mark the gun port sills.

 

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Seems to run with a fair curve, at least to my eye.

 

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With the port sills marked, the next stage beckons.

 

B.E.

18/01/2018

 

 

[Kurt Johnson]

The Cheerful has a very nice shape to her, which I think you begin to see very early due to the extra bulkheads compared to other kits. Those stern frames aren’t that far in the future.

 

Kurt

Edited January 18, 2018 by Kurt Johnson

[MEDDO]

 

Looks like great progress. 

[Rustyj]

Hi BE,

 

Your fairing looks spot on. Very nice.

[the learner]

Blue! great start. look forward to following your build.

[Beef Wellington]

Very nice start on 'Cheerful'.  I like your heat bending setup!

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Guys,

 

Post 8

Port Sills

I cut some ¼" square strips from some old Boxwood stuff I had to form the sills. The Proxxon Band saw and Surface planer proved very useful for this job.

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More of the stuff was used for the uprights following as far as possible the plan thicknesses, but there were differences in practice.

My approach was to fit the thinner uprights on each port and then using a port width template establish the broader upright thickness.

When it came to the forward port cut outs I allowed extra width and depth to allow for a Boxwood lining.

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I used temporary guide strips for the upright cuts.

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Once the bulk was removed, easily done with razor saw diagonal cuts, I cleaned the bottom with a scalpel blade.

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The port width template can be seen in this shot.

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The  linings were then glued into place.

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The external port fairing now largely done, now need to consider the stern framing.

 

B.E.

24/01/2018

 

[Kurt Johnson]

On 12/23/2017 at 8:31 AM, rafine said:

Nice start B.E. Watching your work brings back a lot of good feelings of working with Chuck's excellent framing parts.

 

Bob

V 

[Kurt Johnson]

Moving right along. 

 

 

Kurt

[Martin W]

Very interesting, BE.  I wouldn't have thought the balsa filler blocks would extend above the ports.  Is this common in your experience?

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

If you're referring to the bow area Martin they look like balsa but they are plywood strips glued together to form the bow port section that are cut out later. They will be planked over, but inside the ports a Boxwood lining has been fitted to match the others. The Port interiors are to be painted and considerably thinned down once the exterior planking is done.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 9

Thinking about stern frames

Before I started on the stern frames I added short bracing sections of Walnut square stuff between those bulkheads not braced by the Port sills.

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The hull is now very stable without any flex in the bulkheads.

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getting the levels right for the outer frames

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attaching the outer frame sections.

These frames are beautifully cut and fit together perfectly.

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Marking the approximate fairing line on the outer stern frames. This method of attaching a pencil stub to a wood strip I copied from Rustyj's Cheerful log, thanks Rusty, it worked a treat.

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More fairing of the outer frames still required, but at this point I added the four internal frames.

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I used a copy of the stern plan to check the set up, not exactly a perfect fit but it did align with frames 'Y' so I took those as the reference points to mark the height of the port frames.

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At this point I think I will fit the port sills and lintels which will add a little stability to the quite fine inner frames.

B.E.

28/01/2018

[Kurt Johnson]

Looking good! 

 

Kurt

[Rustyj]

Hi B.E.

 

It looks like you've got the stern just right. Very nicely done!

[Mirabell61]

She`s well under way B.E.,

 

and all the sequences done to date are looking very good...

 

Nils

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Steve, of course there is modelling life without Proxxon, just takes much longer by hand, but I would hate to give up my scroll saw in particular.

I do have the Crown wood set for Cheerful, but haven't used any as yet. I have a stock of old Boxwood that I've used thus far for the Port frames, and have some sheet stuff from :- http://www.originalmarquetry.co.uk/category_Saw_Cut_Veneers_3.htm

 

I planked both Pickle  and Pegasus using the Boxwood flat lines from the above company. Very useful 0.7mm thick strips in varying widths up to 10mm, and small square section stuff.

Cheers,

 

B.E.

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 10

Stern ports

The prospect of doing these was quite daunting and I trawled all available logs for photo's and approaches before I started.

My approach was as follows.

I firstly cut the strips for the sills to fit snugly between the frames.

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Allowing for a small exterior over hang to take account of the transom curve, I marked the width taken from the plan, and cut it to size. I worked on the basis that the inner line was square to the frames and that the sill was level to the waterline.

I fitted one and checked it against the plan. With the pva semi set on the first sill I added the second sill, and matched it to the first again using the plan as a guide.

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Checking the level of the sills.

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A section of 'port' sized wood was formed to get the position for the Lintels. This was done once the sills had set.

The lintels were then cut to size and glued into place using the top of the port  'jig' as a guide.

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Both sills and lintels were then sanded to conform to the stern frames.

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The moment of truth, will the plan template fit.

Not really a shot in the dark, I used several copies of the template to check progress as work progressed.

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Seems to fit fairly well.

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Moving onto the Square tuck piece next, then back to a little more fairing and fine sanding.

 

B.E.

31/01/2018