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

[Martin W]

As Alfred Hitchcock said, "Any posting on MSW with a dog picture makes jolly Christmas cheer!"

 

Happy Holidays to you, Mrs W (of the Shires), and William (himself).

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

 

PS -- I love that beautiful little plane . . . I'm beginning to suspect you're a collector!?

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Back at the workbench but I have continued to dabble over the Christmas period, but a heavy cold with running nose is not really conducive to bench work.

Thank you for your Christmas greetings, and good wishes for a successful modelling year are returned.

I have a cunning plan Martin that by including a photo of William I will detract attention from the  more obvious examples of my skill deficiencies. That little plane by the way looks sweet but keeping the blade sharp is a real pain. I tend to use my full size  but compact Bullnose  and shoulder planes mostly, they are a delight.

 

Post 57

Scratching the Winch

Having got over the shock of not having a Chuck mini kit to produce the Winch I got down to scratching this last of the main deck fittings.

Fortunately I do have some old Boxwood square stock a tad in excess of 4.5mm which will do nicely for the Winch Bitt pins (uprights).

Hand sculpting using a scalpel produces the traditional timber head style.

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I opted to run a spindle thro' the winch drum rather than just glue it between the uprights.

Chuck's drawings show the cross beam notched to fit over the  Bitt pins. My understanding is that in practice the uprights were scored slightly to take the cross beam, which on this build would work out at just under 1mm.

There are excellent drawings at 1:48 scale and larger, of winch details in the book The Naval Cutter Alert by Peter Goodwin.

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I used the mill to cut the slots and drill the necessary holes to take the barrel.

 

The Winch drum, end caps, and pawl ratchets were cut from rounded boxwood section.

Having cut the uprights to length holes were drilled in the base to take retaining pegs when the assembly is finally fitted to the deck.

The standards were traced from the plans onto a card template and cut out of 3mm boxwood sheet.

I found cutting the ratchet teeth along the edges of the pawl drum one of the most tricky aspects of the process. These little discs are only 6mm in diameter.

I fashioned the crank handles from some left over brass fittings from my Pegasus build ( stanchions)and some micro tubing. I also added the pawls also made from some left over brass etch, but these are very tiny.

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Stern Transom Knees.

Cut from 1/8th" Boxwood sheet, fitting these caused me a fair bit of head scratching.

The thickness means that the transom frames get in the way which means they either have to be cut back to allow the knees to sit flush against/beneath the rail, or the knees have to be notched on the underside to fit over the frames.

 

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I eventually got there by a combination of fining down the stern frames a little, and notching the back side of the knees.

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I will return to complete the knees later in conjunction with the Boom Crutches.

 

B.E

01/01/2019

 

[davyboy]

An excellent start to the New Year  B.E.

 

I just carefully cut down the transom frames 'til the knees were a snug fit,those Boom crutches are a bit of a pain to shape right. I had two attempts before I was happy. I'm currently in the process of rigging the Yards which I fully dressed before hanging them,makes life a bit easier.

 

I wish you a happy,healthy and prosperous New Year.

 

Dave 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 58

Boom Crutches.

Interesting little project to make these and I am grateful to Chuck's guide on the subject.

I  originally started with a 12mm wide strip cut from some 1/4" Boxwood sheet. but I found that I ran out of angle to give me sufficient height.

For my subsequent attempts I used 15 x 20mm section- and there were several futile attempts to get something that looked even barely acceptable.

The block is secured on the transom with a strip of double sided tape to mark the fashion piece angles, and the process of filing and sanding begins.

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These crutches are quite small and awkward little things to hold and shape so I reach the point where I think it better to glue them to the transom and finish off shaping with both hands available.

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Using a jury rig to assist with the rotation of the crutch.

Chuck makes the point that it should turn somewhat inwards to receive the boom.

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Even so a couple were glued on only to be ripped off when I found the opposing one looked better, and so it went on.

A couple of the sad little rejects lie on the deck.

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Eventually I convinced myself that the resulting pair didn't look too bad a match and I resolved to permanently fix them.

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They seem very vulnerable sitting up there atop the rail so I added a bolt thro' the crutch and into the transom.

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In this shot the completed Transom knees can also be seen.

I pondered a little over the colour scheme for the knees but eventually decided on red as they were below the level of the rail, and to my eye looked less heavy than black.

The retaining bolt heads  can also be seen; I did wonder whether to include these, but I felt they should be there, and they do seem be shown on Chuck's plan.

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The Fashion pieces were also painted black at this point.

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The internal lead discharge piping for the Seats of ease was added. Totally unnecessary of course and will probably never see the light of day again, but I know they are there.

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The circular outlet flanges were represented by flattened slices of Aluminium tubing, chemically blackened.

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So where to next, I think I will tackle the Timberheads, and make a few cleats but I also need to consider whether to fit Swivel posts.

 

I have been having second thoughts about this. Neither of the historical models of either Cheerful or Surly are fitted with swivels and all the cutter examples I have seen with swivels date from the mid to late 18th Century and of course Cheerful is an early 19th century cutter.

However, Lavery (Arming and Fitting) does indicate their use on naval ships until 1815, and I can imagine that a couple of swivels in the stern and bow areas would prove useful.

One of the fascinating aspects of our subjects is that there are always more questions than answers.

 

B.E.

04/01/2019

 

[MEDDO]

Wonderfully clean. The crutches and knees look great

[Martin W]

Nice work.  Did you cut them out with the scroll saw then file them to their final shape?

 

 

[davyboy]

Well done with the Boom Crutches B.E. I did say they were a bit of a pain to make  I like your addition of bolts in the Transom Knees,I may crib your idea and do mine,have to remove the Flag Halliard cleats first though. C'est la vie.

 

I bit the bullet and made 4 swivels and posts for the bow area,I'm the Captain so it's my choice  They also will not be added until the build end.

 

Incidentally,I'll bet you will catch those Crutches sometime,they are a bit vulnerable there,even when pinned. Mine have been off a couple of times already,I'll glue them finally at the end of my build.   

 

regards,

 

Dave 

[Beef Wellington]

Lovely progress BE.  Your deck came out really well, I still can't figure out for the life of me how to 'calculate' the curvature of the deck planks other than eye-balling, there must be some sort of methodology.  The colours and details are really coming together now as shown in your last beauty shots.

[the learner]

Fantastic! great build nice work and very professional

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers guys for looking in and for your comments.

@ Martin - Yes I did use the scroll saw to get the basic shape, but then it was down to files and scalpel to finish off.

@ Dave -  Thanks Dave I have had a couple of near misses with the crutches, need to keep the stern away from the wall.

I'm still undecided about the swivels but I've kicked the decision into the long grass for the present.

@ Jason - I'd have had trouble working out the deck plank curves too if not for Chuck's lead and guidance, but once you've got it it's basically like planking a hull around the bows.

 

B.E. 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 59

Assembling the gun Carriages

I did assemble one gun earlier in the build for the purposes of gun port fit, but this is a multi stage and repetitive assembly process  and I decided I should make a start.

To recap...

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I had already made a simple jig to hold the axles.

The axles are rounded at each end to take the Trucks before fitting in the jig for the attachment of the transom on the front axle, and the Bolster on the rear axle.

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One point to note is that the Transom above the front axle is not vertical but should lean back slightly.

I used some 0.7mmø wire, chemically blackened to represent the iron connecting bar which ties the side brackets and supports the carriage bed.

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This is not a quick process, and becomes rather tiresome, but at least not as tiresome as having to make the carriages from scratch.

Removing the lazer burn and rounding the axles is heavy on time and patience, and using a jig for assembly is absolutely necessary.

I decided to construct the carriages before painting and decided on a Red Ochre scheme. Initially I thought about leaving the trucks natural, but to my eye, and as Chuck also found, they didn't look good, so they also had the red ochre treatment.

 

Once the basic assembly is completed there is still a lot to do; ring bolts and eyebolts, capsquares, truck keys, and bolts.

For the carriage ring bolts I used Amati 2mm brass rings which are pretty much true to scale.

For the eye bolts or hoops I also used fine Amati eyebolts, set slightly into the carriages.

For the bolts I also used Amati 10mm fine brass pins. These have slightly domed heads of less than 1mm ø and stems of 0.5mm.

Once I had assembled five carriages I went on to fully complete one example.

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Still some cleaning up to do, the trucks are not glued to the axles.

Drilling the 16 holes to take the various fittings needs to be done carefully, and it is a fiddly little job cutting the bolts and eyebolts to size.

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The eyebolts for the side tackles are set well into the side of the carriage.

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I added Truck keys to retain the trucks on their axles.  

They were made using 0.5mmø pin stems flattened at one end These were then chemically blackened after trimming.

0.60mmø holes were drilled thro' the axles to take the key.

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Only another eleven carriages to go, and then there's the  Carronades, I think I could be some time.

 

B.E.

10/01/2019

 

[Rustyj]

Very nice B.E.  Glad it's not a ship of the line! 

[Gahm]

Your guns look beautiful!!

 

Thomas

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Thomas and Rusty,  I surely am glad there's only 12 guns on Cheerful, even so they are big enough to warrant full detailing and all are exposed to full view.

Post 60

Completing the carriages.

Work proceeds on the carriage assembly line.

Making the fittings is a time consuming exercise, the fittings are small and take every opportunity to  wing off into the ether never to be seen again. Regular crawling session around the carpet is part of this process.

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The fittings required for each carriage consists of:

6 pins to represent the bolts.

4 eyebolts ( tackle attachment hoops)

2 ringbolts comprising a modified eyebolt  plus ring( Breeching line)

4 truck keys to retain the trucks on the axles.

OK these were not included in the original plans but I like to fit 'em, and at least in this case the trucks were solid and not held together by six bolts.

On completion of the Carronade carriages I  assembled the long gun six pounder equivalents.

I was able to utilise the carronade jig for assembly, but the procedure is effectively the same.

 

So after nine days, which felt like twice the time, the carriages are completed bar a bit of fettlin'.

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Even so there are still things to do once the barrels are fitted:

2 capsquares to retain the carronade trunnions

2 capsquare hinges ( modified eyebolts)

1 capsquare locking pin plus retaining chain.

 I added these on my 1:64 scale Pegasus guns, so at 1:48 scale it should be easier.

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On this shot the truck keys are evident, made from the fine  brass pin stems flattened at one end.

The Breeching line ring bolts are only temporarily in place for the purpose of the photo.

 

At this point  I do a deck fit to check how the quoins may affect the barrel line along the hull.

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It seems that in the normal position the quoins are a tad fat to allow the barrel to sit horizontally thro' the port.

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For the quoin handles I passed on trying to make them from wood.

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Fortunately Amati 5mm brass belaying pins fit the bill perfectly.

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I will now put the ordnance aside for a while to concentrate on completing other fittings.

 

B.E.

20/01/2019

 

 

[Martin W]

I remember trying to match the work you did on Pegasus' guns, and never being able to get those details.  Now, at 1:48, the details really look good.

 

I want to ask about your decision to fit the carronades with wheeled carriages rather than trunions.  Have you already discussed this?

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[davyboy]

Very nice job on the ordnance B.E. There are a lot of parts for each gun assembly aren't there. I've moved both my long guns to the #2 gunports and have made up 4 swivels to place in the #1 gunport areas,my choice. The rigging is nearly finished,just the lower yard braces to do then make the cat blocks and anchor buoys etc etc.

 

BTW,if you can find a use for a couple of 1mm sq x 80mm long jewellers files #4 or 5 cut plus some .7 and 1mm drills drop me a PM with your address and I'll post them to you. All are unused courtesy of the Basel fleamarket,cost me next to nothing

 

Regards,

 

Dave  

[Gahm]

Detailing 12 guns is a lot of work! You did a fantastic job!

 

Thomas

[Blue Ensign]

Thank you Wallace, there are many unusual  terms and words we come across whilst living in the nautical 18th century.😉

That the guns all look identical, is more down to the skill of Chuck and his laser cut parts I think.🙂

 

Hi Martin, I too thought the Carronade carriage design was a little unusual as I expected a sliding bed and traversing trucks at this time. However, Chuck had looked into this and the wheeled carriage was not unusual particularly on smaller vessels. There is a plan of such a set up in the NMM.

 

That's a very handsome offer Dave, I will pm you.👍

As a matter of interest what size line did you use for your anchor cables, I note that Chuck makes no reference to them in  his guides.

 

Thank you Thomas, - and not finished yet!  but I'm relieved to have got thro' the bulk of it.

 

… and thanks for all the 'likes' guys who have looked in on the build.

 

B.E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

On the Syren web site which Chuck operates, there are a series of build guides for different models that he produces, Cheerful being one of them. He also has a build log of his own Cheerful build which is also a mine of information.

 

Well worth a visit. ☺️

 

B.E.

[davyboy]

Hi B.E.

I'll  post these items to you tomorrow or Wednesday.and will tape the files and drills to a piece of wood to prevent breakage in the post.

 

Not sure about the anchor cables. I've had a look in Steele's list of necessary ropes and can find nothing about the size of anchor cables although every other rope related to anchors is given. Sods law I guess or I'm looking in the wrong place. Have you any idea of their sizes in comparison to the mainstay ? I read somewhere sometime that they were the thickest ropes on the ship,but............

 

Regards,

 

Dave 

[Blue Ensign]

Cheers Dave,

 

Peter Goodwin in his Naval Cutter Alert book gives the anchor cable size as 11½" circumference which equates to 1.9mm ø  line at our scale.

Alert was of greater tonnage than Cheerful, so the cable size would be slightly less.

I'll dig into my sources to confirm the formula, cables will be the subject of my next post.

 

B.E.

[davyboy]

Thanks for that B.E. I had purchased some 2mm dia. cable laid rope but it looked  much too large. 1.8 mm dia would likely be ok but I'll wait until your post on cables.

 

Dave 

[Beef Wellington]

Those carronade carriages look especially good BE.  The countersinking of the ringbolts is a detail I'd like to replicate when I come to my upper deck armament, curious how you did it?  Also, what are the approximate dimensions - always find it hard to visualize a larger ship at smaller scale compared to smaller ships at larger scale.

 

Can completely relate to the task of completing these, I'm hoping to emerge from the same tunnel myself soon 🙂

[Blue Ensign]

Thanks Jason,

The Carronade carriages are 20mm long x 7mm wide x 12mm high plus the trucks.

For the tackle rings (hoops)  I create an elongated countersink by simply angling the micro drill from the sides of the holes to produce a slight groove which allows the eyebolt to sit deeper.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

 

 

[bigcreekdad]

Just curious...were gun carriages actually painted red? Not criticizing, just wondering.

 

BTW...your carriages look great!

[Blue Ensign]

Hi bcd, yes the official colour for inboard works including the gun carriages was Red Ochre. This applied from the 17th century thro’ to the early 19th century.

However, during the late 18th c Yellow Ochre became increasingly popular, initially unofficially, and some Captains authorised the repainting of the carriages which were the usual dockyard red.

 

By 1806 I would have expected most inboard works to be Yellow Ochre, but for a small unrated vessel such as a cutter it would be the cheapest option, and still at that time the Official colour.

 

This is the short simplified explanation. 😊

 

Cheers, 

 

B.E.

 

[Blue Ensign]

Post 61

Hawse Holes, cables, and Catheads.

At this point there is a lot of inter-related stuff to consider.

 

1) I intend to rig anchor cables, so I need to establish the size.

 

2) I also need to enlarge previously drilled undersized hawse holes at the bow and the hawse holes sizes are relative to the circumference of the anchor cables.

 

3) A check needs to be made that the anchor cables will have a clear run from the hawse around the windlass, and back to the Main Hatch without fouling the Catheads yet to be fitted.

 

Firstly Anchor cables

Calculating anchor cable sizes can be a confusing subject.

 

According to Lees the formula for anchor cable circumference calculation is 0.62 of Mainmast diameter.

 

Peter Goodwin  - The Naval Cutter Alert 1777 gives 11½" as the main cable circumference (1.93mm ø at 1:48 scale)

He also gives the Mainmast ø as 22", which using the Lees formula would give a cable of 13.64" circ. (2.29mm at 1:48 scale)

 

There is another formula  based on the maximum beam of a vessel. - Cable Circumference being ½" for each foot of beam.

Using the Alert figures we have a beam of 25'.11" which would give a cable circumference of 12.95" (2.18mm ø at 1:48 scale)

 

So from a given set of reference figures you do get variances using the different formulas, but in modelling terms the differences are minor, and in practice the dockyards worked to range sizes, and the nearest fit was generally close enough.

 

In relation to Cheerful the mast at the partners (model) is 10mm ø ( x 0.62 (Lees formula)) =  1.97mm ø line.

Using the beam formula; Cheerful, with a beam of 23.5' would give 11.75"circ  also = 1.97mm at 1:48 scale.

 

Having eventually arrived at a scale anchor cable diameter, we can return to the Hawse hole.

*To calculate the hawse hole size:- cable ø ÷9/4 = hawse ø

*Construction and fitting of The English Man of War - Peter Goodwin

 

I used incremental drill sizes to carefully enlarge the Hawse holes ensuring the drill was kept both horizontal and parallel to the keel.

In considering cable sizes on models I don't think that arithmetically calculated scale line sizes are the whole story, Sometimes, 'true scale' doesn't suit the eye or model.

2mm ø line looked a little heavy, particularly bearing in mind that it will have to pass around the windlass three times.

 

I am leaning towards 1.75mm ø line for the anchor cables which equates to a 10.3" circumference, and looks right to my eye.

The calculated hawse ø scales to 3.93mm.

This is pretty much the hawse ø given on the Cheerful plans.

 

The related positions of the Windlass, Bowsprit, Bowsprit step,  catheads, winch, and cables need to be assessed to avoid problems later.

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With the cables in place the Cathead positions can be tweaked to avoid any awkward abrasions.

Before I do any further work I attended to the bow pin rack which butts against the Catheads each side.

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Bearing in mind that there may be an issue with belay pins where the Bowsprit passes beneath the rack I have held off drilling the holes until later.

 

In making the Catheads I have followed Chuck's lead using 3/16th square boxwood section.

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The rebates to fit over the waterway and spirketing on the vertical sections of the Cathead were initially cut on the little mill, but to get the inboard shape to scribe closely to the bulwark took a fair bit of manual work with scalpel and sanding stick. The base needed sanding at an angle to sit flush on the margin plank.

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The sheaves for the outer end were cut on the little Proxxon mill using a 1mm bit, and holes were drilled to take the sheave  pins.

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Assembling and fitting the Catheads I found a little tricky. 

The Cathead should have something of a stive, angling slightly upwards outboard.

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This means that either the vertical section or the inboard tail of the outboard section needs to be angled. I decided to angle the uprights.

Once I had got close to the angle required I glued the upright to the bulwark.

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The outboard section was then roughly shaped at the inboard end and glued and pinned, with final sanding done insitu.

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The Catheads in their raw state

Here you can see a comparison of 2mm line (Starboard) and 1.75mm line (Port)

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I was a little surprised that a supporting bracket below the outboard cathead beam was not present on Cheerful.

 

 

B.E.

25/01/2019

 

 

[davyboy]

Hi B.E.

It's looking very good. I was right when I said 2mm looked overscale as you've shown,I'll order some 1,8mm cabled rope for my anchor cables. Funny you should mention about a cathead support bracket,I thought that too. The Science Museum model hasn't got any and of the NMM models only one appears to have them fitted.

 

regards,

 

Dave 

[Martin W]

That is a fascinating construction of a cathead -- lacking the outboard support, and resting on that vertical beam.  Hmm, I have to wonder just how much weight it was able to handle.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Beef Wellington]

Love the those deck shots at the bow, really shows off the accuracy of your planking and ties everything together so nicely.  You didn't comment, but in addition to everything else, had to admire the excellent consistent clean profile you achieved on the timberheads.  Did you use some sort of jig for these?  Would be very interested to learn from your approach.