HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by bartley - FINISHED - 1/48 scale

[bartley]

Post 16

A few minor illnesses and a bit of much  needed work on the yard have kept me out of the shipyard for a while but have made a bit more progress lately.  The first ten strakes are on each side now.

 

 

 

And I have completed the square tuck now as well

 

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by bartley

[oldmate]

Nice work it sure is coming along. My build is about the same point it is a challenging endeavor. 

[bartley]

There will be a bit of delay on this build while I try to source some more boxwood.  Although I did originally buy enough strips from Jason to complete the planking, I discovered that a significant number of strips had a rather ugly cross grain and they were also a couple of shades darker in colour. I may yet have to use them but I will first try to source some better quality material.  I can now rip my own planks on my Byrnes but finished Boxwood sheets are becoming difficult to obtain.

 

John

[bartley]

I have now obtained some boxwood and ripped some planks so I can now move ahead:-

[bartley]

Post 18

 

I have now completed the planking. Not in Chuck's league by any means - there are a few places where the planks could be tighter but on the whole it looks OK. Its all a learning exercise for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to move on to the treenails now

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by bartley

[Chuck]

That looks really good.  You should be very pleased.

[bartley]

Chuck,

 

You are very kind.  There are a few defiencies in places that I am not happy with  but fo my first go at single planking it is not too bad.

 

I cannot find on yje plans the profile for the small ear that crosses the molding over to the stem.  Am I missing something?

 

John

[Chuck]

Its there somewhere.....on sheet one perhaps.   Dont hesitate to sand the hell out of that planking too.  You have quite a bit of thickness there to smooth out the rough spots.

 

Chuck

[bartley]

Post 19 - Treenails

 

I used Chuck's method of drilling and filling. I used 1.3 mm tape to ensure that the holes were in line and corresponded to bulkheads and predicted positions of frames

 

 

 

 

I then used a sharp HB pencil to line the holes ans simulate tar.  I found that care was needed here.  If I was too aggressive there was excess graphite around the hole which made the filler darker resulting in a variation in the colour of the treenails

 

 

The result is quite subtle - as I believe it should be.  The treenails can only really be seen from up close

 

 

 

 

When I was a boy two Dutch children arrived at my school - no English, but it didn't take long

 

 

After a year or so their father built a house for the family.

 

 

This house was unique for two reasons:

 

 

1. It was varnished - in those days all houses in our town were painted.

 

 

2. It was claimed that he used no nails.

 

 

It turned out that all of the external weather-boards were attached to the studs with wooden pegs - treenails! (although I didn't Know the term then)

 

 

When I visited the house after getting to know the Dutch children I found that from the road there was no evidence of any pegs..  It was only when one approached within a meter or so that the begs became obvious,

 

 

I don't know if he had worked in the ship building industry but the point was that the effect of the wooden pegs was quite subtle.

 

 

John

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2020 by bartley

[bartley]

Post 20

 

Fancy Molding

 

I made a scraper (several in fact) by cutting into an old hacksaw blade using a Dremel with a thin cutting blade.

 

 

 

I found the production of these moldings quite challenging. Because I have only a limited supply of boxwood I made some initial tests with yellow cedar. However, this  gave very indistinct results and it was only when I used boxwood that I could obtain a satisfactory profile.  I also stuck the strip to my bench with double sided tape to stop it moving. I found that several light strokes were best until the profile was established and then I could be more aggressive.

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by bartley

[MEDDO]

I definitely like the subtle treenail effect.  

[bartley]

Post 21

 

False Deck and Caprails

 

It took me a couple of goes to get a reasonable fit for the false deck

 

 

Then the bulwarks were planked and painted

 

 

And finally the caprails added in three pieces

 

 

I am not sure why the stern here looks so dirty.  This must be something to do with the lighting I used because it is quite clean in fact.

 

John

Edited February 28, 2020 by bartley

[bartley]

Post 22:  Margin Planks

 

I have been away from the workshop for a bit but the caprails and margin planks are now complete.  The margin planks were difficult until I established a technique for fabricating these.  several attempts ended up in the bin.  They are not in Chuck's league but are as good as I could get them.

 

John

[Chuck]

They look pretty darn good to me.  Well dine on a tricky part of the project

[bartley]

Chuck,

 

Thank you for your kind words.  I am preparing for deck planking now.  Does this curve look about right. 

 

 

I have not done curved planking before and am looking forward to it.

 

John

[Chuck]

Yes that looks fine.  But you have done this type of planking.  Its no different than planking the hull.  Im sure it will look great.

[bartley]

Chuck, 

Another question if I may.  Looking ahead, I notice that the plan for the forward hatch has 7X7 but in your log looks like 8X8.  This makes it fit close to five planks but I guess if I have mine 7 X 7 then I just need to use a wider plank after  the first five to allow for the notch.  There seems to be a butt join just after that hatch so it shouldn't be too bad.  It looks like I am going to need to use wider planks for the hooked scarphs as well. Is this correct?  I have plenty of 3/16 now but not much wider stuff so I mustn't wast it if I don't need to.

 

John

[Chuck]

Hard to say really.  I dont think it will make much of a difference.  I pretty much just eyeballed it and either would do.  Or split the differnce.

[bartley]

Post 23 : Central Planking

 

I have now completed the installation of the Deck furniture and the central planking.

 

I made sure that the various units matched the deck camber by attaching a piece of sandpaper to the deck and moving the item back and forth:

I made sure that he items were correctly placed by using a jig made from thick card:

The planking around these items took some time but seems to be OK now:

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by bartley

[BobG]

She's looking really good, Bartley, and I enjoyed reading your build log also.

[bartley]

OK Glenn,

 

 First of al I have to say that mine are not as good as some others on this site. Probably everybody is going to find their own way to do this.  First, I suggest you practice on some scrap.  I didn't do this but I should have as I started to run out of timber!  Chuck outlines the pattern in his log so I first drew up what looked like a symmetrical scarph on card and then scribed that on the timber. Then I cut outside the lines with an Exacto blade and then filed up to the line with a needle file. It is important that each of the long sides is really flat. If it is even slightly curved you will never match that curve when you cut. the matching scarph.  So for the matching one I put the first plank (with its scarph cut) on top of the next plank and scribed its pattern on that plank.  Then cut the next scarph in the same way. As I say this is only one way.  You have to really find a way which works for you.  I think the main thing is to use the same method for each scaph otherwise they are unlikely to match.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Incidentally, years ago a watched a guy who built wooden fishing  trawlers do this.  He left a gap in the center.  Then he drove wedges into that gap to tighten the scarph.  No glue!!

 

 

 

John

[the learner]

Nice build! you will be proud to display this one when you are finish! and you have the master guiding you!

[bartley]

Post 24: First Belt of deck Planking

 

The first six planks either side of the central five are now laid. Reasonably straight forward once the once the deck is lined out properly. Now comes the more difficult part of cutting the hooked scarphs while at the same time maintaining the correct taper. It will be a challenge.  But that is the fun part of the hobby,

 

John

[bartley]

Post 25 :  Deck Planking.

 

The deck planking is now complete.  The scaphs were a bit of a challenging but interesting to do.  I first made paper patterns by the age old technique of rubbing over with graphite like this:

 

Here is the completed decking:

 

 

Chuck:

 

Your deck looks very flat.  Did you scrape it after it was laid?

 

 

[Chuck]

Very nice.  No i just sanded the heck out of it.

[bartley]

Chuck,

On the side view of the plans there is something marked on the wale between the firs two deadeyes and also between the second two. Is this am eye bolt??  Of course it is not shown on the plan view because it is under the chain plate so I can't work it out.

 

John

[Chuck]

I am not sure what you are referring to but yes there are eyebolts between the chainplate straps.  

[bartley]

Chuck,

 

Here's a pic.   I see two eye bolts between the deadeyes and two on the cap rail there is a scupper port also but there is also something marked on the wale between the straps.

 

[Chuck]

Yes that is an eye bolt also

 

[bartley]

Thanks Chuck, that's pretty clear now. Actually the last photo in Chapter Nine shows it quite clearly.  I didn't look far enough forward!

 

John