HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by glbarlow - FINISHED - 1:48

[glbarlow]

13 hours ago, Rustyj said:

neat and clean! 

Thank you Rusty. I’ve been trying to bring my rigging skill up a notch, can’t hide much at 1:48, I appreciate your saying so.

[glbarlow]

9 hours ago, MEDDO said:

really enjoy following along

I’m very happy to hear that. I appreciate getting that feedback. Thank you.

[JpR62]

Always so much pleasure to follow this adventure. The work is excellent and this log is a real source of information.

A real chance for those who will follow.

[glbarlow]

8 hours ago, JpR62 said:

pleasure to follow this adventure.

Thanks Jean Paul. I’m looking forward to following your Cheerful adventure as well.

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, drjeckl said:

description of the work technique

Thanks, I appreciate the comment and glad you find my log useful. My photography has suffered this past year, I’m looking forward to getting back out in the field. Speedy is a great choice.

[glbarlow]

If anyone has a clever way of doing rope coils for the pin rails I’d love to see it. So far mine aren’t up to my expectations 

[Hsae]

Glenn,

 

just in case you don’t know the video from Tom Lauria 

 

[glbarlow]

14 hours ago, Hsae said:

don’t know the video from Tom Lauria 

Thanks for sharing.  I did see that video but didn’t find it was what I was looking for.  I have now come up wit something based on several other references. I’ll have to perfect my application of those and will share it once I do.  

[glbarlow]

The Main Stay, Foresail Halyard, and Jib Halyard

 

It bears saying again. I am grateful for all the build logs on MSW. I learn so much from so many, I hope my log helps others as I’ve been helped.

 

Back to work, though work has slowed down lately. I think I’m either reluctant to reach the finish line or procrastinating because ratlines are now on the agenda. I do not like ratlines, Sam I am. The good news is there are only eight total shrouds so how long could it take…I don’t know because I haven’t started them…

 

The Main Stay

 

 

It’s just one ‘string’ but the main stay takes some time and thought to get right. It’s served around the mast to just below the eye, so I had to do a bit of measuring and testing to determine where that was. There is no precise definition of where to form the eye, I just eye-balled how big I wanted it to be it using the .054 Dark Brown rope that is used on the stay. I found a black grease pencil useful for marking the dark brown rope (or China marker I believe my Brit friends say). The black is hard to see but there is no chance it will show through the serving, so I prefer it to a brighter color. The measurement is a little tricky, the stay sits on top of a lot of other rope around the mast head, it’s important to make sure it’s snugly seated. The sling wants to get in the way so I had to check and recheck for a proper fit.

 

 

Of course I served the stay extra long even having measured repeatedly, why not. Cheerful does not have a mouse on the main stay, instead it is a seized eye. This particular seized line required a different approach than my other seizings. In part because of the large .054 served rope and because it’s very visible, I wanted it to look good. My normal seizing technique just wouldn’t work to my satisfaction, so having marked where I wanted, I cut the end of the served line at a sharp angle (using the toe nail clippers, here they exceed both cuticle cutters and scissors). Important obvious note, the serving has to be sealed so it doesn’t explode as its cut. I elected to use CA to seal the end of the serving since the cut would be covered by the seizing. I then glued that angled cut to the running length of the stay, again using CA. (I didn't like how the serving looked terminated on the running end, so I cut off the one in the photo and did the whole thing again.

 

 

BEFORE I did any of that I added the foresail Halyard block very loosely seized to the stay. This block, along with the tackle seized to the block are fitted to the main stay inside the loop and close to the trees. Even with the quad hands this would be a difficult block to add to a completed stay with its awkward location. It was SO much easier to slip it on before closing the eye, you can see it unfinished two photos above and the block seizing completed after the main stay is installed.

 

 

(failed focus on this photo) To do the main stay seizing (you can see that loose foresail block in this photo as well ) I started by tying a square knot with 50wt polyester thread just below where I had glued the eye. I had used .012 rope on the shrouds and deadeyes and tried it here, it looked too heavy, the thread is a better look. I left enough of the short end to pass it up through the center of the seizing then proceeded to wrap with the long end of the thread until I was far enough over the splice to suit my eye. I’m normally big on precision with the number of wrappings, but here I just stopped when it looked right. Actually I went further, decided it was too much and backed up. I tied another square knot with the remaining long end and the short end of the thread on the bottom where it isn't seen. I painted it with very watered down white glue, now I have a main stay eye.

 

 

On to the other end of the stay, I turned in the large 5 hole deadeye purchased from Syren just as I did the shroud deadeyes, clove hitch at the overlapped base and two seizings above (7 turns instead of the 10 at the deadeyes) per the plans. Here I went back to .012 rope because for the “heft.”

 

 

The seizing of the lanyard is also a bit tricky. I ran a .025 lanyard connecting the stay to the stem, those 5 holes on the stem are finally used after the stem being one the very first things added to the ship so long ago. To finish it off requires a single hitch above the first seizing on the stay, then the running end of the lanyard seized to the stay. No problem, except all that is kinda hanging in the air and that hitch has to be kept taunt. I could have employed the quad hands, but room to work would be tight. Instead I tied the lanyard far up the stay with one short piece of tan rope and tied another to hold the loop of the seizing thread while I passed it around the stay between the seized loop with sharply pointed tweezers. In the photo I was using 50wt thread but after completing it I decided it was too heavy so I cut it off and re-did it with fly-tying thread. Just a quick moment to thank @DelFfor the fly-tying thread recommendation. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but since then I’ve used it to seize almost every block on the model. To me, it provides the right look and scale, and is well worth the not insignificant effort to see it while doing seizings. Not finding a good color match for the light and dark brown rope on Amazon, the thread came from some random fly fishing website found during a google search.

 

 

Here is the finished stay at the lanyard end. Please note the proper stopper knot ripped from the pages of my Ultimate Book of Everyday Knots, a book I recommend for everyone including outside model building. Amazon has it Here

 

Foresail Halyard

 

Next up is the ratlines, nope I can put it off a little longer. Next up the foresail halyard.

 

 

Having seized the block on the stay earlier this was now pretty easy. The running length goes to a block seized with a hook attached to an eyebolt just behind the stem (so that’s why I put that eyebolt there so long ago).

 

Another note I’ve said before but bears repeating. Not every eyebolt/belaying point are highlighted early in the instructions for most any model. I always look ahead to the rigging section and study the plans to locate these. They are frequently so much easier to add early before room gets tighter. Like this one it can be forgotten for months until I actually need it.

 

The running length runs down through that block, back up top and belays to a cleat at the base of the mast. This is makes for a really long piece of .018 rope. The challenge for this halyard is to balance the tension on the line enough so that it looks right, but not so tight that it’s pulling the stay out of alignment or into an award pulled out look. The halyard doesn’t really need to be very tight, over-tightening doesn’t gain anything.

 

And now for the ratlines.- No wait, I can still put those off.

 

Jib Halyard, In-haul, and Out-haul

 

 

This one is fun. Three distinct tackle that work in sync with each other to manage the jib. I made up all three as a first step knowing I’d install them as a working unit.

 

 

A .018 line seized to a block at the mast cap runs down through a block seized to a hook (I installed that eyebolt but left it unglued before placing the mast cap, so again an easy install on the block). That hook is seized to the hook on the traveler ring I had remembered to add way back when installing the bowsprit. It’s just going to flop around there for a minute. On a side note, the mast is looking pretty cool with all those served ropes.

 

 

(another focus problem, I’m getting sloppy) The out-haul starts with a stopper knot (again from my book of knots, I normally just do a figure eight knot when a stopper is required, but like the main stay lanyard its very visible) runs from the traveler ring forward to the sheave cut into the bowsprit (so that’s what that’s for) back to the fixed block I’d made on the starboard side of the stem, then up and over belayed to the bowsprit bitts starboard post.

 

Finally, the trickiest of three lines, the in-haul, is actually two ropes joined together (no thimble this time). It requires a V with its ends tied to either side of the traveler ring (I gently glued these with the lightest touch of CA to keep them on the sides and not slip down to the bottom of the ring) with the peak of the V seized to another rope (all of these are .018). To have the V centered I attached the two ends to the traveller then seized a loop at the resulting center. The result is the in-haul with its two seized lines laying along top of the bowsprit and belayed to the port bitts post. I left the loops at the joining of the two ropes a little large to give a better look of the joined lines, no reason to squeeze them tight.

 

The tricky and fun part is pulling the right tension on all three, back and forth and together to arrange the traveler ring into a fixed position on the bowsprit. Per the plans I chose this to be 80mm from the far end of the bowsprit, which kinda looks right.

 

 

 

 

And this is how it all looks like this in the end. And now it’s time for the ratlines..unless there is something else I can  find to do first….

 

Thanks for stopping by. The likes and especially the comments are always appreciated.

Edited May 20, 2021 by glbarlow

[DelF]

More superb work Glenn. Your rigging is exemplary. 

[Chuck]

Looking great.  Nice and tidy.  The ratlines will go just fine.  Just keep them straight and evenly spaced.  The worst thing that could happen is pulling in your shrouds to get that dreaded hourglass shape.  
 

No pressure.   

[Rustyj]

Great rigging Glenn. Your photographs and description will help many who follow after!

[JeffK]

I need to come back to your log when I get to rigging my model.  Yours looks great.

[glbarlow]

16 hours ago, DelF said:

rigging is exemplary.

Thanks Derek, I use your work as inspiration 

[niwotwill]

You just keep amazing me. 

 

Make it a good day

Will 

[glbarlow]

5 hours ago, Chuck said:

The ratlines will go just fine.

Thanks Chuck. I’ll tie and retire to avoid the dreaded hourglass, I just don’t enjoy doing repetitive work.  But I do enjoy Cheerful so…

5 hours ago, Rustyj said:

Your photographs and description will help many who follow

I appreciate that Rusty, that is my goal. I think I overdo it sometimes but I guess it’s there if someone wants it. 

[glbarlow]

11 hours ago, JeffK said:

come back to your log

Thanks, I hope that you do and glad you find it useful. 

[glbarlow]

7 hours ago, niwotwill said:

You just keep amazing me.

Thank you. I often amaze myself when some things actually work😁

[glbarlow]

Ran out of other things to do, time to begin. The only good thing about fracturing my frame way back in the beginning and having to buy a second starter kit is that it came with a second set of plans that I could cut up, which I’ve frequently done. 

In this case I also scanned it, flipped the image file, printed it for the port side and marked both in 5 and 10 line increments. These I’ll do first, tens then fives to help avoid the hourglass problem. Also using all clove hitches, my favorite knot. There’s only 72 total, I can probably do this without further whining about ratlines😂🤣
 

All of this has been learned from others, once again the power of MSW at work. Except the clove hitch, as an actual boat owner (a fast inboard, no sails) I tie a lot of them with big rope. 
 

 

See, I’ve started. (They are lined up, the paper is leaning away at the top and nothing is glued yet)

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by glbarlow

[Mike the Maxx]

10 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Ran out of other things to do, time to begin. The only good thing about fracturing my frame way back in the beginning and having to buy a second starter kit is that it came with a second set of plans that I could cut up, which I’ve frequently done. 

In this case I also scanned it, flipped the image file, printed it for the port side and marked both in 5 and 10 line increments. These I’ll do first, tens then fives to help avoid the hourglass problem. Also using all clove hitches, my favorite knot. There’s only 72 total, I can probably do this without further whining about ratlines😂🤣
 

All of this has been learned from others, once again the power of MSW at work. Except the clove hitch, as an actual boat owner (a fast inboard, no sails) I tie a lot of them with big rope. 
 

 

See, I’ve started. (They are lined up, the paper is leaning away at the top and nothing is glued yet)

 

 

 

Brilliant!

[glbarlow]

9 hours ago, drjeckl said:

Keeps paying it forward.

Thanks.  That.s my goal.

 

1 hour ago, Mike the Maxx said:

Brilliant

Thank you, using the plans was a new twist.  I’m either brilliant or too lazy to manually make up a separate grid on paper 😂

[bartley]

Hi Glenn,

 

Looking good! 

 

Your faking down (rope coils) looks good.  How did youdecide to do these in the end?  I used a modification of Tom Lauria's method but it is a lot of fuss and a smpler method would be good.

 

John

[glbarlow]

Thanks. I’ll cover the rope coils in my next post after finishing the rat lines. 

[allanyed]

Glenn,

Meticulous build and very clear and informative photographs that not only help others, but inspire everyone of us.   Well done.

Allan

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by allanyed

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, allanyed said:

very clear and informative photographs that not only help others, but inspire everyone of us.

That’s kind of you to say. Thank you!

[glbarlow]

It’s been a while since my last post, lots of stuff going on outside the shipyard.

 

Ratlines Completed

For all my delaying completing the ratlines wasn’t really that big a deal, it basically took me a days work for each side and was kind of relaxing in a weird way. Of course having only 4 shrouds per side and the the 1:48 scale made it simpler, but so did my revised method (from past models).

 

 

I put my own spin on what I’d learned from several other build logs by scanning a copy of the plans, printing a copy for starboard, reversing the scanned image using Apple Preview and printing that for the port side. I mounted the paper on stiff card with the bottom the right height to match the sheer pole on paper to the one on the model. This saved me the step of making a grid but more importantly gave me good vertical lines to keep the shape right. My shrouds at the start weren’t an exact match to the plans, but they are very close and consistent enough to act as a guide. The spacings are correct, the angle of the photo or the paper leaning back throws off the aspect.

 

I used .012 dark brown line (I should have been a hoarder, I’m going to miss Syren rope when mine runs out) I did them in sections, first the “five lines” which I’d highlighted in orange, then the “ten lines” in green ,then the three’s, ones, fours and twos. I glued each after I was done with a section, allowed them to dry and cut off the tails before doing the next section keeping the working field clean and lines from shifting.

 

 

I did all the lines using clove hitches working left to right (because I’m left handed). If you use some other knot, even if only on the outside shrouds I highly recommend using clove hitches instead. Once I got going I was whipping across the shrouds, the clove hitch allows adjusting for the right tension easily and frankly just looks good.

 

 

And then they were done. Another benefit of doing them in random spaced groups is I didn’t focus on ‘aargh…how many more rows until I get to the top….’ By doing sections I didn’t think about anything but that section and was almost surprised when there weren’t anymore to do. So I immediately strung 4 lines from my cabinet down to the worktop and weaved more ratlines for the pure joy of it….or maybe not.

 

Rope Coils

It was time to do final tension on lines, gluing them, and adding rope coils. I’ve again chosen to do them differently than on past models, I think the 1:48 scale makes me think differently. I went searching on MSW for ideas and found multiple posts on Flemish coils (which I’m not a fan of doing) however there wasn’t much on “working coils” or at least in a way I wanted to do them. I did locate a repost by @ccoyle of a method used by ‘Peter-V’ that served as a starting point, so credit and thanks to him and to Chris for further sharing it.  I once again put my spin on it and wasted a bit of rope sorting out a look I liked. I also didn’t determine key steps (see below) until Googling rope coils and finding a series of images related to actual sailing. Side note for Cheerful builders, I went through a lot of .018 Light Brown rope, in fact I wouldn’t have had enough to finish the boat if I hadn’t ordered some for my next build of Flirt. I had to cut into that stock, a problem for another day. I thought I was fairly judicious but likely used too much for rope coils. One coil is a lot of rope and I have made and remade them. I probably could have been more efficient with the lengths of tackle. I’m sure it’s my fault, so just a heads up.

 

 

I want the coils to look natural and each one be somewhat consistent but at the same time different from the one next to it - like the lines are in use, not inspection ready. Each one is made, then painted in very watered down white glue, then with a wet brush to avoid white glue staining. Once dry then smushed (that’s a technical term) with my finger and bent around to shape it to its location - again being different each time.

 

 

After a few false starts I came up with this ‘rope board’ using brass tubing, brass rod, and brass belaying pins. All the brass is removable, which is essential to how I make them. There are two set up for pin rails and two for cleats and another just for straight up coils, the differences being the size of the eye and length of the coils (the board shows it took a few iterations to get there).

 

 

I should do a separate post in the rigging forum to provide more detail from what I’ve learned, even more so since I took these photos. The short(er) version is to wrap the rope around the brass pins leaving the top extra long (it goes on for a few inches behind the board) before seating it in a split on the top, after 4-6 wraps (I varied them) the end of the rope seated in another split in the bottom. Loosen the top excess rope and grap the first (bottom) loop with tweezers (it’s tricky, sharp pointed tweezers are essential)and pull it out.

 

 

 

Loop it top over bottom (not bottom over top) then do a complete 360 degree clockwise loop (not 180) (the two key steps I’d missed from the research) and place that over the belaying pin at the top. It represents the pin rail on the boat (or the top of a cleat). Snug that up with the top rope.

 

 

 

Remove the top brass rod and tighten it further. Another lesson I learned is not too tight as it is in this photo - shape the loop a little. Then paint it all with watered down white glue. Remove the bottom brass rod after the glue dries and lift it off the board. Important point, I used a drop of CA (yes I like and use CA) on the back side of the coil’s top to seal the top rope that formed the loop (another lesson learned) before sniping of the excess of both the bottom and top ropes otherwise the whole thing may collapse into a wad (he said having done that). I then did the artistic smushing and bending before installing it on the ship.

 

I hope that makes some sense, each one I make I do a little different but this is the essence of what I learned from others then modified to work for me. A final point, getting the watered down glue the right consistency is another key - so the rope is not too stiff or not to loose. I’m still working to finding the magic formula.

 

Topmast Shrouds

 

 

These can’t be done until the ratlines are complete they thread through the ratlines (for me the second and third) following a straight-line from the trees to their belaying points on the channels. Done with .35 dark brown rope looped seized in a loop at the topmast they end in ¼ blocks after being glued to the slots at the ends of the cross trees. It's important to get the line snug without being tight, the topmast is a relative toothpick and easy to bend. I glued both into the slots of the trees at the same time, tricky but helps keep an even tension. I used .012 light brown tackle starting from another ¼ block seized to a hook and to eyebolts in the channels. Seems easy enough and it should be but I must say I had a lot of “fiddling” to do to get them even, the right height, and the tackle seized back onto itself (like the main shrouds) while working between the ratlines. Patience and perseverance in abundance is called for, the first which I’m always wishing I had more.

 

Topmast Stay

 

 

It’s a bit difficult getting a good photo of this long run of .018 brown rope. I didn’t have the light right for and my temporary off-white backdrop has fold marks. I just hang a piece of cloth behind and tacked over the window for quick and easy progress photos, not how I formally shoot white background photos on rolled white paper.  I’ll do better for finished photos (though at the moment my stands have been turned into an inside tent for my granddaughter, a far better use for them). It's made from lace and pink string lights, she asked for it the first day of her summer vacation and of course that's what I did.

 

 

Anyway, the stay is seized at the bowsprit, I elected to match the main stay by leaving the seizing long then securing the extra length with two clove hitches. I thought it gave it a more finished look.

 

 

The stay runs from there through a 3/16 block at the topmast and dangles about 140mm (really to where I thought it looked good) from the deck. A 3/16 block is seized with .018 tackle which runs through another 3/16 block seized to a hook (I’m getting pretty good at knocking hooks out from 24 gauge wire) into an eyebolt at the base of the mast then back through the upper block and finished off at a cleat on the mast. 

 

The plans do a great job of showing what rope and blocks to use in a table, how the run should look and includes an easy to follow belay map of the deck. I like sorting it all out from plans to model. If I haven’t mentioned the 3 sheets of plans are very well done and an excellent roadmap throughout the build.

 

Topmast Backstays

 

 

 

Chuck notes in the monograph while these are included in the plans in actuality they are rarely used and so are optional to install.  I chose to include them because they provide a little balance to the stern and because I didn’t want the third outside metal strap left empty. Besides who doesn’t want to run more string about the boat. They consist of a long length of .018 brown line looped and seized at the topmast with ¼ blocks about 130mm above the deck where .018 light brown tackle is carried down to another ¼ block & hook connected to the third metal strap on the outside of the hull, back up to the block then finished at a cleat inside the bulwark. All of this is shown nicely on the plans. I have not tensioned and glued either these or the main backstays. I have to move them out of the way to access the pin rails and mast cleats for the remainder of the rigging. For a similar reason I haven’t glued in the tiller yet, I need the working room for my hands. Once I’m finished the rigging for the yards I’ll come back to the tiller and gluing in these stays.

 

Standing Rigging

 

 

With that I have completed all of Cheerful’s standing rigging and 13 of the 14 chapter monograph. I now turn to the making the yards (back to the lathe and mill) and the remainder of the running rigging. My journey is almost complete.

 

Thanks for stopping by, as always I appreciate your likes and especially your comments. I hope you’re still finding the log enjoyable to follow.

Edited May 31, 2021 by glbarlow

[Chuck]

That looks fantastic Glenn

 

You are almost all done.  The ratlines came out really good.   It will be a nice relaxing coast to the finish line now.

[PRS]

Man this looks great!

 

I like the ratlines how you knotted them and will need to follow your rope coil instructions unless you want to come over and do mine when I am ready.

 

I have beer.

[glbarlow]

16 minutes ago, Chuck said:

You are almost all done. 

Thanks Chuck, I kind of regret that - its been such a challenging and rewarding build. I'm going to miss it when it's finished.

[glbarlow]

4 minutes ago, PRS said:

I have beer.

Thank you.

 

Scotch maybe. I hope you can follow the rope coil section.  I tried to explain it without writing more of a book than I did. Use scrap rope to practice, something I wish I'd done and saved a little good Syren rope.