HM Cutter Cheerful 1806 by JPR62 - 1:48 scale

[Mike_In_RI]

Great Jean-Paul. Everything is coming together nicely... planking.. fashion piece... transom... well done.

 

Mike

[glbarlow]

Looking great, nothing beats Chuck’s method for planking. Glad it’s working for you. 

[PRS]

I like this.

 

How is working with the cherry wood for planking? Hard to cut and bend or easy?

[JpR62]

Thank you all for your kind comments.
I am fortunate to be able to work on a really well-designed kit, to have a precise and well written documentation and to be able to base myself on the work already done and described by many talented modelers 😁.

 

Paul, I don't have a large number of finished models, but compared to Alaskan yellow cedar, cherry is a harder wood. It is a bit more brittle and difficult to bend than cedar. But if you moisten it well, it's still pretty easy to work with.  On the other hand its advantage, it is less easily marked than cedar.

Two woods to be apprehended differently but this is what makes the charm of this hobby 😉. However, in my opinion, cedar is easier to work with.

 

[Chuck]

Hows the Cheerful coming along?  I am eager to see that hull all planked up!!!

 

Stay well

[JpR62]

The work is progressing slowly because unfortunately my job takes up a lot of my time these days and I can only devote a little time to my hobby.
However, I have made some progress.
The electrical part has been installed in order to light the two rooms.

 

 

And the planking of the second belt has started. I still have 3 rows to port and 5 rows to starboard to finish.

 

 

 

 

In a few weeks, I hope to have more time to finish my planking. But I'm racking up the hours these days at my office... I  look forward to quieter days 😉.

 

[Chuck]

You are so close!!!!  Its looking great.

[glbarlow]

So nice to see you still at it - quit the job and work on your hobby full time 😄

 

[JpR62]

Thank you to all the 'Likes'.

With the critical period finally over at my job, I was able to devote some time to my hobby again and finally finish planking the hull.

A good step passed. 🙂

 

 

 

I decided to proceed to the treenailing of the hull. But I unfortunately broke the only drill bit of size #78. While waiting for a new batch of drills to be delivered, I decided to proceed with the last task producing a large amount of sawdust: to thin down the bulwarks inboard.

 

 

I started by roughing it all up with my Proxxon rotary tool. Then I finished the process using various home-made tools on which sandpaper was glued.

 

 

You will notice that to consolidate the planking of the hull, I coated the inside with a thin layer of woodfiller.
I can now proceed to the installation of the false deck.

[Chuck]

Beautiful....looking forward to seeing some deck work made.

[Mike_In_RI]

Super work on the hull... well done.👍👍

[BobG]

Simply stunning, Jean-Paul. The finish on the cherry planking is incredibly beautiful. The cedar may be easier to work with but I think you will be rewarded grandly for the extra effort of using cherry. Well done!

[JpR62]

Thank you to all the 'Likes' and thank you for your kind words.

Bob, I agree with your opinion on cherry wood. It is a warm colored wood. I still have to find the right color of wood filler for the treenailing.

I will proceed with testing as soon as my #78 drill bits arrive.

[JpR62]

As I am still waiting for a package of #78 drills for the treenailing, I decided to assemble the different fittings of the deck.

 

 

They are mini projects in themselves. Again, we can only thank Chuck for the quality of these mini kits and for the precision of the assembly instructions.
It's a real pleasure. Just take your time and follow the instructions precisely. What a pleasure!

 

 

The windless will definitely be mounted once it has been painted. I will wait until the internal planking of the bulwarks is finished to paint all the elements at once. For the moment nothing is glued.

 

 

I started to mount the skylight.

Again a lot of fun to work on this element. And with the extra parts provided, no worries in case of mistakes (I had to redo one of the top frames because I managed to sand on the wrong side...)

 

 

I filled all the gaps and sanded the skylight thoroughly before mounting the coaming.

As usual, I tint the woodfiller in the final color of the element, which allows me to control my sanding more finely.

 

 

For the coaming assembly, I put the skylight on a wooden board to simulate the thickness of the deck planking.

Once this fitting is complete, I will mount the gratings.

Merry Christmas to everyone 🎄

 

 

[glbarlow]

You should consider not tree nailing the hull. It is very beautiful as it is. My opinion is the tree nailing gives the hull a case of the measles. I’m still quite happy with my decision to forgo tree nailing on mine. 
 

 

[hollowneck]

2 hours ago, glbarlow said:

You should consider not tree nailing the hull. It is very beautiful as it is. My opinion is the tree nailing gives the hull a case of the measles. I’m still quite happy with my decision to forgo tree nailing on mine. 
 

 

 

I concur with Glenn. As stated elsewhere on the forum, the "trunneling" of hulls - even at 1/4" scale - is aesthetically over-the-top. Besides, if you omit this dubious procedure, you'll not have to worry about giving her a shot of the Shingles vaccine in her old age.🤣

Ron

[allanyed]

Treenailing at 1:48 can be a beautiful thing or as stated above it could look like the hull has a bad case of the measles.  When your drill bits are in hand, drill some test pieces.   Rub a touch of PVA in the holes and sand by hand or with a light touch of a vibrating mouse type sander to fill the holes.  Let it cure then apply whatever finish you plan to use, be it an oil or poly or whatever.  I have done this with castello and it give a very subtle look such that you can see them, but they do not jump out at you.  I would suggest bamboo which I love as the color is also very subtle, for castello and boxwood, but may be too stark of a contrast to cherry.

 

Looking forward to your test results.

Allan 

Edited January 1, 2022 by allanyed

[JpR62]

Thank you Glenn, Ron and Allan for your great advice and thanks to everyone who is following this build.

 

I will definitely be testing for hull treenailing. I've already prepared a reproduction of the planking and I'm still waiting for my order for the drill bits (Covid has slowed down package deliveries again...)

 

In the meantime, I am making progress on the preparation of the cutter deck.
I glued a copy of the deck plan onto card stock and cut out the elements that will allow the two rooms I detailed to be seen.
I still need to add tape around the edge to get the final shape of my false deck so I can cut it out of a 1/16" cherry sheet.

 

 

I continued the assembly of the various fittings that will be on the deck. The gratings come from Syren and it is again a pleasure to assemble them.

 

And finally, I started the assembly of the companionway. Since I'm going to leave the doors open, I have to be quite precise in the assembly.
I quickly realized that it's not a simple cube that needs to be assembled, because I have to take into account the slope ('tonture' in French) of the deck.
Reading the excellent log of glbarlow confirmed me on this question.

 

So I quickly developed a jig to facilitate the assembly and especially to have precise angular cuts. A photocopy of the plan was made on a clear self-adhesive film.

 

 

The two side pieces were mounted at right angles. They are made of 6 planks of 1/32" but are higher than the plan.
I can use my jig to make the various cuts.

 

For the height, I simply added again 2 pieces of wood at the top of the companionway that follow the slope of the deck.

 

The result respects the plans quite well. I am trying to work cleanly because I am thinking of not painting the companionway and leaving it in natural wood.

 

I still have to finalize the companionway by adding the open doors.

 

[BobG]

Wonderful, precise work, Jean-Paul!

[glbarlow]

Nice work on capturing the angle. The open doors will be interesting to see.  Your Cheerful is really coming together, I enjoy seeing the effect of the different wood. 

[Mike_In_RI]

Great craftsmanship and methods on the companion and deck structures. The small stuff does take time. Well done.

 

Mike

[JpR62]

Thank you Bob, Glenn and Mike for your kind comments and thank you to all the 'Likes'.

 

I finished the assembly of the electric  Evans Designs leds. I will then be able to prepare and glue the false deck of the ship.

 

A small test once the assembly is completed. It works 😃. A big thank you to scrubbyj427 who made me discover these great little leds from Evan Designs in his beautiful build log of the Winchelsea frigate.

 

 

The last details have been added: the open door between the 2 rooms and the small ladder that gives access to the door to the bread room.

 

Next step: installation of the false deck.

 

[Thukydides]

It looks fantastic, great job!

[scrubbyj427]

Thanks Jp. That really looks nice, I’m glad the LEDs worked out, they are really easy to install and produce great light! I would recommend painting the underside of your false deck a dark color as the light may penetrate the wood from below.

JJ

[Pitr Obrębski]

How clean and thorough work. Great job.

[JpR62]

Thanks to all the people who are following this build and giving me precious advice.

This week I put in place the false deck.

I followed the instructions precisely, so I started by adding multiples thin strips of protective tape on each side of the cut plan to adjust the false deck.

The final shape is transferred to two 1/16" cherry wood sheets that are temporarily joined with tape. I didn't have a large enough sheet and it also saves me from having to cut through the middle.

 

On Scrubbyjj427's advice, I painted the reverse side of the false deck in the areas above the two rooms to keep the light from coming through the wood.

 

I glued the false deck in 2 steps so I could put the access ladder in place before gluing the second part. I was afraid to drop the ladder in the room if I proceeded to put it in place once all the false deck was glued.I know myself 😅

 

The false deck has been reinforced with small nails that will be removed once the glue has hardened. This ensures that the false deck adheres precisely to the bulkheads.

 

Once the nails are removed, the gaps and marks left by the nails or their extraction are filled with wood filler and sanded. I also take the opportunity to finish the 2 openings located on the false deck.

 

A final blank test of the various fittings.

 

I will now finish the internal planking of the bulwarks.

 

 

[glbarlow]

The open companionway is a great touch.  I know how important it is to get a good fit with the false deck, which you’ve clearly done.

[niwotwill]

Adding the false deck makes the whole thing feel like a ship. Great job on the fit

 

 

Best Regards

Will

[archjofo]

Fantastic work !

[JpR62]

Thanks to all those who follow my work.

@Glenn, I had a lot of fun detailing the interior of the 2 rooms and adjusting the opening visible from the deck. And I am fortunate to be able to refer on this site to excellent reference models every time. Thanks again for your excellent log on the Cheerful.

@Will, it's true that the addition of the false deck marks an important step. All the internal structure is hidden and we will be able to detail all the fittings that will take place on the deck. It is indeed starting to look like a ship.

 

@Johann, thanks for the kind words. Your work on the Creole is one of my references and I think many of us admire the quality and precision of your work. As for me, I still have a long way to go...