HM Cutter Cheerful by PRS - Syren Ship Models - 1/48 Finished

[PRS]

Added the transom pieces. Looks like I have the second one from the right off a bit. Pictures sure tell you when you don't have something lines up right.

[Thistle17]

Just tuned in to your build. I too am working on Cheerful. At this point I am working on all the sail parts masts, booms etc. I did not post my build as I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Some trial and error fixing of the planking until I slowed myself down and wasn't afraid to fit a plank a second time to get it right. Nonetheless she is a fun project full of subtle detail.

 

You are doing just fine!

Joe

[PRS]

2 hours ago, Thistle17 said:

Just tuned in to your build. I too am working on Cheerful. At this point I am working on all the sail parts masts, booms etc. I did not post my build as I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Some trial and error fixing of the planking until I slowed myself down and wasn't afraid to fit a plank a second time to get it right. Nonetheless she is a fun project full of subtle detail.

 

You are doing just fine!

Joe

Thanks Joe. Speak up if you see a mistake.

 

Waiting for my wood to come in so I decided to make some rope. I found the cotton a lot better than the polyester as far as looks and tightness go.

 

The lighter colour is the cotton and the darker is the poly.

 

 

[Thistle17]

Paul the build is pretty staight forward because of the fine instructions. However read them very carefully as it is easy to misinterpret sometimes without going to and fro his build log, the drawings and his instructions. Some of his photos were taken at times a bit out of phase to when the instructions were written. For example I made the stern fashion pieces but did not paint them until after application because I forgot and was led astray by an accompanying photo (I did the wales correctly). So do excercise your own deliberate thinking.

 

Also I did not lay the deck planks from stern forward. I started at the bow because when i started the other way the runs were not long enogh to establish the needed symmetry as they were broken up by deck furniture.

 

When you get to the masts, yards and booms send me a PM and I can supply you with more info on how I did them. If you are a wood turner and have the equipment then my suggestions may not help.

 

Joe

Edited June 10, 2021 by Thistle17

[Matt D]

I don’t know much about making rope, but that looks terrific to me.  I agree that the cotton looks better than the polyester.

[PRS]

1 hour ago, Thistle17 said:

Paul the build is pretty staight forward because of the fine instructions. However read them very carefully as it is easy to misinterpret sometimes without going to and fro his build log, the drawings and his instructions. Some of his photos were taken at times a bit out of phase to when the instructions were written. For example I made the stren fashion pieces but did not paint them until after application because I forgot and was led astray by an accompanying photo (I did the wales correctly). So do excercise your own deliberate thinking.

 

Also I did not lay the deck planks from stern forward. I started at the bow because when i started the other way the runs were not long enogh to establish the needed symetry as they were broken up by deck furniture.

 

When you get to the masts, yrds and booms send me a PM and i can supply you with more info on how I did them. If you are a wood turner and have the equipment then my suggestions may not help.

 

Joe

Awesome Joe. Thanks for the info and help. It will be a while before I get to that stage

 

[PRS]

28 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I don’t know much about making rope, but that looks terrific to me.  I agree that the cotton looks better than the polyester.

Yes the cotton stays tighter than the poly and will also make for knot tying easier. 

 

Wife is a quilter so uses poly but I will go get more of the cotton for the dark brown. Going to go dark brown instead of black for the rigging.

[PRS]

OK so I am extremely happy tonight!

My wood came in from Modeler's Sawmill and I have to tell you this exceeded my expectations.

 

All the wood is packaged and marked as to what is there and it looks like there is a bit of extra pieces in the counts.

 

This is option B in yellow cedar and it smells fantastic.

 

Here is what the planking looks like and I cannot see any saw marks at all. I have no idea how this is done so well.

 

And here is 1/32 square. How do they do this?

 

So if you don't have the tools to cut out the wood (like myself) then I highly recommend hitting up Joe over at Modeler's Sawmill for sure.

[glbarlow]

On 6/8/2021 at 6:22 PM, Thistle17 said:

I too am working on Cheerful.

It would be interesting for all of us Cheerful builders to see some photos of yours. I think there is a forum post for works in progress you might consider. It’s a great and fun build for sure. 

[PRS]

Started the gun port framing.

 

Turned the ship upside down on a piece of paper and marked the dimensions.

 

Then taped them onto the 1/4 square and cut them out with my scroll saw leaving some extra length and then sanded the edges to fit.

 

Takes a few tries to make them fit good as going to the stern they are angled.

 

Then it is easy to glue them in using a larger piece to make sure they are level with both sides.

 

Then took a plank and drew the lines where it will be sanded. This way I can follow the curve.

 

I used some 1/4 square yellow cedar for these as I have it and didn't have boxwood in that size and I wanted to see how well the cedar sands and shapes as I have never worked with it before.

[PRS]

I unglued the transom piece that was not lined up with alcohol and it did come out easier than I thought. Glued it back in and made sure it was lined up properly.

 

Once I had all the gun ports framed out I gave them a coat of my favorite primer.  This Badger primer stick's to everything like no other primer but does not work with metal. It is fast drying and easy to sand. Went with white as a base for the red.

 

 

 

 

Once I gave them all some sanding I applied the first coat of red. I like Vallejo paint as it is one of the better ones to brush paint. 

 

 

Have the first coat of Crimson Red on the ports and I will sand once they dry overnight.

 

[PRS]

Created the square tuck and sanded it down to fair into the hull.

Applied the third coat of red on the gun ports and used a long batten to mark the wales.

 

It all looks good so I am exited to start planking the wales as this will let me get to know the cedar and also using super glue for this.

[PRS]

So I wasn't happy with the way the gun ports were coming out. I find it very difficult to line both edges up so it looked good to me.

 

So what I am doing is sanding down the openings to the edge of the total port openings like so:

 

And then I am going to frame the ports with 1/32 to create the set back of the inner parts of the ports. Here is a piece test fitted:

 

Once I am ready for the framing pieces I will pre paint them before gluing in place and there will be just a little bit of touch up to do.

 

I just have what I have done rough sanded with 150 grit right now and have a question:

 

I notice when sanding that on the long runs of the planks especially at the rear right now the planks are bending in some when sanding since they are not edge glued. Do you apply some glue at the seams from the inside to keep everything stable?

I was thinking to use some thinned wood glue and brushing it along the edges to help set this up a bit and make it stronger. Or does the wipe on poly set the pieces in place and act as a glue?

 

Also I would like to thank everyone for the likes and comments as it keeps me motivated.

 

[glbarlow]

Are you beveling the top edge of the planks and using plank bending methods for a tight fit?  Shouldn’t need anything from Inside and while WOP is of great benefit, it’s no substitute for a well fitted plank. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by glbarlow

[Tigersteve]

No edge glue. Take time to properly prepare and fit the planks. Chuck’s tutorials should help. Extra glue will affect the finish when using WOP.

Steve

Edited June 18, 2021 by Tigersteve

[PRS]

19 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Are you beveling the top edge of the planks and using plank bending methods for a tight fit?  Shouldn’t need anything from Inside and while WOP is of great benefit, it’s no substitute for a well fitted plank. 

Yes it is a tight fit. 

 

Just that on the long runs without support at the stern the planks bend inwards when sanding. 

 

Maybe I am pressing too hard on sanding but I usually let the sandpaper do the work.

[PRS]

I have both sides upper planking done and the gun ports formed.

 

Sanded everything down to 600 grit and one coat of wipe on poly. It sure brings out the colour of the yellow cedar.

[PRS]

Pre painting the 1/32 pieces I am going to use to frame the gun ports.

 

I will leave the paint to harden a couple days before using it so as not to make marks in it.

 

[Thistle17]

The creation of the reveal in the gun port openings was one of the most annoying elements of this build. I did it as the instructions indicated but found when all was done that it could have been better. Your method was one I thought of well into the execution of my Cheerful gun ports. I will be following your expeiience carefully and will be anioux to hear your feedback.

Joe

[glbarlow]

Interesting approach to the rabbit.  I hope it works out for you. 

[PRS]

5 hours ago, Thistle17 said:

The creation of the reveal in the gun port openings was one of the most annoying elements of this build. I did it as the instructions indicated but found when all was done that it could have been better. Your method was one I thought of well into the execution of my Cheerful gun ports. I will be following your expeiience carefully and will be anioux to hear your feedback.

Joe

 

3 hours ago, glbarlow said:

Interesting approach to the rabbit.  I hope it works out for you. 

I think it will work out and I am going to wait to frame the gun ports until after the inner planking is done. 

 

One thing about Vallejo paint or any paint for that matter is it takes about a week to fully harden. If you touch it before it is truly cured you will leave finger prints in it. Also Vallejo does need primer to make it stick good but their primer is not very good. I find the Badger primer to be one of the best.

 

Vallejo paint is very high in pigments and it is hard to clean out your airbrush. You must use lacquer thinned to clean out your airbrush after using it as it gets in every crevice. The airbrush I use is a Badger Patriot 105 with a .5 needle. This is a larger needle than most airbrushes but it works well with the primer and Model Air paint. You do have to control the amount of paint because you can really shoot out a lot with the larger needle. I usually use 20 psi air pressure and try to get thin coats.

 

I have used airbrushes with a .3 needle and they are good for real fine spraying but you get a lot of tip dry with acrylic paint so you have to be careful or you will get splatter. The Badger does have a fine needle option but I do not have a need for it.

[PRS]

I thinned out the transom carefully with the Dremel and a sanding drum and the some sanding disks.

 

Then I sanded the inside pieces with 800 grit and decided to paint them before doing and planking on the rear.

[PRS]

Planking on the stern piece and bending.

 

 

[PRS]

So I finished the planking on the stern and there are huge gaps on the inside! I never thought to look until I was finished.  

 

Not sure if I can let it go like that. Looks like a do over to me.

 

And looking at this picture something is wonky with the way it lines up back there.

 

Picture sure show faults.

 

But the paint job turned out pretty good

 

I think I will remove the red part and do it over again paying attention to the inner part to make sure there are not gaps. Since the outer edge is painted if I have some gaps back there I can always fill it but I just need to do better.

 

Funny that I could not see the glaring mistakes until I looked at the pictures. Maybe I need to go see my eye doctor

[Chuck]

You have to bevel the edges of those planks so no gaps can be seen inboard. But since it will be painted also…just apply some filler.  
 

On the outboard side it looks like you just need to sand that area on the right side down to even it out.  That need fixing because after you put the molding on it wont look good.  You need to have a nice curve that isnt wobbly/ wavvy port to starboard.

[glbarlow]

I like the pattern on the inside of the stern, especially with the frames showing and after it was painted, I did it that way on purpose. I also brush painted it with thin coats so that I can tell it’s planks and not a solid sheet.  But to each his own, it needs to be the way you like it.

 

i agree with Chuck, of course, about beveling planks and evening up the back before you get to the fashion pieces. 
 

You’re making nice progress, it’s a relief to be past thinning those outside stern frames. 

[PRS]

22 hours ago, Chuck said:

You have to bevel the edges of those planks so no gaps can be seen inboard. But since it will be painted also…just apply some filler.  
 

On the outboard side it looks like you just need to sand that area on the right side down to even it out.  That need fixing because after you put the molding on it wont look good.  You need to have a nice curve that isnt wobbly/ wavvy port to starboard.

 

22 hours ago, glbarlow said:

I like the pattern on the inside of the stern, especially with the frames showing and after it was painted, I did it that way on purpose. I also brush painted it with thin coats so that I can tell it’s planks and not a solid sheet.  But to each his own, it needs to be the way you like it.

 

i agree with Chuck, of course, about beveling planks and evening up the back before you get to the fashion pieces. 
 

You’re making nice progress, it’s a relief to be past thinning those outside stern frames. 

Thanks Chuck and Glenn. I removed all but the rearmost plank and started again.

 

 

[PRS]

Removed all the planking to redo except the rear most plank.

 

Tired to get new planking beveled as good as I can and sanded and painted again.

 

Now I am noticing that the transom is a little higher than others I see here as you can see in the second photo.

 

Does that look like it will pass or is there some correction I should do?

 

 

[PRS]

Looking ahead at the build instructions I do see that the transom should be even with the sides.

Sanded the transom down to look good.

[PRS]

Spend quite a bit of time making the fashion plates. The first set I discarded. 

These take a bit of time to make and bend properly but it is important to make them fit well.

 

All in all I am really enjoying this build and am working on a slow pace while listening to podcasts. I usually find an interesting series and start at the beginning and play them until I am caught up. Some of my favorite podcasts are Wise About Texas, Swindled, Based on a True Story, and Legends of the Old West.