catopower

This is one of those projects that I started a LONG time ago as a side project that I kept in the workshop of the Hyde Street Pier Model Shipwrights' workshop aboard the ferryboat Eureka. It was a design that intrigued me, and I've always had an interest in ship from the period of the War of 1812.
 
Amati calls this the "Arrow", saying it was used on Lake Champlain. It's straight from a Chapelle drawing of a design that he says "can not be accounted for", so it may have never been built. But, it's certainly a unique and interesting kit.
 
I built pretty much straight from the Amati kit with few modifications. Most changes were small, like the use of some pear wood I had on hand for the upper most hull strake, a minor change to the run of the brails, and the making of my own sails rather than the ones provided in the kit, etc.
 
Other minor mods were pear wood blocks from Master Korabel and Syren model rope. Also, the oars are Amati etched brass fittings that I painted using a technique that Chris Watton outlines in his ship's boats instructions and elsewhere.
 
The flag, I created using Adobe Illustrator, and printed on thin computer paper on my inkjet printer.
 
Overall, this was a fun and challenging build of an interesting subject. It's roughly 1/55 scale, and about 18" long.
 
 
 
 

This is a model of an early Meiji period side-trawing fishing boat that was used on Tokyo Bay. Called an Utasebune, similar boats were used up through the 1950s, though later versions were equipped with a small internal engine for travel to and from the fishing grounds.
 
When fishing, a mast would be raised, carrying a single, large square-sail. A smaller auxilliary mast was raised near the bow with a smaller square-sail. These were set up so the wind would push the boat sideways, as the boat dragged a large net. The boat's hull provided enough drag to allow the net to be pulled slowly along.
 
The downward dipping bow is a characteristic that is referred to as Nomeri-type, and is a feature that's only seen on Tokyo Bay. The purpose is to keep the bow low, reducing the effects of the wind on it.
 
This is a 1/72-scale scratch build, based on drawings recorded in 1868 by French Navy Lieutenant Armand Paris, and published in Souvenirs de Marine Conserves. At this scale, the model is only about 10" long overall, and was made to be scale compatible with my scratch-built Tonegawa Takasebune and my Kitamaebune model, built from a Woody Joe kit.
 
 

This is a 1/10-scale model of a small, one or two person riverboat from Niigata, Japan. The model is base on one that was built In 2019, by boat builder Douglas Brooks and Nina Noah of an organization called The Apprenticeshop, with Japanese boatbuilder Mr. Nakaichi Nakagawa.
 
The boat is of a type called an itaawase, mostly referring to the fact that it is not a dugout and it has a plank bow and no cutwater.  While not exclusive to Niigata prefecture, this was very common on the rivers there. The full-sized boat measures 25 feet in length, making the model 30 inches long.
 
The model is made from Japanese cedar,  sugi , with beam and end blocks made from Japanese cypress,  hinoki.
 
I made two models, but neither is in my possession. One model was a commision build and went to one of the generous donors of the project, and the other I sent to Douglas Brooks as a gift of thanks for all his help over the past several years.
 
 

The Takasebune is a large cargo river boat, of which there were various types across Japan. The Tonegawa Takasebune were just one of many types of boats that plied the intricate network of the Tone river, but it was among the largest, measuring up to around 27 meters in length and was said to have a carrying capacity of up to 900 bushels of rice, or about 54 tons. My model is a 1/72-scale build of a 60-foot, with a carrying capacity of about 500 bushels of rice, or about 30 tons.
 
I’ve been interested in these boats for some time, and have been gathering what information I could find about them through web searches and a few books. Finally, I started working on this one. It's a bit on the small side, being only about 10" long overall and 7" tall, but it's scale compatible with my Higaki Kaisen and Kitamaebune models.
 
After spending a long time making all the cargo, I finally decided it was loaded up enough to call it complete.

I built this model from a laser-cut card kit from Shipyard. This is my second completed card ship model. 
 
This has been a fun and interesting build. With Shipyard's laser-cut card kits, all the parts are pre-cut for you, except the mast and yard, which are fashioned from wooden dowels, like a wooden ship model kit. Because the card stock provided has no printing on it, unlike the printed paper kits, where you cut out all the parts yourself, the builder has to paint the model to simulate wood. But, paint is provided, along with mixing ratios, and instructions on how to create the wood-like finish. The sail also has to be painted, but the sail material is provided, pre-cut, and pre-marked with the outlines of the painted areas.
 
I built the model over the course of about a year, though I took a long break in the middle of it all. 
 
The completed 1/72-scale model is about 13-1/2" long.

This very simple Billing Boats kit was a project I took on, specifically to illustrate how you can make a decent looking model from a simple kit, but building mostly straight from the box. It's certainly not my best work, as I followed most of the shortcuts shown in the instructions, plans, and kit photos.
 
I have to sake it does make a nice diversion if you're an experience modeler and need something simple to work on for a while, or if you're beginner trying to get a taste of ship modeling. Also, I've seen there's been some interest in the build, as there are those making micro RC boats from the kit.
 
When things open up again, I think I'll probably put this into our model club display case on board the Eureka at Hyde Street Pier.

The Tenma-zukuri chabune (ten-mah-zoo-koo-ree-chah-boo-nay) is small boat used on the canals and rivers of  the Japanese capital city, once known as Edo, now Tokyo. It's a one or two person boat, but there is little known information about it. I have found no references to the type. And, like just about all traditional Japanese watercraft from the early 1800s and earlier, there are no plans of any type. 
 
The only information about the specific type comes from a book put together by the Shogunal government for the purpose to tax assessment. An illustrated book published in 1802 called the Funakagami includes an illustration of the type, along with general dimensions, and a table and illustration identifying the principle parts of the boat, though this may have been a later addition to the book.
 

 
From this illustration and general measurements, I reconstructed the boat, creating a simple set of digital drawings from which to build the model from. The boat is similar to a type that is called a Tenmasen or Hakucho, which in the Edo area, was a cargo boat, and the name Tenma-zukuri chabune suggests there is some relationship, as it translates to "Tenma-style tea boat" (tea boats are a general class of small riverboat commonly used to sell food and drink to river goers). Knowing that there are a couple examples of Tenmasen remaining, I managed to acquire some photos of those to aid in the development of the drawings.
 
After several revisions of the drawings, I and a fellow ship modeler in Japan, Mr. Kouichi Ohata, built our own models based on the final plan. His model was made in 1/10 scale, while mine was made in 1/20 scale. 
 
 
My model is about 13-1/2" long, and represents a 21-foot boat, probably operated one or two people. The model is made from Japanese cypress, called hinoki, which I darkened using an aniline dye. Copper coverings were added, which I darkened by giving the whole model a vapor bath of liver of sulfur. The exposed ends of iron nails you see inside the hull were simulated using permanent adhesive-backed vinyl cut using a Silhouette Cameo machine.
 
Finally, before spraying the whole thing with a coat of matte lacquer, the lower part of the hull was given a wash of black dye to simulate the wood charring that was done to the hull bottoms to make them more waterproof and rot resistant.
 
 

In the Fall of 2019, boatbuilder Douglas Brooks went to Japan, together with Nina Noah from an organization called the Apprenticeshop, and built two boats as part of a research project. The second of these boats was the Himi Tenma or Tenmasen. It is a small workboat use for fishing and ferrying people and things in coastal waters. Larger versions of this boat were often carried aboard the large coastal transports called bezaisen or sengokubune for loading and offloading cargo, passengers, and crew.
 
This particular boat was only about 13 feet long and was built under the guidance of Japanese boatbuilder Mr. Mitsuaki Bansho. I was asked to build this model as a gift for one of the donors to the project.
 
The model is about 15.5" long and made primarily from  sugi , or Japanese cedar. The light colored wood used for the beams, half-frames, stem, etc., is  hinoki , or Japanese cypress. The model isn't an exact replica, as I was provided with a museum drawing of a similar boat, some dimensions, and photographs. But, the photos didn't explain all the details and the museum drawing differed from the actual boat that was built. So, this model is more of a representative model that is pretty accurate to the type and very close to the one built in 2019.
 
I started construction in mid-April and completed it just about 30 days later.
 
 

In Japanese, this is a  保津川下り舟 or  Hozugawa kudari bune. It is a "downriver" boat, because these boats were traditionally run down the Hozu river and through the rapids to carry goods down from the mountains to the old capital city of Kyōto.
 
In the old days, the nearly 40-foot long boats were then hauled back up the river, manually, by the boatmen wearing cloth harnesses attached to long ropes. They would hike the rocky shores of the river, 3 at a time, while a fourth boatman would stay on the boat or on the shore, pushing the boat away from the rocks with a heavy pole.
 
This is how it was done for centuries on the Hozu river as well as many other rivers. You can see many Japanese woodblock prints where boatmen are depicted walked along a river, hauling on ropes to pull boats upriver. 
 
This models is made from Japanese cypress, Hinoki, and is based on some drawings provided by boat builder Douglas Brooks. The last wooden kudari boat was specially built in 2009, the first wooden boat of its type built in 60 years. Today, the tour boat company that operates on the Hozu river, uses fiberglass boats based on this design. Sadly, the last wooden boat fell into disuse, was not maintained, and was broken up in 2019.
 
These old wooden boats were particularly interesting in that the planking was not symmetrical. The bottom planks are made relatively short, and the floor planks closer to the bow are tapered. The planking arrangement is said to allow damaged planks to be more easily replaced. 
 
My own model is something of a hybrid of old and new. I had to base construction on photos of the wooden boat, but some changes had been made since its construction to make it more easily used as a tour boat. I tried to avoid adding the more modern touches, but I had few references to guide me at the time. 
 
I've since found photos of the boat when it was first put in the water in 2009. Plus, I now think I have a better understanding now of what was traditional and what was not.
 
Edit: Just discovered this interesting (soundless) footage on Youtube that shows a boat being hauled up river and run down the river:
 
 
 
 

Tokyo Bay was once famous for it's nori or edible seaweed, the same stuff that is dried and wrapped around sushi. Urayasu was one of the towns on the outskirts of Tokyo that was home to a fleet of seaweed harvesting boats called Bekabune.
 
These small one-person boats were made in a very specific size, allowing them to navigate between the seaweed nets. 1 or 2 smaller boats were sometimes carried aboard a larger vessel, but many used a small spritsail to reach the seaweed beds.
 
Mine is a 1/10-scale model of the larger 14' boat, which was also used for shellfishing. It's made from Japanese cedar, or sugi, like the actual boat, with beams and stem made from Japanese cypress, or hinoki. The model is based primarily on information in Douglas Brooks' book Japanese Wooden Boatbuilding. The boat was the subject of his second apprenticeship with Japanese master craftsmen.