thibaultron

After generating the hull lines, I go to 3D mode, draw out the base line, waterline, whatever you are using to determine the fore aft positions of the hull lines in the X direction. Then I rotated the hull lines 90 deg. so they run in the XZ rather than XY direction. Each "frame' is then positioned at its repective place on the reference line. you now have the 3D model of your hull. The following pictures are screen captures of "The Maryland Terrapin Smack 1886" that I drew: This is the station lines, keel, and deck center line laid out in the X axis. In this I've loaded in the frames, rotated them into the XZ plane, and have move some of them onto their locations. Note that this boat has a flat bottom and slab sides, but a regular curved hull is done the same way. Here the frames and transom are all in place, and I have used a curve line with defining points set at each frame to define the Chine and Shear. Much further down the line, I have added surfaces, deck furniture, etc. These are all half hulls, but all it takes then is to duplicate and mirror the finished side, then stick them together. These drawings were made from a scanned page in a book. I've since purchased the full sized plans, and started over to make a more accurately scaled drawing. I'm just starting the 3D drawings for this. There are many other layers of details that are not shown. At this time I am concentrating on Chesapeake Bay boats, for scratch building future models. In the pasted I've CADed 2D drawings of WWII era ships, for semi-scale 144th scale models (to scale, but lacking fine detailing).

Part 08 Next onto the bowsprit Here is the final drawing of the bowsprit, with the trailboard graphic in place. Note: My CAD program, DesignCAD has an “Auto Trace Bitmap” tool that will trace a scanned drawing, and create a CAD format drawing. This Trace function does not create a finished drawing, the lines are close but not accurate enough for real life. No available trace program does trace accurately enough for a finished drawing. However what I did was change the traced lines to a light gray, and I use them for drawings like this that detail a part or parts of the final drawing. It gives a much better contrast than the black lines on the scans I’m using to hand trace and make the final drawing. If yours has this same feature, or you have a standalone Tracing program, you might want to do something similar on your drawings. To contrast with the gray line drawing, here is one using the scanned drawing as a background. And here is a sample of the best trace I get, as you can see it is not even close enough for a final drawing. The green lines are the generated trace. I decided to make two bowsprits, a large one (2X) for practice, and a scale one. This will detail the initial work on the large one, as I have to start over (details below). I’m starting from dowels for the material, going to square, sanding the octagonal section, then the round. I started out by gluing a piece of rectangular stock to the small blank, to make it easier to handle. Then using a friends large oscillating belt sander I sanded one side of the dowels flat. This sander is Nice! It has the belt running horizontally to the table, and in addtion the belt moves up and down verticaly so that you are not just wearing out/clogging, one section of the belt. Then using this flat side down on the table,as a reference, I sanded either side flat and square to the first side. I left one side round, as I need to sand all four sides on the completed bowsprit, so I’ll sand this side while shaping the piece. I squared the sanding surface to the table uing a 3” machinist square as a guide. Here is where I made my mistake. I decided to sand the top and bottom curved profiles first. After doing this I then found that the piece rocked too much to do the side taper. One smart thing I did was leave the blank overlong on the base side, for a handle. I found another problem while sanding the large blank. The shield on my disk sander extends a little past the disk surface. This interferes with getting into inside corners, like where the square section at the base meets the handle. I used to use the belt portion of the sander for these areas, but at the moment, I don’t have a belt. I’m going to remove the sheild and grind away a portion to solve this problem. Above is a picture of the sanded large blank, along with the smaller blank, still glued to the rectangular stock. The downward curve of the bowsprit is shown in the photo above. I have to make a new large blank, and resand it. I’ll pick up there next time.

A little pricer than when I got mine 15 years ago $160. Here's a link: http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-hydraulic-table-cart-60730-10041.html Range 8 1/8" to 27 1/2". Overkill, maybe, but at 500# capacity, it should lift anything we build.

This may not work for you, but here is what I did for a large 1/8th scale ride behind locomotive I have. I bought a hydrolic lift table from Harbor Freight, for about $100. I just raised and lowered the table as needed. You could attach a table to it, with legs that go through the table. Have holes in the legs, that you can slip a rod into, to lock the table at various heights. Use the lift table to change heights, and roll it out of the way when working. The handle of the cart would get in the way of working on the model, unless you can modify it somehow, or have it turned to the side..

Frank; Thank you for the compliment! I have been working on actual construction of the bowsprit, and will post what I've done soon.

I've used DesignCAD since the early 90s, both 2D and 3D. I'm using Ver 24 right now. In the recent past I've used V15 & v20. The general commands for all these later versions are about the same. I went from v20 to v24, because I was running into low memory problems with the older versions. I've run v24 on both Windows Vista and Windows 7. If your system ran 8.1, it should have more than adequate memory for v23. What anti-virus are you using on 8.1? I have had great luck with the free version of AVG anti-virus. Have you been running the Windows Update, or have it set for automatic updates? If you can not get on the interne, you may have to reinstall the 8.1, and then run all the updates. Keep running them, letting them install, probably rebooting, then run it again. It may take several times until all of them install, as some have to be installed before a later update can load. I update AVG daily and run the Windows Update, and run a virus scan with AVG, at least once a week, and have not had any virus problem damage my computer. I have gotten a few viruses, but they have been caught. If you can get on the Web to at least get the MS updates, do so. They are offering Win 10 for free to users with Win 7, Win 8, or Win 8.1, starting at the end of the month. If you run the updates, they will automatically ask you if you want the upgrade. I'd be happy to help you. Here are a couple of recent 3D drawings I've done. The first is the Maryland Terrapin Smack from a Chappelle drawing in a book. I'm now redrawing it from the large plans I got from the Smithsonian. The second is a hand powered oyster dredge winch for a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack, I'm building.

3D does take getting used to. Mostly you have to get used to setting points rather than using the mouse as much as with 2D.

Part 07 After a delay due to a series of family medical problems, and work on the 8 X 8 extension for my shop, I have gotten a little work done for the model. I worked on plans for the hand powered dredge winches. I found some pictures of such winches on the internet, and a drawing from an 1800s government publication. This photo shows the winches in use. Note that this does not look like a skipjack, as their dredge equipment was amidships, but may be one of the single masted sloops used prior to the development of the skipjacks in the 1890s. These crank/drum axles look to be about waist height. A small photo unfortunately. Photo from a Chesapeake Bay museum, unfortunately this is also a small photo. This is the main photo that my design is based on. Drawing showing Oyster Pirates at work, during the night. Note that it looks like the winches have a gear reduction unit used (the offset box and crank handle). The crank handle axle is shown a little below waist height here, but the handles on either side are different lengths. Also note the opening in the top of the water barrel. The winches should also be aft of the rollers, not forward as shown in the etching. Drawing from a government treatise on the US fishing industry, published in the 1880s. As detailed below, I think this is for use where the crew are standing in a deck well. The dredge bucket is proportionally much narrower than all the other drawings and photos I’ve found. I chose to used the two photos as a basis for my model, with some details from the drawings as a help. Firstly the “The Oyster Industry” drawing looks odd, as the crank handle seems overly long for cranking, and the handle would be quite close to the deck, if the operator was standing. I found that some early skipjacks had a well the crew stood in while dredging. This winch looks like it might be one of these. Its shorter stature, compared to crank length, might be right for a person standing below deck level. On a side note: I have a Midwest Skipjack kit that has this well arrangement. I’ll keep this in mind for that model. The Midwest kit is a model of the type used by “Oyster Pirates” that dredged illegally in the tonguing beds at night. I found a drawing of the “Messenger” in one of Chappell’s books of this type that matches the Midwest kit, almost exactly. One interesting difference between the rollers used on the “Messenger” and the Midwest kit is that they are narrow, compared to all the other skipjack info I have found. Similar to the one shown in the government fishibg industries report drawing. Drawing of the Midwest kit (red lines) superimposed on a drawing of the “Messenger”. The other drawing is of Oyster Pirates dredging. I don’t expect that the artist was going for great accuracy, but I do note that there seems to be a gear reduction used on the cranks. This is what I think the off center box is. The photo of just the winch and dredge bucket from the Chesapeake museum shows “something” in a similar position, so I’m going to assume that is what it is. I wish this photo was more detailed, but you can’t win them all. The only real indication of the size of the winches, is that the crank handle shaft seems to be about waist height in the photo of the men dredging, and the pirate drawing. Based on this I’m assuming a axle height of 36”. The drawing I made is based mostly on the one photo of the winch dredge combo at the museum. Using the 36” height I used my CAD program to come up with the following general dimensions to start with: Shaft Height: 36” Drum Diameter Outer: 12” Base Width: 24” Handle Offset: 16” Cross Brace Lower Height: 4.5”” Cross Brace Upper Height: 27” Base Length: 29” Base Leg Web Width: 2” Drum Length:16” Handle Length Extremes: 15” Bottom Rod Brace Height 4.5” Leg Pad Width: 3.5” Starting with this and after some fiddling, here is what I came up with: The offset cylinder on the right of the drum, is what I am going to use for the gear reduction. The long open area on the right hand part of the crank/drum axle, is for some type of pawl mechanism, that I will have to come up with, later. I will try to make it look somewhat like the one in the photo, with what looks to be a covered pawl, and the vertical hooked release handle shown. As the about 42” total height will make the model winch only about ¾” of an inch tall, I think I can get away will some generalizations. I really wish I could have found a clear higher resolution photo of one of these winches. While the one drawing is nice and clear, I don’t think I could scratch build that complicated pawl and possibly also gear reduction mechanism in 1/64th scale. Building this winch in 1/64th will be a challenge. The complex bracing of the legs will be a real challenge, in this small scale. The cranks and drum not too bad. There are a few options I am looking at. Photo-etched brass for the legs, with the flanges then bent up to complete the assembly. I could, with some investment, do this at home, but I don’t know if I would use up the chemicals on future models, before they went bad. Make the legs out of paper. I could print the designs and then cut them out. Again in this small size, I don’t think my skills are up to this fine a skill. I have trouble cutting the window mullions on my HO paper building kits. Maybe I could talk to one of the vinyl graphics places about this. I’ll check into this. Paper might also be a bit fragile when attached to the model (fat finger damage possible). Built everything from sheet plastic. Again cutting these small parts and getting both clean results and four matching parts for the two winches needed, will be tough. Go full throttle, and get a 3D printed model made. There are a few 3D printing houses that cater to modelers. This would be a little pricey, but probably no more than buying the materials needed for photo-etching. Learning one of the solid modeling programs would be interesting, and this might be handy for future modeling both for ships and model railroading. I could also have the others parts (crank handles, and drum) 3D printed at the same time. One problem might be printer resolution at this size. Laser cut parts. There is at least one person on this forum who offers this service. One problem with laser cutting is that 1/32nd or even 1/64th inch thick wood is way overly thick for the leg webs. Which would likely only be ½” thick maximum. ¼” thick is more likely. Even 1/64th might look bulky at this scale. I’m leaning toward the 3D printing, or laser cut parts, but it will be a while before I decide. Both these methods would be useful when I have to make bigger winches for the Midwest kit, and the scratch built “Carrie Price” in 1/32nd I plan for the future. That’s it for this installment. Next time work progresses on the bowsprit.

Planking is an option, but with this small a hull (about 8" long), I would have to sand a lot to account for even thin planks. I may look into a product used to treat dry rotted wood. I forget the name, but have used it in the past. It is a thin slow setting epoxy, that is designed to soak into the wood. Poly resin may be a little too thick for this application. Thank's for the suggestions!

I have a small scale Sterling kit (about 1/80th, rather than the large RC kit) of the Emma C Berry, that I got so I can display this 2 masted version with the MS 1/32nd single masted one. She was built with the single mast, and several years later, converted to a 2 masted schooner. She sailed in this configuration, until donated to the Mystic Seaport museum, who restored her back to the as build setup. My question is how to reinforce the soft balsa solid hull. I know that such hulls dent and crack easily, and want to add some type of "substance" to toughen the surface. I'm looking for something tougher than regular paint.

Would it be possible for you to post the CAD drawing? I could use one of these too!

Great workstation, and great CADing..

Thanks for this thread!

Nice build!

For anyone who may be following this thread. I have not given up on the thread. A series of family medical problems, and working to complete the addition to the shop have delayed construction on my model. I'm presently in the process of building the bowsprit, and will detail this in, hopefully, the near future.

It is a swivel blade. Sort of an Xacto on a shaft. They are used on vinyl cutters for example.

I found out that model railroading users of the Circuit have found that it will not consistantly cut 1/16" basswood. They have to sand their sheets a little thinner. The cutting edge on the "Deep Cutting" blade is 1/16" long, so if the wood is slightly thick, or does not lay completely flat on the cutting mat, the cutter will stall and stop. As far as lettering it will cut down to about 8 point type.

For thin stock I found something that might be usable instead of a laser cutter. I just watched a video review of the new Circut "Explore" digital cutter. (unfortunately on a pay for viewing Model Railroading site, so I can't post a link). According to the video the modeler uses the new Cricut to cut up to 1/16" basswood for buildings for his layout with good accuracy and repeatability for multipule cuts. (to a few thousands)(press fit of the cutout back into the material). The new Ciricut can cut your design files, not just the caned routines that former models could. For say frames on small models and thin parts this might be a good machine. I found it for between $170 (used) and $230 (new) on the web. I'm downloading some YouTube videos, and will get back after viewing some of them.

When you clean your airbrush, you should not need to disassemble the trigger mechanism. Clean out the cup (for gravity feed brushes) with a towel, rinse with cleaner and a brush to remove residue, run fresh cleaner through it. If you have to take anything apart, you may need to remove the needle and spray nozzle. Look up the Wargaming Consortium videos on YouTube.

Part 06 Before I can continue with the hull and railing corrections, I need to make the new bowsprit, as the railings terminate on the spar. As mentioned earlier, the kit supplied bowsprit is incorrect in many ways. It is a straight, round spar. On the skipjacks the bowsprit was curved down along its length, and except at the last ¼ or so of its length past the bow, was octagonal. As is typical with a plastic kit, the fittings are cast overly large. The plans I have for the Carrie Price do not have much detail other than the length and general shape for this part. I used the bowsprit shown in the Willie Bennett plans as a start. A portion of the Willie Bennett plans showing bowsprit details. Note how far out the octagonal section goes, and the downward curve. The portion of the Carrie Price plans that show the bowsprit cover two pages in a book. When I scanned them, naturally there was a gap, and some distortion at the book spine area. I couldn’t just combine them using a photo program, because of the distortion. So I loaded both halves into my CAD program. I then drew as much of each side as I could, then superimposed the lines using the jib, and rigging as reference points. Shown below is the CAD of the bowsprit scan and drawing. The bowsprit is shown in green. Redrawn Carrie Price bowsprit. I resized the Bennett’s bowsprit and placed it on the drawing, rescaled to the same length (it was 202” the Carrie’s is 224”). Show below, again in green, is the Bennett bowsprit. Bennett Bowsprit resized to about the same length as the Price’s Here are the two superimposed. The Carrie’s in green, and the Bennett’s in red As you can see I didn’t get the Bennett’s bowsprit quite as long as it should be, but I can see some differences, that mean I can’t just use the resized Bennett bowsprit drawing. It is a little too “fat” resized, and the end sits a little high. Note that both are relatively “straight” in overall shape, not with the sharp up angle on the kit part. Using the Bennett drawing and the information in Roger’s book. I will make a new drawing for the Carrie Price bowsprit.

Part 05 I decided to create a different trailboard for the Carrie Price. Rather than use a modified Willie Bennett trailboard, and have the same type of design on two different models. Here is my new design, it is based on the one shown on the drawings from the National Archives for the Kathryn. The Kathryn had a solid gold colored eagle head, but I chose to use coloring similar to that on the Nathan Dorchester (see photos Part 01).

Part 04 By the way here is what the sails should look when furled. Compare this to the box art in Part 01 Note the forward bow in the mast. This is shown in the drawings. I'll have to check on other skipjacks. My drawing of the Carrie Price shows a straight mast.

Part 03 After some more research I found that the chains attached to the bottom of the rudder are not safety chains to hold the rudder on. They are instead used to prevent the dredging cable from getting between the rudder and rudder post. Here is more information on the dredging winches and oyster dredge. From National Archives from archives for Skipjack Kathryn. The original picture was quite large, and a lot of clarity was lost when I reduced it to fit the forum requirements. Here’s a close up to make the text easier to read From National Archives from archives for Skipjack Kathryn. The original picture was quite large, and a lot of clarity was lost when I reduced it to fit the forum requirements. More a close ups to make the text easier to read I have been busy, and not much has been done on the skipjack, but some more progress will be posted later. For those interested, I'm posting this build using Firefox. I was unable to post using my normal browser Internet Explorer.

Part 02 The first major concession to my skill level, is that I decided to leave the raised deck seams that came on the model. I was afraid I would scar the deck surface too much trying to remove them, and the plank width looks OK. I assembled the hull, stem, stern post and deck, before looking closely enough at my plans. The detail on the stem area is not correct, and I had to remove it as detailed later, with everything together. If you are going to build this model, do those steps first! I then filled the gaps at the joints with Tamiya putty, using shaped popsicle sticks to get into the tight spots. This putty sticks to skin well, so use gloves! Most of the filling was where the stem and stern posts meet the keel, as well as along the deck to hull seam. Filled Gap at the stem keel gap Filled gap at the stern post keel gap. You can also see where I will have to extend the rails to meet the transom. I also cleaned up the wheel house and installed it and the cabin sides. These will all be painted white, so I figured why try assembling them after the individual parts were painted, then have to touch up the joints. I had installed the railings when I discovered the problems in the bow area. Once again correcting them would have been easier before assembly. The first minor problem is that while mostly correct, the stern railings need to extend further back, I’ll fix that a little later in the build. Now to the modifications needed at the bow: Plan Drawing of bow. Assembly drawing from instructions The model has the rails end at the, for lack of a better term, the knightheads. The large “H” shaped assembly that goes on either side of the bowsprit (5) butt. In the drawing they extend to the fore end of these (4). The “knightheads” as shown in the drawing (3), sit inside the hull, over the waterway area. There is a board that attaches between them over the top of the bowsprit butt. On the model the knightheads are cast even with the outside of the hull, and the rails terminate at their aft edge (4). Additionally the bottom portion of the knightheads are cast on the hull and the tops and the cross piece are a separate casting that is to be glued on top of this (3A & 3B). With the draft necessary for the manufacture of each piece, this leaves them diamond shaped in cross section when done. Not flat. There is not enough “meat” on the parts to be able to shape them to look good, if I was willing to overlook the position error. Also you have to install the bowsprit before the top part can be installed. This makes fairing the two parts difficult, as the hull and bowsprit are different colors, and I plan to paint the hull before the bowsprit is installed. The bowsprit on the real skipjacks was varnished not painted, as simulated with tan paint on the cover art. The upper brace shown in the drawing (1) is cast poorly on the model. They are oversize, not straight, and one was broken on my model. I’ll have to make new ones. See the photo above of the Caleb Jones. The drawing, Bennett plans, and photos of other skipjacks show the trailboards as thin flat boards attached to the stem (2), with thin decorative trim along the top and bottom. On the model (2) these are deep ridges top and bottom, more like ribs (2). There is an additional board above the railings at the top of the knighthead (4), not quite as long as the knighthead. Below are photos of the bow after I had removed the stem brace and trailboard ribs, but before I had removed the cast knightheads. Partially modified stem area. Rails end too far aft, also a better view if the filled gap between the stem and keel Hull trimmed flush at bow I added one of the new knightheads, it still has to be trimmed for length and height New port knighthead New port knighthead The kit transom had the name Carrie Price cast in raised letters. I figured that this was unlikely on a workboat. Tacked on wood letters would rot quickly, and as described earlier the Push Boat would probably damage them. The other option would be to have them carved into the transom. These too might be damaged over the life of the skipjack. Also the pictures I found had painted lettering, so I decided to go with decals. I filed and sanded the letters off. Transom name E. C. Collier. Note the rudder safety chains at the base of the rudder, and the attachment for the steering gear. Sanded transom To be continued.

Part 01 This is a build of the Skipjack Carrie Price using the Pyro Chesapeake Skipjack Oyster Boat model kit. After some research I found out that the Lindberg/Pyro kit is a model of the Carrie Price as recorded by Howard Chapelle. After I started the kit I found the name cast on the transom, but had not noticed it before I started my research. The Carrie Price is one of the projects in “American Ship Models and How to Build Them” by V. R. Grimwood and Howard I. Chapelle. I am using the plans in this book to build and update this kit. I am planning to depict her as build around 1895. I’m not going to make this a museum quality model, but will do my best to make it a good one. According to the Chapelle drawings the model comes as close as I could measure to 1/64th scale, the same as the book drawings. This will be somewhat of a slow build, as I am also working to expand my shed/shop, and the finished section is a mess, with “stuff” from the unfinished portion (enclosed, but no insulation, electric, etc.) piled into the finished area and my work area. Also I decided to do this build log after I had partially assembled the hull, so I will have to describe some of what I have done so far, without the benefit of before and after photos, in the first parts. I also have the help of cats in writing this build, so have to take frequent “Look, I want attention, so I’m sitting/walking/sleeping on your keyboard.” breaks. This is my first model in quite some time and my first build log ever, so please bear with me, if you decide to follow this along with me. I do not know all the correct names for all the various parts of the boat, but will do my best. Modeling suggestions and corrections to the names I use for the parts welcome! I will be using information in the Grimwood book, information I found on line, the drawings for the Willie Bennett by Model Shipways, and the book “Model Boat Building: The Skipjack” by Steve Rogers. Box Cover Art The kit is fairly close to what is shown in the drawings, but does have several problems. Here is a list of those I have found so far: Minor, but paint scheme shown on box wrong. The Chesapeake Boatmen were superstitious about painting blue on their boats, the exception being blue in the field of the American flag, or bunting. This was generally used only on the trailboard decoration. Also the decks were painted white, not left natural. Red copper paint was also the standard at the time for the anti-fouling paint. The cabin tops were generally green or a slate gray, from my research, still looking into this. The trailboards below the bowsprit were ornate, the kit has nothing decal or otherwise for them. I have no information on what the Carrie Price’s trailboards looked like, so I will use a modification of those detailed in the Willie Bennett kit. The Bennett trailboards have features that are common on examples I found of other trailboards. (besides I already redrew the Bennett’s trailboards for my own use). Additionally the drawings indicate a bird figurehead at the end of the trailboards. The Bennett has such a figurehead. I will use the same graphic as on the Bennett drawing on the end of these trailboards. I plan to print one on the end of the trailboard graphic, and then shape the profile of the stem to match. I will not try to crave a 3D figurehead. Trailboard Ida May Trailboard for Caleb W. Jones. Note the stem brace that is similar to the Carrie Prices. Trailboard of the Nathan Dorchester Port trailboard graphic I will be using for the Carrie Price. It will be about 2 inches long on the model. Here is a roughly cut print of the port trailboard placed on the model to see what it would look like. The print is cut too thin at the fore end to fit between the soon to be removed detail. Note also the original railing and knightheads. I have just started to remove the stem detailing at this point. The numbering for the points below should have started with 4,5, etc. but somehow was reset when I copied the text to this post, and I can't seem to change it. Please bear with me as I learn. As an interesting side note, if you look at the pictures of the Jones and Dorchester, the bowsprit does not rest on the stem much past the hull, on these two. I’ll have to look closer at the Bennett plans and the Rogers book. There are some major fit problems in the pieces, nothing that can’t be fixed with some putty, but they must be corrected for a good looking finished model. See the stem keel joint in the cover art picture. There is no oyster dredging equipment included in the model. This is actually a bonus for me, as she was built before the use of power dredging winches, and thus the deck casting has no marks where the winch parts might be attached. The down side is that I will have to build 2 hand powered winches, for which I have found some photos/drawings, but none with dimensions. The stem in the trailboard/rail/ bowsprit area is incorrect. I’ll explain when I get to that section. See the heavy detailing on the box top The railings in the bow and stern do not extend far enough. Rope coil castings in the deadeye and stern railing areas are terrible and incorrect, I will remove them. The mast is a little crude, but most importantly badly warped. I will have to make a new one. The boom is also warped, but I may be able to use it with modification. The casting is fairly straight side to side, but curved vertically fore and aft. The long booms on the real boats sagged, but my boom is curved up rather than down! I have not decided whether to make a new one (with or without sag), or remove the sail attachment detail from the top of the boom, invert it and remake that detail. I’m leaning toward making a new one, with detailing that matches the proportions of the ones on the mast I will have to make. The furled sails are just wrong! The jib is not too bad, in real life it would have been furled tighter, but this could pass. The main sail on the other hand angles in the opposite direction from the mast rake! The main sail is attached to the mast via mast hoops and thus the leading edge should always be close to the mast, it can’t pull away as shown in the model. I’ll make new sails, I have not decided whether furled or set. I can use the plans from my Willie Bennett kit for rigging, and sail construction. On the prototype skipjacks the bowsprit has made with a downward curved hog or bow. This was cut into the shape of the bowsprit, it was not steamed in from a straight spar. On the model the bowsprit is a straight spare. Also, as is not atypical on plastic models, the fittings on this, the mast, and the boom are cast quite massively. The model part also has no round to octagonal to square transition area, as shown in the plans. The model overall though is accurate in dimension and overall shape, a good starting point. As a note: The kit includes two ship’s boats, this is correct. The large boxes in interior are also correct. They are engine covers. Maryland law dictates that the skipjack itself may not have an engine, sail driven only. This is a measure to limit oyster harvesting in hopes of preventing overfishing. The auxiliary though is allowed an engine. If the wind is insufficient for dredging the boat, oddly enough called a “Push Boat” is lowered and used to push the skipjack. If the wind is good, the boat is not used. The second boat provided is the one used to get from the shore/dock, to a moored skipjack. The engines on the auxiliaries were generally automobile or similarly sized motors. Push Boat drawing from Nation Archives. Note the lack of a rudder. The Push Boat direction is controlled by steering lines (see below). Push Boat in operation. Note the rigging for controlling the direction of thrust, from Nation Archives. Push Boat “Thrust Pad” on the E. C. Collier, from Nation Archives I will show some small sections of the plans to illustrate where I will be making some of the modifications. Other than the hull/railing details above , most will be in the rigging area, so I will just show photos of my progress for that.