Ryland Craze

Hi Wizard, your pram is looking really good. To cut the brass tube, try sliding a piece of 1/32” brass rod inside the 1/16” brass tube to keep it from crushing and use a razor knife to cut it. Roll the tube back and forth under the knife blade. Annealing will make it easier but you can try it without annealing. That’s a nice looking red. What color is that? Hey Bryan, we were answering at the same time. Good suggestion 😀

Hey, I’m not an experienced modeler and I have just started building this boat. I looked at the end of the tubing I had in my kit and it was sawed off, probably by a small band saw. But I think a thin cutting blade for a Dremel would work.  Or you could roll it under your knife and eventually cut through it, but that may take awhile. Good job, by the way, and thank you for better clearing my vision for the future build.
 
Bryan

I’ve hit the point where I need to ask for help. 
 
First I’ll cover what I’ve done, where I’m struggling, and what advice I need. 
 
Successfully complete is the addition of the floor and seats. These I’m very pleased with. 
 


 
I’m also okay with how the pin at the end of the tiller turned out. 
 


 
To make it I used a pair of side cutters (ones I had for general electrical work) to snip the 1/16 brass rod to length, then used a small 8oz hammer to peen the ends to make rivets as instructed. It worked well and looks nice except that the hole on one side of the tiller split so I had to glue the wood back together. 
 
What didn’t work well at all was the pin for the tiller extension. 
 


 
I used the 1/32 brass rod as that seemed appropriate for the hole pre-cut into the extension and then matching hole I drilled in the tiller. Maybe my mistake was using too small a piece of wire but widening the hole in the extension would be tricky too. My problem was that when I tried to peen the ends of the pin the wire would begin to bend at a 90 degree angle between the tiller and extension. Eventually I got a product that looks alright, but the joint was so tight that the extension could not swivel. An aspect of that is that the rod is almost certainly bent inside the joint between the pieces. In frustration I glued the assembly together for strength. 
 

 
The final product looks nice but is no longer dynamic. I’m okay with that, if a little disappointed in my failure. Is there anything I could have done differently here?
 
Okay, where do I need help? Cutting the brass tube. Pinching a piece off using the wire cutters won’t work, and the small 6”hacksaw I have has fine teeth but I feel like they’re still very coarse for a 1/16 brass tube. Should a small hacksaw be able to do this, or will I need to look for some other type of saw? I’m not very keen on trying my razor saw on brass because I want to keep it sharp for cutting wood. 
 
The instructions recommend a butane torch to anneal the brass, which I’ll have to go look for. Would one of the cigarette lighter style torches suffice? 

Aside from that, any general brass advice that I may not even know to ask for?
 
Thank you all in advance. 

A smear or squeeze-out of PVA can be dealt with using a damp brush before the glue sets.

I've attached card stock and paper to my wood pieces with white PVA that dries clear.
Like Elmer's glue. You can chose to dilute it with water or purchase diluted glue.
Brush it onto the back of the paper.
As you apply the paper to the model it might shift a wee bit and while moving it back it could smear some glue where you don't want it.
Once applied I scrape away any excess with a dental scraper tool and wipe the scraped wood area with a dampened paper towel.
Then don't touch it again until well after it sets up.

Cap Rail and Painting
 
Next we use some card stock to trace an outline of the top plank and then add enough width to either side of the line for outside overhang plus enough to cover the tops of the frames inside (about 3/8" total). Trace the pattern onto the one piece of sheet stock in the kit and cut out
 

 
Glue and strap 'em down.  Handy use of paint stir sticks.
 

 
There's a laser cut part at the bow that did not fit my cut, so I made a new one out of scrap
 

 
Attached the gun mounts and transom knees, then painted it all red.
 

 
Now on to the external paint.  First we draw our waterline, and I lucked out and my little wood x-acto box put the pencil in exactly the right place!
 
 
 

 
Finally, skipping ahead a bit to the more or less finished exterior.  I did the Yellow Occre for above the waterline.  Also seen is the rub rail (white).  I deviated here a little.  Kit supplied 1/8" square strip was supposed to be shaped half round with a tool in the photo-etched brass sheet, but it was the wrong size, for 1/16".  So, out of luck there.  I made my own shaper with x-acto blades, and it more or less worked but was hard to get a smooth shape.  Plus they are very hard to bend.  I just gave up on the idea and put on 1/16" x 1/8" - much easier.
 

Thwarts and rear cockpit
 
Well, this stage presented several fit problems, as I'll show.  But nothing serious.  
 
First up we have to use 1/4" strips on both sides for thwart risers.  You have to do a fair bend here, but I did it dry without too much trouble.  I clamped first, then used thin CA to attach, I scraped some paint off though before installing these as I don't trust any glue to stick very well to paint.
 

 
Then we create all the thwarts (seats).  One thing I'm grateful for in this kit is that they provide plenty extra strip stock for the inevitable re-do, of which there were several here.  Never could get the scoring of the decorative lines quite to my liking.  
 
The first uh-oh came at the cockpit seats.  The parts are provided in rough size/shape, but in the end for the decorative lines to match, the middle part is just too short.  So I used the carrier sheet wood that was right next to the part to fashion a little shim part.  It sort of actually looks like it was made that way:
 

 
The next issue was the pre-made mast thwart, seen below.  The semi-circle mast dowel cut out is too big, as are the belaying pin holes.  Not sure what they were thinking here.  I made a new one:
 

 
And installed it along with the mast foot.  That's the next issue.  The hole in the foot is also too big.  I'm thinking that the mast must have been bigger when this was designed.  Also, you are supposed to put nails in some corner holes, but by the time you sand off the char, the holes get exposed because they are so close to the edges.  So, I replaced this with a homemade version as well. 
 

 
Finally for this section, we need support posts for the seats, carved out of 1/8" square stock.  
 

 
And here she is with all the seating in place.  Next time we'll do rail cap and associated bits.
 

Hull Painting - White
 
The plan is to paint the hull above the waterline white, and below the waterline dark green; so white first, mark and mask the waterline, then the dark.  
 
Considered Tamiya XF-2 Flat White, decided on Vallejo Air 71.001 White, seemed less intense to me.
 
Dusted the hull on the table, fans on, with a soft brush.
 
The setup is Paasche Talon, #3 tip, @22#.  Paint applied in coats.  Each coat is 50 drops paint, 10 drops flow improver.  Starting with empty cup, 1 drop thinner first to flood the nozzle, two drops flow improver, 50 drops paint, 8 drops flow improver.  Stir mix in cup well with a stirring stick.  
 
Found this volume of paint to be enough for 1 coat from bow to stern on 1 side.  Paint was applied in a circular motion, with the airbrush always moving.  Also a q-tip moistened with thinner is at the ready to clean the tip.

 

Nice job on your Dory.  Congratulations on finishing it.

Nice job on your Dory.  Congratulations on finishing it.

Looking quite nice! I can see that the fourth air space isn't needed at all.

Outstanding work Chuck!
 
 

That’s just a part I use at work. The base that came with the kit, I thought, took away from the Dory. I did look for 1:24 scale figure of a old fisherman but didn’t find any to my liking. Thanks for looking in and commenting.
Bryan
 

Good evening onlookers.  The painting is complete, and here are some shots of the preparation for the magnets that will display the oars.
 

 

 

 
After cap rails installed I glued magnets in and painted any exposed areas
 

 
 
First  test to see if they stay on.
 


I enjoyed this build. I  learned a fraction of what I need to learn, but really looking forward to my next build which is the Norwegian Sailing  Pram.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Very nicely done Mike!

Stemson, rising wood
Moving along, I added the stemson and rising wood. Shaping and adding the stemson was straight forward. After that, I started work on the rising wood. Using a piece of 3/8" boxwood, I carefully copied the dimensions of the rising wood using the new milling machine. So much fun! All of the slots are 5/16" which made the process much easier. Basically a two day process that went along quite smoothly. I just needed to stay focused and not rush through it.



Mike

Mike I would add another item to Greg accessories which will be a good one and that's the Sensitive  Drilling Attachment. Great when you drilling a lot of holes using very small drill bit's.  They really do make a lot of good accessories thats for sure. Gary

Congrats on the purchase of the Sherline lathe, Mike. There are a million useful accessories but personally I find the 90 degrees angle plate and rotary table the most useful. You're going to have a lot of fun with it! The fore deadwood looks terrific.
 
There's no magic formula for creating work like Mikes, Fred. It requires a dedication to perfection and to make each piece as perfect as possible. His tip about using light to see how tight the joints are is excellent. I don't have a window in my workshop so I use a light box. They're inexpensive (for example https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Brightness-Adjustable-Animation-Sketching/dp/B07KLY84NB/ref=asc_df_B07KLY84NB/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475857625827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5262790266934135879&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012258&hvtargid=pla-748436973284&psc=1). Where ever you see light between two mating surfaces is a low spot. Use pencil marks to delineate the contacting surfaces then reduce these with a sanding block. Just sand a little at a time and use the light box after each adjustment. The other tip I can offer is to do all work under magnification. If you're satisfied with the work at 2-3 times magnification you should have good results with the naked eye. Personally I do all my work with a 5x Optivisor.

Fore deadwood
In order to find the exact location, I aligned the central spine with the plan and carefully marked the aft location of the fore deadwood.

Having just purchased a Sherline mill, I thought it would be a good time to try it out. With that in mind I made the fore deadwood from 3/8" boxwood. I'm pleased with the result. I added the deadwood to the keel using the registration mark I made on the keel.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to maintain the build concept. With that in mind I went with the laser cut angle wedges for the cant frames. A mix of scratch and kit. When adding the wedges I left a little wiggle room because shifting of these pieces was necessary in order to align them fore and aft. The tops of the wedges were reduced to match the shape of the keelson before gluing them to the deadwood.

Mike

Fred, I have often thought about showing, in great detail, how I go about making parts. The problem I always seem to run into is how to go about doing it knowing that certain subtle techniques are involved.
 
Take the stem for example. As Greg knows, the oscillating spindle sander on curved surfaces can give a smoother result than that of a scroll saw. That gets you somewhere in the ball park. The final shape still needs to be achieved and can be further honed in with some 90° sanding blocks. For myself, I will hold the pieces against a window in daylight and look for light leakage. It can be very time consuming and the back and forth takes technique, finesse and a lot of patience. HTH.

The gammoning knee was cut from an attached paper template on the scroll saw. The final shape was achieved with the disk sander, sanding sticks, #11 Xacto blade and assorted needle files. It would be very difficult for me to put that in writing in such a way that would be easily understood, I think.
 
Mike

Bob: I agree. This piece of veneer is very narley (industry term), and is a very nice contrast to the smooth AYC.
 
Tossedman: Thank you for the compliment. She’s been a fun project that has taught me a lot. 
 
Best Regards …. Rick
 
 

Painting is always a slow process. Combined with some things at work getting in the way I’ve stepped back from the Pram for a while. Here’s what I’ve managed. 
 
Shaping the mast was an interesting experience. I really like the idea of creating a square block and rounding it as opposed to tapering down the included dowel.
 

 
It is, however, the greatest weakness I’ve encountered in the kit so far. The two mast pieces glued together produced a rectangle which lends to producing an oblong mast when rounded. It’s not too extreme and I’m happy with the result, but the scale feels off. 

Beyond that, I assembled and shaped the boom and gaff. The idea of adding the cleats to the spars was intimidating at first but it practice went very smoothly and presented no trouble at all. Now I’ve got a couple of coats of paint on everything. 




 
I did decide to paint the mast/seats/floor boards because I liked the look of it. This aspect may not be entirely authentic, but artistic license took over for a bit there. 
 
Final assembly of the wooden parts is up next, followed by a venture into brass. 

Absolutely beautiful and your display is fantastic! Wonderful job, Matthias!

Thank you, Haken, Gus, and Bob.
 
@ Haken - certainly not me!
@ Gus -  Thank you for looking in.
@ Bob -  I can relate to the fairing issue Bob, I do exactly what you do, and am still left with that niggling thought at the end.
With this planking exercise it was the plank I traced myself, using Tamiya tape on the hull, that gave me the least trouble.
 
It was a useful exercise tho' but there is a temptation to think that a tiny bit of tweaking will do the job, when it clearly doesn't, and Chuck's advice to use tick marks reveals that in places more needs to be taken off that first imagined.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 

Good job on overcoming the planking challenges, BE. It looks fantastic!
 
I remember grappling with the planking and breaking a couple of planks which I had to remake as well. Since I was a novice at planking at the time, and still am, I thought that having the planks pre-spiled would make it a piece of cake but that didn't turn out to be the case for me. I eventually got the job done and was essentially happy with it but it took me much more time and tweaking than I was expecting.   
 
In addition, I'm not sure I had the frames faired as well as they should have been which wasn't helping the process. I'm never really sure if I've done enough fairing and should stop or not enough and should continue. I follow the standard practice of consistently checking the frames with a batten as I am sanding and I keep viewing the the frames from various angles as I proceed but I'm still never quite sure when it is done properly.
 
I think that good fairing and planking must just take a whole lot of practice and experience to become really confident and good at it.
 
Good luck as you continue. It's a really beautiful model when completed.