Canute

Hi Everyone, I have a bit of progress to show. The stern’s staves have been sanded 
 

 
A pattern was then made to create the section of the false wale that runs around the stern. That section was cut out of a 1/16” basswood sheet.
 

 

 

 
The basswood section was soaked in a pot of water for a few minutes and then clamped to a pot with the appropriate diameter.
 

 
Before that can be attached the crown in the deck had to be addressed. I used a construction article from the “usvmyg.org” website to make a deck beam pattern. I ended up with the pattern cut/sanded into a paint stirring stick. Tapered pieces of 1/8 x 1/8” basswood were glued to the top of the frames and finish sanded to shape using the deck beam pattern.
 

 

 
Once they are finished the hull planking will be started. Hope to see you soon.

That makes perfect sense! I had noticed the change in color and was curious, it'll definitely be unnoticeable under the paint though.

Thank you Jacques. When I started planking the bottom I started in the middle and worked in both directions using the basswood that came with the Glad Tidings kit. When I ran out of 3/16” x 1/16” basswood I changed to the 3/16” x 1/16” leftover Alaskan Yellow Cedar that I had bought to plank the Glad Tidings.  So the bottom has a few inches of AYC at the bow and the stern. The sides of the hull are AYC. Started with 3/16” x 1/16” until it ran out. The rest of the hull will be finished with 1/4” AYC. She will be painted white so it should be okay. That was kind of long-winded wasn’t it 😀

Nice job, it's coming along really well and looks great! What wood are you using for the planking?

Hi Gary, thank you for your nice comment and for checking in on the sharpie. I’ve been slowly planking her. Been using two planks in each strake so usually I glue the end of the plank at either the stem or the stern and then the next day finish gluing the rest of the plank. So it’s been taking four days to complete a strake. A couple of months ago I picked up an Ultimation disk sander and started using it to taper the planks. I like using it a lot. And it’s so quiet! 
 


 

 
 

 

 
 

 
That’s it for the planking for now. Going to do some sanding and then work on giving the deck beams some camber before laying down the sub deck.

Hey Paul, good to see some movement on this model!
 
 
Easy to do - I know.  I think model building should always be about enjoyment and just doing the best you can, rather than the rate of progress.  And your sharpie is coming along very nicely.
 
Gary

Thanks Dave, when I put the build on hold last year I was afraid I would lose momentum. Well I sure did 😀

Great to see you back at work on the model.  Coming along beautifully!
 
Dave

Hi Everyone, I got sidetracked when I moved last summer but I’ve managed to find some time between the renovations to work on the sharpie. The bottom of the hull was finished being planked and the stem was attached just before I moved. A couple of weeks ago the 1/8” x 1/8” strip of wood that blocked the center board slot was removed with an 1/8” chisel. A 1/16” strip of wood was added to the skeg to make it stand a little more proud. Then the shoe was made using 5/32” x 1/32” AYC. and  attached. It should have been a bit narrower but it won’t be noticeable once it’s finished. 
 


 


 

 
The staves were glued to the round stern with PVA so that took a week to complete. 
 

 

 
From what I’ve read the planking on the sides of the hull weren’t tapered but that might have been on the smaller sharpies. It seemed to be easier to taper them so that’s what I did. 
 

 

 


 
The planks were glued at the stem using Medium CA and then PVA for the rest of the plank. 
 

 

 

 
Now on to the starboard side with three strakes. Hope to see you soon.

Cathead, Great Work!
 
In re your hog chains,  I put wire in a vise and then pull the other end with a pliers.  It will stretch slightly and  will straighten the wire out.
 
LJP

Eric, Good progress on your project. Looking at the first photo I see two built in roller chocks. One on each side of the stem. There is a gap in the cap rail? for a line to drop though and two rollers per chock. Looks like they are still there in the later photo. You may have already noted them so I hope I am not repeating known details.
Steve

Huh...I'd never noticed that despite staring at those photos over and over as I designed my version. You're right, that second photo looks like they extend quite a bit out. Which would give me leave to do the same and help with my problem.
 
Did the whole forward deck change shape at some point? Both versions look to me to have a similar spacing between them, but one version looks like it's snug against the deck curve and the other extends outward by a noticeable amount.
 
Shouldn't have gotten ahead of myself and glued them on before asking for ideas. Not the first time eagerness has bitten me! Shouldn't be a big deal to pop them off.
 
Thanks for that observant insight!

Excellent progress, as always.
 
To me, in the two historical photos, the "push bars" look different.  In the first, lower-angle photo they appear attached to the front of the boat like you have modeled but in the second higher-angle photo, there looks to me to be more structure supporting them and they project forward of the front edge more than they appear to in the first photo.
 

Just a small amount of progress to report. May is not cooperating in terms of free time to work on models. 
 
I added the longitudinal hog chains based on some blurry historical image details and logical assumptions about their natural location. I used thin wire, which I couldn't get perfectly straight, but it's another quirk that the camera captures but the eye doesn't really see.



Then I got to work on the...not quite sure what to call them, but the timber frames on the bow used to push tows. You can see them pretty clearly here:
 

This is where I found I hadn't thought ahead enough. Those are pretty widely spaced across the bow, which means the bow has very little curvature. When I went to install mine after making them, I found that my bow curves away more sharply than I thought when I first laid it out, so now if I placed them that far apart their fronts fell well behind the bow and wouldn't be able to push anything. 
 
So I had the choice of either placing them accurately far apart, but too far back from the point of the bow, or too close together, but accurately forward enough to extend just beyond the bow. For better or worse, I chose the latter, though now I'm wondering if it was the wrong decision because they're more noticeably "wrong" compared to the original photos than if they were properly spaced but a bit too far back. Anyway, see what you think (compare to same photo angle in background):

Another view, with comparable angle in background and separate photo below:
 


Changing them would mean popping them off the deck and hopefully not leaving too much glue stain; I could always cover those with a few random timbers or something. Thoughts?
 
In the above photos, you'll also notice I built a version of the capstan that sits just behind those whatever-they're-called braces.
 
Finally, I added the two thick diagonal braces that lead aft from the chimneys to the pilot house:

 
I think I'm getting close to done with the basic details. There are some more thin guy wires supporting the chimneys, though they're very hard to see in the historical photos. I need to figure out where I'm going to get that big locomotive headlight that's so prominent on the front edge of the boiler deck.
 
The biggest single project remaining is the paddlewheel, which I'm going to need some quiet focused time to concentrate on designing. Not going to happen in the next week, that's for sure. But I started this log on June 17, 2023, and there's an outside chance I'll have her done one year later. Thanks for sticking with me!

thanks John,
 
I hope I`ll get the other one done as well as the prototyp, hopefully it will not take so long ....
 
Nils

That roller fairlead it special, Nils! Well done!
 
John

Update
 
made the six line-fairleads and the shutter flaps of the freeing ports. Quater- both sides aft there will be a crossed-rolls fairllead, I`m working on the prototyp out of 8mm square brass tube and fitted with 4 crossed rolls. This little bugger has taken me a few hours to make and to put together (soldering in the rolls axises)
the freeing port shutter flaps and the line-fairleads. The pressed brass nickel plated fairleads are shortened so that they come flush at the inner side of bulwarks

the workable rolls are from small brass tube, the axis are from 0,8mm brass wire

I refrained from cutting break through openings into the bulwark (for stability reason )
 

the hinged shutters
 
 
Nils

Many thanks, Clare. Your build log was an inspiration for me, and helped me find the zootoyz online shop, from which to order the kit. Will definitely make another WoodyJoe Japanese ship kit some time in the future.

Wonderful job on your Yakatabune model!
 
I'm sorry I didn't see your question on my build log and didn't find this build log until just now, but I'm glad you put it up!
 
I read what you wrote about how some of the construction tabs are visible on this model. I didn't worry about them on mine. You have to look closely to see them. But, were I to do it again, I'm sure I would basically just do what you did in covering them.
 
Really glad to see another Woody Joe kit build and I'm very glad to see your comments about it. Nice job on the copper trim, it all looks perfect!
 

Congratulations!  Very well done!

Congratulations on completing your Yakatabune. Fine looking boat and great pics!

Congratulations nicely done  indeed. 

Thank you, Chris!

Beautiful result!

Apologies that this is not a proper build log, as I actually already finished the boat, but I thought I would post it here anyway as it might contain some useful information for anyone building this boat him/herself. For that purpose, I have inserted some 'tips' into the build log, things which I noticed and might be of use to others. There is, at the moment, one other build log for this boat on ModelShipWorld, by Catopower (link) and anyone thinking of building this boat should definitely check that log out as it is great, and far, far superior to this sorry excuse for a 'build log' I created here. Catopower's build log also contains a good description of the kit, so I won't bother with that in mine.
 
I started this kit about two months ago and finished it last week; all in all, it probably took me about fifty hours or so from start to finish. As a novice and not very talented builder, even I found the whole process very easy - and very enjoyable. The kit is of good quality and the instructions, although in Japanese, which I cannot read, are very clear. Every single step is explained in high quality photographs, with minimal text which, if so desired, can easily be translated into English or other languages using Google Lens, a free app for both Android and Iphones.
 
The kit is a conventional plank on bulkhead model, making the internal construction, as I understand it, quite different from what it would actually have looked in a Japanese period boat of this kind as they did not use the Western style plank on frame method. But that is all 'under the hood' and invisible so does not really matter for the final appearance.

 
The fit between frames and false keel was great - resulting in the picture below.

 
The hull is subsequently made by attaching the pre-shaped hull planks to this frame, only two per side. The two hull planks slightly overlap, leading to a kind of clinker build. Subsequently, the deck is constructed out of several loose planks, in several parts.

 
Tip 1: the wood is of a Japanese cypres, which is beautiful (and surprisingly fragrant) but very soft. Finger nails, pieces of dried glue on the cutting mat, etcetera, all make dents in it very easily, so take care when using it. It also sands very quickly, so is easy to over-sand.
 
Tip 2: the wood has a range of colours, from light beige to quite a bright shade of red. They enhances the appearance of the boat, but I also demands a bit of planning when, for example, making up the decks. You will probably want to vary the different shades accross the decks, to create a more balanced appearance. I only found this out when it was partially already too late.
 
After installing the decks and some other parts, it was time to install a walk plank + railing on both sides of that where - eventually - a little house will be placed, in which guests could be entertained, which was the ultimate purpose of this river pleasure boat. Constructing those railing is not difficult, but take care to follow the curvature of the boat when making them, or they will not properly fit later.

 
Here they have been installed onto the boat.
 
Tip 3: between the walking planks and the house, there is a gap, which shows the internal construction of the boat. This is, I feel, an oversight by Woody Joe, and is a bit ugly. It will hardly be visible once the boat is finished, but it won't be entirely invisible either, so I chose to fill it with a filler on each side, made from some scrap pieces of the wood supplied in the kit. The gaps are visible in the photo below, taken before insterting those fillers.

 
At this time, I created the little sliding doors, which will later be used in the house. There are twenty of those, and they consist of seven elements each. I found this the most fiddly and least enjoyable part of the build. The glueing surfaces are small, and it is difficult to keep everything exactly square. And precision is important here, otherwise the doors won't slide when placed in their slots later. And there are no spares, which brings me to:
 
Tip 4: although the kit is of high quality, Woody Joe has been a bit stingy with materials. The amount of material is just enough to create everything. You will have virtually nothing left over at the end of your build. So, take care not to make any mistakes, particularly since the Japanese cypres wood is very difficult to get if you don't actually live in Japan. This is not meant as criticism of the kit, merely as a warning to take things slowly so no material goes to waste.
 
Some pictures of the sliding doors below:

 
Tip 5: One are where I felt an improvement could/should be made was at the stern. The internal construction of the boat is visible here, if looking at the ship straight from the back. I inserted some filler pieces made out of scraps here, to hide this, as I thought it looked off. If you want to do this as well, it is much easier to do at the beginning, before you attach the side planks. I found out too late, making the fitting more difficult. Photo's below show the stern before and after fitting the filler pieces.

 

 
Tip 6: The kit comes with 150 or so little copper rectangles, which need to be fitted to the side planks. To ensure that they were spaced evenly, I used the true-scale drawings, from which I cut out all the little rectangles, attached them to the boat and traced the rectangles onto the planks with crayon, so I knew where to stick the actual copper rectangles. That seemed to work well. Photo below of the result.

 
I am all out of tips, so will conclude this 'build log' with some photos of the finished boat.





 
I really enjoyed this build. It is easy and very relaxing and, although far from perfect, I am fairly satisfied with the final result. Catopower, in his build, chose to stain the wood fairly dark, which is historically more correct and looks great. But since I quite liked the variation in wood colour, in particular the reddish tones here and there, I only applied a matt varnish.
 
Will try to create a proper build log for my next build, but hopefully this all-in-one-go log can be of use to someone some day nevertheless.