BenF89

Patrick - thanks for the encouragement! I've really enjoyed perusing through your builds as well; I just started following the Rainbow J-Class. I am quite sure it would fit well with my boat as a model boat on my model boat!! And, the sketches mostly come from lot of practice over the years (I've been drawing boats since I was 4!). The arrangements in the sketches just came from mixing and matching different cruiser arrangements, and trying to apply the rules of thumb and principles in the reference books. The unfortunate side of Naval Architecture is that it's broad, so we spent a lot of time with bulk carriers and containerships and such, and I never really took any specialized classes or training in sailboat design. So, with some practice in technical drawing, you could make a concept arrangement just as much as me! In fact, seeing the kinds of projects you do, I think that designing your own boat for building a miniature model would be a great thing! You could even do what I'm doing (sort of) and take an existing hull form, but customize the insides to be your dream boat. (You know, if you were the size of an electron or something ) Mark - No, I'm not intending to make the hull again out of wood. I was just commenting that I have a complete hull - which is one of the hardest parts - but without knowing the form, doing anything with it (on the inside) is tough. And, I have considered the possibility of not getting it back! I have been thinking I may have to take it 'out of service for upgrades' periodically - its 'age appropriateness' can mature as she does. That way I don't have to wait until she's done to proceed with detailing again.

(This is a long post; I'm kind of long winded.) DESIGN DEVELOPMENT With this post, I am going to start detailing the design and planning development. Hull Form I knew since I acquired the hull that I would need to find a way to determine the form! I had no drawings, so even though what would arguably be one of the more difficult parts of completely building the boat from scratch (namely, framing and planking and fairing the hull) was complete, I didn't really have a way forward. And that was one of the primary challenges that kept me from doing any sort of work on the boat until very recently. With the motivation to work on the boat again reignited, I was again faced with this challenge. Enter you guys! About two weeks ago, I posed this question in another area of the forum. I immediately got a bunch of great suggestions for how to overcome this challenge - the post is here for anyone interested: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/9528-determining-hull-form/#entry281249 Based on all the suggestions, I think my approach will be to mark the hull at even station intervals, and then use a contour gauge to capture the section shape at each station.I can also use it to capture other tricky areas of curvature, such as the slight rounding of the deck at the transom, or the proper shape of the reverse rake at the aft end. I'll transfer the curves to paper, and using a tape measure to ensure the height of the keel above ground at each station, I can generate a lines plan. That's my theory at least. If it doesn't work, I can fall back on the method of using a screen/grid and taking offset measurements at each station/waterline intersection. SCALE The first issue I had to decide, before even attempting to make a GA, was the scale. My wife pointed me towards the dolls she wants to get. They are 5" for an adult. Given an adult male is roughly somewhere between 5'-6" and 6'-6" on average, this leads to somewhere between a 1:12 to 1:15 scale. I initially chose a 1:15 scale (and that is what the drawings and images below represent), but upon doing some research on standard sizes for doll-house miniatures, I found that 1:12 seems to be the most common, but that 1:16 and 1:18 are also not unheard of. 1:18 would lead to a 7'6" adult, so that one is out. And 1:12 left me with a boat that was just a LITTLE too small to fit all I wanted in (isn't that always the case, though?). So, in the final analysis I am going forward with 1:16. This will lead to a 6'9" adult, but should be in the realm of TLAR scale (TLAR = That Looks About Right - this is apparently a common term! I discovered it doing my doll-house research!) GENERAL ARRANGEMENT' While I wait for the opportunity to either borrow or buy the contour gauge, I have 'eyeballed' the hull form to a degree suitable of rough concept sketching and even some 3d modeling for use in determining the General Arrangement. I did get myself a little out of order, though, and started on a couple alternative GA's before I had fully developed the Statement of Requirements. As such, I designed myself into a couple different boxes trying to satisfy requirements that were not totally necessary. So, I've paused in the GA process while I finish fleshing out my own Statement of Requirements for the boat. I'm on page 5 now.... But, nevertheless, I do have some rough ideas of what the GA will be, and I've developed one for an Aft Cockpit concept, standard to many cruising sailboats, and also a Center Cockpit concept, which is less common but not UNcommon on larger boats. Plus, I like the aesthetic of a center cockpit better (when it's on a larger boat). AFT COCKPIT Below is my intial concept sketch for the aft cockpit layout: And here is the same sketch, but with some spaces labeled for clarity: I also have access to some 3D modeling software, so I've started developing this concept in 3D (using my best eye-gauge for the station shapes). The blue figures are Ergonomic representations of a 95th percentile male (a big, like 6'4" guy -similar in height to me, which is why I'm using him!) First, the exterior: And the interior (so far): The interior model labeled: CENTER COCKPIT Like I mentioned, I am also working on a center cockpit concept. The initial sketch for this one is below: Here's the initial sketch with labels for clarity: And, of course, I threw together an exterior model for this one, too: My biggest challenge with the Center Cockpit is headroom under the cockpit-area. As can be seen in the section below, the lower deck has to be quite low in the hull to get any semblance of comfortable headroom, and even then, it restricts the utility of the space, since the head of the person would essentially be right up against the bulwark of the cockpit. The red arrow is supposed to be indicating how low the lower deck would have to be, but it didn't quite work right. I suppose one shouldn't have lofty expectations of perfection out of MS Paint.... I am hoping the jump form a 1:15 scale to a 1:16 scale will give me the boost in beam and depth I need to pull this off, but I have my doubts. Basic ergonomics and geometry may nix the center cockpit layout for me. I've seen a bunch that appear to work really well in the 52-53 ft range, but they all have about a foot more beam than my hul, and I don't know how much more freeboard they have. BUILD PROCESS DESIGN/CHALLENGES So that brings you all up to date with where I am now. I do have a first coat of black paint on the underwater portion of the hull, but it definitely needs a second. (I'm using off the shelf rattle can Flat Black from the department store down the road.) My intended route from here is: 1. Complete Statement of Requirements (SOR), as a way to organize my thoughts and not get hung up on a non-requirement at the expense of a good design (e.g. a center cockpit boat with a non-functional galley....) 2. Finish painting the hull - black underside, raspberry-pink above water 3. Measure the hull 4. Finalize arrangement 5. Develop build plan/sequence 5a. Determine what infrastructure improvements I need to make - tools, space, etc. I currently have no dedicated workspace, and minimal tools. So that will be an important step. 6. Determine materials list 7. Make Sawdust! I will certainly be posting progress, and seeking input, on most of these steps. (Though, I'll only post my final SOR document if it is desired). And, I am of course accepting of any input on the design thus far. I'm not an experienced cruiser (I just wish I was!); I'm definitely an armchair sailor. I have several reference books I'm using to help me develop the design [most are my own from high school and college, when I wanted to make a career out of sailing yacht design...interests changed (sort of), but the books stayed with me.] The books I'm using are: Designed to Cruise by Roger Marshall - using for overall arrangement development Choosing a Cruising Sailboat by Roger Marshall - using for overall arrangement development The Modern Cruising Sailboat by Charles J. Doane - using for overall arrangement development The Principles of Yacht Design, 2nd Ed by Lars Larsson and Rolf E Eliasson - using for overall arrangement development Yacht Design Details by Roger Marshall - will use for interior details/ideas Boat Interior Construction by Michael Naujok - will use for interior details/ideas I'm also using arrangement drawings for a bunch of different cruising sailboats as inspiration. I'm really excited to actually be moving towards reality on this build after so many years, and I hope the accountability of posting progress on here will keep me moving forward. It will definitely be difficult at times, since we are also trying to get some major outdoor work done before the new baby shows up in June. But, I think I have given myself a generous deadline. The doll-boat should be ready to be played with by Christmas 2016 at the latest, and by my daughter's third birthday in May 2016 if possible. Hoping I can pull it off! ~Ben

Well, I hope I am off to a good start with naming the log appropriately. It's a scratch build even in the sense that this boat doesn't exist at all in 'real life', so it doesn't really have a name. Yet. BACKSTORY Before diving into the details, I'll share the backstory of this project. I am a Naval Architect, and while I was at school, another student was getting rid of an old fiberglass hull shell model that he acquired during one of his internships. He wasn't going to use it, and, at the time, I aspired to be a cruising sailboat designer. So, he let me have it. I immediately had visions of a fully detailed interior arrangement (complete with books on the shelf, that sort of thing), as well as a detailed exterior. Very similar to a doll-house miniature type display. So, I now had this hull, and lot's of visions for the future of it. And, also was a full time student at a rigorous college taking what's effectively a double major's worth of work in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. And I had a long-distance girlfriend. So anytime not spent studying and doing school work was spent on the phone or traveling back home. Once can see where on the priority list a complete designed-and-built from scratch model of a sailboat fell - completely off the list! Fast forward 5-6 years. Now married (to the same girl), with a nearly two year old little girl, and another baby on the way. Also, just under halfway through the third year of my career (at a builder of high-speed aluminum government and military boats...not exactly the cruising sailing yachts I was hoping for as a college sophomore!), coming off a major push to get a first-of-class patrol boat in the hands of the Navy. This hull was still sitting in our spare room, albeit with some dust on it. [To be fair, in the time between graduation and the beginning of this new saga, I did have time to finish two plastic kit builds (1:350 Tamaiya Bismarck and 1:350 Minicraft Titanic, both of which I had started in high school), and do another complete kit build of a Netherlands Coast Guard rescue vessel that I semi-customized into a research vessel.] After a major house clean-up and organization push, my wife decided we have to do something with the boat. She has been wanting to get some dolls for our daughter, and while thinking about that, she came up with the idea of making the empty hull into a 'doll-boat' - like a doll-house, but, you know, a boat. I immediately latched on to the idea - usually, a little girl gets a doll-house, but her Daddy's a NavArch, so she gets a doll-boat! So, I agreed to the doll-boat. My only condition was that once we are past the age of playing with dolls, I can take it back and finish it to completion beyond what I would be comfortable doing while it was still being played with. And that is the story of how this project was conceived. My next post will start detailing the design progress I've made, some of the major challenges I am facing that I am looking forward to getting input on, and an outline of the general path I am wanting to take to achieve the goal of actually completing it. And, since everyone likes pictures, attached are several of the shell I have to work with. It's a pretty contemporary looking hull form, about 40 inches long, and 10-1/2 inches wide. The daughter loves it already!

This is an awesome project - in every sense of the word! I actually attended Webb Institute for my NavArch degree - so this post is very interesting to me, given that it is a unique insight into the design and construction of one of Webb's ships. I would highly recommend contacting the school regarding your project (if you haven't done so already.) Even if it is a little late for trying to compile any research on the ship that they may be in a unique position to offer, they would at a minimum be interested (and likely inspired!) by your dedication to re-constructing the ship in miniature ('building a model' does not seem to carry enough weight!) and would love to see it! If you like, I can fish out the contact for the person that kind of heads up the volunteer group that focuses on the history of Webb and his projects. There was a model of Young America at the school (of course) but it didn't stand out as anything other than a model of the ship. Had something of your caliber been there, it would have engaged me for hours inspecting the details of the construction! I'm not at all suggesting yours should be there; just contrasting the caliber and attention to detail of the only other model of YA I am personally familiar with. This is a great project I am really looking forward to following your progress, even if I am showing up to the project a little late. Regards - Ben