Richard Bradfield

Well I spent the last two full days building these oyster dredges and man what  a challenge! They turned out ok, I guess, but I wish I was better at soldering. Actually I assembled one with about 20 percent solder and 80 percent CA glue and one with 90 percent solder and 10 percent CA glue. The glued one looks better to me. I had a real problem with previously soldered joints melting when working on a near by joint. The paste solder didn't work very well. I couldn't see when the solder melted because there was so much slag generated by the stuff. I used and open flame and a tip but still had problems with both. I guess practice makes perfect.  I probably should have spray painted them, but I used a brush and there is some clumping of the paint. Oh well they look good from about 18 inches away so I will live with them. ( Duh, I have "Blackin It" but just thought of it now)

 
 I started making the nets using 1/8" split rings but I'm thinking they are too big. They scale out to 4" when they are supposed to be 2 1/4". The smaller rings are 3/32", which scale to 2" but they are so small I know it will be very tough to assemble. What do you all think? 

Well I finished the second bilge pump and it turned out as good as the first. I started building the oyster dredges yesterday and quit in order to come up with a better more organised method. So I went and bought a nice piece of poplar to serve as a build board for the dredges, made a copy of the dredge plans and taped it to the board. Then I spent the next two and a half hours cutting and shaping the pieces for the frame for one of the two dredges.  Oh yeah, I also went to the local craft store and bought a pair of 4mm X 2mm Bale Making pliers and a pair of Round Nose Pliers from the jewelry department which helped a bunch.  Went to the local supermarket and bought a bag of White Pearl Onions just for the bag, as it will work very well for the netting on the dredges ( I need to find a recipe to use the onions!)  Now I need to come up with a plan or jig to hold these parts so I can assemble them. I intend to bolt the pieces I made eyelets for together and solder the rest of the joints. I think I will make it in sections, the two sides and the bottom then assemble and finish soldering the connecting braces and joints.  I may staple the individual pieces in place to the build board then use FloTemp paste solder to join them.  Hopefully I will be successful. I will post my results. Here are a couple pics of the 23 pieces needed to to construct the dredge frame. I still need to cut and shape the pieces for the second dredge and make a rake for each one. 

 
Hopefully it will look like this when finished.  

Thanks Russ and Gerty for the encouraging comments. I worked on a fun little project this afternoon, building the bilge pumps.  Completed one today and will make the second one tomorrow.  It turned out pretty well. I think it would probably even work.  Ha, maybe I'll give it a try. The only real challenge was making the conical shaped upper piece and the wooden pump handle. Started with this basic material, 

 
Made these components, 
 
Here is the assembly, 
 
And mocked up on the boat. 
 
I will polish them up a bit and just paint them white.

A short update.  Spent the last two days installing the headrails and trailboards.  I am not planning to torture myself by trying to paint the fancy trailboards so I went ahead and installed them.  They were quite a challenge but I am satisfied with the results.  Will put a primer coat on the new wood then start the deck planking next.  Here are some progress pics.

Hello all, This is my first build log and my first build of a somewhat detailed wooden model boat.  I retired about 18 months ago and decided to get into building model boats. I am partial to work boats, especially those of the Chesapeake Bay, so I built a simple crabbing skiff and a smaller scale skipjack wood model to get into it a bit. This kit is far and away more difficult. I am having fun though and the hours just slip on by.  I am sorry I did not start the build log properly by documenting the kit unboxing and early stages of my build so this log picks up after I finished the basic hull. I started this build on Jan 15, 2013. I am building the boat as close to the "real thing" as I can and adding as much extra detail as I am capable of.  Comments or questions are welcome of course.
 

 
The cabins and hatches are just temporarily placed on the deck. The main cabin roof was split in two so that I can remove half to see the detail.  The cabin windows are clear plastic. The cabin mattresses are pieces of cardboard covered with old sail cloth. All doors are hinged and hatch covers are removable. Well that brings this build up to date.  The next task is to cut and install the planksheers.

I finished all the major painting, touchups and constructed the display stand today. Next step is the cap rail, install rudder linkage, and more ironwork (when my supply of brass gets here).  Here are a few pic of the where I am at the end of today.  Nothing is glued down yet. Gonna take a break for a few days and get back on it Monday.
 

I put my sail making aside, while I wait for some eyelets I ordered to arrive so I could complete them. Today I have been working on the oyster dredge rollers. The picture shows the two roller assemblies prior to painting or blackening. This little project took me about 8 hours to complete to this stage and I am pleased with the result. I sorta wish I had aluminum tube to use for the rollers but only had the brass. I will likely paint the rollers with aluminum colored paint and the mounting ironwork white.

Thanks for having a look.

Karl, Your craftsmanship is absolutely stunning! My mouth is open but I am speechless.

Here is a pic of the mast boom and bow sprit painted and positioned on the boat. Nothing is permanently attached.  
 

 

Well I spent the last two full days building these oyster dredges and man what  a challenge! They turned out ok, I guess, but I wish I was better at soldering. Actually I assembled one with about 20 percent solder and 80 percent CA glue and one with 90 percent solder and 10 percent CA glue. The glued one looks better to me. I had a real problem with previously soldered joints melting when working on a near by joint. The paste solder didn't work very well. I couldn't see when the solder melted because there was so much slag generated by the stuff. I used and open flame and a tip but still had problems with both. I guess practice makes perfect.  I probably should have spray painted them, but I used a brush and there is some clumping of the paint. Oh well they look good from about 18 inches away so I will live with them. ( Duh, I have "Blackin It" but just thought of it now)

 
 I started making the nets using 1/8" split rings but I'm thinking they are too big. They scale out to 4" when they are supposed to be 2 1/4". The smaller rings are 3/32", which scale to 2" but they are so small I know it will be very tough to assemble. What do you all think? 

Made some progress on my boat over the last few weeks. I finished one of two oyster dredges and man what a challenge. It took about 20 hours just to put the netting and chainmail on the frame.  I even cheated a bit by buying some 2.3mm necklace chain from the local craft store.  It turned out ok, but I may try some other type of material like cheesecloth for the netting on the next one. 

 
I also made the mast, bowsprit and boom. Getting the transition from square to octagon to round and putting the curve in the bowsprit was also a bit of a challenge but all the pieces look good. 

 
I stained the deck instead of painting it white even though the wood has such a variety of color, it looks ok, I think.  
 
I even hired some additional workers. These little guys were actually Jamestown settlers that I modified to make look more like 19th century watermen. They are very close to correct scale, but I did some major surgery on each as they originally scaled out to be about 6' 6" tall. Once I finish the boat, I may need to do more surgery to position the arms as appropriate. Made of resin, they were easy to modify.
 
Hope to start working the rigging hardware this weekend.
 

She makes a fine build, was my second and I loved every minute of it, the plans are good as is the quality of the timbers. My own preference is not to finish with oils but simple use a matt varinish.

Thanks Russ and Gerty for the encouraging comments. I worked on a fun little project this afternoon, building the bilge pumps.  Completed one today and will make the second one tomorrow.  It turned out pretty well. I think it would probably even work.  Ha, maybe I'll give it a try. The only real challenge was making the conical shaped upper piece and the wooden pump handle. Started with this basic material, 

 
Made these components, 
 
Here is the assembly, 
 
And mocked up on the boat. 
 
I will polish them up a bit and just paint them white.

Time for a small update.  Didn't want Andy to sail off without some fond memories.
 
We have ventured into the realm of running rigging (the brown stuff) with the installation of the spanker boom and gaff.  Their addition has certainly filled out the stern.
 
It was a little hard getting the right background but I think you'll get the idea.  She has now reached her full LOA.
 

 

 

 
Will be moving forward now with topmast halliards, etc. before we get to YARDwork  .

Adam and Bob, Thanks for the comments. I am having fun with it.  Worked on it a bit today.  Faired the deck frames, installed the planksheers and the side guards. I soaked the log rails in water a few minutes and am forming them to the hull. Only one pic to add today.