FriedClams

Great job on all those mast fittings G.L. And thanks for that overview post - it was a big help. I’m looking forward to future posts and progress on your row boat. Gary

Wonderful craftsmanship as always Alexander. Beautiful. Gary

Thank you John and Keith. And thanks to everyone looking in and hitting the like button. Pilothouse Interior #1 With the frame for the pilothouse done, it’s time for the interior wall covering. But first I need to install the jambs on the six windows and the door. The jambs protrude from the frame both inside and out because they need to be flush with the outer surface of the wall covering. They are cut from 1/32” basswood sheet. This material is out of scale, but once the trim casings go on, only the face of the jambs will show with a reveal on the edges. The openings of the frame were cleaned in the corners before the jambs went in to remove any adhesive squeeze out. Next I added a band of wall frame cross supports that will serve as a landing spot for the lower edge of the exterior siding. This is necessary because the pilothouse floor is lower than the forward deck as shown below. The interior vertical wall boards are about 3.5” wide. I begin by staining a trial batch of wood. I stick the wood down to a sheet of paper using double-sided tape. Chalk is scraped off the side of sticks directly onto the wood and alcohol is used to liquefy and spread it. I want color variation so several chalks are unevenly applied in loosely defined mini piles. If the colors are evenly distributed it simply blends into a homogeneous color and that is not what I’m after here. The color is darker when wet and certain colors will not fully emerge until it has completely dried. I didn’t care for the reddish oxide tone of the trial batch, so I changed colors and found something closer to what I had in mind. In the end a scattered mix of burnt umber, raw umber and burnt sienna was used. The raw umber has a subtle green tint that I like. When it was dry, I went over the surface with fine sandpaper. To bring up a slight sheen, I lightly polished the wood with a little beeswax on the tip of my finger – more like burnishing really. Then the floor of the cabin was constructed by gluing 6” wide floorboards directly to the template and cutting away the waste. It was stained and a foot traffic pattern worn in. The floor is reinforced on the bottom side. Next I made up the interior window casings. I first drew up the six window cutting templates. Only the fore and aft facing windows have square corners. Then with the aid of double-sided tape, I cut and glued the casings together. I painted the casings, window jambs and material for the shoe base an off-white acrylic. I then glued the vertical wall boards and all the trim into place. Sitting on the floor section. The floor will not be glued on just yet. Thanks for stopping by. Gary

Hello Keith Nice technique using the spent utility knife blade to profile the rub rail. I will remember that. I can see this being useful in many applications. Thanks. Gary

I think you should be happy with it Mark. It's very nice. Gary

Dave and Alexander - Thank you very much - I truly appreciate it. And thanks to everyone hitting the like button. Pilothouse Frame Here’s a profile drawing of a typical pilothouse for this boat. I used the above image and a similar one of another boat to produce the pilothouse drawings for this model. The mast on this boat is perpendicular to the water line and the aft facing wall of the pilothouse is parallel to the mast. The roof and floor have a 4-degree pitch upward as it extends forward, so the sidewall framing forms a parallelogram rather than a rectangle. The small front angled walls are less steeply pitched because they point away from the sidewalls at 45 degrees. They have a pitch rise of only 2.9 degrees. All six walls are drawn up. Cutting templates and part locating drawings are printed for all walls. Basswood is cut and assembled into wall sections. Then the wall sections are combined. Strip wood is cut and mitered for use as wall top plates. They extend a tad into the interior beyond the wall frame. This serves as a termination point for the vertical interior wall boards when they are placed and it also provides a wider landing spot for the roof beams. Holes are drilled through the framing to hide the wiring for the P/S running lights, interior lighting and a pair of exterior rear facing floodlights. Notice in the photo below that the middle cross support in the angled wall has been replaced with two parallel facing boards. The windows slide down into pockets and this one window will be shown partially open. When the forward deck was installed, the opening for the pilothouse was purposely left too small. With the frame completed, I now filed the opening to fit. Then the frame was placed just to see how it looked so far. The pilothouse will be detailed and totally completed before it is glued into place. Thanks for taking a look. Gary

Absolutely fantastic work on your bird carvings Frank. You have not only carved an exact likeness of these birds, you have captured the spirit of them. I can almost feel the tension in the Green Heron preparing to strike. Wonderful. Gary

I know your post above is about the install of the scupper doors, but I couldn't stop looking at the hull. The light reflecting off it really accentuate its graceful form. And all those coats of finish gave it a strong visual depth. Very beautiful Keith. Gary

A very fine looking and interesting boat Nils. I look forward to following your progress and wish you the best of luck on your new project. Gary

You must be a perfectionist Alexander, because your work is indeed perfect. Your re-working of the stove displays your pride of craftsmanship. All these details - tiller, stove, pumps and carronades are all very finely made. Nice. Gary

I just wanted to thank everyone for all the positive and supportive comments on my small diorama. You folks are very kind and I’m pleased you found it of interest. And as always, thanks to everyone hitting the like button. Work on the fishing dragger is moving forward, but the pace has slowed due to - you know - yard work. Gary

This post is unrelated to my Stonington dragger build and is just something I wanted to share. I hope this isn’t bending forum rules too far. I’m in the process of building a series of small shadow box dioramas in 1:87 scale. Each diorama is 2.25” x 4.75” with a maximum depth of 2.5”. The exterior dimensions of the shadow box is 8” x 5.25” x 3” deep. It is made from poplar and assembled with biscuits. This is the second diorama I’ve completed and depicts the interior of a small fictitious boat building shop. It is completely scratch built with the exception of the following items: The brick wall material is from New England Brownstone Co. in Massachusetts. It is made in white Hyrocal slabs that you cut and color as needed. The window frames, truss rod queen posts, turnbuckles and the 55 gallon drum are unpainted injection molded styrene from Tichy Train Group in North Carolina. And the two human figures are from Preiser in Germany. I apologize for the quality of these images as they were shot through the glass using a polarizer and only diorama LEDs for lighting. The exterior photographs visible through the windows were scaled and affixed to the inside of a PVC pipe that was split lengthwise creating a concave image plane. This means there is no upper or lower edge of the photo that can be observed. And because the photo sits back away from the window, the image shifts as the observer moves and their visual perspective changes. I installed two pushbuttons into the bottom of the case that control interior and “exterior” LED lighting. Being able to control them separately allows for day/night display scenarios and changes the mood - much more than I expected. Compare the “nighttime” shot below to the “daytime” (with interior lights on) shot above. And then exterior lights only. Interior lights only. Exterior lights only. And a couple of other shots. Thanks for taking a look – now back to the fishing dragger. Gary

Wonderful work Frank - as close to perfect as it gets. Congratulations. I look forward to seeing your dredges and of course the final "studio" shots. Gary

Keith, John, Druxey, Mark and Alexander - That you for your kind words and for looking in on my build. I appreciate it. Dave B - Glad that you find my log of interest, and thanks for the compliments. Happy to have you following along. And thanks to everyone looking in and hitting the like button. Some Deck Details This is a small update showing the addition of a couple of minor deck details: - Trim around the base of the fish and ice hatches - Two fish hold deck plates - Added rail to the port side The added rail shown prominently in the following 2 photos is a mystery to me. I don’t know what it’s called or what its purpose is. It is shown in nearly every photo of every Stonington style dragger I have seen. It is always on the port side directly in front of the sorting pens. - Is it to keep fisherman from flipping backwards over the rail when sorting fish on a slimy deck? It doesn’t seem high enough to prevent that. - Or does some kind of cleaning table set on or hook over it? I have not seen a single image that would even suggest this. If someone knows or has a theory – I’d love to hear it. Here are a few more photos. In this final photo a faint deck wear pattern is beginning to emerge. I don’t want to commit until the winch and gallous frame are built and placed. Next I'll be starting in on the pilothouse. Thanks for stopping by. Gary

So very nice Keith! Gary