robert952

Seats 'dry fit' in place. Just a quick update. Going off script (ok, instruction manual sequence). The instructions basically saves painting to the last part of the project. I think it will be easier to paint before the seats and knees get installed. Besides, the rub rail and row block are mahogany. No need to risk gettig paint on those. I got to thinking it would be better to be sure the seats fit properly before I started painting. That way the seats can be painted the same color as the hull inside. And I won't mess up the painting too much when I do a final installation. I worked up the bow seat with the support hole for the mast. I have enough 'wiggle room' to set the rake (4-5 degrees give or take). In the photo, the mast is a 1/4 in dowel from my 'lumber yard.' Too bad it is an inch or so too short to be the right height in scale. Just means I have to go buy another dowel. However, it shows that diameter (which is close to the .22 inches per the drawing) looks good. This bow seat means that the positions for the other mid-boat seats had to be shifted. I hope to keep the oarlock close to its mid-boat position. Looking at the images, I may need to move the forward seat a bit more towards the bow seat. I'll split the difference to leave some 'leg room' between the forward seats. I will start work on the rudder next. That way when I paint, I can paint everything at the same time and have the same color(s) if I should need to custom mix the paint. As I look further ahead and having done some research for the sail, I have some concerns on the actual size of the sail. But more on that later. My plans are to show the sail furled on the model, so exact size of the sail is not as critical.

Here's my thoughts from my 'wood working period.' A lot of the choices depends on the final look you want. After sanding the wood smooth and using a tack cloth to capture the sawdust. I apply stain usually only once. The stain usually ended up too dark with a second coat. Your results may vary. As I said, depends on the look you want. If the grain was raised I then lightly sand or use steel wool. Tack cloth to pick up sawdust. Then a top coat like polyurethane with a finish I want for the piece (gloss, matte). Usually two coats, three if the surface will see actual heavy use (floors. desk tops). Steel wool (fine soft type) and tack cloth between coats. For the couple of models I have left natural, I have used tung oil and hand/cloth applied. Again two or three coats to get a smooth finish. I find tung oil also works well on natural unstained wood. I never used a glaze. Mom used 'stain' for her antiquing projects as it had different colors available and seemed to allow a second color for streaks and such. It was more likely a glaze but for her glaze was limited to ceramics and was fired. I think the choice of terms was so that I would bring the right can of stuff to here when she was working on some project. Laquer for my tastes was always too shiny. But that's me.

Super looking model. Great job. What's next?

Thanks. Also interesting to learn about side related issues like lobster scales and lobster traps.

Risers and Inwales installed Once I got back to the bench (RL and all that) it didn't take long to install the risers (and inwales). I put a tick mark on each rib, soaked, shaped, and clamped the planks in place and waited for them to dry. A 'spot' of glue at each tick mark and clamped the planks in place. The instructions say to install the seats at this point. However, I plan on painting before the seats go in. I could be wrong but I think the task using an airbrush will be easier without the seats in the way. I went ahead and installed the inwales using the same process. I'll do some sanding to even up the inwales with the hull; only one small area is out of kilter. My painting plans are to do some cleanup at some of the corners, apply a sanding sealer and get the model ready for airbrushing. Of course, as I write this, winter storm warnings are out. So getting out to the garage may be a few days until we get back to normal temps (around 58 F this time of the year). However, I've other things I can work on. Like new seats and the rudder. And the lobster trap and the oars, too. If I make a custom color, I will likely paint the knees and seats before installing them to make sure the seats match. (Of course, it may be interesting if the seats were a different color.) Speaking of seats, I do have to make a new seat for the bow. Maybe a new bench seat, also. Here is a shot of the seats supplied in the kit 'dry fit' in place. When planning on the sail, I saw several images of small boats with a mast step similar to what I have in place. They use a deck or seat with a hole lined up over the step that helps support the mast. I will make a new seat to replace the kit supplied part to extend over the mast step. Using the original as a starting pattern, I will extend the bow seat to the red line below. This reduces the space to the first bench so I will probalby move that back a bit. Since the seat was die cut to fit snugly in place inside the hull, moving the seat means it doesn't sit on the risers. But, the shape is easy enough to duplicate a bit larger. As a side bar of this model... I have started thinking about a 'tool box' for the boat. After all, it's all in the details. I will likely make an 'orange crate' to put in the boat. Inside this box I will place the oarlocks, fashion a lobster guage - more on that when I get to that modeling that; a knife and maybe another doodad or two. The type of things anyone who has been fishing would have on their boat. Also, I will make a gaff hook that would be used to pull traps out of the water. Regarding oarlocks, peapods were often rowed standing. To make that task easier, a taller oarlock was used. The drawing I use as my reference indicates both sizes of oarlocks. I figure it would be a nice detail to add. I asked my son to see if he can print a 3D model of these. To that end, I took photos of the oarlocks supplied in the kit; used my calipers to measure what I could and give an idea of what the extended oarlock would look like. Using the graph paper as my background provides a 'sanity check' as I put the measurements on the drawing. A couple of the measurements are an average between the two pieces. Well, enough rambling for this post.

Great looking model. Congrats on finishing it. I'm looking forward to following the sailing pram build.

Thanks for the heads up. I am not sure if this comes into play. It likely will. So I thought I'd add my 2 kbytes worth. Several websites now require much stronger (hence longer) PWs. Many sites require ten characters (the recommmended shortest PW you should use). One website I go to requires 12 characters! The longer the better. Usually all require the obligatory lower case, capital letter, number, and symbol (ampersand, dollar sign, etc.). As I change passwords, I am switching to the longer ones. I do feel good when the computer tells me: "Very Strong Password." (We have to grab the little victories when they come.) For the other 'veteran' subscribers...and we know who we are... I got this idea from reading a novel: Use a phrase, saying, or favorite passage. Put in the required characters and other minor changes to fit requiirements. Examples: TwoBeorNot2B! (Thirteen characters.) Other variations: 2B_or_notTwoBe ; 2BeDoBeDoo! (OK, the last one is an out of box variation. Which is why something like this is not a bad password.) Another might be referencing a Bible verse: Gen#1_27 or 1_27Genesis! (Make sure it's not guessable by your friends or relatives - or on a bumper sticker on your car.) Still another: Complete sentences: Itwas-thebestoftimes-Itwas-theworstoftimes_345! (a whopping 46 character password! Think how impressed your friends will be when they see you type in THAT long of a password. They'll not question your memory again. (OK, you do have to remember which words you capitalized and the actual numbers you used, but you have a fighting chance. ) CallMeIshmael#1 just popped into my head...easier to remember? Or Maryhad1LittleLamb! Poems also make for good lines to consider. Whatever you can remember that has a lot of characters. And for the record, I just made these up as I typed this. I don't use any of the above. But one time I did use: ThisismyPassword_therearemanylikeIt_butthis1_ismine! (52 characters. Note cap I in the middle - a good thing to do is put a capital letter somewhere within the password.) And there are some websites where I do not let my browser keep my PW 'on file.' I am just paranoid enough to do that. But the ones I use are more easily remembered passwords. I hope all this helps simplify the remembery of PWs for you and inspires you to come up with a unique password.

Floor Boards and Mast Step in place. Short post tonight. I put the floor boards in place. It wasn't until I took the photo that I saw how far off I laid the boards. I lined them up with each other and didn't check their alignment with the center line. Live and learn. I also made and installed the mast step. Not part of the original model. It took me a couple of rounds to get one that I was happy with. Did a lot of sanding to get it to fit into place Because of error on the floor boards, I made sure the step is more inline with the stem. Next up in the instructions: installing the risers. The instructions say they go 1/2 inch below the top of the hull. I made a quick measuring tool so that I can mark position. I can set the horizontal piece, on the hull and mark at the bottom black section. That may give me a fighting chance at keeping it in proper position. As with other planking, I'll soak the wood and bend it in place. Once they dry, they will get glued in place. I will probably do the inwales at this point.

I agree with @palmerit. I always advised my colleagues to use Google and not our intranet web site to find stuff. Ironically, we were using the Google search engine in our public websites and intranet.

Breasthooks and Ribs in place In between putting up my Christmas decorations... (A cartridge in a bare tree) ...and celebrating Christmas with parents, sibs and in-laws, I have managed some time at the workbench. The breasthooks needed some sanding and beveling to fit; I did not have any problems with those. Here's the bow piece: (Note to self: Clean up that stem joint a bit more before you paint it.) The instructions show installing the ribs from one end to the other. I chose a different path. I found the midship line and started in the middle. I made several measurements to help insure the distance to the ends of that rib were the same distance from one stem. They still ended up ended up a bit of center but not too bad (about 1/16 off). I then used dividers and marked each of the other ribs' positions with a line parallel to the previous and worked towards the stems; one rib at a time. I used the same method as before on the planks: soaking the wood in hot water; clamp it in place; and after they dried, I glued them in place. Took a bit of time over several days to get them all installed. On other build logs for this model, I read that keeping the ribs parallel and straight proved to be challenging. I concur. The end product is off a bit on some of the ribs. However, as others have stated (and shown with their finished models) the seats and inwales can reduce the effect of those ribs. I am pleased with the results of my work. Below the ribs are in place, trimmed and sanded to the sheer. At the bow (right end in photo in above) I did 'fudge' the locations a bit. I will need to add the mast step between the second and third (from the bow) ribs. A bit closer look below. I just hope that paint will cover all my markings. Shouldn't take more than 20 or 30 coats. 😉 Maybe less. I plan on using a sanding filler to have a smooth surface for painting. So, it shouldn't take but a couple coats. 🤞 Next up (probably after Christmas) installing floorboards, mast step, and risers. I will likely cut a redesigned bow seat during this time, also. More on that when I get there. I have to decide to when to paint the hull: after the risers or after the inwales go in. Not sure which, but definitely before the seats get installed. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Back in Jan. 2022, Chuck Bauer was the speaker for an NRG Online Workshop titled 'Stategic Detailing.' At the start Chuck pointed out reasons for adding details to a model as: "Improving the visual appeal of the model, adding historic accuracy and differentiating it from others." Your observation confirms I am hitting his bullet points. I appreciate your comment and observation. Thank you.

I had a few spare minutes this afternoon. I trimmed and sanded the keel and stem pieces. Still have to fill the scarf joint and a few other areas. However, I wanted to post this quick update. It's starting to look more and more like a boat.

Congrats on finishing the model. Well done model.

My Nov 14 post ended with my hope that I would have the keel installed. Spoiler alert: I installed the new keel. But, it had its interesting points. So, grab a cuppa and come along for the ride. My cardboard template showed that I was on the right track. But there were obvious problems with fit. While in the worse of cases the gap was around +/- 1/8 inch, I knew I needed a better fit. Before I started cutting the actual stems, I revisited the measurements, added some tick marks on the hull and template as measurement points. I then adjusted the curve when I transferred the template lines to the wood. The cut the bow piece. It fit better, but still off a bit. Considering this, I took greater care on the stern piece which did fit much better. Neither was perfect, but I figured I could do some filing and sanding to get it closer. I went ahead and cut the outer edges of the stems leaving a bit of wood to use as a handle for dry fitting and gluing. In the photo below, the red arrow indicates where I will cut for the top of the stem. I kept fiddling with the pieces with sanding and scraping. I got a much better fit on each piece. I then glued the pieces in place. I thought (always a dangerous situation) I'd use CA since holding and clamping the piece would be difficult to keep steady using PVA. But the CA started to cure before I got the piece in place. So, I scrapped that idea and went back to PVA (after scraping the hardened CA off). I practiced how I would set the pieces and 'clamp it' in place. I put some music; found a comfortable way to prop my arms as I held the piece in place; and settled in for a bit of a wait. With the help of a clamp and a couple of rubber bands, I held the stem long enough for the glue to set up. I left the bands and clamp in place overnight. The next day, repeated for the other piece. Success! The pieces stayed in place and the stems were installed. And they lined up with each other along lines I drew for the purpose. I had already cut a strip for the main keel. I made sure it was deeper than the stems. I will remove the extra material. In the end it, the keel will be (roughly) the same dimension along the hull. (I think we've covered my skills at measuring and cutting already.) The hull is flat from my work at fairing it up. When I cut the keel piece, knowing my skills (or lack thereof) at cutting a straight line, I made sure that I measured and cut from a machine cut edge of stock (the MC on the strip in this photo). The keel piece laid perfectly to the hull. I drew the guides for my scarf joints. And continued merrily along. I knew I could cut the scarf for one end to be a good fit. I hoped that I could cut the other end to fit decently. So, I went to work. I got a fairly good fit for the cut and fit of my scarf joint. (Full disclosure - this shot was after gluing the keel in place to both stems.) It was at this point (yes - after the glue had dried) I noticed an error. I was due for one, I guess. I ask you to take a few moments and look at the image and see if you can find my error. Go ahead. Take your time. I'll wait. See it yet? Yep, I had put my custom cut bow stem on the stern. "Bow" is on the piece; 'S' is on the hull. However, IT FIT! And as you can see below (overlook my sloppy scarf cut - I'll get to that momentarily), the stem piece fit well on the wrong end, too. I scratched my head and came to the conclusion my custom stems were closer to being symmetrical than I first thought. I trimmed the pieces to match the hull and did nothing to the hull in the way of sanding during this time. So, the stems fit on either end after I had fine tuned the fit of the stem pieces. Which makes sense because the peapod is a double-ender and should should be symmetrical. Therefore, I am either lucky or good. I'd like to think the latter. But, remember, even a blind squirrel bumps into a nut once in a while. More likely, I am just lucky. As to the sloppy scarf...I thought about doing the bottom piece over before I glue it in place. But, I know my ability to repeat a bad cut. It's my super power. I will clean out the glue visible in the above photo and putty the gap. It's only a bit over 1/16 inch. With everything covered in this lengthy post, the keel is installed. Despite my error and sloppiness, I am pleased. I usually build kits. I have cut pieces to replace a broken or misaligned pieces of a model. But those already have a pattern to follow. This is the first truly scratch built piece I have done from working with a drawing in a book. I did enjoy the learning adventure which is part of the process. And, this shows that you can take a relatively simple kit and make changes that provide some challenges. I will clean up the scarf, trim the keel to be (approximately) equal along the length of the boat. I am not sure what I will tackle next. The next steps can be independant of each other in many respects. I could continue and make the rudder (though assembly won't be for a while). I could go back to the manual and install the ribs and floorboards. Or I could build the lobster trap just to change things up a bit. (I got some netting at Hobby Lobby that looks close to scale. However, that's another tale.) But, that decision can wait. It's the Tuesday before Thanksging Day here in the US. And my weekend is full. I am in charge of the turkey. I carve turkey better than I carve wood. 😉

I'd recommend: try the Dory again. There's several build logs hereon MSW that will help you with building that specific model. (Just search Grand Banks Dory. You'll find many on the Model Shipways model. (Also a couple other companies that follow similar procedures for building.) If you start a build log, you will get some followers (and lurkers) who can give advise and tell their experience if you run into something you don't know or understand. You can ask for advise there. If you have a specific questionpn some aspect of modeling (paint, glue, etc), search those items. If you don't find a thread, start a new thread in the appropriate sub-forum. If you mess up on something (all of has 'been there, done that') we can likely give some advise and tips on how to correct the error. Take your time. Building models is ALWAYS a learning process. Welcome aboard.