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John Ruy

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Everything posted by John Ruy

  1. John Ruy
    Planking… Not so sure I like the Craft Paste, it is a bit too rubber/vinyl like. 🤔 I will probably go back to wood filler for smoothing out the hull. Pencil marked the bulwarks/deck for a starting point to lay the first plank. Created a gauge and wood glued the first plank. Second plank in place… I have found that pins are working better than clamps. Switched back to CA glue at this point. Will need to wet these last two for the twist to the transom. Creative clamping, but I think I have got it. Starting a few rows from the keel up, while the stern dries. This is a very “twisted” hull. 😆 She is coming together nicely, albeit with some effort. 😝 Plastic wood is my friend… See you next week. Off camping to Mount Blue for a couple of days. Cheers 🍻
  2. John Ruy
    Back to my Smack. 😎 1/32” trim molding around the deck. No tapered spars in this kit. Hand tapered Main Mast ready to go. Mast stained and mounted… Just a bit of a Fore Bit… 😆 Tapering the Bow Sprit… Getting close to rigging time. Later. 😎
  3. John Ruy
    Finishing up the tail piece and transom. Trimming down the side planks. Planking roughed in around the Transom. Used some 1/32” sheet material to extend the forward side of the tail piece. Filling and sanding the bulwarks planking and tail end around transom. Third coat of craft paste. Should be ready to finish the water ways after this sets and is sanded again. 😎 Progress… 🍻
  4. John Ruy
    Here is a pic of a harpoon. They were typically made of tree branches to be expendable. Larger than a lance pole. cheers 🍻
  5. John Ruy
    Ron, Here is a photo of a harpoon In my Whaleboat on my CWM. This may give you some perspective? The Harpoon shafts were a bit larger than an oar. My CWM was a bit smaller scale, this photo may be helpful as well. Your Morgan is looking great. 👍
  6. John Ruy
    About that Transom… Finalized the shape of the tail piece with a mini roto sander. Cut Transom out of 1/32 material. Laminated 1/32 planks… Transom In place… Restoration photo… I think I will plank this piece to give it a flatter appearance. Started planking, something tells me this isn’t going to be easy. 😆
  7. John Ruy
    Decking and Transom… Scribed decking glued down successfully, I think individual planks may have been easier. 😆 Inside of tail piece carved out… Cutting and carving for the transom. Almost there… 😝 Transom planking pattern, taken from restoration photos. Onwards… 😎
  8. John Ruy
    Back from Cape Cod, great weather. Stopped in to the Cape Cod Maritime Museum. Great boat building shop, got some appreciation for the craft. Awesome… 😎 Back to the Bowdoin… This is a photograph I took myself two years ago in Castine, ME. The Bowdoin is working out of the Maine Maritime Academy. Looking at this hull and the restoration photos from the Academy’s web site. I will adjust planking in accordance to this latest restoration vs the instructions of the Laughing Whale kit. That said this Bowdoin will not be the 1921 version. 😆 A bit of custom clamping to correct the Bulwarks. Clamping on additional 1/32 plank on the bulwarks Bulwarks complete… Sanding… Painting and craft paste. Second coat… Later 🍻
  9. John Ruy
    Ron, It’s good the see you back at it again. Glad your a settled and able to start work on the CWM. She is a beautiful ship to build. Welcome back, I look forward to watching your progress. John
  10. John Ruy
    Bulwarks and Waterways… And so it begins… I have worked out the bulwark planking and have started cutting the timbers. Using CA glue to facilitate a quicker process. No clamping time… 😆 Cut my first waterways. A bit rough, but some filler on the planking and some needle filling will clean it up. Sanding off the timbers as I go… Waterways from the inside on the fore deck. Placement exactly 1/2” (32/64” actually). Measure twice glue once… First two waterways it on the main deck. I’ll need to square these up. Enough for now more later… Off to the Cape for the week. Finally got some good camping weather. 🤞 Cheers 🍻
  11. John Ruy
    More photos of the Bowdoin restoration. I will be using these photos to guide my building of the bulwarks and waterways. Photos are from the Maine Maritime Academy Bowdoin Deck Restoration Project web site. Many Thanks to Andrew @ahb26 for your build log on the Bowdoin and your reference to this site.
  12. John Ruy
    Waterways… After viewing photos of the Bowdoin Restoration, I noticed the Laughing Whale Bowdoin does not show the same waterways. I am building the waterways as follows. I am starting with first plank at the same level as the main sub deck. I notched 1/8” strips and placed them on the outside edge of the deck. I did the same on the inside… The fore sub deck is a step higher. Sanding and shaping as I go… Waterways completed. View from the stern… Trimmed up deck templates to fit new waterways. I will use the new template to shape the decking to fit inside the waterways. Later 🍻
  13. John Ruy
    Cabin continued… Once I glued the Cabin Coaming and roof into place, I placed 1/32” trim at the base of the Cabin on the deck. Added the Cabin Hatch, Live Well Covers and Seating. She is starting to come together. Another day. Cheers 🍻
  14. John Ruy
    Cabin Coaming and roof… Photo copied sections of plan drawing to creat templates to cut out cabin coaming and roof from 1/32” material as stated on the drawing. Used rubber cement to to attach templates to 1/32” Bass Wood. Carefully cut out the Coaming and Cabin Roof. Peeling off the templates… Soaking the Coaming in Ammonia/Water, as it will need to wrap the cabin. Shaped both sides of the Coaming and it’s in place with various clamps until it dries. I will be back… 🍻
  15. John Ruy
    Thanks Bob… I think I’m starting get the hang of it. These vintage kits do force skill development. 😆 Lots of scratch building with little if any instruction. Thank goodness I have MSW Build logs to reference. 🙏 I appreciate your comments along the way. Thanks again for your encouragement.
  16. John Ruy
    It actually came out straight. 😆 A bit more 150 grit, to fare things up. Laid out the templates for the scribed decking. Needed to narrow up the bow a bit. Templates are all set… Scribed decking is in two halves. Used painters blue tape to hold temporarily while I mark and cut out the decks. Traced out templates with pencil Notched out the decking for bulkheads. Dry fit looks good. 👍 Thought I would stain the decks cherry. I will give them a coat of semi gloss poly, before I glue them down. (tomorrow) It was a good day… 😎 Cheers 🍻
  17. John Ruy
    It’s been a good day in my MSW. Progress… Used strip wood to fare out the bulkhead surfaces for the sub decking. Begin shaping the bulkheads for mounting of the sub deck. 150 grit sanding… This view shows the rough cut bulkheads…. I decided to use templates to get the bulkheads shaped properly. I should have done this before I mounted everything to the keel. 😩 Hind sight is always 100%. 😆 Moving on… 150 grit and persistence gets it right. 😎 Gluing down the fore deck… Soaking wet, trying to get the curve right. Had to re-glue and clamp… Ta Da… sub deck glued in place. Straight, I hope 🤞 We will know more when I remove the Rubber Band/Close-pin Clamping System. 😎 Bulkhead to sub deck joints look good. 👍. Later 🍻
  18. John Ruy
    Rubber Cement Templates… Thin coat applied… All templates laid out… Carefully cut using light pressure and multiple passes… Drill out portholes with 1/8” bit and finalize to the correct size with round needle file. Be careful not to split the wood. On the shelf until I finish planking and decking. Onwards. 😎
  19. John Ruy
    Installing the sub deck… Clamped the two precut halves of the sub deck together with the 10 min clamp wood glue. Precut slots for the bulkheads needed some adjustment. Checking the fit… Need to trim up edges, marked with pencil. Looks like a good fit… Next up, cutting out deck furnishings. Using Rubber Cement to hold templates in place. (Old school) 😆
  20. John Ruy
    Keel vise 2.0… Had to fix some warp-age… so I am on my 2nd version of a building slip. 😆 Bulkheads are in place should dry with no warping. Next up sub decks… cheers 🍻
  21. John Ruy
    Rigged up a Keel Vice… Started work on the bulk heads… Onwards… 😎
  22. John Ruy
    Cutting out pieces using templates. A photo copy pieces to be cut out… Printed the copies on card stock. Laid out the templates on Bass Wood. Laminated the pieces onto the keel using the Loctite Express Wood Glue. This is much better than CA Glue. No gluing my fingers together. 😆 These kits do give me an appreciation for the laser cut kits. Cheers 🍻
  23. John Ruy
    Roger, Your memory serves you correctly, The Bowdoin was designed specifically to survive being trapped between two ice flows. Something MacMillian was always on the look out from aloft in his ice barrel as he navigated the Arctic. This book is the best regarding the Bowdoin’s life in the Arctic and up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Fascinating little Schooner. Saw her this last year at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine Maine working with students abroad. Took these photos of her myself, so looking forward to working on this build. She’s going to be a beauty. Welcome aboard. 🍻
  24. John Ruy
    Thanks Nic, Ah yes of course, I follow him on Facebook. He’s currently designing the Wyoming, right? I was thinking Al was the name, but I wasn’t sure. Please let me know if there are any enhancements for the Bowdoin available. I am following a couple of completed builds of the Bluejacket Bowdoin on here to make this vintage build special. John
  25. John Ruy
    The schooner Bowdoin was designed by William H. Hand, Jr., and built in 1921, in East Boothbay, Maine at the Hodgdon Brothers Shipyard. She is the only American schooner built specifically for Arctic exploration, and was designed under the direction of explorer Donald B. MacMillian. She has made 29 trips above the Arctic Circle in her life, three since she was acquired by the Maine Maritime Academy in 1988. She is currently owned by the Maine Maritime Academy, located in Castine Maine, and is used for their sail training curriculum. She is named for Bowdoin College. Information taken from Wikipedia. Actually found this vintage Laughing Whale kit in Searsport, Maine in the Bluejacket Shipcrafters Gallery. They had some kits in the corner from a long time customer’s estate. What was really cool, is that I talk to a gentleman (forgot his name) working there that worked at Laughing Whale in Wiscasset, Maine. He verified the kit was complete and told me he probably cut out the pieces for the kit 40 years ago. 😎 Bluejacket does have this kit available with all the laser cut pieces and nicer fittings. So this build is for you @MrBlueJacket I love to rescue these old kits, I will try to make you proud. Yes I have this drawing framed. I like collecting and framing these old blueprints for my Gallery. Everything is in very nice condition considering the age of this kit. Sheet No 1 is up on the board. These keel and bulkheads are all hand cut 40 years ago. Everything else will need to be cut out by me. 😆 First steps, glueing the keel and bulkheads. Trying a new glue (new for me) Loctite has a wood glue with a 10 minute clamp time. I think this will be better for laminating than CA Glue. We will see… 🤔

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