JacquesCousteau

Very impressive work!

Continuing on the sail, I first laced it to the mast hoops, securing all the knots with a dab of superglue. The photo below is from before trimming the loose ends. Next, the robands on the gaff. I was initially going to just loop the rope through the eyelet in the sail and then directly around the gaff, as below. But, looking at photos, I decided it would look more accurate to first do a half hitch through the eyelet around the boltrope, and then around the gaff, as below. Subtle, but worth it. As with the mast hoops, I first tied off everything around the sail before attaching the gaff spar. The throat took some thought, as I wasn't sure whether it should be attached to the gaff or the mast, and once I decided the former, it wasn't clear how to tie it off, as it's located at the gaff jaws. After a bit of searching, I noticed in the photo below that there was a thin rope running around the gaff jaws. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/luchinmardones/5232587713/in/photostream/lightbox/ After seeing it in a few other photos, I now think that the throat was simply tied off around the jaws on many lanchas, so I did that, as seen below. To make the robands, I used the same "fake splice" as I've used for stropping blocks: tie a half hitch, secure with a bit of glue, and trim the ends tightly. A quick check, with the gaff temporarily held at the right angle with scrap thread and wire, to make sure none of the angles are wrong. For the boom, I ultimately decided to go with the continuous loop instead of robands. While it at first looks like the continuous loop uses more rope, that doesn't take into account that each roband needs excess rope that gets trimmed after tying the knot. Handling it as a continuous loop was much easier than doing separate robands. That said, while I've seen a number of photos with a continuous loop lacing on the boom, none of them show that on the gaff spar, so this is accurate. Finally, the photo below shows that, unlike the rest of the mast where hoops were used, the tack was held in place with a wrapping of rope. Source: https://www.carlosvairo.com/galeria-puerto-montt-lanchas-chilotas This was a pretty straightforward matter to represent. With that, the gaff sail itself is finished! Next up, I need to figure out how to properly represent the hanks on the jib, and add the running rigging. At this point, I have about 1.5 feet of the .35mm rigging left, hopefully I won't need much for the jib.

That's unfortunate. Plywood does have a tendency to delaminate when soaked. If you can trace the shape of the bulwarks onto thin wood, like basswood (walnut might work too, if you already ordered it, but it will be harder to bend), you might be able to redo the bulwarks. You also might want to look at build logs for kits from Vanguard Models, I believe that company uses plywood for the bulwarks too.

Thanks, @Glen McGuire! I agree, I think the second option looks less bulky. Thanks, @wefalck, it's good to know that robands and continuous lacing can be mixed. While it would make a lot of sense to leave the foot of the gaff sail loose, photos show it was attached. Below, the looped continuous lacing is very clearly shown: Source: https://www.carlosvairo.com/galeria-puerto-montt-lanchas-chilotas Of course, that photo's from the early 1980s, so I wanted to check earlier photos as well. The photo below is from 1940 and shows what look to me like robands: Source: https://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/bnd/629/w3-article-613541.html At this point, I'm leaning toward robands on both gaff and boom, as I think it might use less of my dwindling supply of .35mm rope.

Thanks, all! Yes, Wefalck's bark technique is really excellent. If anyone gives it a try, my main advice is to not judge it until it's dry, as it looks odd and fuzzy when the paint is still wet but really sharpens up once it dries. I've continued to advance on the sails. I added the bolt rope to the gaff sail and, taking advantage of a brief break in the clouds, applied the transparent spray. I then measured and drilled holes where needed to attach the various bits of rigging. I also added a loop of rope to the clew of the jib, as photos showed that the jib sheet ran through a loop here. Next, it was time to start actually attaching the sails. After looking at several photos, I decided that thin wire mast hoops would be the most realistic-looking option. I made them out of 28-gauge wire, wrapped around a length of dowel. The dowel was a little oversized, so I trimmed a bit off the ends before gluing them shut with superglue. Next, lacing the mast hoops to the sail. A lot of other build logs show people adding the mast hoops directly to the sail and then sliding the whole thing onto the mast, which which would definitely be easier, but with everything already on my mast, this option wouldn't work for me. I drew inspiration from diagrams in John Leather’s The Gaff Rig Handbook and examples in a lot of build logs to figure out how best to loop it. I experimented with using fly tying thread, but found it a bit too thin and tricky to work with as strands kept coming off it when threading it. Instead, I went with. 35mm rope. Initially, after looping it through itself around the hoop and running it through the eyelet twice (once from each side), I tied a simple knot on each side with the remaining thread, as shown below: I had a hard time getting it tight on each side, though, and was worried that it was a bit bulky. So I retried by just tying the loose ends off to each other. I'm still deciding whether the first or second option looks best--feel free to weigh in! Both are simplifications from actual practice, but completely following how it was actually done would result in a very bulky knot here. While I decide, I've been attaching the lacing to the mast hoops. Finally, I'm trying to figure out how to attach the sail to the gaff spar and boom. It's a bit tricky. I've seen some photos where the boom very clearly has a continuous rope lacing, and others where the gaff spar very clearly uses robands. So both options seem to have been used. But would a single boat combine both methods--e.g., continuous on the boom and robands on the gaff--or would it make more sense to be consistent?

Incredible work! Especially making the shiplap planks, they look great!

Great work!

Nice work, looks like you're off to an excellent start! The weathered deck looks good. One word of advice for future builds: planking one side at a time can sometimes cause the hull to twist, so it's generally advised to plank both sides simultaneously.

Very nice work, the model’s really coming along well!

Excellent work! Did you use a tiny needle to thread it, or just stiffen the end of the string with super glue?

Thanks, all! I'll give wax paper a try next time instead of plastic. Some minor progress to report. First, I remade the jib halyard block's stropping and the loop around the forestay. It's much shorter now, which is more accurate to photos and will allow the jib to fit properly. After fitting it, I tensioned everything with thread and applied a bit of watered-down white glue so that it would properly hold the tight fold into the eye of the forestay. I also worked more on the jib. The bolt rope is made of .35mm rope from Ropes of Scale, glued in place with more Aleene's Fabric Fusion. As can be seen above, a lot of the seams had shiny glue residue. To get rid of this, I took advantage of a brief bit of sun--Mexico City is quite rainy these days--to apply a matte transparent spray. A couple of coats on each side later, and the residue is practically invisible. The spray also adds a bit of strength and resistance to the sail, which is a nice bonus. Next, I need to do the same to the gaff sail, and add the running rigging. I also need to work out how best to make the hanks (to hold the jib to the forestay) and mast hoops. According to Vairo, by the 1980s these were usually made of wire. I think I'll do some tests with 28-gauge galvanized wire and with thin black rope.

Quite a bleak story! Who knows how many other cases were never brought to the authorities' attention. I wonder if the sailors ever tried to unionize? Although the seasonal nature of the work might have been a barrier. Excellent progress on the build, too. The hull really looks great! Wonderful lines.

Great work! Details like the extra planking really help bring the hull to life.

It's great to see the model coming together! And very interesting research, too. That German-language newspaper is really something, I wonder what happened after the captain was questioned?

Thanks, all! Based on your suggestions, I experimented a bit.