JacquesCousteau

Thanks, John! Next, I added the extra strip across the top of the transom, holding it in place with a rubber band (a relatively light one, as the strip was pretty fragile). I then trimmed and sanded it smooth. The joint with the transom will still need a bit of filler and sanding. Next, I added the stem, so as to start creating the bow rabbet and to be ready for planking. Again, I used rubber bands to hold it in place. Once that had dried for a couple hours or so, I added the keel. Adding it made me realize that the stem was slightly angled off-center, but I was able to sand it into the proper shape afterward. I then sanded the keel and especially the joint between the keel and the stem. For now I'm leaving off the sternpost, and I'll trim the aft end of the keel once I add it, but I'm liking how it's coming out so far. Finally, I cut out two 1/4x1/32-inch strips to use as sheer strakes. I decided that these would be made of a single piece. I suspect that the strakes lower down will be easier to make from multiple planks due to the serious curves and twists. For now, the sheer strakes have been soaked and are drying in place. Fitting them made me realize that, despite my best efforts, the bow rabbet is a little small to really fit them, so I'll need to somewhat thin the planks where they reach the rabbet.

Thanks! Adding the subdecks was slightly more complex than expected, but they're on now. First, I marked and trimmed the exterior edges. I had cut them a good bit oversized and realized that I was setting myself up for a lot of sanding, so I trimmed them to just oversized. Then I glued on the first subdeck on the port side. As can be seen, it took a lot of clamps and rubber bands. I started gluing around the center and added clamps to hold it in place and get the right curve fore-and-aft, and then added glue extending out to the edges followed by rubber bands to set the camber. Gluing the second half was trickier because, with the first half in place, I couldn't really clamp it to the bulkheads. Instead, it was glued all at once and mostly held in place with rubber bands. It was trickier to hold this one in place, and there ended up being a few points where the subdeck wasn't quite in firm contact with the bulkheads, despite adding shims beneath the rubber bands. Thankfully the gap ended up being very small, enough that I was able to sand it out of the subdeck despite it being just 1/32-inch thick. Another challenge was that it was very easy to bend the subdeck with the rubber band, unless it was placed at the junction with the bulkheads. After letting it dry overnight, I was able to remove the bands and sand the edge and top. The subdeck provides a better sense of how the camber turned out, I don't think it looks excessive. As can be seen, I cut the subdeck slightly short so I could add a strip at the top of the transom. I think having the grain running side-to-side there, instead of having open grain, will make it easier to use sanding and filler to disguise that I placed the top transom plank slightly too low. Next steps will be to add the transom top strip, add the keel/stem/sternpost, and to plank down to the wale. I can then line out the hull planking, add the covering boards, and begin planking the hull and the deck.

Very nicely done, especially for a first model!

Once again I'm traveling for the holidays, and once again I was able to bring along some supplies and tools to try and make a bit of progress. First, I added the mast step. The mast will have a square cross section extending a bit above the deck, so I just built a sort of box with 1/16x1/8-inch strip wood. I also checked the template for the subdeck. And then cut out the subdeck. It's wider than any of the 1/32‐inch thick sheets that I have, so I had to make it in two halves. It's roughly placed in the photo below, with the keel being used to roughly mark the mast position. I cut the subdeck wide, so I'll have a bit of trimming and sanding to do. I still need to glue it in place. Unfortunately, my attempt at dampening it and using rubber bands didn't work very well, as the thin wood just started almost rolling up. Once the subdeck halves fully dry (which is taking a while in the Veracruz humidity) I'll work out how best to glue them. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays!

Congratulations, very nicely done!

Fairing the stern can be tricky. The only way to know if it's right is to check with a batten.

Congratulations on an excellent build!

Thank you for following! For now, I'll be working on the Lancha Chilota. I also have a few other projects in the pipeline and, as I enjoy having multiple projects going at once, I'm weighing which to start next.

Excellent work, this is really looking phenomenal. You may have mentioned it earlier, but did you paint the shackles, or chemically blacken them?

I can't compare it with other dory kits, but I personally found the Model Shipways kit to be a great introduction to model building. The instructions are very detailed (and, as mentioned above, are available online so you can seewhat they're like). There are a few aspects to the build that were a little bit tricky, but it was straightforward enough to check other build logs for clarification. Off the top of my head: it's very easy to put a dent in the planking at the bow and stern, but this can be avoided by placing clamps carefully and using light clamps (I found that bobby pins worked well in many cases). Adding the gains to the planks is a little confusing, so it was useful to see how other people handled it on their buid logs--you really have to think about how the planks will fit together. The wood for the false stem isn't specified in the instructions, but you can just use an appropriate sized strip of scrap wood, which lots of build logs note. Some people have also noted an issue with frame templates, although I didn't experience that, so you can check their logs for how they handled things. I would also consider size, cost, and whether you want it with a sail or not. The model shipways kit is pretty small, which I liked because I didn't have a ton of display space, but maybe you want a much larger model to display. The model shipways kit is also cheaper than the midwest or bluejacket dories, which might matter. Finally, the model shipways kit doesn't include a mast/sail, which the other kits do. It's not hard to kitbash it to add a sail if you want, which is what I did, but it will take a bit of research and some extra materials (which can be had for pretty cheap). Best of luck!

Thanks! I've enjoyed following your pile driver and Lula builds.

Thanks for following, looking forward to watching your Perseus build come together! Thanks! More to come soon, hopefully.

Thanks, Glen! It was a lot of fun, and it was definitely inspiring to see how you find creative uses for materials in your SIB builds!

Thanks, Paul, your encouragement and responses to questions throughout the build has been incredibly helpful!

And a few more photos of the finished build, continuing my previous post (which is more of a reflection on the build):

Finished! I started making this model (or at least drafting my first attempts at plans) on 22 July 2023, and began this build log a few days later. It was my third build overall and my second scratch build. At the time, I thought it would be simple and quick, not much more complicated than the dory I had recently finished, and I thought that I could knock it out in a few months or so while waiting for a kit to arrive. As it turned out, it ended up taking 515 days in total, just under a year and a half, to finish (and 270 posts!). Along the way, this simple build turned into multiple models (including a digression into making some entirely unrelated models as Christmas gifts) and a much deeper dive than I had anticipated into research, opening up a series of questions about, among other things, processes of technological change and intellectual exchange. I also developed substantially in my model-making skills, such that I can see clear differences between the Cargo Canoa (finished about a year ago) and the Canoa de Rancho. This build, and the many helpful comments from so many people, has taught me a lot. Even though it's a simple vessel overall, I tried my best to make it with care and to not shy away from difficulty, even if this meant, for example, tediously re-making the thatched roof. While there are still things that I can see could be improved, I'm happy with how it turned out. This has been an incredibly rewarding build, well worth the time and occasional frustrations, and I'm glad I did it. Below: The Canoa de Rancho, at left, and the Cargo Canoa, at right. I feel like my improvement over time is apparent, although I also wouldn't have been as happy with my results on the Canoa de Rancho without making a lot of mistakes on the Cargo Canoa. (Figure at right for scale.) There were a number of frustrating aspects of this build. To name three specific parts, the thatched rancho took a lot of time and experimentation, the sail was tricky to get right, and the metalwork for the rudder hinges was challenging. More generally, it was difficult at the outset to proceed given that I only had photos to go off and no plans--in this respect, the model is perhaps one of the "models that shouldn't be built" according to Howard Chapelle. That said, I think I was able to produce a reasonable model based as much as possible on existing evidence, especially photos. (And it certainly helps that this vessel has a flat-bottomed, wall-sided hull--a curved hull would be significantly more challenging). Moreover, I've tried to be clear about the choices I've made in interpreting that (sometimes confusing or contradictory) evidence. Some parts of this build are quite conjectural. A lot of the details of the rigging (like the parrel or the robands) were not very clear in photos, but I hope that I've at least provided a reasonable explanation for why I went with the rigging details I went with. Similarly, while I have yet to find a clear photo of the floorboards, other evidence made it clear that they existed, and I hope that I have at least proposed a coherent and plausible explanation of how they might have been. Finally, with better photo evidence coming out over time, I have gradually come to believe that the locker under the helmsman's platform is inaccurate. This is an error on my part, and all that I can say in my defense is that at the time it seemed a reasonable interpretation based on literary sources. Nonetheless, I don't think that we should let the possibility of making such a mistake hold us back. This is especially the case with branching out from modeling vessels that are well-represented in plans and in existing models, including most Latin American workboats--subject that I'm particularly interested in and that I think are well worth building. Ultimately, all that we can do is explain our reasoning and evidence as clearly and compellingly as possible and make a case for why we've made the choices we made. I think the two main takeaways I've had from this build are: 1) This is an excellent, supportive community with a ton of resources. When I had questions about how to do something, I was often able to find existing posts that answered my questions, or I was able to ask and receive a lot of helpful advice about everything from judging hull colors in black and white photos to sail-making. I would not have been able to finish without such a helpful community, and I offer a heartfelt thanks to everyone who followed along, answered or asked questions, offered comments, or just gave the occasional like. It's easy to feel isolated in this hobby, but having so much support and so many examples of excellent builds through this site was really crucial in helping me push forward and strive to improve. Thank you all. 2) Being careful rather than trying to speed through things really pays off. This model took a lot longer than expected, but the end result is worth it. When I was building my NRG Half-Hull kit, I reflected on the advice to treat each plank as a model in its own right. The same can really apply to pretty much any part of any model. For any new modelers out there (as I was when I started this), I can't emphasize enough that taking the time to get everything satisfactory, and even practicing with test pieces, is the key to getting a result that you're happy with. This has been a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience, and I can't wait to continue working on more Latin American (and other) workboats. I'm glad that I was able to capture, in model form, an often under-studied aspect of maritime history, one which was nonetheless important in shaping people's lives and can tell us something about the past. I hope that anyone reading this considers modeling an overlooked subject that speaks to them. This site has an impressive and growing collection of build logs for such vessels, and I can confirm that modeling one is a very worthwhile endeavor, challenges and all. Once again, thank you to everyone for your help and support. I'll include a few more photos in the next post.

After a bit of work, I was able to re-wet, re-shape, and salvage the sail, and the model is now nearly complete. Upon reflection after my frustrating and rather chaotic first attempt, a few things stood out. First, on the positive side, I was happy with how the aft half of the sail (over the rancho) turned out, which spurred me to try to salvage things. Second, while the white glue holding the boltrope in place had stood up to some tests on the sail and seemed like it would hold, the tests didn't involve nearly as tight folds as on the final assembly, and the glue came loose in many places. Fortunately, I was able to use the Aleene's Fabric Fusion to re-glue it in place, and it held up much better (thanks for the suggestion, Glenn!). Third, a big part of the problem was that I needed to furl the sail in contact with the rancho roof to get the shape right, but none of my clamps were suitable to hold things in place, meaning that I needed to press down on the aft part of the sail while trying to shape it elsewhere. This was a recipe for disaster. After thinking a bit more, I realized that I could use thread to tie the sail/yard down over the rancho, and could cut it away later. This worked out--although I could probably have tied it tighter, and I ended up placing a clamp at the aft end solely to weigh it down a little, the thread at least held the piece roughly in place and allowed me to focus on the fore half. Finally, I was using the sheets to wrap up the sail, but I wasn't able to get them very tight, which contributed to some of the loose and awkward folds/draping in the fore half. Upon rewatching Tom Lauria's video about making furled silkspan sails, I noticed that he was able to use a lot of separate ties, using the knots to get things tight. In his case, these were part of the model, but I realized that I could do the same thing with thread, then wrap the sheets over those locations and carefully cut off the thread. This worked much, much better. So, here's the assembly while drying. In hindsight, I would not recommend using wood shims to clamp the sail material, as the wood stuck a little to the sail's glue, but it turned out ok. There were a few places that I wasn't happy with, such as the odd bolt rope shown below--after being reattached, it had come loose again after being folded in a way that made it very difficult to re-attach it precisely to the sail edge. Unless you're looking right at it, though, it's hard to notice and just looks like a fold in the sail, so I decided that I could live with it. In any case, here's the full sail assembly. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Next, there were a few loose ends of the rigging to deal with. First, I finished off the parrel (the end of which still needs trimming below). Then the end of the backstay. The looped excess line could be a bit tighter, but I may need to remove the mast and rigging for a possible move in about a year and a half or so, so I've only glued the end of the loop so far. I may try to glue a tighter loop with shellac if I can find any, so it can be easily dissolved in alcohol for removal. Finally, the halyard. I was originally going to run this to the port belaying pin aft, but then I realized that this would only really be done when the yard/sail was hoisted. In most photos, when the yard has been dropped, the halyard just hangs relatively loosely. I've noticed quite a few photos that seem to show the rancho itself (or presumably its framework) being used to belay lines, so I decided to run the halyard through a few loops around the rancho framework near the mast, as though the crew has loosely tied it off to keep it from interfering too much with the fishing gear. At the moment, part of the line has been soaked in a glue-water mix and is being held down with a pair of forceps in order to look like it's hanging naturally. Once this dries, I'll be able to remount the rudder, and the model will be complete!

Thanks! I think I can be my own worst enemy at times trying to match what I see in my mind's eye. In any case, I was able to find the Aleene's fabric glue, so I'm hopeful that the bolt ropes won't fall off if I add them if I make the new sail.

Re-furling the fore half has proven by far the most difficult part of this build. The bolt rope has come off at multiple points from the sail being dampened and re-dampened so often, and it still doesn't seem to be hanging quite how I'd like it. At this point, I'm going to let it dry overnight. Tomorrow I'll see if I can re-glue the bolt ropes. If I'm still unhappy with it, I may re-do the sail, this time with a single layer of filter, less material, and possibly without the boltropes.

Plastic wrap removed for the final drying. At this point, I've decided that the hanging part of the sail forward doesn't look right--without any real weight, it doesn't hang very naturally. I'm going to try to place the plastic wrap over the fore half of the hull and re-furl that part.

Furling the sail has been nerve-wracking, both because I don't want to danage any of the fragile pieces, and because it's a bit of a tricky shape to furl as part of it rests on top of the inclined rancho roof. This necessitates furling the sail on the model itself. So, I first took a bit of plastic wrap to cover everything so the rest of the model wouldn't get wet, and then placed the halyard through the mast sheave. Rather than a really tight furl, I decided to try for a relatively looser one, especially toward the fore end. After a lot of careful folding, wrapping, adjusting, clamping (clamps will be removed before it fully dries), and placing weights, here's how it's looking so far. And after removing some clamps: I'm not sure if I'm 100% convinced by it so far. The fore end looks a little oddly-folded to me. I suppose that I can re-try, though, by rewetting it. Also, as a quick note: on my test version, a single sheet of filter seemed too transparent and flimsy, even after painting and gluing, so I doubled it up then and on this version. I now think that it may have been better to simply go with a single layer, though, as the transparency issue wouldn't matter much on a furled sail, and the fragility can be handled by being cautious. Something to consider for the next build.

The same thing happened to me when I tried to taper a dowel with a plane. I think it has to do with the grain direction, which I found difficult to see in most dowels. It worked better for me to plane in the opposite direction on that side.

The yard and sail are now ready to be attached to the model, furled, and shaped. Tying off the robands was a bit tedious but not difficult. Here it is nearly done, with just a few more left and some ends to trim. And here, after finishing and trimming. I'm not sure quite how accurate my robands are, but I think they're a decent enough representation (see, for instance, the small knots visible in one of the photos in post #260), and they especially will be once the sail is furled. Next, I added the fore and aft sheets, using .5mm rope from Ropes of Scale. I then returned to the parrel, which I had inconclusively tried to figure out earlier. After considering the evidence, three things are clear. First, the parrel forms a pretty big loop around the mast--rather than the small loop I did for the Cargo Canoa, the two ends of the loop should join near the yard itself. Second, there's no photographic evidence of anything like the parrel system used on many Mediterranean lateeners, in which a separate line allows the parrel to be tightened and loosened from the deck. Third, upon close inspection, while the halyard knot itself seems pretty bulky, I'm not really seeing evidence of separate ropes like a parrel running around the yard. All of this makes me think that the parrel was tied off at the end of the halyard around where it was itself tied to the yard. Perhaps this isn't completely accurate, but it's more accurate than what I did on the Cargo Canoa and comports fairly well with the photographic evidence. With that in mind, I tied one end of the parrel around the halyard. The other end will be tied off once the yard is in place on the model. The yard/sail assembly is now ready to go! Here's hoping that moistening and shaping it doesn't make it come apart.

That's odd, as maple is pretty frequently used--typing it in the search bar returns over 2,000 results. For examples, see: Walnut is also frequently used, especially as a second planking material in kits, although some complain that it's too brittle or has too visible grain.

Nice start! On the wood issue: Cherry is a nice wood that's cheaper some of the others that have been mentioned, if you'd like the model to look a bit darker. Rather than buying a bunch of samples and testing them out, you could look at models on this site that you like the look of and see what wood you like. If you search, you'll also find several posts about which types of wood to use. Some say that Beech does a decent job of representing oak in scale, for instance, and others like Alaskan Yellow Cedar, Holly, or other woods. Based on a quick look, Teak seems to have large visible grain which could be a problem for modeling. As for planking dimensions, 1/8-inch thick wood is much too thick for the curves of the hull. People generally use 1/16, 3/64, or 1/32-inch thick wood for planking--something that will easily bend. 1/32-inch curves very well but doesn't leave you with much room for sanding, 1/16-inch may be better for a model of this size. I'd recommend checking what thickness other people have used for planking similar models (such as the Winchelsea, another frigate which has a lot of build logs on this site). The width will depend on whatever was appropriate for the time and place--without doing a lot of research, you could probably just see what other people have used for similar models in this scale.