JacquesCousteau

So, here's how I've been shaping the planks. This is one of the two methods shown in the kit instructions. I haven't used the other, compass-based method that's included in the instructions because I don't have a compass and it sounds like it adds more steps where things can go wrong, but perhaps other people have found it simpler. The below is just what's worked for me. First, I use Tamiya masking tape, which is semi-translucent and allows me to see my markings on the frames, to mark 1) the bottom edge of the new plank, 2) the fore and aft ends, and 3) the markings for plank width on each frame. I then transfer the tape to the basswood sheet. I "connect the dots" into a more-or-less smooth curve. A set of ship's curves would probably be most useful here. I use a very cheap french curve, or sometimes a ruler, to connect up to three width markings at a time. Keep in mind that the plank will be smoothed out with final shaping. I then cut out the plank with a sharp exacto knife, leaving a bit around all the edges. I like to leave the tape on until the very last steps, as it allows me to draw markings for where I need to remove material and where I need to NOT remove material. Then, i do an initial test fitting, focusing on fitting the plank to the strake below. This is just done by hand, but the clamps were necessary to be able to take photos. As can be seen, there are a number of gaps, so I need to remove material at the points where the plank contacts the strake below. After shaping with the exacto and sandpaper, I did another test fit. That looks much better, but there's still some shaping to do. It's a good thing that I left a bit of meat on the edges of the plank, because when shaping it, I accidentally cut off a little too much at one part. Thankfully, the plank was oversized enough that I was able to just reshape the bottom edge to get a perfect fit, leaving the plank still wide enough. With the bottom edge ready, I moved on to the top edge, marking where I needed to remove the most material and not. I stopped clamping for the top edge because the clamps would have blocked the view, so in some areas the plank isn't right up against the frame, but you get the idea. I like to use the exacto knife to shave down where I need to remove a lot of material, and then sandpaper for final shaping and to make sure the plank forms a smooth line. Once I get it just about there, I remove the tape for final shaping, as sometimes the tape can get in the way. I try to shape the plank down to where I can just barely see the edge of my width markings on the frame, as can be seen with frames A and DF below. Due to the curve of the hull, the plank isn't fully up against frames B and 1, hence why they look like the plank is below the marking there. Finally, I moistened the plank and clamped it to dry. This isn't always necessary, especially for planks in the middle of the hull that are minimally curved. But I find that the plank always fits best for gluing when it's been given the appropriate twist/curve. The less you need to push the plank into shape when gluing, the better. So now I just have to wait a few hours for it to dry (I'm in no rush). Then I'll draw the caulking on the edge. A note about this: when I draw on the caulking, I always hold the pencil to approach the plank from the inboard side. In the photo below, the right side of the plank would be on the inside of the hull, and the left side is the exterior. I usually slip and end up drawing lines on the plank, but this way they're on the interior and won't mar the surface. Finally, I'll glue the plank in place. This is all obvious stuff to the more experienced modelers out there, but I wanted to show it in case it was helpful for anyone. There have been plenty of times where I've been really helped out by seeing someone else's step-by-step instructions, even for something basic, on other build logs.

I've completed up to the third strake on the first belt. I have to admit that I was a bit worried about how much I would enjoy the kit earlier when I was stuck in a seemingly endless fairing process, but I am having a lot of fun planking! So much so that I haven't actually taken any photos of the process itself, which maybe I should remedy. I've just been using tamiya masking tape to mark the planks, cutting them oversize, and carefully shaping them to fit. It's a very calm, thoughtful process, and I can easily do a plank in 15-20 minutes or so. I've only had to redo a few. So far one of the main challenges has been remembering to draw the caulk on the sides of the plank before gluing it down. For whatever reason, there was significant color variation between some of the 1/32‐inch basswood sheets. I'm actually liking the mix of lighter planks among the darker ones, I feel that it brings more attention to the fact that each plank is unique and individually shaped. As can be seen above, I don't think my bow planking was all that precise, but I can see it getting better as I get more practice. It also probably helped to lightly sand back the inner edge of the rabbet under frame 5 so allow a smoother entry of the plank. Now that I'm gearing up for the top strake in the first belt, I need to actually figure out how to shape the stealer and surrounding planks.

Thanks! It was a very cheap plane that I bought on Amazon. I don't know how long it will stay sharp, but so far it's been very useful.

Thanks, your log has been very helpful in knowing what to expect with this kit!

This build hasn't been forgotten, I've just been making very slow progress planking it one strip at a time. As I've been soaking strips to take the necessary curves, and I prefer using white glue over superglue, it takes a while to make visible progress even when I'm able to work on it every day. The mini plane has been extremely useful in tapering the strips. I'm able to taper two at a time so they're even. That said, there have been a few strips that I cut too short at the ends and had to replace. Thankfully, because the strips get shorter as I get closer to the keel, I've been able to reuse the strips I cut too short. As can be seen above, despite my best efforts with tapering strips, beveling the edge, and bending them to the proper curves, I still ended up with a marked "clinker effect" around the turn of the bilge. This seems to be a very common issue on these Midwest strip-planked kits, and I'm not sure what more I could have done to prevent it. My sense is that the large distance between formers makes it difficult to bend the strips to shape, and that properly twisting the strips is a bit tricky because I've tapered them so much at the bow and stern. In any case, I don't think it's a serious problem, and it should be readily covered up by sanding and wood filler. I've now reached the last strip where I'm able to clamp it to a former, as the gap will be too small with additional strips added. If anyone has any clamping suggestions for this, I'm all ears!

Looks great! Will you be leaving the deck partly unplanked to show into the details of the hull?

Very cool! It looks like this model will be a bit of a challenge to plank because it's an open boat, so any errors will be visible inside and outside. On planking in general, this site has a lot of resources that you can look for, like Chuck Passaro's planking tutorial. You might also look for examples of small vessels that are similarly constructed around removeable molds, like the Midwest Maine Peapod kit (although that uses strips for planking and may not be the best example to follow). Looking forward to watching the build move forward!

I'm glad I let it sit overnight, because the next morning, the aft run of the belts didn't look right to me. They were a bit too high and would have led to some very odd plank shapes, including a notable bottleneck in the upper belt. So, I adjusted. Satisfied, I marked the belts in pen. Following the instructions, I figured out the plank butt joint locations. Once again, this was hard for me to understand when reading it, but much easier to grasp once I took the advice to draw it out. The drawing is pretty crude, but it worked. Well, mostly. Try as I might, I couldn't work out a pattern that satisfied the proper distances between joints. It was easy enough to not place a joint on the same frame for two consecutive strakes, but the rules about distance between joints (at least 1.25 inches apart on consecutive strakes, and at least 1 inch apart on strakes separated by another strake) were extremely hard to follow, especially as the frames are an inch apart. Then I noticed that the example in the instructions seems to have fudged it slightly (or I'm misunderstanding something, which is entirely possible) such that a number of joints on adjacent strakes fall one frame apart, under the 1.25-inch rule. I ended up simply following the example given in the instructions. The stealer was also very confusing to me. I marked what I think is the correct location for it, but I'm really not sure. In any case, it's at the top of the first belt, so I have some time to figure it out. Finally, I've begun planking the first belt. Very exciting!

Thanks! Wefalck's suggestion to use string to weave together bunches was extremely helpful and has definitely led to a stronger thatching than my first attempt. I've made the oarlocks/thole pins, using a bit of basswood and a thinned toothpick. From what I can tell, these weren't all that common on Canoas de Rancho, but some of the smaller ones had them. As my build is meant to model a vessel that would be used not just for cargo hauling but for fishing, which did require the use of oars, I decided to add them. They're not glued in place yet. From what I can tell from photos, they were often staggered, as I've depicted here. I may redo them, though, as I think they came out a little oversized. I also might paint them instead of staining them.

Picking this back up, I've now defined the runs of the belts. This took me a bit of thinking. I found the instructions on this point a bit confusing when reading them, but they were clear enough once I started actually laying things out on the hull. Note: when the instructions say "Measure inbound along the lower edge of the counter the width of four planks 0.75"," what it means is to measure from the aftmost lower mark of the wale, inboards toward the stempost. Here we can see my planking bands marked out in chart tape. I think I've managed to avoid too much of a "smiley face" at the bow. I've read that you should consider the run from multiple angles. I found that sighting along the length of the hull was helpful for finding a few high or low points and correcting them. Here are some other angles. The instructions suggest that, once you're happy with your belt runs, you should let it sit overnight and come back to it with fresh eyes. That's what I plan to do, although I've marked it in pencil in case the chart tape comes loose overnight.

Looks great, very nicely done!

Looks like a very cool model, I haven't heard of that one before. How did you find the kit, and what got you interested in building it?

Very nice!

If you search on the site, you'll find a ton of ideas on sealers, varnishes, and primers. Everyone seems to have their own preferences, but in general some kind of primer seems necessary. I'm afraid I can't offer much more detailed advice. I mainly use a bottle of very cheap Politec Sellador Barniz (translation: "Sealer Varnish") that I bought a while ago while I was in Mexico. I have no idea what it actually is made of, but I haven't had any problems with it so far.

Thanks! Most of it would be taken up with my many experiences in how not to thatch.

Thanks, Paul! As it turns out, it actually wasn't very difficult to thatch the peak of the rancho. I was able to knock it out in a few sessions in a single day while recovering from a bout of pneumonia. After considering my options, I decided to use the cloth strip as a base layer to provide a better gluing surface. I had noticed that my first attempt at a rancho has been shedding bits of thatching because the thatching was mostly just glued to itself, so hopefully gluing to a cloth backing will help. I began cutting lengths of straw and snapping them in half--not enough to separate them, but enough so they would easily take the peaked shape. I then began gluing them to the strip of cloth on top of the rancho. I glued a bit at a time, occasionally pausing to hold down portions that had wanted to come up off the cloth. I tried clamping with coffee stir sticks but found in cumbersome and not very helpful, especially as the rancho isn't a smooth surface. Finally I had the peak fully covered, and added some other pieces at the front and aft ends to cover the gap. I was pleased with how it turned out, so I put the mast in place for some photos, then added a layer of matte varnish over the top to help keep the new thatching layer in place. As mentioned in previous posts, it was common to use thin poles or rope to help hold down thatching layers, so I decided to add that. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of my process. Given how thin these needed to be, I used a bamboo coffee stir stick. I then cut it to size, rounded the edges, and tied and glued some string around each end. I considered using some of my nice new scale rope, but this use would be pretty wasteful as I would need a decent length for tying purposes but only a tiny length would end up on the model, so I just went with some tan thread. The poles couldn't really be glued in place because of the uneven surface of the thatching, so I tied them in place, dabbed the knots with glue, and then added a matte varnish to the poles which "glues" it at its irregular points of contact with the thatching. With that, I think the Rancho is finally complete! At the end of the day, I'm happy with how it turned out. That said, it took long enough that I'm in no hurry to make another thatchef roof anytime soon.

My own painting skills are pretty minimal, but I've also found it very helpful to use a tray like the one Robert suggests. Unless it's for detail work, I usually thin the paint a good bit and use multiple coats. I also use a sealer/varnish first and sand it smooth, as I've found that the basswood absorbs a lot of the watered down paint and can even warp a bit if I'm painting a lot. My main advice is to just make sure your paint is thin enough (it will probably take more coats than you might think) and try to keep it from pooling in corners. As for painting this specific hull: I waited to paint the interior until I had the risers glued in, and I found it a challenge to paint the interior. It probably wouldn't hurt to paint under them first, as long as you leave the surfaces that will be glued unpainted.

That looks great!

Nice trout! (And of course, the build continues to amaze.)

I'd suggest looking for as many photos as you can find of working vessels to get a sense of what wear and tear might look like. It's also worth noting that it's very easy for wear and tear to be overdone and turn out out of proportion. In my Canoa de Rancho build, for instance, I've decided to model a relatively new vessel because I think properly aging it would be tricky. That said, there are a number of builds on this site that do a great job of modeling highly realistic aging/wear and tear, like this one: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/20162-new-england-stonington-dragger-by-friedclams-finished-148-pob/ I've also seen plenty of photos of working vessels with highly idiosyncratic rigging (using, for instance, a mix of rope, wire, and chain held together with rather chaotic knots) that may be accurate but also might look very odd on a model. Ultimately it's up to you, but I think that finding historic photos of similar vessels is probably your best bet.

It's amazing how much progress you've made in such a short time!

No further progress at the moment due to work and illness, but I was very happy to find a new source of photos of Canoas. Memórica (https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/ ) is relatively new online digital repository containing digitized documents from a number of Mexican archives. Early on, I didn't find it very useful as its collections were limited, they were very random in terms of what documents had and had not been digitized, and the search function didn't seem to work very well. However, on a whim I recently thought I'd see if they had anything on Lake Chapala, and found that they have a large number of photos of Canoas. Finding all of them took some time as they required a number of search terms (canoa, bote, lancha, embarcación, etc). Some are photos I've seen before, but they've mostly been digitized to a much higher quality than the blurry versions on the INAH Mediateca site. Although they don't answer all of my questions about Canoas--notably, I still don't have any good photos of the floorboards)--they're very useful, and I thought I would share a few of the more interesting one. (These are just screenshots, and higher-quality images are available at the link). Although I'd seen this photo, from 1909, before, it was in a really blurry version. With the higher quality image here, it's possible to make out a few things. The Canoa closest to the camera is named "La Fama" (best translated as "The Renown"). You can see how it uses thin poles running lengthwise along the rancho to help hold the thatching in place. Also, it interestingly has a thole pin located forward of the rancho (and a raised bit of wood on the rail that to me looks like a seat for a second thole pin nearby). This is a detail that I'd like to model, as a few of these smaller Canoas de Rancho seem to have had thole pins for rowing. ( https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=0r6c_YsBTon6gu63zcYu ) I'd also seen this 1905 photo before (this is just a detail from the bigger photo). What's most interesting about it to me is that it shows not just the gudgeons for the rudder wrapped around the stern post, but it also shows metal brackets around the edge of the transom. It would not be too difficult to model this detail, so I might add it to my build. (Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=mPts2osBVs6S4R6nmckF ) This 1905 image was entirely new to me. It shows a small Canoa (without a rancho), named "La Bayena"--"The Whale," a perhaps ironic name for such a small vessel. The anchor at the bow is quite prominent. Notably, this is one of the few images clearly showing how they used the half-ring anchor support, which other photos show to be a common feature on these vessels. While it was clear that it was used to guide the anchor chain, it wasn't clear to me how they used it to hold up the anchor. As this image shows, they could simply place the anchor chain or the ring of the anchor onto the support in order to hold the anchor up when not in use. ( Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=mvts2osBVs6S4R6nmckQ ) This photo from 1908 of vessels docked at Ocotlan is also new to me. What's most interesting is what it shows about rancho construction. The vessel at the far right clearly is missing a substantial portion of the thatching--likely undergoing repairs or renovations--and for this reason part of the peak of the rancho is covered by cloth. (Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=ir6c_YsBTon6gu638cxb ) This is clearer in the detail below: This suggests to me that cloth coverings like this were likely only temporary measures. It also suggests that, if I decide to build my model in this way, I'd have to use several wider pieces of cloth overlapping along the top, instead of a single long, thin strip. On the topic of the rancho: earlier, I had noted that I wasn't positive whether the poles running lengthwise along its exterior were structural and used to hold the thatching in place, or if that was just a handy place to hold the poles used for poling the Canoa. This photo, titled "La Colonia" ("The Colony")--which may be the name of the vessel, which is written across the transom but is not totally clear in the photo--definitively shows that the rancho poles were just used to hold the thatching in place. The actual poling pole is, in this photo, balanced across the boat just in front of the helmsman, and others are located forward. The photo also shows that the rancho itself seems to have been used as a tie-down point for the sheets. (Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=g_ts2osBVs6S4R6nsc0d ) One final photo, from 1905. It's highly unusual in that it shows a rancho that has been propped up on some kind of balustrade. I'd be surprised if this was made specifically for the boat, it looks more like something from a house. The rancho may have been propped up to give more space for the clearly bulky cargo load. Other interesting details include the crew member climbing the mast--the only such photo I've seen--and the anchor resting in the half-ring at the bow. Although I'm not planning on borrowing elements from this photo for my build, it was too interesting not to share. (Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=mfts2osBVs6S4R6nmckK )

Thanks, I think my main concern is that I have a lot of clear evidence for the thatched roof cap and very little and rather equivocal evidence for the cloth cap. I may tinker with a thatched cap layer to see how tedious it is to make. I've turned my attention to some light metalwork. First, I made a pair of rings bolted to the edge of the foredeck. They're made of 24- and 28-gauge black wire, following the methods Chuck Passaro shows in his Speedwell log. Although every canoa seems to have had a different arrangement of tie-down points (as I discussed way back somewhere on the first page of this build log), I have clear evidence that at least some had a pair of rings located midway on the foredeck, as seen in the photo below: (Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/cargamento-de-entre-MX14652247742300/5 ) I've also been thinking about the rudder hinges. Originally I was going to make the pintle by supergluing a brass pin into the rudder strap. But, I'm concerned that it won't be a very strong joint, especially because these are quite small and I've had trouble using pliers to properly clamp the strap around the pin. So, I decided to test, with some scrap, using a short length of black 24-gauge wire bent at a 90-degree angle. I drilled a hole for one end through the test "rudder" and placed the wire into it, then attached the brass rudder strap around it. You can see the wire poking out around the top of the pintle and entering the hole in the rudder. Although not quite accurate, I think this will ensure a much stronger joint for the pin and will better keep the rudder in place. It's also two parts less to blacken.

A bit of progress and yet another roadblock with the thatched rancho. First, the good news. I had bought some Falkonet belaying pins through Crafty Sailor in their going-out-of-business sale, and I decided to add them a couple to the stern of the canoa, where they serve as tie-down points for the backstays. I could have easily made simpler ones by sanding down a toothpick, but I thought these looked very nice and, based on photos, seemed to be appropriately scaled. Next, the thatched rancho. As I've mentioned earlier, my plan had been to cover the seam at the top of the rancho with a bit of cloth. Here we can see it so far, I dyed it with the woodstain (which worked quite well) and punched some holes to thread a line through the edge so as to tie it down at the ends. But now that I've started and have taken a closer look at photos, I'm not entirely sure that that's the most accurate way to do it. When I was planning this, there seemed to be a number of ways to handle the peak of the rancho roof. Many examples simply seemed to have the thatching running continuously up to the top, with it difficult to see how they actually covered the seam. See, for instance, this photo: (Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A139789 ) Other photos showed some kind of added layer of thatching or something, apparently folded over the peak of the roof and held down on both sides by either a rope or a wooden pole running lengthwise along the rancho. This is clearly visible in this photo, where, by the ragged edge of the top layer, it seems clear that it's some kind of thatching (although the much more uniform texture compared to the lower thatching layers makes me wonder if it's actually a very ragged-edged woven petate mat, which were used as roofs for ranchos in some parts of the lake): (Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140947 ) You can see something similar here on both canoas. The rightmost one is definitely thatching. Interestingly, it has much more prominent poles running lengthwise to hold the thatching in place than the vessel to the left. Although I suppose there's some possibility that these are actually the poles used for poling the canoa in shallow water, they look to me in the two photos above like they're strategically placed to keep the upper layer of thatching in place. (Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A431254 ) That said, as I've repeatedly noted, I've found the thatching extremely tedious to do. I was instead inspired by this other image of thatched rancho roofs, which seemed to indicate that a strip of cloth might also be used to cover the peak seam. (Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140957 ) In particular, the leftmost rancho, and the one in the middle (second from right, with the two men and two children in the stern). The one on the left appears to have a squared bit of cloth covering the peak of the roof. Interestingly, it seems from the aft end that there is little if any thatching right at the top of the rancho roof, with the cloth apparently covering the gap. The rancho in the middle, meanwhile, clearly has some sort of cloth draped across at least the fore section of the rancho, with what appears to be a thick rope running along it aft. It's unclear whether there's a gap at the peak, but it is unusual that there appears to be a definite color change at the very peak, as you can see that the thatching is much darker there. In any case, this appeared to be a much easier option for covering the seam on the rancho roof than doing more thatching, so I planned on it for my build. As I've been building, though, I began to wonder whether this photo actually shows cloth being used to cover the rancho peak, or if the cloth is just the sail set out to dry. I increasingly think that the cloth on the peak of the middle rancho is just the dangling edge of the sail (which otherwise is lashed vertically along the mast and yard) placed there to keep it out of the way. The leftmost rancho looks more to me like the cloth is being used to cover some gap in the thatching, but perhaps I'm misreading the image or perhaps they were simply in the middle of re-thatching the rancho and temporarily used the cloth to cover it. All of which is to say, I'm not sure if I can use the cloth cover anymore. I'm now debating whether to make a new, thin top layer of thatching curving around the peak. Doing so will be very slow, as I will need to proceed one straw at a time. Moreover, given that the current layer of thatching is a bit lumpy due to being made of bunches of straw, it will be difficult to get a top layer to sit right, and difficult to glue it in place when it will definitely want to spring straight. I'm therefore considering whether to use the cloth I cut as a base, glue the straw to it (and completely cover it), and then bend it in place by gluing first one side down, and then the other. Definitely a bit frustrating, at this point I'm wishing that I had just gone with a wooden rancho all those months ago.

That's very odd about the parts sheet. Hopefully it doesn't end up being too big of an issue once it's sanded down. Very nice job on the lobster trap!