JacquesCousteau
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Everything posted by JacquesCousteau
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It's been a while, but I was finally able to make progress! First I extended the fore keelson notches: Then I attached the frames. After getting the central frames in place, I realized that frame 2 somehow ended up out of alignment, tilted back a little. I was able to unstick it with rubbing alcohol and reglue. Then I began adding the supports. Some took more sanding than others to fit, and some were too short. While the instructions say you can add a shim, I ended up just making new ones in the correct length from scrap. As can be seen, I used rubber bands to clamp while gluing--first doing every other frame, and then running the bands across longer stretches of frames. It was a little tricky to make sure that I'd be able to mark at least one side of the wale on each frame. Then I began adding the frames at the fore and aft ends. One frame chipped a bit, so I added a filler: Following the instructions, I marked the bearding line and sanded down the deadwood appropriately. And here's how I cut the keel rabbet under the deadwood, which should be a 90-degree notch rather than a V-cut: (note the keel is on top in this photo) I've been adding fore and aft frames. I just have a couple to go at the bow, and several at the stern. I'm glad to see that it's looking a lot more like a ship now!
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- half hull planking project
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Thanks, all, for the kind words and suggestions! Eberhard--I'm intrigued by the idea. I had a very hard time getting the thread to stick to the thatching with the varnish, though. The thatching itself is pretty fragile, with the varnish barely holding it together, and the string just did not stick well. I'll give it a try, but I'm not sure how feasible it will be. That said, having the thatching attached to the rancho framework by thread and not just by glue would help resolve another problem that I'm having. I started making a new, wider rancho framework that would run to the edges of the rail, so that the naturally ragged edge of the thatching can protrude, but the geometry of the situation is difficult. The rail curves, but the rancho framework should be straight. This means that, even if the fore and aft A-Frames run to the edge of the rail, the rail sticks out more than the framework in the middle of the rancho. This is a problem if the thatching is glued to the rancho and hence rigid. But if the thatching is attached more securely at the top, but left to hang loose below, this would allow it to follow the curve of the rail without any problems. Honestly, it may even be possible to simply cut the thatching off of the framework I already have and re-use it. That said, this is dependent on me being able to get better adhesion between the thatching and the string with the varnish. Other options include using some sort of rough fabric to represent a woven petate mat, which was used for the rancho covering in Ocotlán and some other cities, or just using wooden slats.
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Thanks! Yeah, I think it makes sense to try to redo it, this time with a more ragged edge running off the sides of the rail. Which will require a new, wider rancho framework. I'm also debating whether to keep the two layers that I had for this version, or to just go for a single layer. In either case, the top will be covered by some sort of cloth strip, as can be seen in the image of all the canoas docked in post #128.
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After a long while away, I was finally able to get back to the build! The thatched rancho has proven more difficult than anticipated. As mentioned earlier, I decided to use the bristles from a broom for the thatching. As some images of canoas suggest that the rancho was thatchee in rows, I decided to do two rows. I marked the dimensions for the lower row on card, placed double-sided tape, and ran a thread along the length. Then I began cutting bristles and adding them to make the row of thatch. Placing the bristles individually was extremely slow, but I found it worked much better if I cut off bunches at a time, holding them together so they all stayed the same direction and length, and placing them in batches. After each batch I brushed on matte varnish. Soon the first row was ready. I wasn't worried about any thatching being over-long, as I could trim it to size later. I should note that the double-sided tape didn't do much to hold down the thatch while building, it was mostly the matte varnish. I used the thread to help peel the thatch off the tape. Although the row broke into a few pieces, it mostly held together, and I was able to glue it to the framework. I made the upper row in the same way, but it broke into a lot more pieces when I removed it from the tape. While I had removed the first row while the varnish pooled on the bottom was still damp, allowing it to come off, I waited longer on the second and it was fully dry, making it harder to remove. You can see the numerous bits of thatching below. Gluing the thatching to the framework required some creative clamping. After finishing the upper row, I trimmed the top to size. This was no problem, except that a few bristles popped off from the cutting and had to be re-glued. More problematic was the bottom. Given how hard it was to cut the thatching to size fron the start, I had left it overly long. But cutting the bottom to size left it with a very straight line of a cut, which looked rather unnatural. Hmmmmm. From what I saw in photos, some canoas had the thatching spilling over the sides, but on others there was still a bit of a rail left. It might look better if I remake all of this--the framework and the thatching alike, redoing the framework to run to the edge of the rail so the thatching can spill over the side and won't have to be trimmed. I'll have to think about it, though--it would be quite a bit more work.
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Wow, that looks great! The whole concept is very imaginative, and you really pull it off. So many amazing details!
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Congratulations, looks great!
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Congratulations, looks great!
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Thanks! This will be very helpful to watch out for whenever I manage to get back into my build. Good luck with attempt 2!
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I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm looking forward to seeing the new half-hull. As someone who is building their own half-hull (very very slowly), I have to ask: would you be at all willing to share what went wrong? It could be very helpful as a warning for others.
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Great start, looking forward to seeing it as you progress!
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A little more progress. First, I began working on the tholes, which I cut from 1/32‐inch basswood. I then painted then a dark brown, and glued them in place. I'll add the thole pins later, once I'm sure I won't break them while doing other work. I then slightly shortened the mast base, chamfered the edges slightly, and applied sealer-varnish. I also started making a mast, based on dimension formulas in Francisco Oller and Vicente García-Delgado's Nuestra vela latina. I initially tried using a hardwood dowel, but it was very difficult to work, so I switched to basswood. At the moment, there's still additional work to do on the mast, like finishing the top and properly tapering it, but I'm not sure if I want to add it. As can be seen, with the mast in place, the model is a lot taller. Without rigging or the yard, which I'm not planning on making, or thd rest of the hull, the cross-section feels kind of overwhelmed by the long mast, which draws attention upward away from the hull to a largely featureless pole. I may just let the mast sit there for now to see if I get used to it, but I feel like I prefer leaving it off. The other option would be to do a stub mast, but that might look odd on such a small boat. Finally, as can be seen, I have not been able to successfully sand and scrape away the paint from the cut-aways. The end grain just absorbed the paint too deeply. This is an important lesson for the future. For this build, I need to decide which color to paint the exposed cut-aways.
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As mentioned above, I was able to find a cheap straw broom to use for thatching material. The bristles are mostly under 1/32-inch diameter. I tested how the material works on card, alongside my prior tests. As can be seen, it looks pretty good--straighter and sturdier than the excelsior, and lacking the grip of the wheat awns. Now to get some double-sided tape and a matte adhesive/varnish spray, in order to make strips of thatching that I can attach and layer on the frame.
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Thank you for sharing, that's fascinating! There's a definite resemblance, especially in how the elevated prow isn't formed from an upturn in the wales, but is made of separate, wedge-shaped planks added above the rest of the hull planking. I'd be very curious to know if some sort of similar vessel was in use in Spain in the colonial period, and the design was transferred to Chapala where it developed into the Canoa, or if it's a case of convergent evolution. I do wonder what purpose the prominent upswept prow serves, on both vessels. Also, I should note that, while a very busy period at work has kept me from making progress on the Canoa build, I did go search for new thatching material. No luck at finding plumbing hemp, but I was able to get a cheap straw broom, the fibers of which are thinner than the wheat stalks I already had and closer to scale, so I should be able to start on the thatching soon.
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Congratulations, really great job! I'll definitely be revisiting this log once I get around to my own lobster smack.
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- Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack
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Thanks! So I think it would make the most sense to cut the notch nearly to the rabbet, with the understanding that the bulkhead will be beveled during fairing. I'm wondering if I should try to pre-bevel the foreward bulkheads a bit, although that runs the risk of really messing up the fairing.
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Work has been pretty hectic lately, so very little has progressed on any of my builds. A week ago or so, I glued the keel pieces together on the building board. And yesterday, I started deepening the notches. About half were very easy to cut out with a sharp exacto knife, but the other half were a lot harder and the building board took a few stabs. I think there may have been glue at the spots I was cutting there, which would be something to look out for. I was also able to adjust some of the notches to better align with the lines on the plans. I should note that the D frame lines on my plans are a bit wider than the other frame lines, so it will be a little tricky to align. One question that I haven't seen explicitly addressed in the instructions or other build logs: do the notches only get extended on the keelson, or also on the fore keelson, too? I already extended one of the notches on the fore keelson, but am debating how much I should extend the other two if at all. Finally, I made another order at Modelexpo, which included a sheet of 1/32‐inch-thick cherry (seen below with a comparison to the basswood sheet). I'm hoping to use it to plank above the wale to create a nice contrast, although the cherry is more heavily figured than I expected, so getting consistent planks may be a challenge. If I can only get a few, I might limit the cherry to just the quarterdeck or something.
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- half hull planking project
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I've had the same issue recently.
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I know that Bluejacket has a particularly strong connection to Maine's maritime traditions and makes a lot of models of local boats. In line with that, a sailing Hampton Boat could be an interesting addition to the fleet--a small, two-masted, lapstrake-built, open vessel used for fishing. There's a good bit of information on them in Chapelle's The National Watercraft Collection. Personally my vote is for a relatively small model, as I find a lot of kit offerings to be too large given my limited space. A Hampton Boat at 1:24 would be pretty small, but that scale would still allow for a lot of interesting detail work, like adding fishing gear. Detail from plans shown on page 255 of The National Watercraft Collection: That said, I agree with the suggestions above for something from another region of the US, as so many existing kits are of boats from the central and northeast Atlantic coast. I second the comments for a Gulf Coast or San Francisco scow schooner, and for the CA Thayer or Wawona. I especially like @grsjax's suggestion for a Hawaiian sampan--what a fascinating vessel! And an interesting addition to American "traditional" vessels. A San Francisco felucca could also be another unusual American sailing vessel. Beyond those, I know that Bluejacket's focus is on American vessels, so I won't suggest anything from Latin America. A Biloxi schooner could make for an interesting model, and something a little different from the existing schooners that Bluejacket offers. On the smaller side of things, I also think that the 1883 Key West fishing smackee Jeff Brown would be a great option. At only 25 feet long between perpendiculars, a 1:24-scale model would be of a very manageable size while still allowing for fishing equipment and other detail work. The Jeff Brown is discussed, with plans, on pages 285-287 of Chapelle's The National Watercraft Collection. Interestingly, the Noank Historical Society also has a replica that was built in the 1960s, as the Jeff Brown was built in the Noank style. Site: https://eyh.cab.mybluehost.me/jeff-brown/ Although there are a few differences between the replica and the plans (the replica did away with the fish well and reversed the cockpit, if I remember correctly), I'd imagine that it would be possible to make a very detailed model, perhaps even plank-on-frame. Detail from plans shown on page 287 of The National Watercraft Collection: Looking forward to seeing what kits you add to the lineup!
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Nice job, it looks great!
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Looking great, nice job on the interior! Those files look very useful.
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I considered bare wood, but I already got some paint on it that I'd need to scrape off. In any case, I also really like how G.L.'s cross section of a fishing smack--an excellent and very unique build--has the "cut ends" highlighted in orange, as seen clearly in this post: Thank you! This has been a very fun little build, and I've learned a lot from it. I got a bit more work done on the stand. I don't think I'll be able to do much building over the next few weeks, so I wanted to get it to where I could at least put it on the mantle out of the way of things. I was able to make the vertical supports from a dowel, and drilled a hole in them and in the keel for a thin brass rod to hold the boat in place. I also drilled the holes in the base for the vertical supports. The verticals are over-long at the moment, but nothing is glued in place yet and I can cut them to size later. Still to do: finish the exposed ends and frames, add thole pins, add a mast if I decide to make one, and finish the base.
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Progress was held up a bit when I accidentally bought the wrong type of tamiya masking tape--I needed the tape for curves. Once I got the right tape, I was able to paint a dark red below the waterline. I'm still working out how to paint the exposed frames and edges of the cross-section, although I'm now maybe leaning toward the same blue as the hull interior. As can be seen, the model is small enough that a lot of exterior hull details are obscured if it sits low on its eventual stand. I've bought some very thin brass rods in order to prop up the hull a few inches, although I'm concerned about drilling a mounting hole into the 1/16-inch thick keel. Given that the brass rods will be very thin in order to fit into such a narrow keel, I am thinking of just using a thin dowel to hold the model up, with just a small section of rod to solidify the model on the stand. In the meantime, I also got started on the base of the stand. After finding a 1/8x1/4 basswood strip, I cut a number of lengths and glued them together to make a 3-inch square base. It still needs finer sanding, and I might chamfer the edges a bit.
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Well, it looks like I'll have to rethink using the awns. I varnished over my test thatching, and even with the brush-on varnish--which I suspect is thicker than a spray--the "grip" is still there. The little sawtooth pattern is kinda visible in the very low-quality photo below: This is a serious issue because it means the thatching would readily snag anything near it--rigging, sail, hands, etc--which could very easily knock the model to the floor. So, I'm going to test out the straw stem material. I may be able to cut it into more consistent widths, and a light wash might help even out the color. But if that doesn't work, or seems like more trouble than its worth, I may just bite the bullet and purchase the material I mentioned in an earlier post.
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