JacquesCousteau

I don't have much modeling experience, so take this with a grain (or hefty spoonful) of salt. But I've recently started using a Minwax golden oak stain pen for parts of my Canoa de Rancho build. I turned to it because 1) I'm effectively limited to using basswood for most everything for now, rather than being able to bring in other woods, 2) I didn't like the look of painting the interior, and 3) due to work, I'll likely be moving a lot for the foreseeable future, and I didn't want to have to worry about lugging around a can of stain (or throwing it out, I don't want to waste it). So, a pen seemed like a useful way to experiment with using stain. It seems to be working out ok so far, with some caveats. I'm only using it for some small parts--frames and a locker--and I wouldn't want to use it for staining large pieces (I suppose it could work, but basswood is known for not taking stain well unless treated with a conditioner, which I also don't want to buy a can of for the third reason above). The pen takes a little getting used to and it's easy at the start to accidentally press too hard and flood everything with stain. I can't say how the pen color compares to the can color. If I were staining more, or were staying in one place for longer, I would probably just buy a can, which would be more cost-effective. But, for the purpose of staining a few small parts, the pen seems to be working ok for me.

The curved line is where the transom is supposed to be cut, right? Checking other build logs, it looks like DonBMichigan and SkiBee had the same issue and just cut the transom line a bit higher up. I haven't done this build, but unless there's something further on that requires the transom to be at the exact dimensions of the scribed line, it doesn't look like it would cause a problem if it ends up a little taller.

Looks like you're off to a great start! It may be too late, but regarding the slight warp in the keel: would it be possible to attach the keel to a straightedge of some sort and use the glued floorboards to hold it in position? It may not be much of an issue, though.

Wow, nicely done!

A very brief follow-up. I did another test fitting of the frames and locker front. Next up: cutting the top of the frames to the correct height and finessing the frame joints. A couple things. First, I had marked the mast step location based on the plans I drew up, but I'm thinking it might look better shifted one frame back. Second, while I'll be staining the frames, I'm still debating whether the basswood planking is too pale to leave natural (with only a sealer/varnish coat). Things to consider.

I finished up the front of the locker, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I've wanted to improve my skills at cutting precise joints, and the framing, while very simple, was a good opportunity to work on that. Initially I was going to do a miter joint at all four corners, but I messed up the angle when cutting the bottom frame piece. Valuable lesson about measuring twice and cutting once! I considered making a new piece, but realized I could flip it upside down, as the cleat across the bottom will cover the misshapen corners. I also decided to do a rabbet joint at the bottom, as I thought it looked better. (Feel free to correct me if I'm getting the joint names wrong!) Getting everything lined up took some patience, especially cutting the sides to size, but I got the pieces in place. I had considered doing some sort of lap joint for the crossbeam, but I decided against it for a few reasons--the wood is very thin, and any mistake would require extra staining that would likely leave a large dark blotch. I went with a simple butt joint instead. In any case, the crossbeam wouldn't have much pressure on it, as its purpose is mostly to keep the vertical planks behind it from buckling or shifting under weight and to add to the sturdiness of the overall framing. Test placement in the hull with the figure for scale. Once the decking is in, it will effectively be about 4 inches (at scale, 1/8 inch) shorter. I'll glue the cleat in place after the locker is permanently attached. Changing gears, I finished cutting the frame bottoms to the proper thickness. I won't be able to fair them in the hull, as they need to be stained before placement, so I needed to get them consistent now. I stuck them all together, in order and up against each other, on a piece of masking tape. As can be seen, I did not have the smoothest or most consistent cuts. Like with the locker planks, I probably could have made it more consistent if I had cut the frames from a long beam/strip that was already of the right thickness/height. The tape made it easy to sand along the top with a sanding stick. The frames are now much more consistent than before, which will make the deck planking run smoothly. I'm trying to do briefer updates instead of lengthy walls of text. Not sure if I'm really succeeding, though!

Looks great!

While continuing work on the frames, I also started on the rear locker/helmsman's platform. On the Cargo Canoa, as seen below, I built it very simply: the front is a single piece (with some decorative "molding" at the sides), and the top is two pieces (a crossbeam at the rear and a lid). Although I'm happy with how the Cargo Canoa's locker turned out (more or less--I could have squared it better), I wanted to make something more interesting for the Canoa de Rancho. I was particularly inspired by an old, large, lidded wooden crate my family uses as a side table. The sides of the crate are made from vertical planks with framing on the exterior. It's very sturdy and can easily support heavy weights, which is ideal for something meant to serve as a platform. (Blurry photo below). Although I'm not going to copy it completely, I want to borrow elements from it for my build. Maybe it's a little overbuilt for what is a pretty simply-constructed vessel, and (as mentioned when I was building it for the Cargo Canoa) it's not entirely clear that canoas even had lockers under the helmsman's platform--there are no photos and I'm extrapolating from a rather vague textual reference and knowledge that such things were included in other simple boats built elsewhere. Were this intended as a museum piece meant to faithfully represent a canoa, I would probably leave it off. But, I'm building this for fun. My goals are enjoyment and skill-building while creating a plausible representation of what a canoa might have been like. Accuracy is important, but, especially given the paucity of clear sources for so many details, I'm not going to worry about it if at times I have to step into the realm of the merely plausible. First I used paper to get a template for the size and shape. Next, I traced the template onto 1/16‐inch basswood, cut it out, and lightly stained the front. Then, I marked out individual planks on the back and cut. Although the triangles at the sides are wide enough that they should be made of two separate planks, I left them as one because the joint would be covered by the framing. After cutting them and realizing I had a lot of little pieces to keep track of, I numbered them. Can you spot my careless error? Somehow I missed a piece! After test-fitting it everywhere I decided it most likely came from the side, between pieces 1 and 2. I numbered it 1.5 and turned over the pieces to allow the stain to fully cure. I like the color and am finding the stain pen to be pretty easy to work with. I'm hoping to learn new techniques, so I decided to use this as a way to practice caulked planking. I lightly sanded the edges of the planks so that they would stand out better once glued back together, then used a pencil to draw along the right edge of each piece. I then began gluing the planks together on top of the template, using a straightedge to keep them lined up. After all were attached, I sandwiched the pieces between two metal rulers and clamped it to dry, then I checked how it came out the next day. Overall, I'm happy with how my first "deck planking" has turned out. Some of the pencil lines are thicker than others, which is something to try to correct in the future, and the close-up photo really exposes the fuzziness of the wood. (I think it looks better in person). There's some unevenness in plank width, due in part to my decision to cut the planks from the piece, which required marking each plank and created lots of opportunities for inexact cuts. It would be more consistent if I cut the planks from a strip of consistent width, instead of trying to cut planks of consistent width from an already shaped part. Making more of a jig to hold everything in place, and figuring out some way to better clamp the pieces together, are steps I'll consider for future builds. Test fitting in the Canoa. It's not quite squared up here, but I'm liking the contrast between the stained and natural wood! Next, the framing. I'm planning on using 1/16-inch wide strips from the 1/32‐thick basswood I bought for the top, sides, and crossbeam. But the bottom poses a bit of a challenge, as part will be covered up by the interior decking. After considering a few options, I decided it would make sense for the base to be a wider piece than the other frames, which would also make it visible poking out above the decking. I'm also going to be attaching a cleat to the front of the bottom frame. This is necessary for the interior decking as the frames don't extend all the way across the hull. On the Cargo Canoa, the cleat was separate from the locker, but I have very little space on the Canoa de Rancho between the locker and the first frame, so it makes sense to attach the cleat to the locker. A test fitting with unfinished pieces (not yet cut to size, and not all frames included) should make what I'm talking about more clear. I stained the pieces and cut them oversize. This gives a rough idea of what the framing will look like (minus the cleat), although all pieces will be better-shaped and joined neatly instead of passing over each other. (Also, it will be squared up rather than roughly placed). I'm enjoying my progress on this build and having fun learning new techniques!

After being away for a while, I'm back to work on the Canoas! While I was traveling, I found my mind wandering to other project ideas, so it's good to be able to focus on an actual build. I left off with the side portions of the frames nearly complete, so next up is making the portions that run along the bottom. I cut some 3/32-inch strips from the 1/8-inch thick sheet I have left over from the dory build, and cut the frame bottoms roughly to size. Nothing's glued in yet, and the frames still need proper trimming both to reduce their thickness to 3/32 square and to tidy up the joints with the side portions. But I'm happy with how it's coming along, it looks a lot better than just an empty shell of a hull and I'm looking forward to installing them. I've begun reducing the height of the bottom frames from 1/8- to 3/32-inch, and have finished the starboard pieces (counterintuitively located on the center-left of the photo). The difference in height with the port pieces, on the center-right, is apparent. As can be seen, I've been taking care to label all the pieces so I don't lose track. Although much simpler than the amazing plank-on-frame models elsewhere on this site, there are still 32 frame pieces to keep in order, which is much more than I've dealt with before! I also experimented with using the stain pen to add color to the frames, which on the actual vessels would have been made of a different, darker wood than the planks. (I'm thinking of leaving the planking it's natural color on the interior). While traveling, I did a quick test with some scraps cut--messily due to my lack of tools--from the 1/32-inch sheets I got. I liked the results: from top to bottom, two layers of stain, one layer of stain, and no stain. But, I wanted to test things out on scraps that were closer in size to the frame pieces. I also wanted to test if the stain could be used over a sealer to provide a more even color. On the left is a piece that I stained in several layers. The color is ok, but I think it would be more even if I was more patient and let the stain cure overnight between coats. It also shows that I'll need to be careful with the ends, which really soak up a lot of stain and darken too much. In the middle is a piece I stained after first applying sealer, which didn't really work--the stain couldn't really penetrate the wood and just sat on the surface, making it very easy to accidentally scrape off. On the right is a piece with just one layer of stain. I think the color is good, but it's a reminder that staining will bring out any imperfections in the piece. In this case, there was a bit of a gouge running the length of the piece that ended up much darker than the rest.

As someone who's strongly considering this kit as my next build, I'm looking forward to following along!

Thanks for the suggestions! I have some tulle fabric that should work for the nets, I previously used it for the funnels in the lobster trap for the dory. Seeds could be interesting. The wooden beads I have correspond to roughly 12-inch round watermelons, which seems to be within the standard size range for present-day melons. They may be slightly on the large size for watermelons from circa 1900, but I think they should work out ok. I'll be trying to sand them a little, too, as most watermelons aren't perfectly round but a bit elongated.

Due to travel, I haven't done any further work on the build and won't for another few weeks. But, I have picked up a few small things that should be useful. As I've mentioned before, the only basswood I can find in Mexico is 1/16th inch thick, so I took advantage of being in the US to get a few sheets of thinner, 1/32 inch thick basswood (which I had to cut down in size so it fits in my carryon). It will be useful for some of the furnishings in the hull as well as the internal decking. The thatched rancho poses a bit of a building challenge. I was originally planning on using coconut fibers to make the thatching (which was made of reeds in real life). But, getting enough fiber seemed like it might be a pain in the neck. I saw this "excelsior" material and thought it might be easier to work with, although I'll still have to cut it to the right size. Canoas seemingly all had anchors dangling off their bows whenever they were sailing, attached to a sturdy chain. I got a couple of the thinnest jewelry chains I could find (they were cheap), one in a vaguely brass color and the other in more of a stainless steel. I'll have to experiment a bit when it comes to working with them, and I'm still trying to decide how to make the anchor. I picked up a couple threads and clamping tweezers, all intended for fly tying. The tweezers, especially, should make knots and rigging much easier. I got a few small dowels, perhaps useful for oars or fishing gear, and some wooden beads. I wasn't originally going to include a load of cargo, but I think it could be nice to include something with the Cargo Canoa. Gibbon mentioned watching a load of watermelons being unloaded from a canoa, so I'm going to see if I can fill in the holes in the beads and make a few. Finally, I still wasn't loving my tests with the paint for the Canoa de Rancho's interior, so I picked up a stain pen. I know that basswood is infamous for not taking stain well, but if I'm only staining the frames (hence leaving the planking natural) I think it could work? The frames are small so any blotchiness shouldn't be too noticeable, I imagine. I'll test it out beforehand, though.

So, I've shaped the upright portions of the frames for the Canoa de Rancho. They've all been marked as to their locations. They just need to be cut to the right length, which will have to wait until I figure out the crossbeam locations--some frames will likely be under a crossbeam. I also will do a bit more sanding to make sure the frames are roughly even in width. I have to say, I'm not worried about a little unevenness, as many of the frames on actual canoas were pretty roughly-hewn. (Ramón Rubín can't seem to help himself from calling them "mal labrado" at every turn in La canoa perdida). But, this is really highlighting for me how challenging it will be if I ever scratch build something with more complex frames. Looking around at things like the Triton Cross Section, to say nothing of a full-hull model, it's impressive that people can get so many small pieces even! I still have to make the bottom pieces of the frames. In the photo, they're just the upright pieces from the other side or bits of scrap, because the boat looks really weird with only the upright pieces in. Nothing has been glued yet. There will be cleats added near the bow, too. Before I glue in the frames, though, I want to decide how to color them. Canoas used pine for the side planks and mesquite for the frames. Pine is a light-colored wood and mesquite is darker, and I was wondering if I could represent that even if everything here is made of basswood. So, I decided to test a few options, although I didn't do a great job on the painting here as it's just to test color combos. The top left has natural wood. Top right, natural planks and a brown-painted frame. Bottom left, light-painted planks and a brown frame. Bottom right, just to see I went with brown planks and a light frame. I also added a little black wash to see how that would look. I also wondered about natural planking combined with a light-painted frame, and tried to place the test pieces to see how that looks. Overall, I'm not sure about the look of painting the interior and frames. But I've heard that basswood doesn't take stain very well, so I'm not sure if I want to try that. Any suggestions? Finally, I'll be traveling for the rest of the month, so no build updates for a while, although I might post other things in that time.

Davit supports look great, as do the rope coils!

Great job, the hull looks fantastic!

On the Canoa de Rancho, sanding is just about complete. The hull isn't perfectly smooth, but I did want to make sure the planks would still be visible after painting. I added a bit of sawdust and glue to fill some low spots, too. Overall I'm happy with how the hull is coming out. For the Cargo Canoa, I'm basically done with the hull now that I've added the rails. A quick word on painting. I've been using Politec brand acrylics. These are very widely available and cost about a dollar for each small bottle. They've worked well, but Politec really has very limited options for browns. So I went with a slightly pricier (but still cheap, just under 3 bucks) brand that had a much greater variety of browns. I'm much happier with how the color turned out, and I like how the bottle has a nozzle--one annoyance with politec is that I always had to scoop out the paint I wanted, while this is much easier. After painting the rails and adding a light black wash for character, I glued them in place. Gluing them was a bit trickier than I expected, especially in the aft half, as the rails really aren't attached to very much--mostly just the thin top of the wale, and a few supports--and I couldn't really clamp them. As a result, the rails ended up pulling away from the wale a little amidships. It's small and shouldn't be noticeable unless I somehow place this with a strong backlight, but it's something I'll have to watch out for on the Canoa de Rancho. Next, the aft rail. This entailed making a joint in the 1/32‐inch-thick rail, which was tricky. I'm glad I'll be using thicker rails on the Canoa de Rancho. After painting the piece for the aft rail, I placed it and marked where to cut. I did a mixture of carving and sanding to remove material as necessary. I nearly cut through the thin wood at one point, leaving a mark on the other, visible side, but I was able to fix the visible damage with sanding and a repaint after attaching it. It isn't a perfect joint, but it works. (Honestly, they're not perfect joints on the actual vessels, either. I suspect there was a lot of wear and tear on the rails and they were frequently replaced). It was especially hard cutting the joint into the side rails, as they were only attached on one side and were very flexible on the other. (The accidental near-cut-through is visible here, before sanding and painting). I then touched up the paint, and with that the rails are complete! Still to do for the Cargo Canoa: making the rudder (which can only be mounted after I make a stand as it's deeper than the hull), adding belaying points along the rail, adding an anchor and chain (present in a ton of photos, even on very small vessels), and then the mast, sail, and rigging.

Looks like it's coming along great!

Very brief note. First, feeling a bit frustrated with sanding the rails, I switched gears a minute to make the hinges for the stern box lid/helmsman's platform. No photos of this, so just a guess on the shape. I cut them from card and made the hinge barrel from a bit of toothpick sanded down into a tiny cylinder. I also added tiny dots of glue to represent the screws, although in the future I would try to get them smaller. I'm happy with how they turned out and think they add something nice to the build. Second, both rails broke at the joint when sanding and had to be reglued. The joint is really small due to the difficulties of cutting it into 1/32-inch-thick pieces. But, the rails have been sanded, getting off most of the old color, and they're ready for the next round of painting.

Thanks! From what I can tell the rail was used for seating (especially on smaller vessels like my Cargo Canoa), and on larger vessels people often stood there and on the crossbeams for poling and moving around the boat. There were also a number of points on the rail for belaying ropes.

Thanks! You'll definitely have to check out Xochimilco next time. Unfortunately the only images in color that I have of Canoas de Rancho (which are very few) seem to be hand-colored. The image you're referring to is the one that looks to me like it was done with the most care, but of course I have no real way of knowing. It looks better, though, than something like this: (Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/MX13229838190754 ) The original black and white image is actually also available, in very high resolution, at: https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/mex/id/2308/rec/26. There's nothing in the original to suggest that one canoa a different color than the others, all are the same tint. Most importantly, the flag shown above is a complete fabrication by the artist. The only trustworthy color images that I have are later and only for smaller fishing canoas, but some may still be helpful. The following photo depicts what was likely a pretty typical sort of splotchy coloration that may well represent some of the canoas de rancho I've seen that have dark upper sides fading to a lighter shade. (It also shows the water lilies, introduced in the late nineteenth century, that quickly spread and began taking over the lake, leading to recurrent anti-lily campaigns. In Ramón Rubín's La canoa perdida, most of the protagonist's funds to buy the titular fishing canoa come from a stint pulling out and burning water lilies for the hydroelectric company.) Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/pescadores-en-el-lago-de-chapala-1958-MX15186632784160/3 But other fishermen went a different route. This image, for instance, does seem to show painted hulls. Source: https://www.museocjv.com/chapalapostaless.html On the issue of hull painting, while the black and white photos aren't very clear, there are a number that show an evenly-tinted light-colored hull, often with a name painted on in dark lettering, as in La Gaviota below. (The name is a bit blurry in the photo, but the caption does include it). That's why I went with a white hull for the Cargo Canoa, although I'm going to do something different for the Canoa de Rancho. Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/islandora/object/fotografia%3A433841 Incidentally, La Gaviota also shows off some common accoutrements like the anchor that I'll have to make later. Thanks! One more quick thing about the coloration before getting to the rails: according to José María Angulo Sepulveda, these boats were caulked with a mix of tar, beef tallow, and cotton tow, which undoubtedly contributed to the coloration on at least the unpainted vessels. As for the rails. First, thanks for explaining the name! I hadn't realized that the "cap" actually was because they capped the frames, but that makes perfect sense. My photo evidence is blurry and a bit unclear, but I think photos generally show that the frames were not capped by the rail. In the photo below, I've circled three such frames. The bottom left frame passes behind a crossbeam before seeming to end well inboard of the rail, and the middle top frame also seems to end in a squared off cut that's not covered by the rail. The top right frame looks almost like it extends up past the cap rail, although I haven't seen that on any other vessels, so I wonder if they will be cutting off the top before finishing the vessel. The other frames look like they taper at their top ends. Source: Minute 5:52 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHbBKiYs3QU Also, it's much less clear in this photo, but I think you can see the tops of frames on the port side of the hull (right side in the photo) that are not covered by the rail. Very hard to tell, though. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHbBKiYs3QU But, some other photos are less clear. These frames may be covered by the rail? Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140967 Finally, it is clear that the frames in the smaller fishing canoas were usually not covered by the rail. Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/MX14140215743756 Source: https://mapio.net/pic/p-33141234/ But, sometimes, maybe they were. Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/MX15570248148348 As for why they wouldn't cover the frame ends, I really don't know, it would make more sense to cover them. But, if the photo above with a frame possibly extending above the rail is any indication, I almost wonder if they added the frames after attaching the rails, or if they only cut the frames to size after the rails were on. In any case, it's tricky to tell what's going on with those frames, so any suggestions are much appreciated!

Work has slowed a bit, but I've made some progress. First, the Canoa de Rancho. I'm taking my time with sanding and smoothing the hull, as it's pretty tedious work. Thankfully the 1/16th-inch-thick planking can take a good bit of sanding. I've also started figuring out the frames. Unlike with the Cargo Canoa, I won't be trying to make each frame from a single bent piece of wood. Instead they'll be made of two pieces, one along the bottom and one along the side. As long as I get the angle of the cut right, the joint shouldn't be too noticeable, especially once the floor planking is in. The main issue has been trying to figure out the right thickness for the frames. Originally I was going to go with 1/8th-inch square wood, as I have some left over from the dory build. This corresponds to 4-inch thick frames on a real vessel, which seemed reasonable from photos, but it looked much too thick when I test-fit some pieces (which still needed final shaping). I toyed with the idea of reducing the number of frames, but it still wasn't looking right. Instead, I'll be reducing the pieces down to 3/32-inch thickness (corresponding to 3 inches). This seems like it will look about right. Now I just have to make and shape all the frames, and finish sanding the hull. On the Cargo Canoa: I decided I liked the look of natural wood for the crossbeams, so I attached those without painting. I also added a waterline, painting below it in a dark brown. This was a bit of a guess, color-wise, as most of my photos are in black and white, but a number of them do show hulls that are darkened below the waterline, and I don't think it's just the water itself darkening the hull. Next up, the cap rails, which have given me trouble. I outlined them on a piece of paper, then transferred the shape to a 1/16-inch thick board with a pin, then cut it out. I purposely cut it wide so it could be better shaped later (which is why it looks so terrible in the photo). I had decided to use the 1/16th-inch wood based on trials with some scraps, but the full cap rail looked much too thick. After briefly experimenting with sanding it down a bit, I decided I'd have to redo it in thinner wood. The problem is that I don't have much 1/32‐inch-thick wood left from the dory, so I had to make the rail of multiple pieces with a small splice joint. (This is actually accurate to the actual vessels). Anotger issue is that I originally planned on having the cap rails overhang the interior of the boat a little such that they rest on the frames. This seemed accurate from a few photos, but a more detailed look suggests that I was wrong and the rails should just be attached to the side planks and extend outward (where they're propped up by the crossbeams and supports). This means that 1) I needed to be pretty precise with shaping the inside edge of the cap rails, and 2) I needed to lightly sand down/round off the top of the frames and repaint them, which requires color matching the interior (which is not straight ochre). I was able to make the rails, but they brought with them another problem. The 1/32‐inch basswood is substantially lighter than the 1/16-inch wood used for the crossbeams, so the natural wood color looked much too light. So I painted them, slightly lightening the brown I used for the bottom. (I will be lightly sanding the outside edge once they are attached to the hull, which will make the rails more even and smooth). However, I ultimately don't like the color they turned out. The brown works for the bottom, and seemed fine in tests with painted scrap, but it looks oppressively dark on the entire cap rails. I had no luck with multiple attempts to mix something lighter, which is an area I need to work on for the future. (Just a test fitting, the rails haven't been glued yet.) So, I bought some lighter brown paint. Now I will be sanding the darker paint off the rails, repainting them, and then finally attaching them. Oh and also making the aft rail, too. Hopefully the paint troubles will be over soon! Painting is definitely one of my least favorite parts of the build process, and I'm hoping to find a color scheme I like better for the Canoa de Rancho. Hopefully I can leave more wood natural.

The hull looks great!

Thanks! I had read your page on the vessels of the Albufera, which was great, but hadn't seen the bibliography page. This is really helpful!

Thanks, I'll definitely check that out!

That's very kind of you to say. I would note that I did find it really helpful to build the MSW Grand Banks Dory first, which gave me at least some familiarity with the basics, and I was going to build the MSW Lobster Smack but my order was never shipped (I suppose that's what I get for trying to save a few bucks ordering from ebay instead of their site). As for scratch building, the big advantage is that you're not limited to what's available in kits. I've been able to pursue projects that are personally meaningful to me--I'm living part-time in Mexico, my wife is Mexican, and I'm strongly interested in Mexican and Latin American history--and that don't exist in kit form. The one thing I would really strongly recommend to other novice scratch-builders is to build something with plans. At the very least, it will save you a lot of worrying about whether your proportions are off, which has been a constant issue in my builds. I've decided that my next scratch builds will be based on plans, which will save me a lot of hassle. (I've already found plans for a Chilean Lancha Chilota coastal sloop, and for a Spanish lateen-rigged fishing boat like those I saw in Barcelona that got me interested in modeling, so I have those builds to look forward to). That said, I have nothing against kits and am strongly considering doing the NRG half-hull before I tackle anything with a curved rather than a flat-bottomed hull. I'd also love to do one of Vanguard's fishing boat kits in the future, when I have more space. Also, that model of the Mary Rose sounds fun!