JacquesCousteau

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.

Thank you! I think I'll just carefully carve them out with the exacto knife after the the keelson is glued to the keel, as the instructions suggest. I briefly considered extending the notches on the bulkheads themselves instead, but the plywood is really tough to cut, and in any case I need to move some keelson notches slightly to the side when extend them for alignment.

The rabbet was not as difficult as I thought it would be (unless I've actually ruined it). The instructions were fairly detailed, although some detail photos are a little blurry. I also checked Toni Levine's original build log, as well as a lot of other build logs, which were very helpful in making sure I understood what to do. First things first, I used a compass to mark 1/32 of an inch on the keel, keelson, stem, and the back half of the fore keelson. I found it helpful to lightly press the compass into the wood to mark out a groove I later drew over with pencil. I then drew out the approximate curve as the rabbet narrows along the fore half of the keelson and eventually disappears on the stemson. Then I began to carve the rabbet on the keelson. This cut will be hidden by planking, so I figured it was a good opportunity to try cutting the rabbet with an exacto blade. It worked all right, but was a bit uneven and had some slight gouges. Sanding it a little smoothed it out, though. I found it easiest and most consistent, as I moved ahead with the keel, fore keelson, and stemson rabbets, to use the knife for initial carving but to purposely leave space, and then to finish it with sanding. The long flat parts--keel and keelson--were best sanded against a simple sheet of sandpaper placed on a flat surface, which seemed to work well to get a consistent angle. I just had to make sure not to sand away the keel's slight rise at the bow, or after the aft marking. Meanwhile, I used sanding sticks for the curved parts. As can be seen, I was soon finished except for the stem, the trickiest part of the rabbet to make. Aft detail showing end of rabbet: Bow prior to making the stem rabbet: For the stem, I started by marking where the stemson rabbet disappears. Above that mark, I cut a mortise (essentially a right-angled cutout). Below it, I used a combination of the exacto blade and sanding sticks to shape a curving rabbet, which reaches a 45-degree angle by the time it meets the keel. Below you can see the results: And here's the complete rabbet. Hopefully I haven't somehow ruined it--the whole time I was carving it, I somehow had Elmer Fudd singing "kill the wabbit" to the tune of "Ride of the Valkyries" stuck in my head. Weird associations the mind creates! Next up to glue down the backbone pieces.

Looks great, and very cool idea to add the LEDs!

A tiny bit of progress: First, I ended up trimming back the aft end of the fore keelson so the slots better align with the markings. There will still need to be some shaping, as the distance between a couple slots doesn't quite match the plans--the aftmost slot on the fore keelson is especially off--but it should work better now. I also finally got a building board. I had originally planned on going to an office supply store a short walk from home, but it closed unexpectedly while I was away. I eventually found some in a target. It was only 1/8zinch thick, so I doubled it up. I then trimmed my plans to the right size. I still have to glue them down, but I'm ready to start on the rabbet.

Thanks! I decided to give it a try. The dash idea didn't really work as I hoped, so I ended up just drawing consistentlt around the rim of the ratchet wheel. When the light hits it right, it adds a textured appearance that is a definite improvement on the black paint. (Hard to see in the photo, though).

Thanks! I ended up using an index card to make the hardware. I added additional handles at the other end, as I imagine you would want the flexibility to be able to crank from either side of the boat and you could conceivably have two people working at once. I then added the parts meant to keep the rope from getting too far off center. Rather than the large ones shown on the plan, I just used a bit of black-painted card. As for the ratchet wheel, I used black painted card as well. I decided after some experimentation that there was no way I could cut teeth in it at anything close to scale. So, the imagination will have to fill in that gap. (In hindsight, I'm now wondering if it would have worked to just dash around the edge with a pencil to create at least a subtle variation in color that would suggest teeth, but now that it's installed I wouldn't be able to reach all around it. Oh well.) Next up was mounting the windlass. I was concerned about how I would align it. Getting the supports squared on the hull seemed tricky, while simply gluing them to the windlass would also be hard as I needed to keep the bottoms level. But I came up with a solution. First, I glued one support in place in the hull. The second support was glued to the windlass itself. This way I could get proper alignment with minimal effort. I then glued the windlass into the hull. I also glued tiny strips of black-painted card over the axels to represent the metal parts there. I still need to finish the ratchet mechanism, although I think I can make something simpler than in the plans--rather than a piece that comes at the ratchet wheel from the front, requiring additional supports, I think I can just add something that approaches the wheel from the side and is attached directly to the existing supports. In any case, I thought I'd add the scale figure I made for the canoa to get a sense of size. The Juana y José is quite a small vessel! Overall I'm pretty happy with how the windlass has turned out, even if it's a lot simpler than the version in the plans.

While I wait for the masking tape and debate whether to build a mast, I've gotten started on the windlass. This was used for clam dragging in a small vessel. Rather than try to drag a heavy dredge under sail or oar, the method shown in the plans entails dropping anchor at one end of the clam bed, letting out the anchor cable and traveling to the other end of the bed, dropping the dredge there, and winching back to the anchor. Undoubtedly very tiring work! The design in the plans looks a bit complicated to my eye. As can be seen, it uses socketed bands to mount the handles, as well as wheels to demarcate the rope location. Most complex of all is the ratchet system. I will be simplifying this a good bit, to make it more possible to build at my chosen scale without metal working. First, I added the support beams that run under the thwarts. Given the hull's curve, the thwarts aren't perfectly aligned, so I lightly shaped the ends of the beams for a better fit. Thse pieces are cherry. Next, I made the seats for the ends of the captsan (out of mahogany) and the captsan barrel itself (from a dowel, maybe birch?). I also sanded down a toothpick tip to make the captsan axle. I drilled a little into the ends and mounted the axel pieces. At this point the captsan looked like a miniature rolling pin. One simplification I made is that, instead of a complex socketed band to mount the handles, I simply drilled holes into the barrel. I went from both ends and was happy to see that the holes aligned properly. I was going to make the handles from toothpick again, but for added visual interest I decided to go with mahogany. I then test-fit the captsan. In hindsight, the mahogany handles might blend in a bit too much with the deck. As you may have noticed, I committed an error--according to the plans, there should be another set of handles at the other end of the barrel! I completely forgot about it in my excitement to fit the handles. So that's where I am at the moment. First, I need to think about whether to add the other handles or not. The plans show it that way, but on the other hand, this is quite a small windlass--barrel length would be 2 feet 4 inches in real life--and I'm not sure how practical additional handles would be. Second, I need to figure out the ratchet mechanism. I was considering cutting a card disk and sealing and painting it. That might work, but I would still also need to figure out how to make the rachet mechanism, which is extremely tiny at this scale. (I can really see why this is usually built at 1:15-1:20 scale).

I did a quick test of layering the excelsior material on card backing, gluing at a couple of points to simulate attaching it to the framework, and determined that it wouldn't work very well for my purposes. It twists and curls too much to be readily glued into place, and doesn't really look all that much like thatched reed. The curves in the fibers made it very hard to work with. But, while getting groceries at Trader Joe's, I saw this: I first tested out breaking down the stalk into thin strands of fiber. This didn't work very well, as it was very difficult to get anything close to a consistent length. The interior also has a notably different texture and color than the exterior. More promising, though, seem to be the awns--the little fibers extending from the seeds. They're aready the right diameter, very consistent in coloration, and quite straight. The one issue is that, as they developed to help spread the seeds, they catch onto things if approached from one direction. This makes them a bit odd to work with--one way they slide and move easily, the other they stick to your fingers, the workboard, etc. I was able to similarly test a bit on the card, and I think they'll work. I used tweezers to place them, as they didn't stick to the metal. Hopefully a matte spray varnish will block them from sticking to things--if not, they won't work very well on the model. I think my plan is to use ordinary white glue to first stick them in place, and then to spray the matte varnish at the end (or at least after each layer or section).

Thank you, this is very helpful! I'll have to look into the matte varnish spray, it would undoubtedly be very useful for this but might not be very feasible in my apartment. Although I suppose I could spray it my building's basement/laundry room, which is huge (helping with ventilation concerns) and entirely bare concrete. I was looking a bit more at photos to get a sense of how they actually thatched the rancho. In a lot of cases, nearly all of the fibers end at around the same edge, and there doesn't seem to have been a lot of layering of rows. In this photo, for instance, practically all the reeds end off the edge of the rancho, and the thatching looks to be of a consistent thickness, which to me would suggest a single layer (itself several reeds thick) running the whole side rather than several layered rows. Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A139791 Others look a bit bulkier and "hairier," seemingly with more variation in fiber length, which perhaps does suggest more layering: Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/cargamento-de-entre-MX14652247742300/5 This one, meanwhile, shows a definite additional layer covering the top: Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140947 So, I'm debating whether to thatch by building up multiple rows--which would certainly make it easier to cover gaps--or to try for a single main layer with an extra layer at the top. As for building materials, apparently carrizo reed is usually around half an inch in diameter, so at 1:32 scale, 1/64 of an inch. Breaking apart the fibers of long grass would be useful for this, but I'm not sure when or where I'll be able to get it. I'm also considering just ordering something like this: https://dollhousejunction.com/products/thatch-roofing-material.

Thanks! I like what you did with the dried grass for the wa'a kaulua, once this cold snap ends I might go looking around for some. I've added a pair of extra supports on the rancho. I might add two more pairs, for accuracy, although the interior of the rancho really won't be visible so I might not. As can be seen, I also managed to stain the rancho framework, so it won't stand out so much. Finally, I cut out a bit from the frames at the peak, as I'll be installing a larger beam running down the centerline. Way back in September, I posted about having bought a material called "excelsior"--a sort of bird-nest looking material, apparently also called "wood wool"--to try to make the thatching. I'm not sure if it will work. It's pretty wavy, although also flexible enough that gluing it down should hold it straighter. But, I don't really want to use a material where I'll need to work one fiber at a time, at the speed the glue dries. So I decided to try gluing a few strands together into a bundle, to be glued all at once on to the rancho. In the photos below, it's not glued in place yet, and it still would need to be trimmed to the right size. I'm not sure how much I like this idea, though--the material is still more twisted than I would really like. It's also very fragile, more so than dried grass would be, I think. I've seen a few examples of other techniques, especially from rail modelers making thatched roofs, but I'm still weighing my options. If anyone has any suggestions about 1:32-scale thatching, or if they think the bundles of excelsior are the way to go, I'm all ears.

Further progress on the Juana y José. First, I needed to make the carenotes or escuas. These are boards along the bottom running parallel to the keel that make it easier to haul the boat onto the beach. It took a bit of care to shape them to follow the hull's curve. With them in place, the half-hull sits nicely upright. Unfortunately, my plans to paint the bottom ran into a snag. I accidentally bought the wrong type of tamiya masking tape, and the type I bought can't follow the curve. So I have a new order of that coming in over the week. Next, the mast step. This I shaped from the 3/16x1/16‐inch cherry strip. I lightly beveled the edges with sandpaper, drilled out a hole in the center, and used the tip of a file to square the hole. I tested a few positions. I should note that, while the plans have the mast stepped ahead of the thwart, I haven't seen this on many actual vessels. The area between the thwarts will also be pretty busy with the windlass. So I decided to step the mast aft of the thwart. If I were building the full vessel this could look very unbalanced, but on a half-hull I don't think it will look noticeably wrong. The angle is only an approximation, and I'm still not sure whether I'll even be installing a mast--it would add visual interest, but would make the model a lot larger and harder to transport. Finally, after gluing the mast step, I made the thwart supports, also from the cherry. I tried to bevel the edges in the middle of the supports, although it was tricky to get this even, given their small size. As can be seen, one had to be connected to the mast step rather than the keelson. Next up: the windlass and painting the bottom. I also still need to figure out how to deal with the exposed edges of the cross-section. It's a bit late to go with natural wood there on the hull. I'm debating between a sort of dull red to highlight the cross-sectional nature of the build, or a black or gray to avoid calling attention to it.

Although I'm still working on my scratch-builds, I got started on this recently. I received the NRG Half-Hull Planking Kit as a Christmas gift. I'm looking forward to building it and learning a lot about planking a curved hull in the process. I'm also glad that the result should be relatively easy to store, display, and transport, as I don't have a ton of room. Given work, I will probably be building this pretty slowly. As can be seen, the kit is pretty straightforward in terms of components. Overall it looks like a nice kit, and the instructions are quite thorough, which I appreciate. I'm still waiting on getting a foam building board, so nothing is glued yet, but I've sanded off the laser char and removed the basswood parts of the model's backbone (keel, stem, etc). In general, the parts fit together well with minimal sanding, although I'll have to do a little more shaping where the keel rises slightly near the stem. The keelson slots fit the frames well. However, there is a slight issue with the fore keelson, and I thought I'd ask for advice before proceeding. The slots in the fore keelson don't line up with the markings for the frames on the plans. I see two main ways I could deal with this. One would be to trim the end of the fore keelson so it aligns better with the frame markings--more or less like below, although there the fore keelson is propped up above the other parts. That said, if I do this I'll be throwing off the fit of the stemson and of the fore keelson against the stem and keel, which will require a good bit of shaping to correct. The other option would be to simply leave the fore keelson as it is, and cut new frame slots into it. The frame slots will need to be extended anyway. And while this might leave some frames with less sturdy of a connection, I don't know if that would be a serious problem given that everything will be attached to the building board. Comments and suggestions are welcome! I'm looking forward to learning a lot with this kit.

Looking forward to following along!

I decided that the simplest way to build the rancho framework would be to make the A-frames at the fore and aft end, then run horizontal supports between them, and then add some vertical supports in the middle. A number of photos show that the fore and A-frames were often at different angles due to hull widening amidships, but they also suggest that the sides and top of the rancho were straight lines rather than being built to closely follow the curved rail. By making the fore and aft A-frames first and connecting them with horizontal supports, I can properly define the Rancho's shape in a much simpler way than if I tried to make several A-frames that all lined up. I decided to make the A-frames from 1/8-inch thick basswood. To join them, I used a lap joint so that the joint would be fairly strong, but I didn't cut the laps deep enough to make a proper half-lap joint, as photos do show that the parts overlapped. I made the aft frame first, which forms a neat right angle, and then the fore frame, which is wider. I had to redo the fore frame as I initially made it the same height as the aft frame, which, due to the hull's curve, left the aft of the rancho too high--photos usually show the rancho as either even (which requires the fore frame to be a bit higher) or as having the fore frame noticeably higher. I used my new razor saw and miter box to cut the ends of the frames--I love it! I used a paper template to make sure the frames were even. (You can't see in the photo, but there are some dots on the bottom edge of the card to align the frame ends). Next, the notches for the horizontal support beams. Based on what I could see in photos, the beams look pretty thin so I decided to model them with 1/32‐inch square slats. The fore frame is longer than the aft frame, so I decided to space the notches by proportion. After cutting, I finished them with a file, which left them a bit more rounded than I would have liked. But I don't think it will be very noticeable once the beams are in. Adding the beams was pretty straightforward, although getting the frames vertical was a little tricky. I still need to add the remaining vertical supports, which should strengthen the structure, but this gives an idea of the size and shape of the rancho (not glued in place yet). Once I get the vertical supports on, I'll have to color the framework--in hindsight I should have stained it before gluing, but maybe I can just paint it--and then add the thatching.

After some thought, I've decided to continue with the build for now, and try to make the mast removable. So I've begun work on the next step, the thatched Rancho. But first, a note on the rigging. I was recently messaging about small craft in the Caribbean with Roman--I'm not sure how to tag people in posts, but there's the thread: He was kind enough to share some images from the Álbum de construcción naval del Marqués de la Victoria, a Spanish publication from the eighteenth century showing a number of details of shipbuilding techniques and related images. One image, in particular, caught my eye: a Barco Longo, a type of small craft. As can be seen, the Barco Longo is a fairly small vessel, similar in many ways to the Bateau de Lanveoc featured in an Ancre publication. Unlike the French Bateau, though, the Barco Longo doesn't quite have a square rig--you'll notice that one side of the yard is rather longer than the other--but rather a sort of lugsail. I was intrigued by this because it suggests one possibility for how the rig of Lake Chapala's Canoas developed. Like the Barco Longo, the Canoa often had what looked like a rather squared-off lugsail, with no braces on the yards, and controlled mainly by sheets. I wouldn't be surprised if the Spanish built similar vessels to the Barco Longo, and/or used similar rigs on small boats, in their American colonies. And it wouldn't take very much to simplify the above type of rig into something like a Canoa de Rancho's. All you'd really have to do, besides simplifying the stays, is to get rid of the bowlines, which it would make sense to do away with anyway--you'd mainly want those for sailing into the wind, and as I've discussed in earlier posts, the Canoa's hull design made it practically impossible to sail into the wind. In any case, it's hardly conclusive, but I think it does suggest one possible route by which the Canoa developed its distinctive rig. Something to think about. Anyway, I got to work planning the rancho. Interestingly, Ramón Rubín includes a discussion in La canoa perdida (p. 220-221) about how it was possible to tell where a canoa came from by the material used for its rancho. According to him, carrizo (common reed) was typically used to make the thatched ranchos of vessels from around La Palma on Chapala's marshy southeastern shore. Caña de agua (a different type of reed, or possibly bamboo--it's not clear to me from descriptions how this differs from carrizo) was more often used on boats from the marshes near the mouth of the Lerma river on the eastern shore. In contrast, boats from Tizapán (south-central shore) all the way west along the coast up to San Juan Cosalá (northwest shore) typically used wooden slats to make a rather more solid rancho, given the lack of abundant reeds. Finally, boats from Ocotlán, Jamay, San Pedro Itzicán, and other areas to the northeast often used mats of woven tule reed to make their rancho. Although I can't really tell the differences between the types of reeds in the photographs, I will be making a thatched reed rancho because I think it looks more interesting than the wooden slat ranchos--although I'll happily go with the latter option if the thatching doesn't work out. With that decided, I needed to figure out the framework for the rancho. A few photos provide useful details. First, this photo clearly shows the rancho's "skeleton": Source: https://www.museocjv.com/chapalapostaless.html Pretty straightforward. As for the details of how they made the A-frames, a few photos concur in showing that these pieces typically overlapped rather than coming together in, say, a mitered joint. They also suggest that the horizontal supports (barely visible in a couple photos) were rather smaller in diameter than the A-frames. Source: https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/mex/id/2308/rec/26 (See especially the leftmost vessel. Also, there is a highly unusual round rancho, which I have not seen in any other photos.) Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140957 Source: http://chapala.mex.tl/frameset.php?url=/99531_Capitulo-X-Turismo-y-promotores.html Finally, I was also intrigued by this example, in which they appear to have raised the entire rancho up on poles, leaving a gap. I haven't seen this on any other vessel, so I decided not to follow this example: Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A140883 Next, the actual construction of the rancho.

That looks incredible, congratulations on finishing!

Next, I began adding the deck planks, as well as some floor planking. The razor saw I received for Christmas is extremely useful for trimming all ends even. I'm probably going a little overboard on the mahogany, but I like the color contrast with the blue interior, and I'm learning as much as I can about building with hardwoods. On the flooring, I ultimately added one more plank on each side to fully cover the widest point in the hull. The floor planking was a little trickier than I anticipated, as the planks have to both curve and twist to follow the interior of the hull. I was able to get it done with some clamping. As for the deck, I used a card template to work out the shape of the final plank that runs up to the coaming. In hindsight, it would have made more sense to make these planks first, and then shape the coaming to fit them, rather than vice versa, but oh well, I'll keep it in mind next time. In any case, here's the build so far, with a quarter for scale.

After a bit of a break, I've been able to get back to the Canoa de Rancho and have finished the foredeck. As seen in my earlier post, I used card to make a template for the overall shape, although I went with different plank widths than I had on the card. I ultimately decided to go with the longer foredeck, as both long and short ones were feasible options based on photos, but a longer deck would provide a better platform for casting nets. I cut out and stained the planks, and had to redo a few to make them fit better. One challenge with this deck is that it sweeps upward following the curve of the bow. So, not only would I need to clamp carefully to hold planks down, but I needed to add support pieces to prop up the ends and keep them in line. Not every plank needed a support, though, as some ended on a crossbeam or the top of a frame. Bobby pins were extremely useful for clamping the deck planks. As can be seen, the aft edge of the deck didn't quite line up. I'm not sure why, as it did in test fittings and there are no gaps. It wasn't an issue, though, as I was able to sand it flat--after carefully protecting the rail with tape--and restain the parts of the crossbeam that got sanded. With that, the foredeck is finished. The boat looks a bit unbalanced at the moment, but adding the thatched rancho over the stem will balance out the foredeck. That said, I'm having a bit of a dilemma. Although I just got to Chicago after being away for a while, I'll be moving again this summer. I was able to transport the Canoa de Rancho and the Dory with me by wrapping them in bubble wrap and placing them in the dory kit box, but a fully-rigged model would be much harder to pack. While I built the dory's mast and rigging to be easily removed, doing so on the Canoa would be harder. More pressingly, adding the rancho will make the Canoa too large to pack back into the dory kit box, although I suppose I could look for a more suitable box. So I'll have to think about whether it makes sense for me to continue with this build right now, or if I should set it aside to do the NRG Half-Hull and some unrigged models.

As mentioned above, I'm building the cross section in line with the plans, which imaginatively add a mast, deck, and windlass to the vessel. At this point, I ran into an issue. The plans do not include scuppers, although these definitely were present on similar decked vessels. I decided to add them, which proved a much more challenging task than anticipated. Overall, it would have been much easier to add these earlier by cutting out notches in the lower bulwark plank before fitting it. Lesson learned! The first challenge was alignment. The scuppers need to open from the topside of the deck out to the hull. So, I had to get started on the deck. The deck is heavily cambered at the sides, so the first step was adding a triangular support to prop it to the correct angle. This proved a little difficult as the plan drawing that shows this piece is to a different scale than other drawings, but I was able to work out an approximation. (Also, I glued on the cap rails). The edge of the deck (the waterways?) needed to follow the curve of the hull and fit around the frames. I started with a card template. I then cut them out of mahogony, which I'll be using for the deck. It was slow going cutting out the frame notches. There are still more gaps than I would like, but with every build, I'm slightly improving. I also took the time to curve the coaming that runs around the deck opening. With the deck height set, I was able to work out the scupper locations. Unfortunately, there was very little space between the gunwales and the deck, partly a result of building this in 1/32 but also perhaps a sign that I either installed the riser a little high or made the gunwale too wide. In any case, I used my pin vise to drill out the scuppers from the inside out, to make sure they were aligned with the deck. As can be seen, this worked poorly, and the holes were pretty uneven when viewed from the outside. There was also some pushout. So, I began expanding and evening out the scuppers, using a combination of further drilling (this time outside-in) and thin files. The results look much better than the original holes, but are too wide to really be in scale. However, my files wouldn't fit in anything thinner. They also aren't quite evenly spaced. Making even, scale scuppers would really have to be done before adding the bulwark planks, as I mentioned above. In any case, I was then able to add the rub rails. I was originally going to shape some basswood, but I found a tiny half-round piece in the scrap section of a hobby shop and decided to use that instead. Next steps to finish the build: adding the boards that run parallel to the keel on the bottom, painting the bottom red, making the deck and floor planking, building the mast step, and adding the furnishings (windlass and thole pins).

Congratulations, looks great!

Nice job! It looks great, and seems like it was a fun build.

Congratulations, your sharpie looks amazing!

In my limited experience, yes, especially if you're interested in trying plank-on-frame construction. They're also excellent if you have limited space.

Thanks! I think it would work a lot better if it was made of basswood instead of paper. It also would have been worthwhile to make it smaller so that clamps could be placed more easily.