JacquesCousteau

Thanks, all! Keith, I agree that workboats are fascinating subjects (and very nice job on your steamboat, by the way). I've finally gotten started on the deck planking. First, I had noticed that some photos show a thicker square or rectangular mast partner, as can be seen below: Source: https://www.memoriasdelsigloxx.cl/601/w3-article-2204.html I made one out of basswood, building it around a small length of 1/4-inch square stripwood that will serve as a stub mast during building. I then added a covering board along the stern (which will be covered by the aft rail), and also a bit of wood at the bow to extend the stem (the joint of which still needs to be filled and sanded). It was now time to begin the deck planking. The main hatch coaming and the mast partners are just friction-fit into place for now so I can get a tight joint, but can remove them to sand the deck. I started with the king plank, which had to be made of multiple stir sticks--hopefully the color differences are evened out a bit once I apply stain and washes. I then added the next two strakes, one on each side, using the thinner of the two sizes of stir sticks. I'll be using a mix of the two widths in a semi-random pattern throughout. In this case, the thinner sticks were the perfect size to match the edge of the mast partner, so that subsequent strakes don't need to be cut to shape around them. Going forward, I'll need to add the fore hatch coaming, and work out some sort of plank butt shift pattern.

@Paul Le Wol, I'm not sure why they removed the full aft rail, but it seems to have been a general change not limited to just the Quenita. Perhaps it did make cleaning easier. A bit more progress on the build. First up, the guarda playas have been added. I still need to add a bit of filler where they didn't conform perfectly to the hull. As can be seen, the model now properly rests on the guarda playa. I also finished the main hatch coaming. I built this out of several layers, as this allowed me to use strip materials I had at hand. Given that the hatch cover will be either completely or almost completely closed, the layering shouldn't be visible. First, I simply butted together some 1/16x1/8-inch strips, taking care to get them square. After finishing that layer, I placed a 1/16‐inch square strip over the top running fore and aft. The overlap considerably strengthens the joints. It also properly represents how the aft edge of the coaming could be lower than the sides, as shown by some photos--although some lanchas also simply had an even-height coaming. (Meanwhile, the fore edge will be completely covered by the hatch cover). I tested this out by placing it in the hatch opening. I found that it was a little low considering that the deck planking needs to be added. So, I added a 1/32-inch thick strip along the bottom to raise the coaming slightly. As can be seen, the aft edge will now protrude an appropriate amount above the deck. Next up, the fore hatch coaming and the support around the mast.

Thank you! I've now finished up the covering boards and added the filler piece at the bow. (The seeming irregularity aft at the line of the transom is actually just a blotch of dark filler.) There are a few steps before I get to planking the deck. First, I've decided that the hatch coamings will be set into the holes in the subdeck, with the decking butting up against them, rather than being placed over the decking itself. So, I need to make the coamings off the model, making sure that they're square, and then will put them in place without gluing while adding the deck (so that they can be removed while I sand and stain the deck). I won't be leaving the hatches totally open, as the interior of the vessel is nowhere near accurate, but I have been considering whether to have them cracked open so as to add visual interest without exposing the framework to sight. This may be easier with the fore hatch, which can be propped slightly open on one side, than with the main hatch which slides open. In any case, I'll need to make a decision on this so I can paint any potentially visible interior black. Second, I need to decide how I'm handling the stern. Later lanchas--such as the Quenita, below, or those photographed in the 1980s by Carlos Vairo--had no full stern bulwark or rail. In the Quenita's case, the deck planking simply ran to the end of the deck. Source: http://lanchaschilotas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/DSCN71501.jpg However, pretty much all the photos that I've seen of earlier lanchas show a built-up bulwark (or is the correct term rail?) across the stern. See, for instance, the photo below: Source: https://www.bibliotecanacionaldigital.gob.cl/bnd/629/w3-article-613545.html I'm tempted to go for the earlier style, but it does pose a bit of a challenge in terms of figuring out how the stern bulwark was constructed. I need to figure this out before planking the deck, as it seems like the deck planks would end against this construction. Finally, with the addition of the covering boards, it's clear that I'll need to slightly extend the stempost and smooth the resulting joint with filler.

Thank you, @Paul Le Wol, @Jim Lad, @Keith Black, @Thukydides, @Knocklouder, @Glen McGuire, for the kind comments! As much as I enjoyed planking the hull, it's fun to now move on to other tasks. First up, I applied a bit of filler to cover the joints between the transom and the subdeck, and between the keel and sternpost (so as to later scribe a more accurate false joint, for the latter). I then began work on the covering boards. First, I marked a line 1/8-inch inboard from the edge of the hull. I did this by holding a short length of mechanical pencil lead against a bit of 1/8-inch wide scrap and running the scrap along the edge. I then used tape to take down templates for the covering boards, as seen below. I focused on getting the covering boards properly shaped inboard, as the edge would be sanded flush with the hull. The photo below shows the two fore covering boards in place and shaped, although I need to fine-tune the scarf joint at the aft end and add a filler piece at the bow (which will be covered by the bowsprit in any case). I also began work on the guarda playa--the "bumper" plank around the turn of the bilge. This was used to protect the hull while the lancha was beached for loading/unloading by low tide. Although not all lanchas had one (based on photos), enough did, and the guarda playa is an interesting enough detail that I wanted to include it in my build. Below: The guarda playa is visible around the turn of the bilge on the closest vessel to the camera. Source: http://ceph-puerto-montt.blogspot.com/2009/02/album-del-recuerdo-imagenes-de-nuestra_22.html José A. Garnham's drawings of lanchas suggest that the guarda playa was either made with a special extra-thick plank, or by simply adding a separate plank outside the rest of the hull planking. I chose the second option and will be using a bit of 1/16x1/8-inch strip to make them. First I used a ruler to check where on the hull the guarda playa should be located. This detail isn't included in the plans, so I just went with what looked reasonable in terms of length, making sure each end was in line with the frame lines signaled by the hull plank butts. I then cut the strip to length, curving each tip a bit. Next up: to finish the covering boards, glue on the guarda playas, and start work on the hatches before planking the deck.

Very interesting choice of a build, I'm looking forward to following along! I'm sure it will make for a great (and very large!) model. It looks like you've made a good start with the former.

Very nice job!

You're off to a good start!

Thank you! The hull is now fully planked. The final planks were the trickiest. If any of the other planks were a hair too thin on one side, it wasn't really a problem because they only had to run alongside the previous plank. But these final planks needed to fit properly on both sides. Moreover, it's not possible to place them alongside the previous plank to get a sense of where there are high and low spots while shaping them, making it much harder to fit. As a result, I needed to redo half of them. The bow plank, ready to be glued: The very final plank needed to be redone. Below, I've indicated a number of spots where there was too much of a gap--maybe I could have just filled it, but I wanted to get it right: After redoing it, there was just one spot with a slight gap, much smaller than on the first attempt and eminently repairable with filler. This I could live with: To glue it in place, I used rubber bands and shims, except at the transom where I had to just hold it for a little while: I've seen the final plank referred to as the "whiskey plank," although maybe pisco would be more appropriate for a Chilean vessel. I'll have to celebrate tonight. In any case, after trimming the ends and giving the hull a preliminary sanding, here's where it stands: Overall, I'm pleased with my decision to use a single layer of planking in 1/32‐inch basswood, which I hadn't been sure about at the beginning. 1/16‐inch wood would have been much more difficult to bend at twist, especially at the lower bow, and if I had planned on double-planking, I would have felt like it was pointless once I reached this stage (but then I would have had to deal with the gap in the rabbet). That said, I can see a couple areas for improvement in the future. First, while I think I did a good job of keeping the planking symmetrical at the stem, I wasn't checking past that. So, one plank on the port bow ended up having a bit of a bulge just past the stem, as seen below, which (if you look at the bow-on photo above) did slightly throw off the strakes above it relative to the starboard side. It's not like I'm going to redo that plank now, but it's a reminder to keep an eye on symmetricality beyond just the stem. Second, I noticed that there are a few low points on the hull on each side of plank butt joints, especially near the bow. This seems to be because, when bending the plank into place, it tends to run straighter/flatter between the adjacent bulkhead and the butt location than it would if it continued, as the wood would take more of a curve between the bulkheads in the latter case. (If that makes any sense). I think the only way to deal with this would be to cut planks one bulkhead overlength and then cut to size after bending, but this is complicated to do. In the future, I may give it a try for planks at the bow, at least, as that's where the wood is most curved and the issue is most visible.

Good catch on the stern! It's fascinating to see the different construction methods used here. I really shouldn't be, but I'm surprised by how well the varnished paper mimics wood.

Thanks for your input! That's the option I'll be going with. I realized a mistake in the deck beam locations. While I followed the bulkheads locations, the beams would actually be located in slightly different spots. In particular, based on looking at deck beam locations for other vessels, there was probably a beam at the fore and aft end of the main hatch. There would also be two beams around the mast, as seen in the photo by Carlos Vairo below: Source: https://www.carlosvairo.com/galeria-puerto-montt-lanchas-chilotas With this in mind, I marked out different beam locations. This will also give me much greater flexibility with setting up the plank butt shift pattern. One thing I've noticed from photos is that, when they're visible, the deck plank butt locations on adjacent and close-to-adjacent planks are often pretty far distant from each, which requires more beam locations than I initially had. Planking the hull continues, with a single strake left on either side.

Nice work, you won't regret redoing those planks. I also had trouble at that particular bulkhead and found I had to fair it a bit more.

Looks like you're off to a good start!

Looks like you're off to a nice start, the deck looks great! Small workboats like this leave a lot of room for personalization by adding equipment and other details, if you're so inclined. I'm not certain, but I believe that at least some similar Billings kits (like the Bayard) are based on vessels included in Souvenirs de Marine by Paris, so you may be able to find a few relevant details there.

After returning to Mexico City, I've been able to make more progress. First up, I applied filler to a couple slightly low points where the sheer plank met the subdeck. I then marked out the top of the bulkheads (except toward the bow and stern) so that I can properly set the deck butt shift pattern. I recognize that the bulkheads aren't necessarily accurate to where the deck beams would actually be placed, but the spacing seemed like a good approximation at least. Speaking of the deck, I've been thinking of how to make and color it. The clearest images of the decks of working lanchas come from Carlos Vairo's photos from the early 1980s, several examples of which are below. As can be seen, there's some variation, but a dark brown or gray brown color seems appropriate. Source: https://www.carlosvairo.com/galeria-puerto-montt-lanchas-chilotas In terms of materials, I am running low on my stocks of 1/32‐inch thick basswood (which I cannot seem to find available in Mexico), so I was thinking of using coffee stir sticks, of which I've accumulated quite a few in widths of 3/16- and 1/8-inches, which seem to be roughly appropriate in scale based on Vairo's photos (and could well represent the variable deck planking widths that have been pointed out earlier). From what I can tell, these are made of birch, which is a fairly common modeling wood. That said, I had a couple concerns. First, how to best go about getting the right color? Second, I'll still need to make the covering boards out of basswood, so would there be too much of a contrast with the birch deck? I made a few test deck patches to check, seen below. The one at left has a basswood plank on the left side and was stained with a Minwax cherry stain pen, then given washes in dark brown and black acrylic. The second from the left also includes a basswood plank on the left side and was stained with Sayer Arce stain (which, unlike the Minwax, is readily available here) before also receiving brown and black washes. Third from left is just basswood and also was stained with Sayer Arce, but had a different quantity and proportion of brown and black washes applied. The rightmost one (just birch) was stained with a mix of Sayer Arce and a gray stain, before having the same washes applied. Overall, I don't think the difference between the basswood and the birch is overly noticeable if I go with basswood covering boards and a birch deck. The birch grain is a little more visible, though, which I'm not crazy about but which I don't think is bad per se. As far as the coloration, while I do like the cherry, I have my doubts as to whether a single stain pen would be enough, and I think the arce looks good as well. I am currently thinking of using the mixed gray and brown stains and then applying washes a bit unevenly in order to represent the wear patterns seen in Vairo's photos. Let me know if you have any thoughts! I also trimmed the sternpost and keel to their proper length and angle. I further marked out where the bottom of the sternpost should join the keel timber. Next I plan on filling the current joint between the two, sanding smooth, and carving a false joint (which ideally will be barely visible under the paint. Finally, I'm nearly done with planking. The gap is narrow enough now that clamping is becoming a challenge.

Nice job dealing with the challenges you're facing. The Spanish Windlass idea is something I'll have to try myself. Out of curiosity, how far apart are the bulkheads? They look quite widely spaced, which seems to me like it may make planking (not to mention attaching the subdeck) more difficult.

Nice work, it looks great!

Congratulations, well done!

Nice work, and very well done on the dory as well!

Thanks, all, for the kind comments! I suspected as much during the Half Hull build, but I think planking may be my favorite part of modeling. Glad to hear that people are enjoying the history behind this vessel type, too. We'll see if I can add more as the build progresses, I enjoy research and feel it's important to understand not just how a boat was built, but how and why it came to be. Gary, I think "charming" is a good word for it. For such a beamy, full-bodied, and rather squat vessel, the hull still has a bit of grace to it, I think. A couple more strakes have been added. Now I'll be packing up the hull for travel back home, and I'll be finishing planking there.

Nice work, very well done! If you haven't already looked, you might want to check out existing build logs--I know there are some for the Bounty Launch and the Sloup, at least. They might give you an idea of particular challenges of each.

Looking forward to following this build! Depending on how you'd like to make it, there are a lot of options to personalize this as a fishing boat or as a yacht. Either way, I've had some luck in finding old photos of Friendship Sloops via the Penobscot Maritime Museum's digital collections, although the search function is a bit unwieldy. See here, for instance, for photos tagged as Friendship Sloops: https://penobscotmarinemuseum.historyit.com/search-interfaces/search/digital-collection/0/1/1/1?rq[0]=8639&ip=1

Fantastic job, definitely something to be proud of!

Thanks, @wefalck, @Keith Black, and @palmerit for your comments, and to many others for the likes! I've made further progress on the planking, completing the lower band and having just one strake left in the upper band. At this point, I decided that I wil try for semi-irregular plank widths in the central band, so as to better match the photos I've seen of actual lanchas. As noted earlier, many seem to have had slightly slimmer planks around the bilge. To represent this, I took the remaining space--the central band plus the last strake of the upper band--and marked it out for six planks instead of five, reducing the average width relative to the other bands. I considered trying to mark out different widths within this new, expanded central band, but realized this would be tricky as I would need to set up matching irregular proportions across all bulkheads. Instead, I marked the new strake locations evenly, but I will fiddle with the plank widths by making some strakes just under the markings and others just over them.

Congratulations on a job very well done! This is a really exceptional build, fantastic craftsmanship and a great eye for detail. The photos of the whole model really showcase how well everything comes together. Sometimes I find myself favoring more of a weathered look, but this model does a great job at showing how a clean build can highlight the elegance of even a relatively simple workboat. It was a true pleasure to follow along as you built this. Any ideas of what you're building next?

Excellent work, the planking looks great!