Daryl

Step 3 - Installing temporary reference frame.
 
As the frames are only inserted once the hull planks have been installed, I have decided to install a temporary framework from which I can take measurements whilst installing each plank. This hopefully will ensure I have the planks at equal distance from the center line at each point a frame is to be inserted. Nothing worse than having one side laying out/in more than the other.
 
 

Step 1 - making jig.
 
The first photo is of the plans. When I originally downloaded them they were 50Mb and have since been cut down.
 
The next photo is the start of the build. It is a jig I have made to shape what would normally be called a keel. As the Rabelo is flat bottomed it does not have a keel. It has a flat bottom which is the shape of a surf board with a point at each end, which was called the "Sagro". The older Rabelos then had an extended stem and stern post (Oucas) attatched to the Sagro. On my plans, the centre plank of the Sagro runs from the tip of the bow to the tip of the stern and then there are two internal "strengtheners" called the "Roda Popa" (Stern brace) and "Roda Proa" (Bow brace) used to help keep the shape.
 
Tomorrow I am off to Float a Boat to get my strips of wood to commence the build. As this is a 1:80 scale and the overall length (minus the huge steering oar) will only be 250mm, I am thinking of also going to the optometrist to get the eyes checked. :-)

Step 1 - making jig.
 
The first photo is of the plans. When I originally downloaded them they were 50Mb and have since been cut down.
 
The next photo is the start of the build. It is a jig I have made to shape what would normally be called a keel. As the Rabelo is flat bottomed it does not have a keel. It has a flat bottom which is the shape of a surf board with a point at each end, which was called the "Sagro". The older Rabelos then had an extended stem and stern post (Oucas) attatched to the Sagro. On my plans, the centre plank of the Sagro runs from the tip of the bow to the tip of the stern and then there are two internal "strengtheners" called the "Roda Popa" (Stern brace) and "Roda Proa" (Bow brace) used to help keep the shape.
 
Tomorrow I am off to Float a Boat to get my strips of wood to commence the build. As this is a 1:80 scale and the overall length (minus the huge steering oar) will only be 250mm, I am thinking of also going to the optometrist to get the eyes checked. :-)

Background History.
 
The Barco Rabelo (Rabelo boat) is a flat bottom boat first built in the 9th century to navigate the rapids of the Douro River in Portugal, carrying up to 100 barrels of port from the Port Houses to the coast as the river was then the only means of accessing the wineries. It had a crew of 12 men and was noted for its long steering oar which was managed from a raised platform above the port barrels.
 
In 1887, a railway line was built along the banks of the Duoro and this started the demise of the Rabelo. Eventually roads were also built and the last official trip of a Rabelo is thought to have taken place in 1964.
 
To celebrate the history of the Rabelo, a race is held annually on St John's day (24th June) where each Port House enters its own Rabelo.
 
My build.
 
Thanks to Ryan Opaz from Vrazon, I was fortunate to obtain a copy of plans drawn up for a Rabelo in May 1989 for the A.A.Ferreira, S.A. Port House in Vila Nova de Gaia. The plans were held in the Sogrape Vinhos S.A. archives and I am very grateful to them for providing me with the plans. These are the only official plans of a Rabelo that I have been able to find and they do differ in some areas as to how a Rabelo was originally built.

Step 1 - making jig.
 
The first photo is of the plans. When I originally downloaded them they were 50Mb and have since been cut down.
 
The next photo is the start of the build. It is a jig I have made to shape what would normally be called a keel. As the Rabelo is flat bottomed it does not have a keel. It has a flat bottom which is the shape of a surf board with a point at each end, which was called the "Sagro". The older Rabelos then had an extended stem and stern post (Oucas) attatched to the Sagro. On my plans, the centre plank of the Sagro runs from the tip of the bow to the tip of the stern and then there are two internal "strengtheners" called the "Roda Popa" (Stern brace) and "Roda Proa" (Bow brace) used to help keep the shape.
 
Tomorrow I am off to Float a Boat to get my strips of wood to commence the build. As this is a 1:80 scale and the overall length (minus the huge steering oar) will only be 250mm, I am thinking of also going to the optometrist to get the eyes checked. :-)

Background History.
 
The Barco Rabelo (Rabelo boat) is a flat bottom boat first built in the 9th century to navigate the rapids of the Douro River in Portugal, carrying up to 100 barrels of port from the Port Houses to the coast as the river was then the only means of accessing the wineries. It had a crew of 12 men and was noted for its long steering oar which was managed from a raised platform above the port barrels.
 
In 1887, a railway line was built along the banks of the Duoro and this started the demise of the Rabelo. Eventually roads were also built and the last official trip of a Rabelo is thought to have taken place in 1964.
 
To celebrate the history of the Rabelo, a race is held annually on St John's day (24th June) where each Port House enters its own Rabelo.
 
My build.
 
Thanks to Ryan Opaz from Vrazon, I was fortunate to obtain a copy of plans drawn up for a Rabelo in May 1989 for the A.A.Ferreira, S.A. Port House in Vila Nova de Gaia. The plans were held in the Sogrape Vinhos S.A. archives and I am very grateful to them for providing me with the plans. These are the only official plans of a Rabelo that I have been able to find and they do differ in some areas as to how a Rabelo was originally built.

Step 1 - making jig.
 
The first photo is of the plans. When I originally downloaded them they were 50Mb and have since been cut down.
 
The next photo is the start of the build. It is a jig I have made to shape what would normally be called a keel. As the Rabelo is flat bottomed it does not have a keel. It has a flat bottom which is the shape of a surf board with a point at each end, which was called the "Sagro". The older Rabelos then had an extended stem and stern post (Oucas) attatched to the Sagro. On my plans, the centre plank of the Sagro runs from the tip of the bow to the tip of the stern and then there are two internal "strengtheners" called the "Roda Popa" (Stern brace) and "Roda Proa" (Bow brace) used to help keep the shape.
 
Tomorrow I am off to Float a Boat to get my strips of wood to commence the build. As this is a 1:80 scale and the overall length (minus the huge steering oar) will only be 250mm, I am thinking of also going to the optometrist to get the eyes checked. :-)

Background History.
 
The Barco Rabelo (Rabelo boat) is a flat bottom boat first built in the 9th century to navigate the rapids of the Douro River in Portugal, carrying up to 100 barrels of port from the Port Houses to the coast as the river was then the only means of accessing the wineries. It had a crew of 12 men and was noted for its long steering oar which was managed from a raised platform above the port barrels.
 
In 1887, a railway line was built along the banks of the Duoro and this started the demise of the Rabelo. Eventually roads were also built and the last official trip of a Rabelo is thought to have taken place in 1964.
 
To celebrate the history of the Rabelo, a race is held annually on St John's day (24th June) where each Port House enters its own Rabelo.
 
My build.
 
Thanks to Ryan Opaz from Vrazon, I was fortunate to obtain a copy of plans drawn up for a Rabelo in May 1989 for the A.A.Ferreira, S.A. Port House in Vila Nova de Gaia. The plans were held in the Sogrape Vinhos S.A. archives and I am very grateful to them for providing me with the plans. These are the only official plans of a Rabelo that I have been able to find and they do differ in some areas as to how a Rabelo was originally built.

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

Rigging time.
 
I found a few things that I was not happy with and therefore made changes to.
 
The first one was how the shrouds were attatched to hull. In the instructions, they asked that you tied a loop through a hole in the inner frame (see follwing photo) and then linked the shroud to it using the shroud pins.
 

 
If you did this, then there was no way in which you could tighten/loosen the shrouds.
 
Searching on the internet I found another option which I decided to follow. It is shown in the next photo.
 

 
The next photo shows the mast with its shrouds.
 

 
The next thing I changed was how the forestay was attached to the bow. The instructions ask you to tie the forestay through a hole in the bow. Whilst researching I found that there was a "pin" inserted through the bow which the forestay was tied around, so I decided to do that as is shown in the following photos.
 

 

 
The last thing I changed was the Parrel. There is evidence that they used a wooden parrel so I made one up and used that insted of tying rope around the mast and spar.
 

 
The following photos show the sail, sail bar and some of the sail ropes
 

 

 
I hope to finish the rigging in the next week and then make up the cargo and that will be it.

I have now finished planking the hull but found another problem which is more lack of detail in the instructions rather than a problem with the model.
 
As I mentioned earlier, before starting the planking, you have to instll the "Inner Frame". It sits some distance below the tops of the main frames. The instructions do not tell you how far below so I took an estimated guess from looking at the drawings. My suggestion would be to not glue it in place but to pin it so that you can complete the planking and then relocate the Inner Fram so that it fits more correctly. ie the gap between the top of the Inner Frame and the side beams is uniform. It would also need you to not glue the sub-frames into the Inner Frame but pin them as well. A bit of extra work but I think the end result would warrant it.
 
All planks attached - Bottom and side views.
 

 

 
 
How it looked before painting. You can see the uneven space I referred to between the Inner frame and the side beam.
 
 

 
 
The internal hull was painted with Pine tar and the fore and aft decking with some model boat "wood brown" paint.
 
 

 
 
The external hull was painted with Pine tar. The following photos show how the color changes in different light.
 


 


 
I am now working on the Rudder oar.
 
Once I have finished that, I will be having lots of fun using heaps of 4mm lengths of 0.5mm black fibre optic as replacements for the wrought iron rivits used on the original Knarrs. The Dremel is about to get a serious work out.
 
Hopefully I will start on the rigging in two weeks time.

And now it is time to start the planking.
 
Each frame is cut so that you have a rebate to fit each plank in, thereby making the alignment of the planking a lot simpler. What make the little grey cells work overtime (apologies to Hercule Poirot) is making sure you have the planks centered correctly before gluing them. The contour lines I mentioned in the beginning now become very important. So far, I have found the rebates to have been very well cut as the odd shape of the planks seem to fit into them very nicely. I am not concerned if the spacing of the planks is not perfect as I am assuming they were not 100% perfect on the original knarrs all those years ago.
 
The next photo shows the first planks installed each side of the keel and the second row being aligned before fixing.
 

 
The next photo shows the 1st & 2nd rows attached and the 3rd row being aligned. It only took me two rows to agree with their instruction comments regarding gluing the planks from the middle before doing the ends. I am fixing the planks to the middle 7 frames and letting it set completely before doing the ends.
 

 
As there is limited space to use clamps, I have been using very very small brass nails to hold the planks in place while the glue dries and then removing them later.
 
 

Q. What does one do when it is 40 degrees C outside?
 
A. Go inside, switch on the A/C and start building a new model. A very small one (1:72) so the rigging is going to be fun when I get to it.
 
And I have.
 
First off, I must say that I really like the laser cut ply that is used for this model. Very strong, and the laser cuts are spot on. I found that when putting the parts together, I really did not require any glue most of the time. The fits were tight and perfect.
 
As I mentioned earlier, I now know that the drawings are only "simplified". ie. Not perfect. But, so far, that is not causing me any problems.
 
The first step is to use the "to scale" drawing to mark on the keel the contour lines of the planking. This helps in aligning them later on. Having done that, I then started installing the frames.  The frames are installed in groups. The first set cater for the main decking.
 

 

 
Now the support for the deck planking is installed on these frames.
 

 
Now comes the next section of framing which is for the bow and stern, and their associated small decks.
 

 
The remainder of the main frames are now installed.
 

 
The Mast foot is now assembled and installed followed by the deck planking for all 4 decks. Transverse strips are also installed across the deck planks.
 

 
All the installed frames are now held together in place by the installation of the Inner frame.
 
In the drawings, the Inner frame is located a distance below the top of the frames. There is nothing to tell you what the distance should be. If you do not glue this immediately (the fit is tight so you will not have a problem with it falling out) you can go to the next step where you have to install small frames that sit on top of the transverse strips and fit into cut aways in the Inner frame.
 

 
The last set of frames are small deck/secondary frames spaced out between the main frames.
 

 
I glued these in and once they were dry, fitted the Inner frame. Everything seems to be in line from stem to stern so I am looking forward to starting the hull planking in a day or so.
 
And the weather has now changed and we are getting some rain. A fun weekend.
 
 
 

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

Q. What does one do when it is 40 degrees C outside?
 
A. Go inside, switch on the A/C and start building a new model. A very small one (1:72) so the rigging is going to be fun when I get to it.
 
And I have.
 
First off, I must say that I really like the laser cut ply that is used for this model. Very strong, and the laser cuts are spot on. I found that when putting the parts together, I really did not require any glue most of the time. The fits were tight and perfect.
 
As I mentioned earlier, I now know that the drawings are only "simplified". ie. Not perfect. But, so far, that is not causing me any problems.
 
The first step is to use the "to scale" drawing to mark on the keel the contour lines of the planking. This helps in aligning them later on. Having done that, I then started installing the frames.  The frames are installed in groups. The first set cater for the main decking.
 

 

 
Now the support for the deck planking is installed on these frames.
 

 
Now comes the next section of framing which is for the bow and stern, and their associated small decks.
 

 
The remainder of the main frames are now installed.
 

 
The Mast foot is now assembled and installed followed by the deck planking for all 4 decks. Transverse strips are also installed across the deck planks.
 

 
All the installed frames are now held together in place by the installation of the Inner frame.
 
In the drawings, the Inner frame is located a distance below the top of the frames. There is nothing to tell you what the distance should be. If you do not glue this immediately (the fit is tight so you will not have a problem with it falling out) you can go to the next step where you have to install small frames that sit on top of the transverse strips and fit into cut aways in the Inner frame.
 

 
The last set of frames are small deck/secondary frames spaced out between the main frames.
 

 
I glued these in and once they were dry, fitted the Inner frame. Everything seems to be in line from stem to stern so I am looking forward to starting the hull planking in a day or so.
 
And the weather has now changed and we are getting some rain. A fun weekend.
 
 
 

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

I could not wait. I was so close to finishing it so I got on with it.
 
Attaching the rudder to the hull is interesting. The rope starts from outside (knotted end), goes through the hull, comes out side and then back inside and ties off. Or that is how I see it happenign.  Here is how it looks.
 

 
 
The barrels did not want to lay straight by themselves, so I stuck two together and hey presto, everything went well.
 

 
 
Wrapping the bales was fun, especially as my fingers are not on the small side.
 

 
 
And then it was finished.
 

 
 
This has been a fun build. Not sure if I will do a 1:72 scale again, but you never know. John is the name of the gentleman who I have built it for. We are going to name it John's Knarr. It will be painted on the bow in the "Younger Futhork” (Long Branch) Runic alphabet. Younger Futhork or "Normal Runes" gradually evolved Elder Futhark over a period of many years and stabilized by about 800 A.D., the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the main alphabet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark throughout the Viking Age.
 
John's Knarr translates to:
 

 
I hope you have enjoyed watching this build as much as I have enjoyed doing it.
 
I will be back sometime in the next 2 - 3 months with my next build once I have finished the other 3 projects I currently have underway. 1 - Restoring a 1901 Singer treadle Sewing machine, 2 - building a Cigar box ukulele and 3 - building a rocking horse for a new great nephew.

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

And here is the final photo of the Knarr with its name showing on it.
 
 
 
 

I could not wait. I was so close to finishing it so I got on with it.
 
Attaching the rudder to the hull is interesting. The rope starts from outside (knotted end), goes through the hull, comes out side and then back inside and ties off. Or that is how I see it happenign.  Here is how it looks.
 

 
 
The barrels did not want to lay straight by themselves, so I stuck two together and hey presto, everything went well.
 

 
 
Wrapping the bales was fun, especially as my fingers are not on the small side.
 

 
 
And then it was finished.
 

 
 
This has been a fun build. Not sure if I will do a 1:72 scale again, but you never know. John is the name of the gentleman who I have built it for. We are going to name it John's Knarr. It will be painted on the bow in the "Younger Futhork” (Long Branch) Runic alphabet. Younger Futhork or "Normal Runes" gradually evolved Elder Futhark over a period of many years and stabilized by about 800 A.D., the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the main alphabet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark throughout the Viking Age.
 
John's Knarr translates to:
 

 
I hope you have enjoyed watching this build as much as I have enjoyed doing it.
 
I will be back sometime in the next 2 - 3 months with my next build once I have finished the other 3 projects I currently have underway. 1 - Restoring a 1901 Singer treadle Sewing machine, 2 - building a Cigar box ukulele and 3 - building a rocking horse for a new great nephew.

Rigging time.
 
I found a few things that I was not happy with and therefore made changes to.
 
The first one was how the shrouds were attatched to hull. In the instructions, they asked that you tied a loop through a hole in the inner frame (see follwing photo) and then linked the shroud to it using the shroud pins.
 

 
If you did this, then there was no way in which you could tighten/loosen the shrouds.
 
Searching on the internet I found another option which I decided to follow. It is shown in the next photo.
 

 
The next photo shows the mast with its shrouds.
 

 
The next thing I changed was how the forestay was attached to the bow. The instructions ask you to tie the forestay through a hole in the bow. Whilst researching I found that there was a "pin" inserted through the bow which the forestay was tied around, so I decided to do that as is shown in the following photos.
 

 

 
The last thing I changed was the Parrel. There is evidence that they used a wooden parrel so I made one up and used that insted of tying rope around the mast and spar.
 

 
The following photos show the sail, sail bar and some of the sail ropes
 

 

 
I hope to finish the rigging in the next week and then make up the cargo and that will be it.

I could not wait. I was so close to finishing it so I got on with it.
 
Attaching the rudder to the hull is interesting. The rope starts from outside (knotted end), goes through the hull, comes out side and then back inside and ties off. Or that is how I see it happenign.  Here is how it looks.
 

 
 
The barrels did not want to lay straight by themselves, so I stuck two together and hey presto, everything went well.
 

 
 
Wrapping the bales was fun, especially as my fingers are not on the small side.
 

 
 
And then it was finished.
 

 
 
This has been a fun build. Not sure if I will do a 1:72 scale again, but you never know. John is the name of the gentleman who I have built it for. We are going to name it John's Knarr. It will be painted on the bow in the "Younger Futhork” (Long Branch) Runic alphabet. Younger Futhork or "Normal Runes" gradually evolved Elder Futhark over a period of many years and stabilized by about 800 A.D., the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the main alphabet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark throughout the Viking Age.
 
John's Knarr translates to:
 

 
I hope you have enjoyed watching this build as much as I have enjoyed doing it.
 
I will be back sometime in the next 2 - 3 months with my next build once I have finished the other 3 projects I currently have underway. 1 - Restoring a 1901 Singer treadle Sewing machine, 2 - building a Cigar box ukulele and 3 - building a rocking horse for a new great nephew.

I could not wait. I was so close to finishing it so I got on with it.
 
Attaching the rudder to the hull is interesting. The rope starts from outside (knotted end), goes through the hull, comes out side and then back inside and ties off. Or that is how I see it happenign.  Here is how it looks.
 

 
 
The barrels did not want to lay straight by themselves, so I stuck two together and hey presto, everything went well.
 

 
 
Wrapping the bales was fun, especially as my fingers are not on the small side.
 

 
 
And then it was finished.
 

 
 
This has been a fun build. Not sure if I will do a 1:72 scale again, but you never know. John is the name of the gentleman who I have built it for. We are going to name it John's Knarr. It will be painted on the bow in the "Younger Futhork” (Long Branch) Runic alphabet. Younger Futhork or "Normal Runes" gradually evolved Elder Futhark over a period of many years and stabilized by about 800 A.D., the beginning of the Viking Age. It was the main alphabet in Norway, Sweden and Denmark throughout the Viking Age.
 
John's Knarr translates to:
 

 
I hope you have enjoyed watching this build as much as I have enjoyed doing it.
 
I will be back sometime in the next 2 - 3 months with my next build once I have finished the other 3 projects I currently have underway. 1 - Restoring a 1901 Singer treadle Sewing machine, 2 - building a Cigar box ukulele and 3 - building a rocking horse for a new great nephew.