Desertanimal

There has been progress on the pram. I have/had a concern with the sail. It seems too small for the boom and the gaff. You can see in the top pics how the corners line up with the associated hole or cleat. After much consternation and looking at the pictures in the instructions I decided to move parts and shorten the gaff and boom. Here are the results. The angle of the sheet is a little wonky. Not sure what was with all that. It looks to me that adjusting the sizes of the boom and gaff were the wrong move and making a larger sail would have been better but I didn't have sail material so that pushed my choice. I used some thin copper sheet for the chaffing pad on the mast. I rolled it around a paint brush handle to shape it and added a tiny bit of epoxy to attach it. Here is how I had to wrangle the rope to get them glued up. When you tie a half hitch it will loosen if there is no tension on it. Is that a function of nylon rope and is it less pronounced on cotton? I also had trouble cutting it close to the knot without it fraying. I used a soldering iron to burn off the little ends but that left blackened ends. (Angry face here). Trying a rope hank... I'll be making another one with the sheet. I've still got a little work to do. Some more weathering was going to try a little rust on the metal parts. Thanks for all that are following along. I'd love to hear some constructive criticism if you see something I can improve on. Chris

Where did you get that little four wheeled thing? I like that.

I was actually thinking of the stool idea just today !

More progress, I got the painting of the white stuff figured out. I used Mr.Color primer and AK paint. I think they look good, maybe a little too shiny. Received my replacement block plane the other day. The first package came with the plane missing and the package obviously taped closed. Lee Valley replaced it with no issues but I hate that companies have to do that. I hate thieves. Anyway here's a picture planing the gaff. Some pictures of the other masts. (Are these all "masts" of some sort?) I made my own eyes with brass wire and blackened them. Also made an attempt to make a big bolt at the top of the mast. Started working on the sails. These are the pieces getting the glue treatment. I seem to remember the word "sizing" regarding the watery glue stuff. Where did I get that? I was considering adding some machine stitching to the sails but I kinda want this build done. So maybe on the next one. Thanks for checking in!! Chris

I’ve been using that in the brass. Can’t use it on the white metal, can I? That could solve a lot of issues…

All nice chairs. Moonbug, that thing is a beast but I think out of my price range. At least what I’m willing to spend that kind of money on. I think I’ll be perusing Amazon to see what they’ve got.

I hadn’t even thought of the term “drafting chair” ! Thanks guys!

I’m curious what kind of chairs you all use at the workbench. My chair is so-so, I find I’m sitting forward quite a bit, like on the front edge. I don’t think I need to move around much so I don’t think I need wheels but I’m wondering if a stool type seat might be better. I’m also planning on modifying my desk so I have a higher work area like a watchmaker desk. I’d like some chair recommendations. Thanks!! Chris

You say it’s not the smoothest, but those planks look amazing.

OK, I've started working on the brass and metal parts. First thing I did was make this little setup to hold stuff down. Then I used epoxy to put the tubes on. I couldn't decide between soldering or epoxy and figured I can't blacken either one so I'll go the easier route. The wires are .031 and I had to drill out the holes so they wouldn't deform. Setting up the other metal parts for painting. I was just using flat black spray paint. I cleaned the parts with 91% IPA. Spray paint magic! Or at least you would think right? Next I thought it might be a good idea to rub the painted stuff with a 6b pencil to get a more "iron" look. Umm, the paint came right off! Essentially you can get the paint off by rubbing your fingers on it. What the heck did I do wrong? I don't know if the brass is the same. I'm afraid to check. This picture looks like I'm asking "why won't my pencil graphite stick to these metal parts?" I swear it WAS painted!! HAHAHA I'd love some suggestions on the paint situation. Also on the rudder side, I'm thinking if I can get a small enough amount of epoxy inside the bend, and/or sand off any exposed epoxy, I'd be able to blacken those parts. However since I'm painting (trying) the gudgeon side will there be a stark difference in finish and I should just paint the other parts also? I appreciate all the support and comments! Chris

Following along. Looking forward to your journey! Chris

Looking forward to watching this boat come together. What kind of mini plane did you get? I’ve got the Veritas mini block plane showing up on Monday, fingers crossed.

That actually sounds pretty helpful. Especially since I’ll switch units willy nilly, whatever fits the situation best. Unfortunately doesn’t look like it’s available for Apple. I’ve loaded one by woodland scenics. It’s not rated very well but they’re pretty simple.

Haha 👍 I do believe you just solved it for me. I didn’t realize I could replace the “1” with the item I’m working on! Units are the same regardless, mm, inches, whatever. I just need convert the decimal to whatever I’m working in. Thanks !!

Is there a quick method you guys and gals use when scratch building an item to figure out the size? I use a scale calculator online right now. Down side to do that is I need to find my phone, open the web etc. I’m fairly good with math but for some reason this scale thing gets twisted in my head. As an example I’m working in 1:12 on the sailing pram. I wanted to know what 1” was. Found out it’s just shy of 3/32 and close to 2mm. I thought hmm, I should write that down so I’ve got a cheat sheet of common sizes. Is there an easier way? Thanks! Chris

OK, there has been a little progress as I'm still waiting on supplies and tools. After looking at some pictures online, I noticed some tillers had a more ergonomic shape. So I decided to make one from scratch. It has the same overall dimensions as the original for the most part. It might be completely inconsistent with this time period or boat. If so please let me know. Then I decided to try my hand at some weathering/wear marks. I'm not really sure where these should be so I made what I hoped was an educated guess after looking at photos online. I can't find a lot that describes this boat. I'd love your opinions of my work and suggestions for what else to do. I'm thinking the boat should have more wear and rub marks but I don't know where to put the wear! (see what I did there?) I'd like to add a slightly dirty wash to the hull. Would that be appropriate for this time/boat? I'm not sure if these boats sitting out of the water was a common sight or not? I did this with watercolor paints. I'd like to try my hand with some dry pigment soon! Thanks again for stopping in! Chris

Sorry I can’t help with that exact sander. I have a larger shop version of Jet sander. It’s an excellent tool. I’ve found it to be well engineered and when I had a technical issue they solved it right away on the phone. I’ve used it to sand pieces probably 1/16” occasionally.

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. The build has stalled a little while I wait for smaller nails to arrive. I ordered them from Drydock and shipping takes quite a while. Some questions while I wait. I understand all the brass should be blackened in order to look like iron. What about the white metal parts? Should those also be black? Is there a good source for reference photos with this boat? I would like to see what “accessories” I can make that will be good practice on scratch building parts and also make the model just a little more realistic. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks for checking in! Chris

Thank you all for the encouraging words! I guess it also begs the question of do I want to create a lobster smack (next build) that looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor or one that has put in 35 years of service to the lobsterman and his two sons? Would that be a difference in the two edges shown above? New boat vs. old? As they age do laminations begin to show? Do they get thick clumps of paint in the corners or is it common practice to strip off all old paint before repainting? Thanks!

Hey Robb, yeah I was concerned about that. I made sure it was a pretty loose fit before paint. Fingers crossed!🤞

So I replaced the floorboard cleats and replaced them with more appropriate sized wood. I had to trim down the closest I could find at the hobby store. Worked on the dagger board. Installed the thwarts. Those took a lot of trimming to get them to fit well. Started on painting. Trying to really improve this step of my process. So I am open to any help you can offer. I have a couple of other threads going about that... Filled a few ugly spots and such. I think this was just the first coat. Then started working on the inside. That was a chore getting into all the nooks and crannies, but I enjoy painting in general. It's very zen for me. You can still see many brush marks and glue marks. I'm not sure why I think those will just go away.... Here's a closeup of the edge. Is this finish good or at full scale would it look like a 5 year old, a bucket of paint, and a rag? The shine on the bottom corner of the rowlock is reflection. Thanks again for all the kind words! Chris

My question has to do with joints mostly. How polished are we trying to make them? I have attached two example photos of the sheer plank, inwales and bump rails on my sailing pram model. On one side you can see I did a more complete job of filling the joints between those three pieces of wood. On the other side, not quite as good a job. Is the more polished one preferred? Does the lesser show the observer that those used to be three separate pieces of wood so it shows our labor better? What would a museum quality sailing pram upper edges look like? I would love to see examples of what is possible.

So far I’ve built the model shipways dory and I’m currently painting the sailing pram. I’ve only used the model shipways paint with mediocre brushes. The pram paint job is way better than the dory. I attribute that to prep. Good sanding, filling etc. What would be the next step up, short of an airbrush? Good brushes is handled, I’m more thinking of paint. Does this paint work better thinned? Is it simply not the best quality? What is? Is an airbrush simply the best way to go? I obviously wouldn’t have brush marks any more. Is that what I’m striving for or do the brush marks lend a sense of scale? (I’ve picked through the pinned tips post and will continue reading it.) Thanks for your input! Chris eta. I also don’t really have a lot of comparison information. You don’t see many paint close ups on beginner build logs… Good reference books on finishing?

I just realized that the floor boards are connected to the floor cleats. So looks like I’ll be redoing those because they’ll sit too low. No biggie.

So there's been work being done. I got the interior completed. I used the wrong stock for the floorboard cleats. Figured that out when I went looking for that piece of wood and started going Hmmmm. Looking at the build it seems they get covered so I'm not going to worry about that and just replace the missing stock. An excuse to go to the hobby store with the intention of only spending $1.00, best intentions and all right? I occasionally get supervised by one of our old cats. This is Marilyn, she's 16 and diabetic and doing great, having the best life. Here is the current state. Transoms finished, mast step installed. I've read a lot of concern about the height of the thwarts and I've also read that in the end it really doesn't matter. So there they are. Rowlock pads (shouldn't those be call Oarlock pads?) are next to be glued. Thank you for all the encouraging words! Chris