halvoric
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Everything posted by halvoric
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The first hull nails test: I am planning to make them mostly filler, with a few showing darkening/waterstaining and a few copper nailheads showing through. Ignore the “ghost” holes; I impatiently launched into making my starter holes (with an awl/stylus) without recalling from my source materials that the nails need to be at the (upper) EDGE of each plank (toenailed I think that is) to look like the original. Hopefully this one set of ghost holes won’t stand out when it’s all done (and if they do that side will face the wall 😂). Making tiny nails from 24ga wire. Production is slow.
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Kurt— Yes, I’ve definitely checked out that first link for BIG model canoes (I think they may even offer a 1:1 scale kit, not sure). Seems they like to make pool table/bar lamps out of them. Was tempted to get one of their kits—maybe after this model is done (girlfriend would be THRILLED).
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Thanks! Your canoe looks exactly like the kit I am bashing, if built to the plans. I’ve made a lot of changes to mine for scale realism, but the basic plank hull is identical. I think Midwest had a predecessor kit to my 1:8 scale (Canadien Canoe, based on the Peterborough Model 44) that was a bit smaller but very similar. The kit features no seats, just three thwarts, like yours.
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The layout methodology gets more complicated (as usual 😂).
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For the nail effect, I want to simulate this: Assuming I will need to start with several hundred tiny (and shallow) holes. I think I can lay out the rows with a stylus, using the spacing guide I originally made for rib spacing, and my trusty Weems & Plath triangle:
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Pores/grain and scratches are getting filled in the decks area:
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First pass at smoothing/grain filling with shellac and pumice polishing. It’s nice to get something into the pores of the wood and get a sense for what the grain profiles and seams will look like once there is a full finish.
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All the screws & nails are in place and now starting the first shellac stages of finishing. A few coats on the decks/outwales/king planks/coamings and interior. I will be smoothing some of the finish on the surfaces with a French Polish technique using old-school linen “rubber” and 4F pumice powder, followed by additional french polish coats (if you’ve done french polish you know how long this can take. For the hull I am just doing an initial fill coat of shellac which will be knocked down with pumice/alcohol and repeated shellac steps to fill seams and grain. When that first smoothing phase is done, I will decide how to do simulations of the 800+ copper nails that hold the strips to the ribs. It seems like a crazy amount of holes to drill, but let’s see how much patience I have. Installation of the floorboards, seats, thwarts and brass keel strip will follow that nail project, then final french polish finish for the hull. (And making a couple of paddles)
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Added the first of the two coamings made from 1/32” cherry strip: CA, then added six screw holes: Making screws from 22 ga copper wire. Clamped in the old vise grips, I planish the head with brass hammer, then add a screw slot with #11 blade and a tap from the hammer. Then snip at an angle with Xuron 440 photo-etch shears.
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Thanks Alan! It’s the upside of obsessiveness I suppose.
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And here are the screws after patina. I have polished up a few so far, and will leave some fully oxidized. The brass brackets for the floorboards. Some have been polished with 400, 1000 & 2000 grit paper. The floorboards (in background) have been finished with diluted Judea Bitumen and English Oak (from Model Expo), then 3-4 light coats of Amber shellac (Bullseye/Zinser). How they will attach:
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Making old-looking faux screws, part one: Starting with these teensy brads, I clamp them in some Vise-Grip pliers as an anvil and then cleave the heads with a cold chisel and little brass hammer. Then sand the heads to reduce the diameter a bit, giving us these (some of the chisel cuts are off center and either look like a Phillips screw or, more often, like garbage). Then they get suspended over a mix of 1 part Miracle-Gro fertilizer powder to 3 parts red wine vinegar, to accelerate a verdigris patina. I just started using the tea ball (don’t tell the girlfriend) and it works great. There’s a piece of paper towel in the solution to act as a wick and speed the evaporation. I get a good thick patina on copper or brass in about 12-24 hours with this setup.
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Four of the six “screws” installed. Countersunk pockets were darkened with Bitumen of Judea, then a first thin coat of shellac applied to see the effect. These surfaces will probably get three more coats of shellac applied. closeups
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Next step will be adding the 6 screws (countersunk/pocketed I think) holding each to the decks on the ends. Research examples: I notice a fair amount of variation among the research canoes on the final shape and width of the outwales (many are restorations). So I will try to hit a happy medium.
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The outwales are made from 3/16” x 1/8” x 24” basswood strips. Looking at resource photos, the Mike Elliott book, and the archival Peterborough catalog, it’s clear that there is a particular shape to the outwales on the Model 44, the profile of which is best seen in the catalog at the top of the strip canoe page: The Elliott book also shows a similar profile (“wide outwales”) found as well on canoes of other makers: I first sanded the inside edge camber to match the top plank, then soaked and bent the two ends to match the curve of the stem end decks (neglected to take a photo). Then sanded most of the top bevel into the strip before attaching, to minimize the amount of shaping needed once on the canoe (still had to do a lot of shaping). For the other side I will also thin the ends in both taper (horizontal) and thickness dimensions before attaching. I glued it on with medium CA in 2-3 inch sections, taking care to keep the stock flush with top plank and matching the upturn curves on the deck ends. The photos don’t show the shaping very well unfortunately. I think the shape looks more accurate to the full-scale in person.
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The nails for the king plank are made from 24 gauge bare copper wire, half hard, from Craftwire. I have some 22ga as well, may use that for bolts or screws if my Etsy-sourced brass brads are too big. The pin vise bit is 1/32”, approximately a No. 69 size (about 30 thousandths). I’m leaving the nails longer than they need to be as no one will see the ends. Maybe will get obsessive about scale length on the next model 😂.
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King plank, glued and shaped, markout for “nails” started: Glued and clamped the second deck:
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King plank, final shaped but not yet glued down: Clamping set-up for the veneers (hanging on a plastic coat hanger):
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Gluing/clamping the first of the two decks (is this one fore or aft? Won’t know until I install the seats I guess). I actually had to make these two-piece, cambered and oak-veneered deck units twice. The first ones somehow got just a bit too narrow, from not taking enough care when shaping. Had to fashion a couple of angle blocks to make a conventional clamp work (held in place with masking tape). The second clamp is to compress the left side down flush with the side planking. My pre-bending got the parts close to a perfect fit, but not quite. The flat center section will get a tapered cherry “king plank” glued/nailed over it.
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Thanks David! This Midwest kit has no cloth and in fact the plan does not include seats, only three kneeling thwarts (also used for portage). Of course being a compulsive kit-basher I have made plans for seats, and did a cane test in a Gold colored woven polyester thread, which looks ok: But I felt the color was not right, so kept searching and found a nice flat linen thread in beige/tan color which I will use in the model. Looks a bit more like cane: But your wife’s suggestion was a great one. That looks quite convincing with much less work! Dan BTW the planking on your Indian Girl looks flawless to me, judging from the interior!
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Also working on a way to recreate the look of the dubbed copper nail construction method of the original canoe, which binds the longitudinal strips (“planks”) to the ribs. Some examples here. Original or partly restored look: Freshly restored look (bright copper, no patina or putty visible): My initial test includes a few bright copper nails (on the upper right and lower left), some with a Bitumen fill around the nail, and some putty simulations (upper left). The flat basswood in the back shows what a wash of diluted Bitumen of Judea (applied as the first coat, under stain and shellac) does to age/dirty up the wood.
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Also including here some of my finish and patina experiments for aging the metal and wood in the finished model. A variety of brass strip (flat & half-round) and some copper wire for nails (and purchased copper strip/treenails and small brass nails) were patinaed with Miracle-Gro in a solution of red wine vinegar, to produce a verdigris patina. I’ve found that immersion in the solution does almost nothing to bring about the verdigris—some oxygen must be required. So I suspend the pieces in a cup above a small amount of the solution—the vapor rising off the solution (combined with atmospheric air) does the trick within 12-24 hours. This solution seems to work just as well on brass as it does on pure copper. Scraping or sanding off the outer green layer reveals a darker patina which I think will make a very nice aged look on most metal parts. The basswood samples were finished with differing layers of an “English Oak” stain and Bitumen of Judea, both ordered from ModelExpo. Then amber shellac applied over these. The darkest waterstained-looking bits are from the Judea Bitumen. Fascinating stuff—it’s basically soluble tar in a jar, and apparently naturally derived and has been around for centuries.
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I have made the floorboards (basswood), following what I think was the original design for the Peterborough No. 44 in the old catalogue I am using for reference. Again, Mike Elliott’s book “This Fancy Old Canoe” ( https://a.co/d/hhiVDuu ) is an invaluable reference for details:
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Ribs complete, Mahogany keelson installed, and first coat of amber shellac applied. I have notched out the tops of the ribs where the decks will be installed, so the decks can sit flush with the top plank and outwales. After a bit more shaping, (and clamping and gluing), decks will fit thusly:
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Ribs about 85% done. The tops of the ribs are beveled with Micro-Mark sander. On the full scale, these get nails through them from the inside to attach the outwales.
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