Cast Off

The gunboat Philadelphia is being put on display at the Smithsonian during restoration. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-as-experts-preserve-a-249-year-old-gunboat-that-sank-during-the-american-revolution-180987220/ "In October 1776, a small American fleet clashed with British warships on Lake Champlain during the Battle of Valcour Island. One of the American ships, the Philadelphia, was badly damaged in the fighting and eventually sank to the bottom of the lake, where it remained until it was raised in 1935."

@ccoyle The Sassafras looks like a great boat!!! I understand the storage issue, I'm giving my Arctic Tern to my sister because we don't use it enough and it is taking up space. On the other hand... 🙂 Im looking at the Glen L 15 as my next 1:1 scale boat !!!!!! Wow, appreciate the link to the local modellers, great site and I really had no idea they existed.. It's a good site with many good links and general info for everyone.

Thanks, I have some minwax wipe on, water based poly. Would that be considered "organic solvent based" ?? what do you use?

Hi, I have recently started the 18th Century Longboat 1:48 and in my search for info I found this incredible site. So, first thanks for being here and thanks for all the info you are sharing. I also wanted to introduce myself, since I now feel like I am going to post a LOT of questions 🙂 As a kid I built a lot of plastic models, mostly airplanes but I did do a 3 ft Revel (?) model of Old Ironsides. Always enjoyed doing those as a kid, but 30 or more years passed before I did another one 🙂 My wood ship model experience started with Model Shipways Seabright Dory. That was about 10 yrs ago. Chose that one as I was raised in NJ and it looked simple enough to tackle. It now lives in my cousins house which is on the Jersey shore, North of Atlantic CIty! Came out pretty well, and I now know that the lapstrake planking is much more forgiving than carvel planking! (no pics of that one) My second boat was the Model Shipways Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack. Looked like a good next step and wanted to tackle some rigging. Also, I picked that one as I had spent time up in that area and the history of sailing and seamanship from that area is very interesting. Now working on the Longboat. I liked the extra rigging involved, and that era of sailing is amazing. So also seemed like a good next step. I am finding it is a BIG step 😉 That is the current wood boat model experience. Other boat building experience: I also built a plywood Nutshell Pram from Wooden Boat plans, including the sailing rig, then built the CLC Boats Oxford Rowing shell from a kit (plywood precut) and finally built the Pygmy Boats Arctic Tern kayak from plans (bought sheet goods built glued scarf joints). Sailing/Boating Experience: You can see from above I like playing in the water 🙂 and have sailed, rowed and kayaked a bit. My wife wanted to do some bareboat charters and we are fortunate enough to live near San Francisco Bay so we took a whole series of sailing lessons at the Berkeley sailing school. I don't think they are around now, but they were very, very good and very serious!! Sailed a lot of J24's and similar boats in the Bay. Also sailed in Australia, ciastal California cruising and a bit down in Mexico. Not extensive experience, just casual but gave me a feel for "the life". When I lived in long beach a friend had a Pacific Seacraft, full keel Creelock 34. That's the boat I probably have the most experience with and I lived aboard her for a year or so on that boat. Certainly not a performance boat, but she was a joy to sail and had really pleasant motion, even in the roughest seas. That's general background! (pic Nutshell Pram pic from Wooden Boat website, the other pics are my boats. I couldn't find a way to resize these pics, or post as thumbnails. Hope they are not to obnoxious)

@popeye2sea Good point about the opposing lines... I was thinking I would have the boom vang slack, since it will be off to the side of the tiller, but if I made that taught it would tighten the topping lift.

Hi, I fairly new to this and I am working on the Model Shipways 18th Century Longboat, 1:48. It's a really great little kit 🙂 I bought some upgraded lines and blocks from Chucks' Syren company and they are absolutely beautiful. Great detail in them. The first line I was rigging was the topping lift for the boom and the line hangs nicely, but there is no load or resistance in the topping lift to force it to be a nice taught line. I looked at a bunch of posts and it seemed like the technique is to make a 50-50 mix of white wood glue and coat the line under a bit of tension. I tried that and it seems like I lost a much of the definition in Chuck's nice ropes and a bit of fuzz was raised up. Have others seen this, and is there a better way to make a line appear to loaded, or even to artificially create some (permanent) sag? I tried to take a photo, but my phone didn't do close ups very well.

Thanks, Toni. I saw in your signature block you had also built the longboat. I'm studying your build log now 🙂 Very nice build, and i'm already getting good tips on the planking!!

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but perhaps other new folks, like me may also be looking for clamps. I found this one on Amazon for $17 and so far is working for me. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F5955K8?th=1 Granted, I am working on a small model, the Model Shipways Longboat, so it's not a big hull. One caveat, the ball has some flashing on it that makes it rough. I dis-assembled it, filed and sanded it a bit smoother, put on some dry lube and it moves pretty well now... for $17 🙂 This is my first post. I want to thank everyone here for all their contributions. I am a bit overwhelmed right now seeing all the amazing, detailed work i'm seeing, and the willingness to share all the techniques. Beautiful stuff!!!!!!!!!!!