Waka by John Allen - FINISHED - 1:24 - Maori War Canoe

[John Allen]

Maori War Canoe will be carved from Basswood, have not picked which fantail and bow carvings to use, many to pick from see picks.

Having no carving experience will start on the hull first. Intricate carvings for fantail and bow will be pear or Sculpy. Read Dan Vads tuturioral on Sculpy and may go that route since after baking it appears as sturdy as wood??

[Omega1234]

Hi John

 

I'm in!  Save a seat in the canoe for me.  

 

Cheers. 

 

Patrick

Edited August 14, 2017 by Omega1234

[druxey]

Nice to see an unusual subject modelled. Looking forward to seeing this one develop, John.

[cwboland]

Hi John. Looks like an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I'm reading your scale right. Is it 1/2:1 or 5:1?

[DenPink]

Hi John

It is known as a Waka in New Zealand.

 

Denis.

[John Allen]

6 hours ago, cwboland said:

Hi John. Looks like an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I'm reading your scale right. Is it 1/2:1 or 5:1?

Probably not, canoes were as large as 60 feet if scaled down to 30 inches I was basing that on 1/2 inch to a foot?

[John Allen]

7 hours ago, Denis Pink said:

It is known as a Waka in New Zealand.

Hi Denis,

 

I have it listed in my signature as a Waca (Maori war canoe) and should not have eliminated it my posting log, I stand corrected.

[cwboland]

 Thank you John. I think i was reading it as 1/2 Inch to one inch. Your scale sounds much better. 

[John Allen]

10 hours ago, Denis Pink said:

It is known as a Waka in New Zealand.

 

Denis,

 

Edited and corrected my posting as it should be, thanks for the heads up. I have found Maori history absolutely fascinating and sadly find extremely disturbing what has happened to indigenous  people across the world with European expansion may not be politically correct but our Native Americans are still being screwed apologize to administrators ahead of time. On with the build

[IgorSky]

3 hours ago, John Allen said:

Probably not, canoes were as large as 60 feet if scaled down to 30 inches I was basing that on 1/2 inch to a foot?

Hi John!
Do I correctly understood that your model will be 30 inches long?

[John Allen]

53 minutes ago, IgorSky said:

Do I correctly understood that your model will be 30 inches long?

Igorsky,

 

Yes I wanted to build a large model of the Waca including all the intricate carving on the figure heads on the bow and fantail.

I believe it will be a good representation when I finish. Having little to none carving experience I don't feel intimidated with a large scale at this time. I plan to make numerous small ones in the 12 to 24" inch range and hopefully sell them when my skills improve.

[Louie da fly]

I just finished reading a very informative book on the Waka in my local library, with a wealth on detail on the canoe's history and construction with a part by part description of the parts of the vessel, how trees were selected, cut down, hollowed out (part cutting, part burning), superstructure, the role of tabu in the shipbuilding process, you name it.

 

It's by Jeff Evans and is called "Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe". Published 2012 ISBN 9781875514401. I recommend it highly. I had no idea these vessels were so sophisticated.

 

Steven

[John Allen]

5 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

"Waka Taua: The Maori War Canoe"

Steven,

 

Checked Amazon book is available in 3 formats, I think I will order this date based on your recommendation. I poured over the internet and very little on construction or the spiritual aspects. Thanks for the heads up.

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Not a problem. Hope it helps. I stumbled across this book a few weeks ago and was very favourably impressed. It's not a very big book, but I found it very informative and comprehensive. There's all too little information around on these craft, and the author has not only assembled pretty much everything in the historical record, but also done his own research and recorded such things as local variations (such as the prevalence of double canoes in the South Island because of the lack of trees of sufficient girth for single ones) the recent upsurge in Maori interest in these vessels, and the building of new ones  in the last couple of decades. They were in danger of becoming yet another extinct vessel, but now their future seems good.

 

Steven

[John Allen]

Have a conundrum, historically war canoes were painted red, also black and white symbolizes death, not considering a brown stain except for interior, red the most prevalent color. 1. Attached photo of beginning build do not like this shade of red, needs to be much darker. In fact if the whole canoe is red except  bow and stern carvings that's a lot of red. Have viewed hundred of pages of canoes and am confused at this point. 2. looking at burlap for sail but worried about the size of the weave may be too large will dye red according to historical accounts.

Need suggestions from you Australians and New Zelanders Thanks

[Ulises Victoria]

What an interesting project, John. I'm a little late but will follow it.

One question: In the very first photo, what is the ship in top? Your choice of colors make it look a lot like my own Royal Louis!

Best!

Edited September 14, 2017 by Ulises Victoria

[John Allen]

Ulises,

 

Mamoli Victory on the last page of rigging and making mistakes going to fast needed a break. Have it covered do to dust from this build.

[shipmodel]

Hi John - 

 

An interesting project, especially if you are looking for a level of historic appearance.  Count me in.

 

As for the color, I think you are right - in the photo it looks too far to the orange end of the chart.  Since the color red was associated with the notion of being 'sacred', I imagine that it was derived from the color of blood.  Somewhere between the crimson of fresh spilled and the brown/maroon of dried blood.  A quick review of waka images on Google has canoes painted a surprisingly wide range of colors and tones.  Some to the orange side, but some even to the purple end of the spectrum.  This is compounded by photo conditions that can change the appearance of the same object. 

 

You could find a shade that you like and mix your current color with a bit of brown, black, or even dark green.  Just record what you have added so you can duplicate it when you find the mix that dries to the color you want.

 

Best of success.

 

Dan

 

 

 

[John Allen]

Dan,

 

I nixed the color partially painted and obtained a very dark crimson color a little darker than a maroon. The pictures show colors all over the place but historically the main color by written accounts of explorers of the day was the dark red. Thanks for the response.

 

[Louie da fly]

Hi John,

 

Did you end up getting that book?

 

You're making good progress so far. I'm looking forward to seeing it taking shape.

 

By the way, us Aussies probably have no more idea of Maori culture or artefacts than you do. Our own aboriginal population are completely different racially and culturally, with totally different origins. Ask us about New Zealand cricketers, and we'd probably be able to answer.

 

Steven

 

 

[John Allen]

Steven,

 

Yes I did, a wealth of information especially the history, religious aspects, and native beliefs. Making several changes of the build based on my reading. Thanks for the heads up on the book.

 

Am way behind have not been able to touch canoe or finish Victory (Boss has had some surgeries and I am her nurse housekeeper and cook). She really hates the way I wash clothes she has her procedure 1. soak pre-stains 2. spray stains again before washing. 3. correct amount of bleach. 4 Correct amount of water softener. 4. correct amount of laundry soap. I'm kinda dump pour wash I don't mix whites and solids anymore that's another story. All's good hope to start again this weekend and update with pics should be interesting, right off the bat made things harder for myself than I should have. Had several DUH moments will be in my post.

 

Thanks for keeping up.

[John Allen]

By the way I got rid of that hideous red and found the correct color.

[John Allen]

On 10/13/2017 at 9:46 AM, canoe21 said:

All of that carving on her sides did you carve that out or use your little grinde

Lawrence,

 

Had no Idea what tools to purchase and asked questions-Mark Taylor and Giampiericci gave several suggestions. Being light in the pockets I wanted a $ 7,000.00 machine for $ 50.00 settled for a JD700 nail manicure machine $ 59.00 has forward- reverse -speed control and a foot pedal, very nice for the money.

[Louie da fly]

Glad the book was useful to you. I was impressed by how much information the author had managed to pack into such a small book. And for a change, it all seemed relevant, rather than being padded out with a lot of bumf and waffle.

 

Steven

Edited October 22, 2017 by Louie da fly

[John Allen]

The build log on my Victory was not approached properly; I am okay with that one. That being said after belonging to this group for over 3 years and observing the proper way MSW would like to see logs formatted I believe it’s up to the builder to follow that pattern. One it’s informative and two telling the ups and downs and boo boos and corrective methods to repair, it helps every other modeler in procedure, tools, homemade jigs and where to go when a difficult problem arises. I believe this one site has all the information and members that go out of their way to render assistance. I will keep the beginning of the log I posted but will post more information as I go along relating to history, and resources that have gone into the construction of my Waca Tuau (Maori War Canoe.) Boss is recuperating nicely caught up on my laundry and can begin posting.

Sources cited Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand Electronic Text Collection, TEARA the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Herb Kawainue Kane a visual collection of Hawaiian History War Canoes of the New Zealand Maori, Wikipedia, AOL images of Waca Tuau, Revolvy, a Maori Translation Dictionary, Illustrations from the journals Abel Tasman, James Cook, Joseph Banks, Richardson and Gilsman. Jeff Evans Waca Tuau (thanks to Louie da Fly Steven)

Passed on Totura wood cost, I traded some Cypress for Basswood, since the build will be painted in historical colors it didn’t make sense to go with Totura. The Waca was Tapu (sacred) the Hapu (clan or tribe) and prepared the area around the tree years ahead of felling. Bark was removed from one side of the trunk and the area around the tree would be cleared and food planted for workers. Lower roots were removed with hand adzes, a fire built at the base then charred wood was removed. When they got to a certain point a frame was built supporting a large adze weighted with a heavy stone and used like a battering ram to remove wood. This was a highly sacred undertaking if an accident or death took place the canoe was abandoned (numerous canoes have been found unfinished)

 

 

It could take 3 weeks to fell a tree; after the tree was felled it was dragged to the river after basic shaping by teams of men pulling using ropes made of Raupu (bulrush). It could take up to a year to finish a canoe. A typical Waca was between 40 to 90 feet in length. They were highly decorated there was a lot of symbolism in regards to the intricate carvings and feathers from Albatross, Gannets, and Pigeons that adorned a Waca.

 

 

These canoes had strakes inside and outside the hull. They provided balance, and flotation. My first MISTAKE was using dowel, the twisted grain was a nightmare to bend after shaping. (In another post shaping masts Dan Vadas stated he used square stock it provide an easier and cleaner way to shape a mast and I agreed stupid me did not follow) If I had used square stock I would have saved myself a lot of anguish and bending would have been easy. I use a can, and candle to bend soaked wood. Its fast can due 2 or 3 at a time can even add a twist to a bend.

Attached strakes inside and out and laced with a waxed cord, was tedious to say the least. Back filled bottom and top holes inside and out with wood filler. Started attaching Albatross feathers,

 

Have finished the carving, etching, painting, and clear coating to this point.  The next step is adding the thwarts, carving of the bow and stern decorations paddles sail and Taiahas Maori fighting stick (see this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YtCeVC_NfY) I wouldn’t go against him with a loaded 45.

The one glaring mistake I made was on the carvings on the basswood between the gunnels and thwarts. They are not historically accurate. I should have taken a plank of Boxwood carved the reliefs than added it in between. Do to the configuration of the carved hull I could not redo and add that was a real disappointment. It will be corrected on the next one.

The following pics are what will be carved and added to the prow, stern and the head directly under the prow carving not the stern.

 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by John Allen
attempted to delete last pic

[KeithAug]

Fascinating build John. love the strakes and feathers. Very interesting plank bender, I think I will copy that when I am next fed baked beans for dinner.

[John Allen]

Thanks Keith

 

Then you can continue to finish that beautiful Altair and never get tired or run out of gas.

[Dan Vadas]

On 15/08/2017 at 8:44 PM, John Allen said:

canoes were as large as 60 feet if scaled down to 30 inches I was basing that on 1/2 inch to a foot?

Quote

It is known as a Waka in New Zealand.

 

John, I fixed the scale in your Build Log title, and also the spelling of "Waka" in both the title and your signature.

 

Looking forward to seeing more of this build .

 

  Danny

[John Allen]

Dan,

 

Thanks for the conversion, embarrassed by the spelling I've looked at it a thousand times, 

[DenPink]

Hi John

The canoes are all carved and the eyes on the bow had a shell in them.

I have not seen a Waka canoe that was painted if they had paint on them it was very little.

They was made out of some sort of hard wood,

The black, red and white is the Maori flag.

 

Denis.