Sinagot by thibaultron - Heller - 1/60th - PLASTIC - Small - French fishing boat

[wefalck]

BTW, most of these Heller-kits seem to be based on plans issued by the Association des Amis du Musée de la Marine in Paris, which in turn are based on drawings from Pâris' 'Souvenirs de la Marine'.

[thibaultron]

I have not forgotten this build. I was hoping to find my stash of silkspan, while I was moving stuff around, after finishing the back section of the shop, but failed to find it. today I ordered some new silkspan, and will continue the build in the next couple of weeks, when it arrives. I just could not force myself to use the vacuum formed ones supplied with the kit.

[Jan shipsinscale]

Gaaf ik volg met interesse

[Jan shipsinscale]

Gaat ik volg met interesse

 

[thibaultron]

PART 15

 

Well, I’ve finally finished the major part of my shop renovations, and can now get back to modeling.

 

I mentioned in a previous post, that the plastic traveler on the stern had broken, and further deteriorated as I tried to reglue it. I measured the pieces and drew it out in my CAD program. It is oval/elliptical shaped, and dimensioned as shown.

 

 

 

I printed this out, cut one oval out, and glued it to a piece of basswood.

 

 

 

Then I used some small chisels, and a hobby knife to carve out around the print.

 

 

 

 

Next I took 20GA Dead Soft Brass Wire, and coiled it around the pattern. While 20GA is way too large for the traveler in real life, it matches the diameter of the broke plastic part. The flattened iron attachments are already installed and I needed the wire to match the drilled out stubs in these parts. I was, also, not sure that thinner wire would hold up during handling, as this part is very exposed.

 

 

 

I had originally thought to carve the straps off the stern. The wire was still too hard to flatten easily, and several failed attempts at bending the wire at the bottom of the loop, while getting everything symmetrical convinced me to go with just replacing the loop.

 

 

So I made a new loop, and cut the wire at the bottom, rather than bending it.

 

 

 

The next picture, is the remains of the plastic part.

 

 

 

I trimmed them flush, used a pick to center mark them, and drilled through with a series of wire drills, to a few thousands larger than the wire.

 

 

 

Then I put the ends of the loop, into the holes from each side and used CA to fasten it. It is not perfect, but looks good from a distance.

 

 

 

 

 

I painted it with a couple of coats of black Stynylrez primer, brushed on.

 

 

 

 

It looks as good as the original part. I may leave it black, or paint it white, like in the box art, but photos show either color used on existing boats, and it is already overly thick. I do have to trim that little blob of paint on the inside of the loop, though.

[thibaultron]

PART 16

 

Now that the traveler is fixed, I mounted the hull onto the plastic stand, using Canopy Glue. The Canopy Glue dries crystal clear, and doesn’t damage the paint.

 

First I placed the hull on the stand, until it looked level. Then I measured the waterline at the middle of the hull using a pair of calipers.

 

 

 

I then moved them to the back and front of the hull, and compared them to the waterlines there. I slid the hull along the base (which has two different height pedestals), to raise the lower end. After a couple iterations of this the waterline was level. I did not put the masts in to check that they were vertical, as the pedestal contacts both sides of the hull tightly. For a bigger or better model, I would have, but did not feel like shimming, or trimming the painted base.  You can see the two spots of fresh glue, in the pictures.

 

 

 

Now that I’ve gotten to the point of adding the spars, I needed some sort of temporary protective “cabinet” to store the boat in between building sessions.  For this small model I decided to use foam core board. After a trip to the store to pick up a couple sheets, I was ready.

 

The model measures just short of 8.5” long and 8.3” tall. The spars and sails run parallel to the length of the hull, which is only about 2.5” to 3” wide. I set the cabinet dimensions at 10” long x 10” tall and 6” wide, on the inside. I cut the back, ends, sides, top, and bottom pieces accordingly. There is no front piece, as this is just to protect the model from bumps, not dust. I store it in the covered spray booth, so dust isn’t a problem.

 

I assembled the box using tape to hold it together (as well as a few “T” pins), and ran a bead of wood glue down the inside edges. To keep the glue from dripping all over the place, I did a few edges at a time so they could be level until the glue set. Allowing for drying time, this took a couple days. When all the glue was set, I had to add a second coat of glue to a couple of the edges.

 

 

While the glue in the cabinet set, I built a sliding base for the model to sit on, and allow for removal to work on it. I cut this base slightly smaller than the inside of the cabinet, and put the boat on it, so I could figure out where it had to sit. I marked the position of both ends of the plastic base, and pulled it out and removed the boat. Then I glued pieces of foam board at these marks, as well as at the back, so the base would be centered front to back. I held them with pins, until the glue had set. Then I added two more pieces at the base ends, that overhung the lip of the base, to lock it lightly in place. I can still slide the plastic base out, to work on it, as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

While the glue was setting, I put the base piece back in and glued two layers of foam board inside the cabinet ends to hold the base in, but still allow it to slide out.

 

 

 

Here is the boat in the cabinet, ready for me to continue.

 

 

 

 

 

Total cost of the foam board was $.88. For a larger, or more delicate model, I would probably use 5MM plywood, but for smaller ones like this, it will work fine.

 

I have a cheap plastic model enclosure in the mail to put it in when finished. I need to clean out and rearrange my display cases, then it will be put one of them, without the cheap case, which will be barely big enough for it. I couldn’t see spending $40 or more for a case, for a cheap model, that can sit perfectly well in my nice glass display cases.

[thibaultron]

PART 17

 

With the temporary case built, I turned to the bow sprit and masts.

 

First I attempted to hand paint the metal work on these, but failed miserably. My hands are not up to such fine details. So, I went to mask them, only to find that my tape had disappeared during the renovations. I bought some off Amazon, and resumed when they arrived.

 

 

After the black paint had set I repainted most of the wooden areas of the spares, as I found some thin spots.

 

Because the parts were already painted, and of contrasting colors, I attached them with “Canopy Glue” so as not to damage the existing paint, like plastic glue would. “Canopy Glue” is a refined type PVA wood glue that dries clear, and was originally developed for gluing canopies and other clear parts onto plastic models. Regular plastic glues and CA will often etch the clear parts, causing them to fog. I think it will be strong enough for the spars on this small model, though I’m not sure about larger assemblies.

 

I started with the bow sprit. I carefully scrapped the mating surfaces where the end of the sprit contacts the deck, but left the paint on where it touches the railing. I placed a weight on the parts and let it set overnight. The next morning I had to add a little more glue to the railing area, as I had skimped too much here.

 

 

 On the real boats the sprit slides in and out through the two metal rings, and thus can be removed if the jib is not being used.

 

The fore mast was a little too thick where it goes through the deck hole, so I scrapped and sanded, that section. I could not drill the hole in the deck larger, as the bow sprit sits right at the edge of the hole. After checking the instructions, I installed the mast with the cleat toward the port side. I glued it at the base and the deck. After it was in, I added a little more Canopy Glue around the mast base to strengthen the bond, and simulated the leather cover used to seal this area from water entry into the fore cabin.

 

The main mast was also too large for the deck hole, but with more room around it to work with, I drilled it out in stages, using some small number drills I have (larger number drills than the standard #61 to #80 ones). This mast was installed with the cleat to the aft of the mast.

 

I also put the reinforcing glue around this mast for the mast leather.

 

I set the boat on the workbench and played with the masts until they were perpendicular to the deck and in line with each other, and left it to dry overnight.

 

This will be it for a couple weeks. The next step is to make silkspan sails. I’ve never done this before, so some failures are expected. Once I’ve got the sails made, I will paint the mast to deck covers the same color as the sails. I also have to fabricate another of the unique hoist rings, and perhaps the ring shown at the tip of the sprit, on the box art. There was a recent discussion about similar ones used on larger ships. It is called a traveler. When the jib in use it sits at the outer end of the Sprit, and is pulled in when the jib is to be stowed, pulling it down along the bow sprit. While you would not leave the jib permanently stowed this way, it does allow you to then re-fly the sail, if needed shortly. This also makes it so you don’t need to go out to the end of the bow sprit every time. The jib on the Sinagots is not attached to the forestay, but suspended from its own halyard.

 

[thibaultron]

PART 18

 

Next up are the sails.

 

The kit supplied sails are Vacuum Formed ones, and are quite poor. Many of the sail edges sort of fade into the surrounding plastic with no defined edge to work with. Also the panels are different widths on each one. Not very prototypical! Also they are setup to represent a boat sailing directly downwind. While nice, I want to show the unique setup of this boat where one or the other of the two main sails is preset against a mast when sailing broadside to the wind (explained further below).

 Pictures of the kit supplied sails.

 

The Main Sail

 

 

The Fore Sail

 

 

And finally the Jib. This one, at least, has good edges!

 

 

The  Sinagot book I have has several diagrams of boats from various angles, but only one where the boat has a bow sprit. The picture below is a that diagram with the sails highlighted, and a few measurements shown. The Sinagots did not seem to have bowsprits before about 1920. I guess they were too much trouble when trying to do commercial fishing. After 1920 they started to be used for recreational pursuits also. As the kit has a sprit, I’ll use this diagram as a guide.

 

 

Some of the things shown here, but not in the kit instructions are:

1. The fore part of the Main and Fore Sails are laced to a line that also pulls the fore tip of the associated spar down to create the slant on that spare. This implies that this line is fairly well and permanently attached once the sails are set. It would cause all sorts of problems to switch the attachment to another spot, unless you either lower the sail, or like getting hit in the head when the upper tip of the spar falls. Hint, sailors really do not like to lower sails in the middle of a voyage, unless weather conditions dictate.

2. The fore section of the main and fore sails is at, close enough for my use, 90 degrees to the foot of the sail.

3. The rake of the masts is about equal, The masts on the model are also raked at the same angle.

4. The slant angle of the spares is close to each other.

5. The jib is on the small side as compared to current practice, on more modern designs.

6. As noted in an earlier post, the main and fore sails are semi-permanently set on opposite sides of the masts. You could set both on the same side, but if set in the traditional manner, you would have to lower the one sail, spin the hoist hook arraignment to the other side of the mast, then raise the sail. Not something you would normally do once you had started to sail, at least for something as simple as tacking.  (You never take any longer to tack than as you have to, as you have to complete the maneuver before you run out of momentum and steerage).
   1. As you can see in the picture below, they were quite content to put up with one or the other sail rubbing against the mast on a broad reach. In the picture, the fore sail is pressed against the mast.

 

 

7. Even on present boats the sails are modestly sized (as compared to the ones in the kit, as will be explained below.)

8. There is no dedicated fore stay. The jib halyard serves this purpose.

9. There are no shrouds.

10. Except for the kit box art, I could find no other evidence of a jib traveler.

11. Though not shown in this diagram, almost all of the other diagrams as well as actual color photographs I have found, show that the sails were almost all red, with occasional patches made from standard modern white sail cloth.

12. The back bottom corner of the Fore Sail falls just at or behind the rear of the main mast.

 

Next I took many measurements from the actual model, and superimposed them on this diagram. The Fore and Main sails, as shown in the diagram, are in red. The kit sails, as close as I can measure them, are shown in blue.

 

 

The kit sails are shown in blue, as are the kit spars. The kit masts and bowsprit are shown in green and blue. The two fore masts are in the same spot, but the kit main mast is set further back. As you can see the kit sails and main spar, are too large/long for this type of boat. If Ferrari had built a Sinagot, it might have had this much sail area! While the kit main spar is in reality not that much longer than the one in the diagram, with the main mast set further back, it extends well past where it should in relation to the stern. There is almost no room for the main sheet blocks between the corner of sail and the traveler bar, which extends in line with the stern post.

 

So I will be designing the new silkspan sails to a more reasonable size.

 

The first step is to fix the joint between the fore edge/ spar tip downhaul. The diagram indicated that for both sails, this is ~.2” in front of the respective mast where it meets the deck shear. This is shown by the heavy vertical green lines.

 

 

The tip of the kit main spar intersects, so that is OK. The kit fore spar, though, sits too far forward.  The diagram and kit both show about ½” spacing between the main and fore spar tips, so I’ll use that as a standard.

 

Next I repositioned the fore spar.

 

 

Then shortened it to meet the ½” tip to tip standard. The blue line near the end of the spar marks were the sail attaches.

 

 

This gives a new spar length (lashing point to lashing point), of 2.859”

 

I moved the position of the main sheet blocks to the position it would be when the sail is pulled to the midline. This would be at the bottom of the traveler. If you tried to set the blocks at the top, they would immediately fall over to one side, and the sail would fall off position. I then measured the length of the block set in the diagram  (1/2”) and set this as the back corner of the sail. Then I extended the back edge of the diagram sail until it met this point, keeping the new edge parallel to the old. This set the new main spar aft lashing point. I shortened the spar to match this. This gave a new main spar length, lashing to lashing, of 2.965”. Now, for practical reasons, I’ll make the fore spar 2.875” (2 7/8”) and the main 3”, lashing point to lashing point.

 

 

After adding a bit of thickness to the spars, I drew in the new sail layout, with scale 21” panel lines.

 

 

Here is the layout of the sails, per all the above.

 

 

Here it is with matching thickness lines, and all in one color.

 

 

Next, I’ll print these, cut them out and trial fit them to the model. If it all looks good, I’ll refine the sail drawings, and add tabs and reef points.

 

[Old Collingwood]

Very nice work mate  -  and I love the attention to detail with the plans and drawings.

 

OC.

[thibaultron]

PART 19

 

This will only be a quick update.

 

I printed out the sails and glued thread to the edges (as it turned out very stiff thread from another old boat kit), and temporarily installed them on the model to see how they looked. They turned out to look right to my eyes, at least. They are not tied all that well, but well enough for the test. Between the stiff paper, the stiff thread, and only having the yards tied in place, it was a major chore to get them on. I didn’t want to tie anything on too tightly either, as it all has to come off again. The fore sail is tilted a bit too far forward, as I didn't have anything convenient to tie a thread to, but looks good when I hold it in position by hand.

 

To be continued.