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Swallow by AndyG - FINISHED - 1/8th scale - 1930s lugsail dinghy - small


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I've tried building boats in the house, but I don't have the room, and the models (and I) just get in the way. So, late last summer, I turned this fairly fresh patch of concrete:

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Into this:

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...which is becoming an absolute joy. A bit narrow (5') but long enough (14') for anything. LED lighting, tonnes of sockets, a radio: I'm good to go! And, with a love of the works of Arthur Ransome, and a commission for a dinghy, I started using my workshop just before Christmas:

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This is the start of a one-eighth scale lugsail dinghy, clinker built, sitting on its molds. Pine and lime wood throughout.

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Lands cut on the planks using the specialist tools (!), and geralding commences...

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I am in clamp heaven!

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One-eighth scale is a great size. RW techniques (well, were it a modern epoxy-glued dinghy!) in miniature.

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Storming along, now Winter's almost over and I have double-digit Celsius again!swallow023.jpg.c97f8c429f71aa85362b9b1c516bba80.jpg

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Lots of work to do, internally - and breaking work on the hull (glue-drying time) to complete some of the other bits and bobs. Rudder...

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... yard, boom and mast ...

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...More to come!

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Andy wonderful! just the right scale to I might add. can you give a picture or shot of the drawing of the dingy that you used. You mentioned pine and limewood (linden) the ribs look like ply I did not know that you could get pine plywood that thin or did you laminate it yourself from veneers?.

Lovely workplace too.

Michael

Current builds  Bristol Pilot Cutter 1:8;      Skipjack 19 foot Launch 1:8;       Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 14 1:8

Other projects  Pilot Cutter 1:500 ;   Maria, 1:2  Now just a memory    

Future model Gill Smith Catboat Pauline 1:8

Finished projects  A Bassett Lowke steamship Albertic 1:100  

 

Anything you can imagine is possible, when you put your mind to it.

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Thank you for the positive vibes!

 

The pine comes from old bits of furniture, ripped and planed to the right dimensions. The limewood? An old Ikea venetian blind, part-destroyed by the kitten. :) "I'll have that!" The ribs are pine ply strips (well spotted!), from a sheet I bought. 1mm thick, I think - I'd have to measure it.

 

More to follow!

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Wow, that came together like a rocket! very nice looking boat.

 

Michael

 

Current builds  Bristol Pilot Cutter 1:8;      Skipjack 19 foot Launch 1:8;       Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 14 1:8

Other projects  Pilot Cutter 1:500 ;   Maria, 1:2  Now just a memory    

Future model Gill Smith Catboat Pauline 1:8

Finished projects  A Bassett Lowke steamship Albertic 1:100  

 

Anything you can imagine is possible, when you put your mind to it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Beautiful work on the Swallow, Andy.  

Mark
"The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me

Current Build:                                                                                             
Past Builds:
 La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD           Triton Cross-Section   

 NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit                                                                            HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64               

 

Non-Ship Model:                                                                                         On hold, maybe forever:           

CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed                                                   Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned)         

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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  • 2 weeks later...

And now the sad news!

 

After blocks and ropework were added, I boxed up Swallow (with a mountain of bubblewrap) and posted her to her new owner this morning. According to the tracking app, she's currently halfway to her new home in Suffolk. I have to say I'm surprised how much I miss her! ...I may have to make one for myself in the future, if only to fill the dinghy-shaped hole in my shed. :) I'll fish for a final photo once she arrives and is assembled.

 

But before another dinghy ... a bigger boat.

 

Andy

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  • 7 months later...

Hi AndyG

Would you be willing to either sell plans for Swallow or build another for me.

I first read S&A when I was 11 I'm 66 now so not as old as your previous commission for Swallow but I still read those 12 books even now.

I am also a member of the Arthur Ransome Society.

I really hope you can help

Phil

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