Swampscott Dory by Grisha - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - Scale 1:12

[bolin]

Testing on a scrap piece is good. I have used paper towels as well, it also works.
 

You might want to thin the oil with white spirit or turpentine, it makes it flow better an enter the wood more. If I just want a surface coat I would use the oil directly on the cloth an wipe it on to get a thin coat. Only apply thin layers, linseed cures very slowly. If it’s to thick it will never cure and remain sticky forever.

 

The important thing to remember is that the linseed oiled cloth could self ignite after you have used it. I have never seen it happen, or never heard of anyone seeing it, but it is still a possible danger. Let it dry in a well ventilated place without any flammable material close. I usually just put the rag outside somewhere.

[Grisha]

So, I get that a lot of my questions, for people who do more stuff like this than I do, sound like "I'm here to write a novel. How do I hold the pencil?" I have another of those. I put one coat of enamel ("Flat Depot Buff") on the inside of the hull and it looks...terrible. Rough textured, uneven thickness. What's the deal here? Do I need another coat, or did I do something really wrong, or do I need a specific size/kind of brush or?

 

(It doesn't look quiiiiite as bad as the picture but it's, you know, not what I was hoping for.)

[Jim T]

51 minutes ago, Grisha said:

So, I get that a lot of my questions, for people who do more stuff like this than I do, sound like "I'm here to write a novel. How do I hold the pencil?" I have another of those. I put one coat of enamel ("Flat Depot Buff") on the inside of the hull and it looks...terrible. Rough textured, uneven thickness. What's the deal here? Do I need another coat, or did I do something really wrong, or do I need a specific size/kind of brush or?

 

(It doesn't look quiiiiite as bad as the picture but it's, you know, not what I was hoping for.)

Primer would of helped, but you would probably still need multiple coats. Also, probably thinned quite a bit. I'm going to paint the CLC dory I'm working on soon and am figuring on spraying one coat of primer and multiple coats of the final color. Someone may be along with more  information. 

 

Jim

[bolin]

I have no experience with using enamal on wood so I'm not sure exactly what happened to your paint. What I can see from your picture though it looks like the surface is still quite rough. I would suggest sanding it down with successively finer grain (maybe starting at 120 and going to 400) in three or four steps. Then apply a primer or sanding filler. There is a lot of discussion on these pages on this topic, there are several ways to go. Personally I mostly use shellac as primer but also have a cellulose based clear primer. A spray on primer as Jim T suggest above would also work well (and is probably easier to get hold of).

 

Then use steel wool or a very find sanding paper on the primer to get a smooth surface for the paint. Plan for several (many) coats of thin paint. Thick coats are hard to get smooth.

 

Cheers

[MrBlueJacket]

I agree it needs some sanding. Personally I use automotive lacquer primer in a spray can. Usually 2 or 3 coats, sanding in between.If you go look at my thread on the New Bedford Whaleboat, that's the stage I'm at over there.

[Grisha]

Amusingly I almost ordered that New Bedford Whaleboat before I saw there were difficulty ratings. I'd have been really up a tree. 

[VTHokiEE]

How is everything coming along? Were you able to get through the painting portion?

[Grisha]

Yes, I slowed a bit and didn't post many pictures as I was spending a lot of time waiting for enamel to dry, sanding it, and painting it again. It looks alright now. In retrospect I wish I'd left the inside natural and put on gloss enamel, but the buff color doesn't look bad. 

 

Currently I'm puzzling over mounting the rudder. The instructions say "mount the rudder, using brass eye pins and bent brass rod pintles as shown on the plan." It's another of those things where 1) the photo is dark 2) I'm not quite sure what the plan is suggesting, and 3) I'm not sure quite what, among the little metal fittings, is a rod pintle. I've googled what a pintle is and am clear on the concept but...yeah. I may call the guy who works with Bluejacket to answer questions, unless someone is able to describe it here. I'll post another picture soon.

[MrBlueJacket]

A pintle is a bent wire on the rudder that goes into an eyepin hole on the boat. It is shaped like a sideways "L" It forms the hinge for the rudder. I drew a diagram for you.

[Grisha]

This is I think way further from the boat than it's supposed to be but it's the best I could do and I think it looks alright.

[MrBlueJacket]

It looks just fine. You got the idea correct!

 

Nic

[Grisha]

I'm going to take a moment here before I start bumbling through the rigging to allow myself a sense of accomplishment. It's taken forever, I've asked one million questions, and I've made significant errors at every step, but here we are. 

[VTHokiEE]

You deserve it! It looks quite nice!

[Grisha]

I didn't work on the dory much for a bit, but I got back to it and finished the main sail (wish I'd chosen a thread with less contrast, maybe) and made the little cleats which was kind of fun and satisfying. I like the little fiddly bits like the cleats and the mast step. I must have made the wire hoops for the sail/mast too big because I barely have any left for the boom, but at this point it's clearly the S.S. Good Enough! Currently puzzling a little over the rope traveler in the back but I think I basically get what it's supposed to look like/do.

 

[VTHokiEE]

50 minutes ago, Grisha said:

I like the little fiddly bits like the cleats and the mast step

It can be quite relaxing to put these together (and sometimes quite frustrating when I launch the 4th minuscule part from my tweezers into the great expanse of my garage).

 

51 minutes ago, Grisha said:

I must have made the wire hoops for the sail/mast too big because I barely have any left for the boom

Do the instructions call for them on the boom? I was under the impression that they only go on the mast (but I could easily be mistaken). Here are a few pictures of a mast from my Scharpie Cchooner to show a potential alternative lacing for the boom.

 

 

 

[bolin]

The sail is looking good. Now it’s only the home stretch left. Nicely done!

 

The instruction says hoops also for the boom. But when I built the same model I found several pictures with lashed stiles as well. VTHoikEEs example would work well also. If I understand correctly the sail and mast are raised as a whole on these small boats.

 

[Grisha]

OK, this part did not go very well. I'm not clear on how some things are meant to be attached so I did some half-assed stuff like just poking the wire I'd used to strop the blocks through the top corner of the jib. (I was also using the wrong wire at that point because the thin copper wire has a ton of strands, I guess? and I couldn't get it to twist together into something I could bend into a hook very well.)  The bottom corner of the jib is attached to the eyepin in the stem head just with a piece of thread sewn through it and tied in a plain old knot through the pin. It works but I'm afraid it doesn't look very neat.

Certainly at this point I'm in the home stretch.

[bolin]

The rigging looks right to me. I just made a hook of the copper wire and hooked it through the jib sail peak on my model, like you have done.

 

The twisted wire I only used for shrouds. I used the copper wire for stropping the blocks like you did on the one in the jib sail.

 

I agree that the thread in the kit is a bit hard to make nice knots with, it is so smooth that they quite easily comes loose. For the jib tack corner I just tied a square knot like you described. It untied itself after some months, so I re did it and added a drop of glue and hopefully it will hold.

[MrBlueJacket]

Always secure knots with a drop of either diluted Elmer's, or Titebond, or fabric cement. Stay away from using CA for knots. It works, but over time, where the stiff CA ends and the soft rigging starts, it will eventually fracture. Think bending a paper clip as an analogy.

[Grisha]

My last little bit of confusion is the blocks and sheets for the back corner of the jib but I seem to be out of eyepins anyway so I may just let it flap. All that’s left is making the oars and putting in the oarlocks, I think. Oh I still have to do the main halyard but that seems straightforward. 

[Grisha]

Well, I didn't do one or two minor things I didn't have enough of this or that for, but I think we'll call the boat complete. The best part is that whittling the tiny handles on the oars put an idea in my head and has me now doing something I'm better at than model boats: whittling!  (first project pictured below) This has been fun. I might do another some day.

[VTHokiEE]

Very nice! Do you have any pictures of the whole boat? Nice job whittling as well!

[bolin]

Glad to see that you completed it. Nicely done!

[gsdpic]

Well done on both the boat and the bird carving.

[ccoyle]

Congratulations on finishing your project!

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations on completing your dory.  Please post a picture or pictures of your completed model.  We would love to see them.

[MrBlueJacket]

Well done!  There's a note in your customer file that you will get 10% off the next kit you buy from us!

 

Nic

[Grisha]

Sure, here's the finished model. I don't have oarlocks because my planking was funny and the sheerline looked too curved to put the plates on and the back of the jib isn't attached to anything because I came up short one eyepin (I think I used it at the end of the boom where the sheet was supposed to be attached another way. But It looks like a boat, all things considered! Thanks for the help!

[bob porter]

Nice job, looks fine.

                                    bob porter

[Jim T]

Yes.............it does look like a boat!  Well done.

 

Jim