21' Fisherman's Launch by vaddoc - FINISHED - Scale 1:10 - Plans from Howard Chapelle's "Boatbuilding"

[Mirabell61]

Hi Vaddoc,

lovely hull, I like your hull very much

 

Nils

[Bedford]

Beautiful planking job, can I book you in to help with my next full size build?

[Mark Pearse]

well done, that is looking very nice

[Michael_A]

Vaddoc,

It's great to see you back on the forum! The beech planking looks really nice now that it is smoothed up. Will you take it out of the moulds for work on the interior once you get the outside to your satisfaction? 

Michael

[vaddoc]

 

 Dear all

 

Many thanks for your likes!

 

On 5/16/2021 at 9:08 AM, G.L. said:

I would keep the wood natural.

GL, after some encouraging testing yesterday, I think I will.

On 5/16/2021 at 9:34 AM, Mirabell61 said:

lovely hull, I like your hull very much

 

Thanks Nils! I ve followed some of your work, really happy you visited!

 

On 5/16/2021 at 10:00 AM, Bedford said:

can I book you in to help with my next full size build?

You know something Bedford, I would just come running. 

 

On 5/16/2021 at 11:08 AM, Mark Pearse said:

well done, that is looking very nice

Thanks Mark, I am following your half model with great interest.

 

21 hours ago, Michael_A said:

It's great to see you back on the forum! The beech planking looks really nice now that it is smoothed up. Will you take it out of the moulds for work on the interior once you get the outside to your satisfaction? 

Thanks Michael! The planking is only sanded to 80 grit, there is a lot more sanding to do and many imperfections to fix. Now, these are not moulds, these are the actual frames. The plans call for steam bend ribs but I wanted to use frames-actually, I think Chapelle does mention they can be used. As I have very little time for modelling I had accepted to cut a few corners. So I used less frames than I should probably have used (this worked fine) and used cheap plywood for the frames (this did not work fine). However, the interior will be completely planked and floored so the frames will not be visible.

After I bring this hull to a reasonable state, I will probably stop and start the lapstrake planking of the Yawl. This will be a much more difficult undertaking

 

Now, back to the boat, I did a bit of testing to see how Beech and filler react to things. In the next photo, the left side of the test piece has two coats of water based sanding sealer, the left a coat of Tung oil and both are smoothed with steel wool.

Photos are very unforgiving but in reality, the filler on the Tung side is almost invisible. I am concerned though that the beech itself will have a blotchy look after Tung oil. I have a few failed planks left so I will oil them and see how long pieces will look. 

 

Vaddoc

Edited May 17, 2021 by vaddoc

[vaddoc]

Dear all

 

Hull is completed!

 

All gaps are filled and it is sanded to 400 grit. It is very smooth to touch! The next photos were taken with the Admiral's fancy iphone as my cheap one was not up to the task. I must admit the quality is phenomenal.

Inside is very rough but it will not be visible.

Now, I am not sure how to finish  the hull. I have decided I will not paint it.

Now, I though that Tung oil will make the filler invisible. It does but only viewing it from certain angles. From others, the filler stands out the same. I oiled a few strips of pear and beech and this is the colour they take. The pear will be much less blotchy.

I am really not sure what to do, leave the pear and beech light with the pink hue or darken them to this drastically different more wooden colour?

 

I think now I should put this project on hold and start planking the yawl. This is a project I am getting a bit apprehensive with, I think it will be very difficult to figure it out and very difficult to convince the beech to wrap around the hull. The frames also look too flimsy and too far apart for the task. 

The two hulls side by side. Note the bow of the yawl, how did the builders of old got the planks to take this turn?

Best wishes to all

Vaddoc

[noel_colledge]

Hi Vaddoc.

 

Have you considered Liberon's Bison wax for the finish on the hull.

 

Looks great by the way

[Wintergreen]

17 hours ago, vaddoc said:

I must admit the quality is phenomenal.

Yes, as is the standard of your work Vaddoc!

I can't give any advice on finishing but the hull looks great. Job well done!

 

Keep it up!

[wefalck]

Shellac or a nitrocellulose primer (with filler) would be my personal choice for finishing the hull. When rub down with fine steel-wool they would give a nice sheen. This also leaves you the option open, to paint (part of) the hull, if you (or the Admiralty) change your mind.

 

I didn't follow the yawl project, from what period is the boat ? Somewhere else on the forum there was a discussion on exactly that subject: how did they deal with such bluff bows and the fact that the girth of the hull changes dramatically along the length. The solution is to run the bottom  planks up to and butt them against more or less horizontal strakes above the turn of the bilge.

[vaddoc]

13 hours ago, noel_colledge said:

Liberon's Bison wax

Thanks Noel! My main issue is the colour of the wood and that I would like the filler to disappear completely. I have many options for sealing the wood and a protective top coat. The wood needs some colour enhancing, the pear is now very pale pink and the beech again pale with a faint pink hue as both are steamed. I have no idea what the effect of the wax will be on these two very different woods and on the filler

 

3 hours ago, Wintergreen said:

Job well done!

Cheers Hakan!

 

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

Shellac or a nitrocellulose primer

I dislike shellac Wefalck but I do use sealer and steel wire-leaves the hull as smooth as baby bottom! The problem is that the wood needs some enhancing and I did not like much how beech responded to Tung oil. I have ordered some stain samples to experiment. I read that beech is notorious for staining blotchy so it seems that wood conditioner or a very light coat of sanding sealer is needed before staining. The 2 woods will of course respond very differently to the same stain, how the filler will like the stain is uncertain.

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

run the bottom  planks up to and butt them against more or less horizontal strakes above the turn of the bilge.

The yawl is 18th century, from plans from the National Maritime Museum. You will find a link in my signature to the log. Now, today I started thinking on the planking and deployed a couple of battens-oh dear! The batens refuse to take the turn at the bow. When even the batens need steaming, this spells bad news. Regarding spilling, I suspect it will be so great that the planks will need scarfing. It does not help that I intend to do a lapstrake. I ll try and find the discussion you mention but if you remember where it is, please do let me know!

Edited May 23, 2021 by vaddoc

[KeithAug]

The hull planking turned out very well. Good news that the planking isn't going to be lost under paint. It will be interesting to see how the finishing deliberations turn out.

[bricklayer]

Vaddoc

 

The two sample strips that you layed loosely on the hull look good. Their texture and colour is sufficiently uniform.

You`re a woodworker. Wood varies from strip to strip and even within a single strip. So what.

It`s craftsmanship and accuracy that matters.  Your`s is marvellous. Oil it or coat it with clear acrylics, shellac.

Just don`t stain it.  Stain will uncover the filler in the gaps rather than to hide it.

 

Michael

 

I think that any of the coatings previously suggested here is suitable.

Edited June 1, 2021 by bricklayer

[Roger Pellett]

In a real wooden boat the seams would be payed with seam compound on top of the caulking, just like your filler.  I’d keep moving on and not worry about it.

 

Roger

[BobG]

Beautiful work, vaddoc. Such a pleasure to follow along.

[vaddoc]

Dear all

Many thanks for your likes, comments and encouragement!

 

I have not worked on either boat for the last 3 weeks, since my last post on the Yawl log. I now work pretty much 7 days a week and life has gone into hyperdrive-it is what it is and we must do what we need to do! The little spare time I have I ve decided to invest in working out to get back into shape.

 

Today though I popped to the garage to do a bit of testing with stains. I made a grove in a piece of beech, filled it with filler and sanded to 120 grit.

 

I ordered a number of stains, different colours and compositions-some "wax stains", "some oil stains" and some "something else".

 

The next photo shows 5, supposingly completely different colour stains. They came out almost identical! The one on the right is walnut, the middle one is pine. There is however a bit of difference in the blotchiness, I think the middle one is a bit better. The pear wood is very dark because it was not sanded, it looks much lighter and uniform in sanded pieces. 

The small piece has clear sealer on the left, Tung oil on the right

I expected much bigger differences in colour and better coverage of the filler. Maybe when the piece dries, the colours might change.

 

As it is though, I quite like the middle one. But I have a few more stains to try.

 

A word about stains: I now know why they are called "stains". The mess they created was unbelievable-pretty much everything got stained!

 

Vaddoc

[vaddoc]

Well, as we all know time is relative so I guess two and a half years since my last post is not a long time! Ladies and gentlemen, the Launch is back in drydock.

 

During this time I ve been working on the Yawl. Now, both boats have hulls made of beech wood so the Launch suffered the same fate. The planks constantly change dimensions in response to changes in moisture and shrunk a lot reaching equilibrium after initial steaming. Beech has huge movement in service. 

 

However, the Launch faired better, I think because the planks are not as acutely bent as in the Yawl so did not need so much steaming and boiling. The filler between the planks is almost intact and the planks have moved in only a few areas. In the bow some nails seem to have failed.

These need to be fixed and the hull needs to be sealed inside and out to prevent movement as much as possible. However, I plan to paint the hull so I will use filler more extensively to smooth it out a bit, since paint will highlight every single imperfection.

 

So I drilled some nails out, push the planks in place and things improved.

Then, I applied filler very generously. I nowadays use Osmo, it dries very quickly, does not shrink, is hard but still sands very nicely. This is where we are now.

We rarely know what our future holds but mine certainly has a lot of sanding.

 

Till next time

Vaddoc

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by vaddoc

[KeithAug]

Very nicely done.

[vaddoc]

Ok, time for a wee update!

 

I have not gone into hibernation and have done a bit of work, just did not have the time to take photos and post the progress. A lot of head scratching though, it's been a long time since I did the 3D plans and I had forgotten how everything come together. I also had forgotten that I ve used beech for the hull and generally cut a few corners in this boat. Now these are biting back! I simply cannot understand why I used for the frames the cheapest, nastiest plywood ever made!

 

So, first I had to deal with the hull and the dancing/shrinking beech wood. I filled the cracks but brought the boat inside as it was freezing cold in the garage. Yep, the wood contracted again and the sims opened once again!

I filled again, sanded, filled, sanded... I have now settled with Osmo water based filler and Decoart water based sealer - excellent products.

So, after lots of filling, sanding, scraping etc, the hull looks decent, is sanded to 400 grit and is sealed inside and out. This took time, effort, a few lungfuls of dust and lots of cursing.

Ok, time to free the boat from its cradle!

Now, the boat needs inside planking, bulkheads a bit of deck fore and aft, floor boards, the engine box, the fish well, a rudder, and this elusive vertical rudder. So here it goes:

 

I could not remember how all were supposed to come together and it took me a long time to figure the boat out again. I am still not sure how the floor boards and inner planking should be arranged. In any case, I installed the sheer clamps and the two bulkheads fore and aft. I had to deviate a bit from the plans due to my corner cutting. I also cut several of the frame extensions and made two braces to make sure the hull does not loose its shape.

I also bought a new water stone 1000/6000 and honed again all my chisels - they are now truly razor sharp. I also did all the kitchen knives including the serrated bread knives - all now very sharp!

 

Much to do and at some point I must paint the hull. I have no doubt the beech will find a new moisture equilibrium and the sims will open up again so it needs to be done asap but it is -2C in England currently so painting will have to wait. I 've decided to use enamels and top it up with enamel varnish - all brush painted. Have not used enamels in many years!

 

Till next time, my very best wishes for the New Year!

 

Vaddoc

[Wintergreen]

I hope all the biting haven't left too deep marks in your soul Vaddoc. Some things we learn the hard way...

It looks like you've conquered the troubles anyway 🙂

 

Keep it up!

[Jim Lad]

Looks like you've made a good recovery after a hard-fought battle. i hope the road ahead is a bit smoother.

 

John

[Mirabell61]

On 11/19/2020 at 11:40 PM, vaddoc said:

I think another update is in order.

 

Box, many thanks but actually the frames on the photo were roughly cut , they were later finished to the exact pattern.

Keith, it was actually very easy to glue the mirror pattern on the back. I am pretty sure there are already significant tolerances in the build, a bit more to the left or to the right will make no difference I think!

 

I just managed to scrape a few moments here and there to work on the boat. I first finished all the frames to the exact pattern using the disc sander and mostly diamond files, which remove a lot of wood quickly. This took a while as the plywood at 6 mm is pretty thick. 

Then, I printed mirror patterns for all frames and with scissors cut the outline. Then I simply glued the frames to the back of the pattern. It actually worked pretty well.

 

I could not resist aligning the frames, nice curves I must say... The straight parts that ruin the poetry will later be cut off, they are there just to help to set up the frames.

 

However, this was the easier part. I now need to cut the bevels, both for the outer and the inner planking. This is pretty challenging.

 

The diamond files are not useful here. The disc sander is far too aggressive and far too large. What actually made the task easier was to attach round sand paper to the Dremel. I like this trick, it sands not too aggressively but also is flexible and can fit in tight spaces.

A mountain of work left, I ve only sanded the bevels for two frames.

I also printed the patterns for the keel and stem. I think I will cut the deadwood en block instead of building it up.

I am not 100% certain how the boat will be assembled, probably the right side up as the frames will be permanent so need to somehow be well attached to the keel. We ll see.

 

Regards

Vaddoc

Very nice project Vaddoc,

 

Nils

[vaddoc]

 

@håkan, @Jim Lad, @Mirabell61, many thanks!

To all that hit the like button, many thanks as well!

 

A bit more work done, I feel I understand the boat better now.

I made the frame for the fish well, needs its veneer to be added on.

I also added most of the inner planking on the starboard side. It went really well, I only had to spill the aft part of the lower plank. There is a bit more planking left to do towards the bow. Screwing and drilling at such angles is pretty difficult, mainly at the bow. 

I also cut a piece of wood for the breasthook/small deck, it will be sanded curved later on after the sheer shelf is added.

The inner planking is maple, so will be much easier to sand than beech. At 1 mm thick it allowed generous edge bending but I do need to be careful when sanding.

 

Vaddoc

Edited January 21, 2024 by vaddoc

[KeithAug]

Very nicely done.

[Dr PR]

In my early planked hulls I also had problems with the wood shrinking and swelling, opening cracks in the hulls even after they had been sealed and painted.

 

About 35 years ago I started using a thin clear two part epoxy paint to seal the interior of the hulls. This paint is used by airplane modelers to seal wooden engine mounts so they don't soak up fuel.

 

The paint filled in any cracks between planks and soaked into the planking and bulkheads/frames. After it hardened the planking was very solid. After 35 years of long wet winters and hot dry summers there have been no cracks opening in the hulls.

[KeithAug]

12 hours ago, Dr PR said:

 

About 35 years ago I started using a thin clear two part epoxy paint to seal the interior of the hulls. This paint is used by airplane modelers to seal wooden engine mounts so they don't soak up fuel.

That seems like a sensible approach. As for myself I plank with hardwood cut from very old furniture. I don't experience problems with shrinkage but the wood can be quite brittle and will break if the curvature is too great.

[allanyed]

I love the neatness of the internal planking as well as everything else.  Great model!

Allan

 

[vaddoc]

Dear all

 

Many thanks for your comments and likes.

@Dr PR You are right re: epoxy Phil, but I ve used beech wood - couldn't have made a worse choice!

 

I ve lost count how many times I have had to go back to the hull. It keeps on changing shape, new cracks appearing, planks shifting, it follows the change of seasons and when it reaches equilibrium with the ambient moisture the planks go walkabout. I am waiting for the weather to get warmer so I can paint and varnish it and then leave it to cycle through its moods. For now, I ve just used some more filler - Ill sand it smooth tomorrow. 

I am using Osmo filler which is wonderfull stuff, run out of beech colour so using colourless but I ll prime the hull so it does not matter.

 

I finished the inner planking and sand it smooth - ish. I ve been scratching my head for some time now, not sure how the floorboards should be arranged. There is a substantial curve at the sides where the floor meets the side planking. Not sure how this would have been made

 

In the meantime, I made another model with my 7 year old daughter - a school project. The photos are terrible but you may just make out the cotton at the top of the chimneys. We really enjoyed the juice previously contained in the hull.

Till next time

 

Vaddoc

 

[Jim Lad]

Sorry to hear that you're still having problems with your planks misbehaving, but your daughter's project looks really good!

 

John

[Mirabell61]

excellent work Vaddoc,

also the inboard planking looks great

 

Nils

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Vaddoc, good progress. And your daughter's boat is lovely, she will remember the experience of making something with her dad.

 

I know it's painful subject, but is Beech timber more inclined to change size with changing humidity? I think Phil's advice to seal the timber is good, it should significantly slow down humidity changes of the timber.