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Sassafras 12 by ccoyle - Chesapeake Light Craft - FINISHED - 1:1 scale canoe - you read that right


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2 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Well that rules out Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Well that depends entirely on the font size

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Rumpelstiltskin?

🌻

STAY SAFE

 

A model shipwright and an amateur historian are heads & tails of the same coin

current builds:

HMS Berwick 1775, 1/192 scratchbuild; a Slade 74 in the Navy Board style

Mediator sloop, 1/48 - an 18th century transport scratchbuild 

French longboat - CAF - 1/48, on hold

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 C.C. Rider? 

Current Builds:  1870's Sternwheeler, Lula

                             Wood Hull Screw Frigate USS Tennessee

                             Decorative Carrack Warship Restoration, the Amelia

 

Completed: 1880s Floating Steam Donkey Pile Driver                       

                       Early Swift 1805 Model Restoration

 

 

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Just finished sanding and putting on varnish coat #2. It's quite warm today, and the varnish gets tack-dry quickly, which I discovered when I carelessly rested an arm on one of the varnished decks (the one not pictured, obviously). Oops. Good thing it wasn't the finish coat. And stop with the name guesses -- you guys aren't even close! 😝

 

sass70.thumb.jpg.3a5793304c55e9d1d986f9b7105c8484.jpg

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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You should do a christening  party when you name her  - perhaps invite some of the gang round from  here.

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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Sure, I'm just an hour North of you in Hendersonville.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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She's looking beautiful Chris - nice job.  Really like that deep blue.  She's going to be a pleasure to paddle.

 

Gary

Current Build   Pelican Eastern-Rig Dragger  

 

Completed Scratch Builds

Rangeley Guide Boat   New England Stonington Dragger   1940 Auto Repair Shop   Mack FK Shadowbox    

 

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On 5/24/2021 at 10:18 AM, Ian_Grant said:

Experienced husbands, upon completion of such a fine project, and with an eye to the future, would name her after their wife.

That would be if one was still looking for brownie points not the case anymore so name her after an ole Girlfriend the wife knew ;) Kevin

 

murder on 34th street

Edited by Javlin
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Moving forward. I decided that four coats of varnish were enough, not because four coats made everything pretty, but because I felt like my sanding between coats (scuffing, really) was making things look worse, not better. So I moved on to hardware and fittings. 😮

 

First up: drain plugs. Holes were cut with a 1" router bit, then plugs glued in with marine adhesive. Set the screws with adhesive, too.

 

sass71.thumb.jpg.013452afae751faf7326edc7551490a2.jpg

 

For tie-down points, I settled on inexpensive eye screws. These are also set with marine adhesive. The screws are set at the points where the inner rails join together (not visible in this shot); there's a healthy amount of wood and epoxy for the screws to bite into.

 

sass72.thumb.jpg.20375438e6a60974f7089e713a10d96e.jpg

 

Next up was the thwart. You know, I totally forgot to give consideration to which end should be the front -- I just got carried away installing stuff. Oh, well -- now it is carved in stone, er, wood. Each end of the thwart is attached to the underside of a rail by two countersunk screws. I bought myself a small ratchet driver for this job -- worked great, and it came in a set along with one of every type of driver bit known to man.

 

sass73.thumb.jpg.c6a742e96afa4516eaec3b3edae64d88.jpg

 

Lastly for today was attaching the back rest. It is secured to the thwart by a bungee cord and tensioned by two adjustable web belts.

 

sass74.thumb.jpg.ff3214d08f1b3ba24414bed312b0ddb4.jpgsass75.thumb.jpg.d141739e1df7765e39775332d57f7744.jpg

 

We are getting close now!

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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34 minutes ago, ccoyle said:

Moving forward. I decided that four coats of varnish were enough, not because four coats made everything pretty, but because I felt like my sanding between coats (scuffing, really) was making things look worse, not better. So I moved on to hardware and fittings. 😮

 

First up: drain plugs. Holes were cut with a 1" router bit, then plugs glued in with marine adhesive. Set the screws with adhesive, too.

 

sass71.thumb.jpg.013452afae751faf7326edc7551490a2.jpg

 

For tie-down points, I settled on inexpensive eye screws. These are also set with marine adhesive. The screws are set at the points where the inner rails join together (not visible in this shot); there's a healthy amount of wood and epoxy for the screws to bite into.

 

sass72.thumb.jpg.20375438e6a60974f7089e713a10d96e.jpg

 

Next up was the thwart. You know, I totally forgot to give consideration to which end should be the front -- I just got carried away installing stuff. Oh, well -- now it is carved in stone, er, wood. Each end of the thwart is attached to the underside of a rail by two countersunk screws. I bought myself a small ratchet driver for this job -- worked great, and it came in a set along with one of every type of driver bit known to man.

 

sass73.thumb.jpg.c6a742e96afa4516eaec3b3edae64d88.jpg

 

Lastly for today was attaching the back rest. It is secured to the thwart by a bungee cord and tensioned by two adjustable web belts.

 

sass74.thumb.jpg.ff3214d08f1b3ba24414bed312b0ddb4.jpgsass75.thumb.jpg.d141739e1df7765e39775332d57f7744.jpg

 

We are getting close now!

Hope you got a bottle of something for the christening?

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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A bottle of bubbly yes, but no bananas, flat feet, or whistling (among other things).

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Zooming right along ...

 

Next task was to glue down the seat. Not easy, since instructions specify a linear distance of exactly 71.375" from the stem to the front of the seat. But of course, one can't measure a straight line down from the stem into the boat, can one? Solution: a primitive plumb bob made from a miniature clothespin hanging from a thread wound onto a piece of scrap wood. Measure from the stem to where the scrap meets each rail to create the base of an isosceles  triangle, hang the bob over the center line, and presto! Location of seat identified.

 

sass76.thumb.jpg.9e9ea3ad44b3804a744f4e9db30327fb.jpg

 

The seat consists of two foam pads. The lower pad is hollow as you can see; that allowed me to run a marker around the inside to see where the glue needed to go. The base is glued down with contact cement, then the top layer is glued on top. The hollow construction will allow my tush to settle in comfortably (hopefully).

 

sass77.thumb.jpg.f28c34adf5534dcf60b461cc0ff99971.jpg

 

With the inside finished, it was time to flip her over again. Here I've identified spots that need a little touch up and flagged them with bits of tape. These are mostly quite small, so I think a a light scuff and a dab with a good quality brush should do the trick -- I intend to sacrifice one of my white sable modeling brushes for the job.  I can easily get another at the local Hobby Lobby. I will test this procedure out on one of the more obscure boo-boos before going at it hammer and tongs.

 

sass78.thumb.jpg.f4a5d5fac64f199701eaa14029f23b86.jpg

 

The finish line is in sight!

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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Nice job on your canoe, and a particularly nice choice in colours for the finish. If I may offer a small suggestion, if you haven't already, get a set of brass stem bands, they'll help protect the bow and stern from bumps, scrapes, abrasions, chips etc. 

 

Andy

Quando Omni Flunkus, Moritati


Current Build:

USF Confederacy

 

 

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Hmmmm ! I always knelt in the bottom a canoe with my tush resting against a thwart.  Never sat in the bottom of a canoe.  Wonder what paddling from that position is like.

 

Anyway, beautiful looking canoe, Chris. Great job building her. 

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I tested one small spot as i suggested in my earlier post. I'm not entirely satisfied -- you can see where the touch-up has been done, even though you might have to squint just right to see it. I may reconsider and do only the spots that really need it.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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5 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Hmmmm ! I always knelt in the bottom a canoe with my tush resting against a thwart.  Never sat in the bottom of a canoe.  Wonder what paddling from that position is like.

 

Yes I was thinking the same thing. Sitting in it kayak style will not allow proper power strokes or control whereas kneeling as above gives a great deal of control and power. Even if you aren't going for power it will give you better bang for your muscle buck so you will not fatigue anywhere near as quickly. There is also the benefit that when kneeling it is easy to tip the canoe to one side which will help it turn.

 

A comfort tip for kneeling:- take two car washing sponges to kneel on, they also double as bailers to remove excess water.

 

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Sassafras is designed as a sit-on-bottom canoe. I'm going to assume for now that the designer(s) had a good reason for the lower center of gravity.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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More room in the back  (less legs)    for passengers   should have said   MSW  members 😇

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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Yeah Chris, I'm not trying to correct the designer and I'm sure there will be plenty of quiet drifting/slow paddling where the seated position will be highly desirable. Just thought it reasonable to let you know the other option.

 

I wonder if this is designed to be paddled more like a kayak which, by the way is far more efficient than the single paddle and "J stroke". I had a 15 foot Old Town canoe and always preferred the kayak paddling style. Either way, you'll work it out and get a great deal of pleasure from it.

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10 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

More room in the back  (less legs)    for passengers   should have said   MSW  members 😇

 

Load capacity is only 250 lbs, so it would have to be a really small MSW member.  😳

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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9 hours ago, Bedford said:

I wonder if this is designed to be paddled more like a kayak

 

Yup, exactly. I already have the paddle. It is longer than a typical kayak paddle on account of the higher freeboard. Neither the canoe nor the paddle are designed with aggressive paddling in mind.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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Okay, time for THE BIG REVEAL!!

 

After seven months of work, Sha-Sam-Kat is ready for her debut. Some concluding thoughts will follow, but first let's have some pictures.

 

sass79.thumb.jpg.3681ffe11022644f94d51fce10c8d0cb.jpg

 

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sass81.thumb.jpg.86a1ed4bc0179eb8b62e67f862ff6018.jpg

 

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sass84.thumb.jpg.c75f3df3e8a673142321a02a52b91253.jpg

 

The name Sha-Sam-Kat is a nod to my three great kids, Shannon, Samuel, and Kathleen. I got the lettering from a place that does custom boat decals. Got the left side just a touch too high during the application process, but it's not especially noticeable from a distance. All told, I spent probably around $1600 for the kit, tools, and materials -- more than a mass-produced fiberglass or aluminum canoe will set one back, but far cheaper than comparable custom-built wooden canoes. I might get her out on the water this weekend -- pics to follow if that happens.

 

Some concluding thoughts:

 

  • Building a boat is a love/hate relationship. There were times when I was all ready to have a go at a second boat and other times when I just wanted the darned thing to finally be finished! Can you say "sanding"?
  • I'm happy with the Chesapeake Light Craft kit -- nothing to complain about in that department. Whatever flaws are visible on the finished item come down solely to me and not the kit.
  • If I had to do it again, I would pick a simpler design for a first effort. Although rated for beginners, the lapstrake planking creates about twice as many seams to tack together and fill. A slab-sided dinghy or skiff would've been easier, but also much heavier.
  • This was my first time working with both epoxy and fiberglass. It sure would have been handy to have those skills before starting construction!
  • If you have building a boat on your bucket list, do it! Don't wait.

So, that concludes my 1:1 build. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me, and I also hope that it has inspired other potential builders. Perhaps we will see other 1:1 builds in the near future.

 

Thanks for tagging along, everybody!

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Bf 109E-7/trop

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She looks great, Chris!  Thanks for sharing.  I've checked out CLC's website in the past and they look like nice kits.  It was a pleasure to watch yours come together.  I'm looking forward to photos on the water.

Current Build:

HMS Winchelsea 1:48 (Group Project)

 

Completed Builds:

Virginia 1819 Artesania Latina - 1:41 

 

 

 

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HAZZZAHH!!!!!

 

giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47nkh4axnw0oaa35b2w2

 

Chris, what a good looking canoe, well done.

🌻

STAY SAFE

 

A model shipwright and an amateur historian are heads & tails of the same coin

current builds:

HMS Berwick 1775, 1/192 scratchbuild; a Slade 74 in the Navy Board style

Mediator sloop, 1/48 - an 18th century transport scratchbuild 

French longboat - CAF - 1/48, on hold

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VERY nice canoe Chris!

May you have many happy hours in her.

I've  enjoyed watching the build🙂🙃😉

Current builds;

 Henry Ramey Upcher 1:25

Providence whaleboat- 1:25     HMS Winchelsea 1764 1:48 

Completed:

HM Cutter Sherbourne- 1:64- finished    Triton cross section scratch- 1:60 - finished 

Non ship:  SBD-3 Dauntless 1:48 Hasegawa -FINISHED

 

 

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Really nice work Chris  and the  name is excellent   "Spice the main brace " mate.

 

OC.

Current builds  


28mm  Battle of Waterloo   attack on La Haye Saint   Diorama.

1/700  HMS Hood   Flyhawk   with  PE, Resin  and Wood Decking.

 

 

 

Completed works.

 

Dragon 1/700 HMS Edinburgh type 42 batch 3 Destroyer plastic.

HMS Warspite Academy 1/350 plastic kit and wem parts.

HMS Trafalgar Airfix 1/350 submarine  plastic.

Black Pearl  1/72  Revell   with  pirate crew.

Revell  1/48  Mosquito  B IV

Eduard  1/48  Spitfire IX

ICM    1/48   Seafire Mk.III   Special Conversion

1/48  Kinetic  Sea Harrier  FRS1

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Well done, Chris. Like OC says, splice the main brace. Have fun with her.

Ken

Started: MS Bounty Longboat,

On Hold:  Heinkel USS Choctaw paper

Down the road: Shipyard HMC Alert 1/96 paper, Mamoli Constitution Cross, MS USN Picket Boat #1

Scratchbuild: Echo Cross Section

 

Member Nautical Research Guild

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