Biscayne Bay Sailing Skiff by Reverend Colonel - 1:24 - SMALL - made from a beech log from NG Herreshoff design

[wefalck]

Perhaps I didn't actually look to closely at the beginning, I didn't realise that this is a boat with hard chines. In this case the stringers, kind of serving as landing for the next strake make perfect sense.

 

In fact, there are also carveel building techniques, where the individual strakes are joined by interior stringers. I think this is actually a rather old technique, practiced since antiquity in the Mediterranean. They both, reinforced the construction and ensured watertightness. In the Nordic countries laths were used to hold down the caulking of moss in some types of boats.

[Reverend Colonel]

Wefalck!

Yes! To all of your considerations. The three strakes, three on each side rather, creates a shape that appears from many angles to be round. It also makes for a light, strong boat that is relatively inexpensive and easy to build. It should also be a great sailer. 
 

The “stringers” are called chine logs. 

Stringers (for deck beams to rest on), two deck beams, the watertight bulkhead and the breasthook installed and painted. The mast step is also installed. Note beams on either side of the center board trunk. 

Sole planks being dry fit. The hole in center plank that allows it lay over the mast step was marked and made by drilling out most of the wood and using small chisels to make it square. 

Center planks (fore and aft) and the straight planks installed. 

Dry fitting outboard sole plank. 

Sole planks installed. I painted the beech wood planks with two washes of mahogany color paint by Vallejo. 
 

Remaining deck beams, elbows for the side decks, aft deck beams, chain plates up next. 
 

Have a nice day!

Edited April 24, 2024 by Reverend Colonel

[64Pacific]

Quite an interesting project and a great read on a quiet Sunday morning. Nice work, looking forward to watching this one continue along.

[Reverend Colonel]

A few more deck beams added. I got a consistent curve for the beams by drawing a pair of concentric circles with a protractor onto a piece of shirt board. The distance between the circles would be the ~thickness of the beams. 

I would tape pieces of timber, milled to thickness in the path of the arc - sounds like the eclipse. Put the sharp end of the protractor into the small hole in the center of the circle and draw the pair of concentric circles onto the wood. Rough cut and sand to the line. Or until the line disappears. 

Here’s the ship yard with RIGEL as the center of attention. You can see the pattern cut for the elbows that will support the side decks.
 

Not shown are my Proxxon chop saw, table saw and drill press which I picked up second-hand from a man whom used them for doll houses. Also not shown are the big box brand band saw (say that 5 times fast) and drill press. Here’s the “jig saw” a neighbor gave me. It was a tool from a local high school’s wood shop. 

I’ve started using this more and more. I will likely put it to more use when I begin building models at 3/8 scale. 
 

What follows are a bit of a digression: some images from my recent trip from the Glen Cove area of Long Island to Newport.

 

First are photos of a New Haven style sharpie that the preservation shipyard at Mystic Seaport has been working on for some time. It was more impressive then I imagined it would be. I always pictured that they would have a daintiness about them, given the drawings I have seen, but this boat is very substantial. 

The next images are from the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport. They are of the launch RESOLUTE, designed and built by the Herreshoff firm around 1916. Here’s what Maynard Bray, small craft historian has written about this design. 
 

“Five of these double-cockpit launches were built after they were designed by Nat Herreshoff for possible use by the U.S. Navy during the First World War. (Destroyer Tenders?) Legend has it that because the Herreshoffs wouldn't allow other builders the use of their design, the navy went elsewhere after obtaining only one boat. Two boats that were built to this design by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company ended up at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Long Island…”

The boat is the property of the Mystic Seaport but is being restored by IRYS, likely by instructors and volunteers this summer. 
 

Finally, a few pictures from Building J in the town of Oyster Bay, LI. I was there last week to borrow their Wood Mizer to mill two large, knot free holly trunks that were part of a tree removed from the church property. They are working on a large cabin launch - with quite a sordid history - built in Alabama in the first quarter of the 20th century. The ship saw was recently restored by the some of the few professional shipwrights, and some of the many volunteers, who help in this amazing shop. 
 

Holly planks. Between 1” and 2.5”. Stickered and strapped and ready to go into a kiln this week. 

[shipmodel]

Hi Jesse - 

 

It was a pleasure to meet you earlier today and look at this little gem in person.

I think you made an excellent go of the many issues and problems that you encountered in your first wooden ship model.

Keep up the good work.

 

You asked about some of my other works, and you can see some of the build logs in my profile, or in the Gallery.

I'm always happy to answer any questions that may come to mind.

 

Be well

 

Dan

[Reverend Colonel]

16 hours ago, shipmodel said:

Hi Jesse....

Dan, thank you!

 

And thank you to all of you who are continuing the tradition of model ship building and sharing your experiences on this forum. 

Discovering boats and then boat modeling has been such a joy. Creative, humbling, problem solving, letting go and moving forward. 

 

I had the chance to visit Dan's shop yesterday to drop off a model for repair. There's too much to share and you all have been following his posts and reading his articles so you know what he's up to. However, I did want to repeat a two sentiments that Dan shared with me that I think are very important...and I am paraphrasing.

 

"Develop an interest in and an appreciation of art and old handmade things." 

 

"The best tool a modeler can have is a club."

 

Not one that you would use to smash your model when you're frustrated (though you may want one of those, too) but one you can join and learn directly from other modelers. 

 

Until the next post,

Jesse

[mtaylor]

A lot of wisdom in what Dan said.  For many of us that don't have clubs nearby, MSW is our club.   

[Reverend Colonel]

An update of photos with descriptions and digressions concerning the fabrication of gudgeons.

I was not at the stage of the build where I needed to make and install the rudder and its component parts, but I couldn’t stop thinking ahead and out of curiosity decided to try my hand at fabricating some gudgeons out of brass stock. A local jeweler gave me some scraps to use. 

I got this far with some Dremel bits (the little stone grinder wheel and a sanding drum) attached to a bench top drill press. I clamped the brass stock into a vise and moved it up against the spinning bit to remove parts I didn’t want. 

Heres the first attempt. I used small files and homemade sandpaper sticks to remove the rest. I sawed the bit off with an Exacto hobby saw and then sanded the back until it was really thin. 

Second attempt. Now the challenge will be to make two that are similar enough. 

Looks cute. I mean cool. You can see where the planks are not flush against each other where they meet at the transom so I filled the gaps. “Putty and paint make it what it ain’t.” 

This photo is hanging at our village museum and is of the harbor just down the hill. Boats like this really intrigue me. It was almost certainly designed to have a sailing rig but it appears to have been converted. You can see where the mast would have gone through the deck. It just raises all sorts of questions. Was it ever a fishing or workboat, or was it a purpose built pleasure craft for day sailing and weekend inshore cruising? Was it made at a local shipyard and if so, by whom? 
 

This scene might be of a charter outing - a converted sailboat could generate some decent money taking tourists out for a hour or so on the weekends and holidays.

 

Here are some other photos of boats from the same era, also off shore from the same village. The first is from 1908 or ‘09; the second from 1910. 


There’s something unique about them. I think. 
 

I’ve got more photos and I’ll put them up soon. 
 
J. 

Edited November 22, 2024 by Reverend Colonel

[KeithAug]

10 hours ago, Reverend Colonel said:

try my hand at fabricating some gudgeons out of brass stock.

Excellent considering you were restricted to making them by hand. I need to make something similar and I suspect I will find it difficult enough to make them with the benefit of machines.

 

 

[Reverend Colonel]

On 11/22/2024 at 8:22 AM, KeithAug said:

Excellent considering you were restricted to making them by hand. I need to make something similar and I suspect I will find it difficult enough to make them with the benefit of machines.

 

 

Kieth! I did use some machines. I fashioned a mill out of dremel-style stone grinding bit and a mini-bench top drill press. Bad for the drill press though. Could loosen the whole thing up and cause the drill bits to deflect when drilling. 
 

Kieth. I’m not sure how you could possibly approach any brass work with trepidation. Your stuff is inspiring. What machines do you use for this type of work? I’ll go back and scour your build logs for those parts. 

[Reverend Colonel]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:53 PM, mtaylor said:

A lot of wisdom in what Dan said.  For many of us that don't have clubs nearby, MSW is our club.   

This is my club, too, gratefully. I can’t believe how much information there is in the pages and people. And people are very nice…and as obsessed with boats as I am.  

[KeithAug]

6 hours ago, Reverend Colonel said:

What machines do you use for this type of work? I’ll go back and scour your build logs for those parts. 

I just have a relatively low cost Chinese mill and lathe. Perfectly adequate for most boat building jobs while being big enough to take on some moderately larger products. They are usually sold badged under a local distributors name. My mill and lathe are sold in the USA under the "Grizzly" banner.