Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by DanB - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:24

[DanB]

Throat halyard, peak halyard and main sheet

Instructions were pretty clear, but I should have looked ahead and figured out where these blocks with the eyes go first and it would have saved me some extra work. Lines are not in permanently yet so I can tighten the and adjust them. Instructions say not to glue in the mast and use the stays to hold it in position, but I am not sure how well that is going to work. 

 

Stays

 

The turnbuckles that are supplied have holes that are too small for the 0.7 mm line and the hooks on the opposite ends are also pretty small. I tried widening the hole in one with a broach but it was too delicate after I widened the hole and it  broke. Tied using a loop of 0.4mm to connect them to the loop on the larger line (not very ship shape I think) but it was difficult to get the jib stay tight that way.  I think I will try it again. 

 

 

[DanB]

Standing Rigging

This was harder than I thought it would be. As per the instructions, I did not glue in the mast. Using small alligator clips on the lines, I think I was able to get the tension on the back stays balanced so the mast was vertical. I bought 0.55 mm black line which fit the supplied turnbuckles much better. It would have been a bit easier to attach the turnbuckles if had made the holes in the chainplates closer to the edge as the hooks on the turnbuckles are very small. I had to use epoxy on one to get it into position.  On to the jib sail. 

 

[GGibson]

Looks really, really good, Dan!  Yeah, I did as much of the mast and sail rigging work horizontally on the table, and waited until about this point to place the mast on the boat.  And I had binder clips and clothes pins all over the rigging!  Your standing rigging is nice!  The jib sail should be much easier... or at least that's what I kept telling myself!  Sweet!

 

Gregg

[DanB]

13 hours ago, GGibson said:

Looks really, really good, Dan!  Yeah, I did as much of the mast and sail rigging work horizontally on the table, and waited until about this point to place the mast on the boat.  And I had binder clips and clothes pins all over the rigging!  Your standing rigging is nice!  The jib sail should be much easier... or at least that's what I kept telling myself!  Sweet!

 

Gregg

Thanks Gregg!

[mark.bukovich]

Looks great!

 

I'm curious... after all the painting and gluing and such, is the centerboard still functional? 

[DanB]

Hi Mark

 

Unfortunately, the centerboard  does not function on my model. In the instructions there is an option to make it function and and option to just glue it in position. Getting it to move properly was one of the more difficult parts of assembling the central spine as it was necessary to modify the slot that the rod travels in quite a bit (see the beginning of my build and others on this site). I thought I had it working pretty well but, I think  I had to do some ungluing of  several bulkheads  to get them to fit properly and align with the deck, and I most likely during that process  diluted glue got into the centerboard slot and it was  then stuck. I managed to free it but had to remove the rod to do it so I just took the option of gluing it so it was in the down position .

[catopower]

Beautiful job on this model Dan! 

 

Or should I say "neighbor"? I live just up the road from you in Pleasant Hill. 

 

I look forward to seeing more of your work.

 

 

 

[DanB]

Jib Sail in Progress

 

I

I had trouble with this. The first step is to tape down the cloth and use white glue diluted to a cream consistency with water to stiffen it. I have been using Elmer’s Glue All, and it was working well.  I  used a new bottle to do the jib sail, and it did not work well, the cloth bubbled up as it was drying. I dug my old bottle out and noticed that it said “Interior” on it. The  other bottle had different stuff in it, not as thick. I read lots of build logs (maybe too many?), and several people mentioned using Modge Podge for this step. I decided to try that instead of hunting for the other species of Elmer’s Glue-All. Modge Podge seems to be working great and it smoothed out most of the bubbles.  Since I am not planning to put any of my models in the water at this point, I will have to find another bottle of the Interior stuff, it was thicker, smelled better and it comes apart nicely with a bit of rubbing alcohol when I make mistakes. 

 

 

[GGibson]

Jib sail looks good, Dan!  Yeah, I have seen the "interior" labeled bottle of Elmer's around, but didn't like the look of the pour spout (I know, sounds like a silly reason), so I've been sticking with (pun intended) the more conventional bottle in the middle of your picture.  I have not heard about the Mod Podge, so will have to look for it next time I need to restock.

 

You are getting close to the end!  Congrats!

 

Gregg

[bobandlucy]

Looks great!

[DanB]

Jib sail — twice

 

Moving a long slowly. Working on my rigging skills 😀

 

The kit comes with a full size sail plan. I meticulously copied the locations for the holes for in the sail for the hanks that hold the jib sail to the fore stay. I did not take a close look at the brass loops that are supplied with the kit for the hanks. If I had , I would have figured out that the holes needed to be closer to the edge of the sail.  I will probably need to keep learning this lesson: read the instructions, look at the plans, and the materials, and the ship!

 

There is an option to use rope hanks to attach the jib sail and the plan even has a nice diagram to show how to do it, but I used up all the beige 0.4mm line.  I went to the local hardware store, bought some 28 gauge black annealed steel wire. I wrapped it around a small screw driver and used the same technique that was used for the mast hoops to make slightly larger loops that the ones supplied for the hanks for the jib sail. That seemed to work well ,but then I noted that fore stay did not seem tight enough.  I took the whole thing apart today and rigged it again

 

 The down haul form the front of the jib sail is supposed to belay at a cleat on the bow sprit. I think my splice loop on the sail was too big and the line was not close enough to to the block it goes though and not long enough to belay at the cleat. I will do  that that again — after a break.

 

I am going to spend some time looking at videos and diagrams of how lines are supposed to be attached to  a Sampson post and watching videos to relearn how to make a cleat hitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mark.bukovich]

2 hours ago, DanB said:

Jib sail — twice

 

Moving a long slowly. Working on my rigging skills 😀

 

The kit comes with a full size sail plan. I meticulously copied the locations for the holes for in the sail for the hanks that hold the jib sail to the fore stay. I did not take a close look at the brass loops that are supplied with the kit for the hanks. If I had , I would have figured out that the holes needed to be closer to the edge of the sail.  I will probably need to keep learning this lesson: read the instructions, look at the plans, and the materials, and the ship!

 

There is an option to use rope hanks to attach the jib sail and the plan even has a nice diagram to show how to do it, but I used up all the beige 0.4mm line.  I went to the local hardware store, bought some 28 gauge black annealed steel wire. I wrapped it around a small screw driver and used the same technique that was used for the mast hoops to make slightly larger loops that the ones supplied for the hanks for the jib sail. That seemed to work well ,but then I noted that fore stay did not seem tight enough.  I took the whole thing apart today and rigged it again

 

 The down haul form the front of the jib sail is supposed to belay at a cleat on the bow sprit. I think my splice loop on the sail was too big and the line was not close enough to to the block it goes though and not long enough to belay at the cleat. I will do  that that again — after a break.

 

I am going to spend some time looking at videos and diagrams of how lines are supposed to be attached to  a Sampson post and watching videos to relearn how to make a cleat hitch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's looking good, Dan.

 

I encountered a similar problem when I was working on the rigging for my Chesapeake Bay Flattie. The instructions said to cut a line of a certain length, and it turned out too short on the actual model. I should have checked the length on the model first. These were the halyards, and I didn't realize they were too short until I ran them through the blocks. Since they were already tied, I decided to splice more line to them instead of redoing it.

[DanB]

Getting Close to Finished

I still have a few more rope coils to make and place, oar locks to glue in and one back stay that is a bit loose to re- do (again).  I keep needing to remind myself to slow down, take my time. I’ve been doing a lot of the rigging a few times over on this one. I am going to LA to see family for Memorial Day, so finishing the Lobster Smack have to wait until next week. 

 

 

[GGibson]

Looks great, Dan!  Safe travels! Enjoy the holiday weekend.

[Prowler901]

Great job!  This is one that has always been on my list.  Just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

Todd

[DanB]

Finished!

 

Overall, this kit has been a very good experience. David Antscherl´s instruction manual is excellent. The planking instructions were very helpful, and it was nice to be able to learn to do it using pre shaped planks. It was also much clearer in this kit how to shape the masts and spars from square  to round. It would have been helpful to have more detailed plans for the hull, and rigging, but it was usually possible to figure things out form the photos in the manual and the written instructions. Other build logs on this site are also a great help, and I hope mine will also be of some help to anyone else who builds the Lobster Smack.

 

I was planning to build the Sultana next and try to follow Chuck Passaro’s very detailed practicum. I ordered the kit at the end of March during Model Expo’s pre-moving sale. It is still back ordered with no information on when it will be available 🙁.  So my next project will be the NRG half hull project which arrived here about 6 days after I ordered it last week.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by DanB

[druxey]

Well done! A lovely clean model to be proud of.

[GGibson]

Rigging looks great, Dan!  Congrats on finishing.  A model to definitely be proud of!

 

Next! 

[DanB]

47 minutes ago, druxey said:

Well done! A lovely clean model to be proud of.

Thanks! 

[DanB]

18 minutes ago, GGibson said:

Rigging looks great, Dan!  Congrats on finishing.  A model to definitely be proud of!

 

Next! 

Thanks!

[Prowler901]

Congrats!  She looks fabulous!

 

Todd

[ccoyle]

Congratulations, Dan! She does indeed look great.

[Ryland Craze]

Congratulations Dan on finishing this model.  You did an excellent job on building this model. 

[mark.bukovich]

Congratulations Dan! As others have said, she looks great!

 

I have to say also that it was a great build log with plenty of helpful detail. Seeing the experience makes me want to try this kit at some point in the future.

 

It seems that while the curves make this boat quite pretty, they also make her more challenging to build.

[bobandlucy]

Looks very nice, Dan!

[AJohnson]

Well done Dan, very nice indeed. 👌

[DanB]

Thanks very much to everyone for all of the nice comments! 

 

Dan

[Dave_E]

Outstanding Dan! Excellent work and detail. When you start the half hull… do a build log? 👍😀

[DanB]

6 hours ago, Dave_E said:

Outstanding Dan! Excellent work and detail. When you start the half hull… do a build log? 👍😀

Thanks Dave!  Starting the Half Hull today. I needed a trip to the hardware store for some supplies to get started. I will start a build log. It looks like there are lots of them and the instructions are great, but it is so helpful to get suggestions and encouragement for others along the way. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Well done!