Chesapeake Bay Flattie by mark.bukovich - FINISHED - Midwest Products - 1:32

[mark.bukovich]

Chesapeake Bay Flattie

Midwest Products - 1:32

 

Hi everyone! Here is my first build log and first model.

 

Some quick background on the kit:

My Dad got this kit for me when I was a kid roughly 20 years ago (I can't remember the exact year). I was really into age-of-sail stuff at the time, so was very happy about it. I got up to the point right before assembling the side and bottom planks, the instructions were misplaced, I got distracted by other things, and the kit was never finished. 

 

Somewhat recently, my Dad passed away, I rediscovered the kit, acquired many of his modeling tools and a lovely little skiff model he made (also Midwest), and determined to finish the kit he had gotten for me. 

 

I completed the hull at that time, but with life being what it is, it has taken me a couple of years to get back to it. (It also helped that I was getting screen headaches and needed something else to do in the evenings other than working on the computer)

 

So I am in a rhythm now, reading books about ship modeling, fishing and working boats, real boat building, etc, regularly working on the model, and really enjoying it. (I also fully intend to build a full-size boat or two over the coming years)

 

Since I am just starting this log in the middle of the build, and the kit was started 20 years ago, I can't really show every step, but I'll do my best to catch everyone up in subsequent replies to this thread.

 

I will include the kit box and current state of the model in the first post.

[mark.bukovich]

The oldest pictures I have of the boat are after I attached the side and bottom planks and the stem. While trimming the side planks down level with the deck, I accidentally went too low at the bow. While trying to repair this, I made things worse and accidentally took off more material. I repaired it by fitting and gluing on a chunk of wood, and then sanding flush with the plank and deck. I got glue everywhere, but the shape turned out good. 

 

In general, my gluing technique has been pretty messy for this model as can be seen in the following photo and the photo of the repair.

[Ryland Craze]

Nice start on this build.

[mark.bukovich]

Painting

 

I learned some valuable lessons while painting this model. 

 

1) the quality of the paint matters. I used a relatively cheap acrylic paint, and it was quite difficult to get the coverage and depth of color I wanted. Only good paints for me in the future.

 

2) Some mistakes I had made with the model became more obvious while painting. For example, the excess glue was not easy to hide as I thought it would be. It required layers and sanding more than I would have liked. Also excess glue completely undermined staining the wood. This came about with the rudder and tiller assembly. I was supposed to stain the tiller, but the excess glue from a messy glue job prevented the entire tiller from being stained, and it just looked wrong, so I wound up painting the whole assembly to hide the mistake.

 

3) That leads to the third lesson: plan the painting as far in advance as possible and certain components should be painted before assembly. If I had stained the tiller before assembling it with the rudder, I wouldn't have had the problem stated above. Also, if I did this kit again, I would have painted the deck and cabin components before assembly. This would have helped produce much cleaner lines. Especially around the hatches.

 

Here are pictures of the painted hull and some components.

[mark.bukovich]

Assembly of the display cradle:

 

I used a super high-tech method to align the display cradle blocks while gluing on the planks: scrap wood and masking tape. I marked the distance from the plans on the scrap and centered the blocks, keeping them in place with tape:

 

 

 

I encountered a challenge in that the planks bend around each other which puts them under tension. This makes it more difficult to bond the outside planks. In hindsight, I probably could have slightly bent the planks to ease the tension. I actually needed to use some epoxy on one of the corners to get a strong enough bond. I used some high-tech masking tape to gently clamp the outside planks until the glue fully cured. Tape might not be the best solution when considering the finish, but this assembly is supposed to look old, rustic, and worn, so I wasn't too concerned. 

 

In hindsight, if I did this again, I might sand a slight bevel in the blocks to give a better surface to glue the planks. But perhaps the "sloppy" angles was intended as part of the rustic and worn aesthetic? Actually, I could have gone further and sanding a slightly different bevel on each penciled in piece of lumber to both get a better glue surface and enhance the impression of separate pieces of lumber and rough construction.

I'm learning a lot of lessons building my first model that I will take with me to future models.

[mark.bukovich]

Adding the toe rails and rub rails

 

I glued on the toe rails and rub rails. I was a little apprehensive about this since the directions basically just say to put a bead of glue on the rail and then put it on. Since the deck curve doesn't perfectly match the curve of the rail when bent from two ends, it was not going to be easy to hold the whole thing in place while the glue dried, and I don't have any clamps that will work for this scenario. 

 

So I just glued the rails bit by bit.

 

I also used a strip of paper to determine the length of the aft rail.

 

I made a mistake in that while focusing on getting the port rub rail vertically aligned properly with the toe rail, I accidentally moved it back from the stem a little, so it doesn't horizontally align with the toe rail at the bow.

[mark.bukovich]

1 hour ago, Ryland Craze said:

Nice start on this build.

Thanks Ryland, I'm enjoying it!

[mark.bukovich]

Customization: cockpit plank flooring

 

Initially, I was planning to just finish the model as specified in the kit. However, seeing how others on this forum have customized this kit and seeing how pretty she was looking with the mahogany rails caused me to decide to spend some more time and have some fun with a little customization. 

 

The first customization is planked flooring. I cut a piece of paper to fit the cockpit floor and used that as my guide for assembling the flooring.

 

 

 

I taped the cross planks to the paper and glued the first plank in order to get everything aligned properly. 

 

 

I wasn't sure exactly how the spacing needed to be, so I glued on planks at the 1/4 positions and planks at the end (cut to an angle)

 

 

Then I filled in the gaps

 

 

I built it oversized so that I could trim and sand it to fit. 

 

[mark.bukovich]

Question

 

Now I'm caught up to the current state of the build, I have a decision to make.

 

I'm considering adding benches to the cockpit; what do you guys think?

 

I would just do it, but there is an issue that gives me pause: with a scale of 1:32, the height of the coaming rails above the cockpit floor would be about 20" on the full-size vessel. This might actually be low enough to serve as the cockpit seat, and a bench may be unnecessary. 

 

In addition, putting the benches at a practical height would interfere with the placement of the cleats specified by the kit's plans. A full-size height of at least 12" converts to at least 3/8" on the model which is exactly where the cleats are specified to be. So if I added benches, I would need to relocate the cleats, and I'm not sure of any rules or guidelines about where cleats for the sheets and halyard should be located on a vessel like this.

 

Does anyone have any knowledge or opinions related to this?

[mark.bukovich]

I'm having some good discussion in this thread about my question:

Thread

 

I'm thinking the more fundamental question is: do I try to make the cockpit more realistic, or do I just complete the kit and save the greater detail for another kit?

[mark.bukovich]

Pintle/Gudgeon Experimenting

 

I'm currently planning customization of the boat's cockpit and have a book on the way in the mail that should help.

 

In the meantime, I'm experimenting with a couple of different ways to make pintles and gudgeons for the rudder. Either option would be painted black before gluing to the stern post and rudder.

 

Which option do you like best?

 

 

 

 

The wooden gudgeon was inspired by a drawing I found by Howard Chapelle. It would still need a hole drilled through which I would do before gluing. I also have slightly thicker wood strips that I would use for the sides. This was made by cutting off a little piece from a dowel and then cutting that in half. Then that was glued onto to edge of the scrap wood, and the strips were glued on the sides.

 

The metal option was made by cutting a little strip from a brass sheet and forming it around a 1/16" piece of scrap wood and a little pin. I liked how easy it was to form the dimples by pressing a sharp point in from behind. The metal option probably looks more like a typical gudgeon.

 

I also decided to make a new rudder assembly mostly because I wasn't satisfied with the current tiller. To start, I cut out a new rudder with X-Acto knife and some sanding.

 

[mark.bukovich]

Ok, time for an update!

 

I've had a great discussion on the other thread I mentioned, and I've finally decided on a plan for the cockpit.

 

As part of that discussion, I've been doing some research. There is a Chesapeake Bay Flattie in both Howard Chapelle's American Small Sailing Craft and Kunhardt's Small Yachts. 

 

 

 

It turns out that the flattie in Kunhardt's book is exactly what the Midwest kit is based on. 

 

Anyhow, this is a drawing of how I will configure the cockpit:

 

And here are some pictures showing work on the panels that go below the cockpit benches:

 

Painted white and drilled a tiny hole

 

A pin glued into the hole and the needle snipped short.

 

Panel glued back into the larger panel slightly protruding.

 

The tiny little pieces used for the hinges:

 

First, I glued the little snips of wire, then the lower part of the hinge, and the the upper part:

 

 

[VTHokiEE]

Wow just saw your log - what a great job so far. I really like what you did with the floor; I wish I had done that on mine but it was my first rodeo so I stayed pretty true to the kit.

[mark.bukovich]

2 hours ago, VTHokiEE said:

Wow just saw your log - what a great job so far. I really like what you did with the floor; I wish I had done that on mine but it was my first rodeo so I stayed pretty true to the kit.

 

Thanks!

 

I'm getting deeper into it than I originally anticipated, but I'm enjoying it. I think what made me decide to do modifications was two things:

1) when I put on the toe rails and rub rails, it totally changed the way I saw the boat and I wanted to give it some TLC.

2) @wefalck told me about regrets regarding not doing what you could have done. It seems especially true when the model is sitting on the shelf reminding you everyday. 

 

I'm doing the cockpit flooring a little different now with the cockpit modification I'm doing, but it will still look similar.

Edited March 18, 2022 by mark.bukovich
Added "than"

[mark.bukovich]

Update

 

I have made pintles and gudgeons using a little temporary jig made from a pin and some scrap wood. I will paint these with some black primer before gluing on to the rudder and sternpost. My pintles are just gudgeons with a cut down pin glued:

 

 

I have a new rudder assembly now. It needs a little more finishing, but I think looks much better than my previous one:

 

 

 

This is the progress on the modified cockpit:

 

Without gluing anything down, I test fit with the model:

[mark.bukovich]

Just a quick update. I've finished the cockpit floors, lockers, benches, and companionway. Next step for the hull is the coaming rails and I will add some trim around the cabin, cockpit, and hatches that will cover some of the poor paint job.

 

I'm also working on some of the fittings and rigging items and will post pictures of that soon (creating a couple of blocks).

 

 

[mark.bukovich]

I'm waiting for some supplies to arrive for staining the trim pieces and part of the sail preparation.

 

While I wait, I decided to try my hand at making blocks. I tried the method from Milton Roth's "Ship Modeling from Stem to Stern" on pg 179. Basically laminate the block from small strips of wood. 

 

There will be two of these double blocks on my model to work with the main sheet. Other blocks will be the single blocks that came with the kit, but I will shape them with sandpaper so they look a little nicer.

 

Here are the initial pieces:

 

 

I rounded the top of the smaller strips and glued them to the the larger piece using a strip of wood to achieve proper spacing with the thin top piece. (I used normal white wood glue)

 

 

A block "sandwich" glued together:

 

 

I clamped it all together with a clothesline pin using a little torn piece of parchment paper to keep from accidentally gluing the block to the pin.

 

 

After allowing the glue to cure for 24 hours (actually about 48 hours in this case), I used sandpaper to shape the block:

 

 

Then I used a saw to lightly cut a shallow groove around the block for the strop:

 

 

[mark.bukovich]

Fixing up the gaff

 

I cut off three pieces from a small dowel and also a small 1/16" thick rectangle, and drilled through the middle. 

 

I then sanded these pieces to round the edges and smooth everything over. I found using a pin to hold the tiny beads very helpful. I just had to be mindful of where the sharp end of the pin was pointed.

 

Then I drilled four little holes in the gaff jaws.

 

Then I threaded some of the line included in the kit through everything and tied figure-8 knots to keep everything in place. I added a dab of CA glue to the knots to keep them from unraveling.

[mark.bukovich]

I'm waiting on some supplies to arrive to finish working on the deck. In the meantime, I am going ahead and working on the rigging and sails.

 

I'm pretty much just following the directions for the sails with one exception. Instead of using a pencil for the seams, I'm using a "GELLY ROLL" white gel pen. I got this idea from another Chesapeake Bay Flattie build log by @EricWilliamMarshall

 

I know some like to make the sails look filled with wind by painting with diluted glue on a balloon or something. I will probably try this in a later build. For now, I'm just leaving them flat.

 

After tracing the sails from the plan sheet to the sailcloth.

 

Painted with clear acrylic and hung to dry.

 

Next step for the sails will be cutting them out and bending them to the spars.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

You’re doing a wonderful job! She looks great!

[mark.bukovich]

7 minutes ago, EricWilliamMarshall said:

You’re doing a wonderful job! She looks great!

Thanks! It was your build log that encouraged me to do more than just follow the instructions. I really liked the custom stuff you did on yours, and I'm finding it so much more fun

[EricWilliamMarshall]

On 4/21/2022 at 8:13 PM, mark.bukovich said:

It was your build log that encouraged me to do more than just follow the instructions. I really liked the custom stuff you did on yours, and I'm finding it so much more fun

If you will pardon the metaphor, sharing information and approaches allows ‘all ships to rise’ at a loss to none. It’s what make this site so wonderful. I’m happy I could add in a tiny way to your adventure! Rock on!

[mark.bukovich]

Thanks! I agree and I'm finding that this community and hobby is filled with encouragement and tons of help.

 

I have been working on the rigging and sails and having a lot of fun. It's not easy working with thread and tying tiny knots and such, but I'm enjoying it. Here is the progress:

 

Boom bent to the main-sail and reefing lines attached:

I really didn't like the idea of individually gluing the tip of each reefing line and holding it apart from the sail to let the glue dry one at a time. So before attaching the reefing lines, I used clothesline pins to hold each reefing line in order to glue the ends:

 

I used a round turn and two half-hitches for most cases where line needed to be hitched to something. In "The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor," this is called a "Rolling Hitch". 

Sail bent to both spars. Because I painted the mast hoops, I decided to attach them to the sail first before attaching it to the mast since I didn't want to bend the mast hoops wide and scratch the paint. If you decide to do this, I would recommend gluing the boom gooseneck to the mast before bending the boom to the sail (contrary to what the directions say). I wound up tearing the corner of my sail while fitting the gooseneck into the hole on the mast. I was able to fix the tear with glue luckily, but I would do it differently next time.

A close up to show the glue "needle" technique suggested in the directions. I found that it worked really well. Just soak some CA glue on the end of the thread and, once dried, snip it at an angle. You can see the "needle" easily passing through a block in the lower part of this picture.

I didn't like the kit's suggestion to just glue lazy jacks to the bottom of the boom, so I made some fittings from brass sheet and painted them with black primer:

Edited April 26, 2022 by mark.bukovich
Fixed some spelling and grammar mistakes

[mark.bukovich]

Update

 

I'm just about done with everything except the rigging and a few fittings.

 

deck trim

My paint job greatly suffered around the cabin where it met the deck, and also around the hatches. I decided to add some extra trim to cover it up, and I think the result turned out very nice.

 

I used the "English Oak" stain from Model Shipways. It turned out to be an almost perfect match for the mahogany pieces that came with the kit. It is more of a paint than a dye, but by applying and wiping it off several times, I think I got a decent result.

 

The offending paint job:

 

The results:

 

I also decided to try to fix some white showing through between the toe rail and rub rail:

I used a hobby knife to give a mechanical pencil a very sharp point:

 

Here you can see a section with pencil next to the white showing through:

 

rudder

I glued on the gudgeons and hung the rudder. This allowed me to also glue in the traveler. The rudder swings pretty well, and I got a good result.

[mark.bukovich]

I'm almost done!

 

Below are some little things I've worked on. Stay tuned for the finished product!

 

I wasn't really satisfied with the cleats that came with the kit, so I ordered some pewter cleats from Model Expo and polished them to what I think is a nice result. Polished on the left, original rough cleat on the right

 

I used scrap from snipped "cotter pins" to make an additional eye bolt and also a brass thimble, both to be used in a the centerboard block and tackle.

 

The kit says to cut a block in half and glue it to the cabin roof for the centerboard sheet to run over. The blocks that came with the kit are basically rectangles and I didn't like that idea, so instead, I cut off a bit of dowel, put a groove in it, and cut it in half to achieve what I think is a better result.

 

I had fun staying the line, but realized afterwards that it is likely way too much line for a centerboard sheet 😅 

 

I found a decent way to sort of replicate this image from Brion Toss's "The Complete Rigger's Apprentice"

 

Hold a bight with some self clamping tweezers.

 

Coil the line around the tweezers

 

Slide the coil down the tweezers, over the bight, and completely off.

 

Give the bight a twist and hook it onto the cleat.

Again, probably completely unnecessary for a centerboard sheet, but it was fun

[mark.bukovich]

She's Finished!

 

I may very well decide later to do touch-up or improvements in the future, but the project is complete and surpassed my expectations. When I have time later, I plan to write a short retrospective post, but for now, here are some pictures of the completed model.

Edited May 17, 2022 by mark.bukovich
Grammar mistake

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Well done!

[mark.bukovich]

On 6/16/2022 at 12:45 PM, GrandpaPhil said:

Congratulations!  Well done!

Thanks! It was a great experience 

[DanB]

Great work! Congratulations!

[JacquesCousteau]

On 5/10/2022 at 6:16 PM, mark.bukovich said:

I found a decent way to sort of replicate this image from Brion Toss's "The Complete Rigger's Apprentice"

 

Hold a bight with some self clamping tweezers.

 

Coil the line around the tweezers

 

Slide the coil down the tweezers, over the bight, and completely off.

 

Give the bight a twist and hook it onto the cleat.

Sorry for posting on an old topic, but thanks for showing so clearly how to do this! I found your instructions really helpful for my own rigging. (Also great job on the build!)