Lowell Grand Banks Dory by Mark m - Model Shipways - 1:24 - FINISHED

[Mark m]

I am new to ship models, and haven’t built any models in 40 years.  My goal with this build is to learn/relearn basic skills.
 

The instructions in this kit appear quite complete, and I am doing my best to fellow them.  I’m also only buying tools beyond those in the kit as needed – which is a challenge because I love tools, and especially toolsets.

 

Others have posted build logs for this kit, and I am not going to reinvent the wheel.  I’ll skim through the parts that went well, and go into more detail where things went wrong or got confusing.

 

The first step is to assemble the boat bottom.  It’s just three pre-cut boards, glued together, which seemed pretty straightforward.  The kit includes a single-board bottom in case the first step goes awry.  I didn’t use it, except for protections during clamping.

 

The next step is the frames.  There are 5, and patterns are provided to build those.  I immediately ran in to an issue, i.e., the template is not the same size as the provided parts.  I made the best match I could – see pictures.  I also had some difficulty keeping the bottoms of the frames aligned, and I know the frames are not quite right.  Some closed up a little too much on bottom and some too wide.

 

Further along in the build, I had trouble getting the pre-cut strakes aligned properly, which I suspect is caused by this error.  I have heard (and now proved to myself!) that errors compound.

 

Any tips on getting the frame construction right will be appreciated.  Mostly how to overlay the two sides to ensure the result is level and symmetric.

More to come ...

Edited June 27, 2022 by Mark m

[druxey]

Off to a good start!

[Mark m]

Dory Build Log Part 2 Stem, Transom and Bending the Bottom

 

I built up the transom and stern knee next. 

 

The instructions warn the builder to ensure that the holes in the transom and stern cleat align.  I accomplished that by using a little scrap wood through the holes.  It appears that the cleat doesn’t quite line up with the transom now – the picture shows the mark sticking out from under the cleat on one side.  I don’t know whether I should have lined up with the template or the holes.

 

Although I took care to keep the bottom of the knee at 90 degrees, the picture seems to show that it’s not aligned on the transom itself. 

Once the glue dried I glued the assembly to the bottom.  I can’t tell if the misaligned knee has made the boat unsymmetric, nor if I glued the transom to the bottom correctly. 

 

I read in John Gardner’s Dory Book that in real boats they put a pin at the bottom of the stem and measure back to the top of the transom on each side to ensure symmetry.   Wish I’d read that before I built the boat!  Any other tips on how to better maintain symmetry at the back of the boat? 

 

I also cleaned up the stem and glued it to the bottom.  I’m getting use to the idea that the glue grabs and trusting the assembly to stay upright.  Checking with a square, the stem seems to have remained vertical.

 

I didn’t feel very confident that the transom and stem were positioned correctly on the bottom.  Later in the assembly, I started to feel like one or both of them should stick out a little more from the bottom, so now the boat is slightly shorter than it should be.

 

Finally, I followed the instructions to bend the bottom by wetting it, placing the two ends of the boat on 1/8 thick wood, and weighting the center.

 

 

[Mark m]

Dory Build Log Part 3 Bottom and Garboard to Frames

 

 

The next step was to assemble the frames in the building board, bevel them to accommodate the curve in the bottom and attach the bottom assembly.

The instructions were easy to follow, other than the fact that the stern transom didn’t fit firmly into the holder, and the blocks glues onto the board to keep it square were too far back.  In hindsight, I should have checked before I glued those squares down.

 

The kit provides a spare single-piece bottom, which I didn’t need.  I used it to support the rubber bands holding the bottom to the frames when I glued them.  A handy custom-made clamp!

The instructions for beveling the frames for the garboards were also fairly straightforward, and the char was a handy indicator of the stem beveling.  I also had the (bad) idea to bevel the bottom, which is not required.  As a result, it is slightly too small and rounded where it shouldn’t be.

 

The upper edges of the garboards have to be beveled as well, to fit with the next plank.  The first part was obvious, but it took me a while to understand the purpose of the rolling bevels at the ends, and hence to figure out which way to bevel it.

 

The final step before gluing down the garboards is to bend them to fit.  I considered various plank-bending options, but finally decided to simply follow the instructions and use hot water.  I poured hot water into one slot in a tackle box (my toolbox) and soaked one plank for 5 minutes.  I then clamped it to the frames and let it dry.  That worked well and I used the same method for the rest of the kit.  It’s a slow process though, because I could only do one at a time, so 6 planks took two days – one to dry into shape on the frames and one for glue to dry before I did the next one.  I’ve come up with a better way to do multiple planks at one time and not depend on the frames to form them – based on some jigs and other posts on the Model Ship World forums.

 

Once both were glued, I noticed that both garboards (but especially the starboard side) were a little twisted at the stern, which I attribute to the clamps being too tight.

 

I also noticed that I had been over-aggressive in sanding the transom on the port side.  I made up for that later by doing the same on the other side!

[Oldsalt1950]

Mark, you are making great progress. just remember to think through any parts that are giving you issues. We all have them. Sometimes it is better to walk away from the build and then come back to it to work out any problems.

[Mark m]

Dory Build Log Part 4 The remaining planks
 

The broad and sheer strakes are beveled, bent and attached similarly to the garboards.

When I went to trim the broad plank, I realized that my rolling bevel had missed the target.  I had beveled it following the instructions, but hadn’t factored in the need to trim the board after it was glued down.  As a result, my beautiful rolling bevel was trimmed off!

 

There is also a gap between the garboard and the broad plank.  As best I can tell, this is caused by the indented garboard mentioned in my previous update.  I filled it with dilute glue and hope to paint it over when the time comes.

Having learned my rolling bevel lesson on the first broad plank, I did a better job on the other side.  The photo of the stern shows the difference.

The bow seemed quite ugly, but I took solace in the fact that the false stem will hide that.

The next four pictures show some creative clamping then the two sides of the boat.

And finally, the lack of symmetry at the stern transom.  I don’t know how I managed to get so far off.  I can see that the port side (right side in this picture) planks come at least a couple of millimeters higher than the starboard side.  I guess I should have measured and marked the side of the transom to position the planks correctly.  Any other tips on how to prevent this?

[Mark m]

Dory Build Log Part 5 Last steps before painting

 

There are a few other steps detailed in the kit instructions before painting.  Side cleats, Bands, Gunwales, etc.

 

Before cutting off the tops of the frames, I noticed that the sides are also slightly unsymmetrical.  Not quite as bad as at the stern, but not quite right.  Still not clear how to get better at this part.

 

I glued on the bands, and they sit high from the sheer plank at the bow.  In addition, the boat bottom is supposed to be slightly curved toward both the bow and stern.   Mine comes up quite nicely, but at the bow it seems to drop back down again.  Can anyone comment if the drop at the bottom is the cause of the bands sitting high?  Or any other tips about the cause of either of these issues?

 

Continued following the instructions, until my next hiccup.  After I glued in the seat risers, I noticed that something was seriously wrong.  They were really high at both ends, and low in the middle.  At first, I was convinced that my previous errors had compounded to such a degree that my boat was the wrong shape altogether.  I went to bed contemplating buying another copy of this kit and starting again.

 

By morning, I had convinced myself that I had put them on upside down.  This was a good lesson in understanding 3D geometry, specifically why straight planks have to be curved downward to end up flat on the side of the ship.  So – time to learn how to unglue using alcohol.

 

The ungluing was easier than I expected it to be.  I painted the alcohol on pretty liberally, let it soak a bit and gently pried the risers off.  Put them back on and was relieved to they were the right height now.  Although I thought I had measured them correctly, I noticed later that I had offset them, so that one is longer at the stern and the other at the bow.  Possibly I didn’t account for the way the frames are constructed (port side of frame further forward than starboard side), and that when I switched them over, I should have remeasured the centers.  I didn’t try to fix this, although it would have been fairly easy to trim them back.

 

I also have a fairly large gap between the broad and sheer planks on one side near the stern.  Lesson learned – clamp more carefully!

 

Got it all sanded down and added the optional frame head irons and the breast hook.  I was waiting for an opportunity to paint, so I used the time to make the oars.  I won’t say I did a great job, but the fourth oar looks a lot better than the first!

 

Next step is painting.

[Mark m]

Dory Build Log Part 6 Painting

 

Although this only takes a few paragraphs to write, painting dragged out over a couple of weeks.  I tried to be patient, do many thin coats instead of dolloping it on, and wait between coats.  You can judge the outcome!

 

The first step in the instructions is to spray with a grey universal primer to prevent the grain raising as it absorbs water.  I was in a small town and could only find white primer, which I used.  That shows through more, but I think I would have needed just as many coats whether I had used grey or white.

 

The outcome of spraying the boat with primer was a bit disappointing.  It was difficult to get an even coat and seemed to bubble and leave granules.  Probably my technique.

 

I also learned that you can’t rely on paint to cover up other issues.  Glue stains, gaps between boards and uneven high spots.  I sanded down, resprayed, sanded again and added a few coats of paint, and things seemed to improve.  I also decided to do the cap rails with no primer, sanding sealer or anything else – just paint on bare wood.  That actually seemed to go better initially, but the end result with primer and umpteen coats of paint looks slightly better.

 

At this point, I still had a few bare spots.  I touched those up but don’t have any good pictures.

Also – I view my pictures mostly on my phone.  I have been cluttering up the view of my build log on computers with too many large pictures.  I’ve tried to condense and make a couple of montages in this update.  Writing the log is a learning experience, just like building the ship!

 

[druxey]

Working with basswood and getting a good finish is not easy. However, it looks like your patience has paid off nicely. If you eventually start scratch building, you'll find hardwoods are much easier to finish.

[Mark m]

44 minutes ago, druxey said:

Working with basswood and getting a good finish is not easy. However, it looks like your patience has paid off nicely. If you eventually start scratch building, you'll find hardwoods are much easier to finish.

You know the saying “a bad workman always blames his tools”.  I’ll blame the wood.

 

But seriously, thank you for the comment.

[Mark m]

Part 7 Final Touches and model complete

 

Both Part 6 and Part 7 were written when I had no internet on my laptop.  So’s here's Part 7 just a few hours after Part 6.

 

After the main painting work, it’s time for some final touches and the boat will be finished!

 

The cap rail was to be glued on the boat.  Although I had trimmed them to fit pretty well prior to painting, the paint added a little thickness to both the false stem and the cap rails.  I did a little trimming to make a better fit, and carefully glued them on.  The glue wouldn’t stick painted parts together, so I sanded the bottom of the rail and the area it was to be glued to.  One area near the stern wouldn’t stick so I used a drop of superglue for that spot.  One of the more challenging parts was to position the rail flush with the inside edge of the boat.  Gluing a little at a time seemed to work.

 

I then did a little touch-up painting.  The brushes provided with the kit had been good for everything up to this point, but there were some small corners and areas behind other parts that really required more detailed brushes.  I purchased a set of three Army Painter Wargamer brushes, and ended up using all 3.  $20 well spent in my opinion.

 

The next step was the beckets – rope handles for the boat.  The provided 2 mm rope seemed awfully thick, at about 2 scale inches and just didn’t look right to me.  I posted for advice elsewhere in the MSW forums.  General agreement was that 0.8-1 mm would be better, so I ordered some from Ropes of Scale and postponed that step until it arrives.

 

The thwarts were another slight misfit.  I had prepped them prior to painting, but they didn’t sit flush on the seat risers after painting.  Another minor trimming and sanding and they looked good.  Gluing the thwarts and oars in was pretty simple.

 

The next step was to make and install the thole pins.  This was a test of hand-eye coordination, requiring magnification, good light and tweezers.  The instructions refer to a 3/64” dowel, but the kit included a 3/64” x 3/64” strip.  The infamous square peg in a round hole!

 

I carefully cut off the corners of the thole pins, until they fit firmly in the holes.  One sentence to write, but there are 16 of them and it took some time.

I will add the beckets when I have the rope in hand, but I am declaring the build log complete and my first wooden ship model done! 

 

[druxey]

Well done in overcoming difficulties and shortcomings of some of the kit materials. It's a first build you should be proud of.

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Well done!

[ErnieL]

We used to race these things in out Dory races in Gloucester, Ma. A couple guys pulling for all they had and these would almost skip over the water. 
 

It’s amazing how seaworthy these flat bottom boats actually are. You’d never believe it without actually being these. 
 

A great build on a nice little kit, and it brings back a lot of memories for me. Thanks! 

[Mark m]

I’ve been in Nova Scotia for a couple of weeks.  Dories are popular here.  Museums, Dory Shop, etc.  

 

Nice to see the real thing!

 

 

[MrPross]

Excellent job Mark, thanks for sharing your build log a great resource for a first time builder. One I'll be referring back to periodically throughout my own build I'm sure.

Edited January 1, 2023 by MrPross