International Optimist Dinghy by Jason Builder - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - 1" = 1'

[Jason Builder]

Ahoy Fellow Model Ship Builders!!

 

Just purchased and received the Optimist kit from Bluejacket.  I bought this as a model to build with my daughters, which I am looking forward to and I hope they enjoy it as well!  Both of them sailed on Opti's so they have a connection to the boat.  This is the first model I have built by BlueJacket and the kit has made a good first impression.  The contents are well packaged contents, and as this is intended as a beginners first ship model, the kit includes a nice full size print drawing (not pictured) , glues, paints, pin-vise with drill bits, pliers, tweezers, razor knife, and all components needed for the build.  Just opened up the box and I'm hoping to get started over the weekend.

 

Cheers!

 

Jason

 

[Jason Builder]

Here's all the components unpacked.  I'm going to have a cheery ole time building this simple fun model.

 

Jason

[Roger Pellett]

Nice project.  Our Community Sailing Association uses Optimists  for sailing lessons here in the Duluth, MN/ Superior,WI harbor.  I personally have never tried to fit myself into one but they look like they would be fun to sail.

 

Roger

[Jason Builder]

Groetjes Everyone!

 

Well it's a rainy day today so, perfect time to work with the kiddo's on this project.

[Jason Builder]

We started by separating the parts and assembling the hull mold frame. 

Then we assembled the hull mold frame:

Got to do some math and geometry laying out the bulkhead locations on the hull floor:

 

My daughter liked nailing the hull bottom down to the mold with pins.

Then we glued together the transoms

[Jason Builder]

Hi Again,

 

We took a little break and then got to gluing up the hull!  First we glued the aft transom in place, then we glued down the floor stringers using the temporary positioning transoms.  Had one of the temporary positioning transoms in the wrong spot, 1st mistake of the build!  Woe is me!  More on this stringer positioning business later.

 

Here are the stingers glued down.  We had a spacer in the wrong location so the stringers are a bit too close together towards the front of the dingy.

In this next photo you can see a newly installed bulkhead towards the fore, this supports the mast thwart.  It comes with notches in the bottom that fit perfectly with the stringers (if your stringers are in the right place!)  This is how we found out our stringers weren't in exactly the right spot.  I trimmed the bulkhead so that it would fit the existing location of our stringers.  Unless you were building it, you wouldn't notice what I'm writing about.  Main point is, make sure the temporary stringer spacers are in the right spot earlier in the build.  At the end of the day it will not be noticeable on ours.

Next, we glued in the chines along the bottom of each side.  These are cut to length from 1/16 x 1/8" stock.  We cut them carefully to length and they fit nicely.   Trim them to fit properly in the pockets in the fore and aft transoms.  1st picture below shows the fore end of the chine strip, trimmed to fit into the pocket in the fore transom.  Dry fit everything, then glue it in.  Note: using quick set medium weight superglue (which came in the kit) for gluing up all wooden parts.  If you're new to this you will quickly learn about how best to use this glue, sometimes called CA, as it will stick to you as easily as to the wood and the lightweight and medium weight versions "wick" very well into joints; one can hold the pieces to be glued together together and apply the glue to the joint and it will wick into the joint well and bond it.  Careful with your fingers and wear gloves if you're concerned.

Chines glued in:

Edited August 20, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

What a fun morning we had!  With the chine stringers glued in place, we set the temporary form/bulkheads in place to prepare for gluing on the hull sides.  In the first photo below one can again see the error of my ways regarding stringer spacing.  The bulkhead closer to me when I took the picture is the temporary form.  The bulkhead in the background is the one that will eventually support the mast thwart.  The two narrow stringers running along the hull bottom are supposed to run through well fit notches in both those bulkheads, note that I had to cut the notches away into larger openings that fit the actual location of the stringers.

 

 

 

With the forms in place, we chamfered them and trimmed/chamfered the chines and bottom to prepare for attachment of the sides.  Below photo is of the bottom and the chines carved, sanded and ready for the hull sides.

Hull sides glued in place!

[Mike Collier]

Looks like you are doing a great job. I like the looks of that kit, may buy one myself. I just bought the Red Baron from Bluejacket.

[Aero]

Your build is looking good!

We owned one of these years ago and taught the kids how to sail with it. I may have to build a few as gifts!

[Jason Builder]

Thanks for the encouragement!  Here's the latest progress:

 

Corner gussets and daggerboard trunk installed:

 

Daggerboard sanded to foil cross-section, and assembled: 

 

Shaped the mast-step taper block:

 

Installed mast step block: 

 

Painted the fore section of the inside of the hull prior to installing the mast step thwart: 

 

Mast Step Thwart and gunwhales installed.  I cut the gunwhales to length first, then carved the ends to fit the corner gussets, then soaked them in hot water, then pre-formed them by forming them into a curved shape using pins and I cork board until they dried in a curve, then glued them into position.

[Jason Builder]

Ahoy,

 

Sanded, filled any dents, sanded hull again inside and out.  First coat of primer applied, and a coat of varnish on the dagger board in the background.''

[Jason Builder]

Bonjour!!

 

Well I'm cruising along on this project, both because it's fun, and because I just ordered the Billing Boats Oseborg Viking Ship kit.   1st coat of white paint is drying on the hull.  The kit comes with matte white for the hull, but I think I am going to finish it with gloss white.  I remember the opti's at the lake being more shiny than matte.  I will also be finishing it with varnishing spars rather than aluminum painted spars (even though my kids sailing school boats did have aluminum spars....so I guess I'm just finishing this thing the way I want it to look).

 

I sanded the foil shape into the rudder and also sanded down the tiller and tiller extension.  In this photo I am using the plans to ensure the tiller is glued to the rubber at the correct location and angle (I decided to glue the tiller to the rudder , not to pin it).

 

Using the pin vise and drill bit (included in the kit!  and the pin vise is nicer than the old one I had, so I am happy about that) to drill the mounting hole for the tiller extension:

Using pins to suspend the tiller and extension for varnishing:

I cut the boom and attached the boom jaws, sprit, and mast to length, sanded them and now varnishing them.  The ends of these spars will be painted gloss white, and it is that tip end that I have in the jaws of the bench vise:

As long as I was varnishing, I built up the display stand (sanded all sides, chamfered all exposed edges with sandpaper) and applied 1st coat varnish:

That's all for now folks.  Have a great day!

 

[Jason Builder]

Little bit o work on the sprit tonight.  The ends of the sprit on opti's are pin shaped for rigging.  I shaped the pins by turning the sprit down at the ends on my mini lathe.  I wrapped the sprit in paper to protect it from denting in the 3 jaw chuck, which worked well.  Happy with results.   This job could be done by carving down the end with a razor or by sanding it down with a file, but I like playing with tools so used my little lathe.  Some photo's are below.  I didn't even use the tool rest, I used a file and just held it up the the spar end to get the pin shape I wanted.

 

[Jason Builder]

Hi Everyone!!

 

Made some progress this evening on the rudder and pintles and gudgeons.  I built up the rudder and tiller including a functioning/pivoting tiller extension and a tiller extension clip mounted on top of the tiller.  In a deviation from the stock kit I made up brass pintles and gudgeons using brass brads and small brass tubing.  Other than that, just painting and sanding the hull and spars.

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

Good Evening,

 

Painting and sanding and painting and sanding the hull.   I am pleased with the gloss white vs matte white that came with the kit.  Also finished painting and varnishing the spars tonight, along with attaching/installing the eyebolts and cleats.  Eyebolts were installed by drilling a hole in the spars with the pin vise and then carefully gluing the trimmed eyebolts into the holes.

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

I used mahogany (not from kit) for the rub rail.

 

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful little hull.

 

Yves

[Seventynet]

Nicely done! 

[Roger Pellett]

Were Optimists always fiberglass or were the early ones wooden?

 

Roger

[Jason Builder]

Thank you all for the encouraging comments!  

 

The Optimist was designed by Clark Mills in Clearwater Florida in 1947 and was originally designed as an easy to build wooden boat.  The initial optimists were wooden.  Over 150,000 optimists have been built!

[Jason Builder]

Closing in on the completion of this fun little model.  Last night I made the sail.

-Traced and cut out the sail with a scalpel.  I left additional material for a 3/16" hem as can be seen in the photo.

-Ironed the hems flat

-Stitched all the hems on a sewing machine

-Cut out strips of sail fabric for batten pockets, and stitched on the batten pockets

-Ironed the sail again

-Cut and installed the battens

[Jason Builder]

Argh! I traced out the upper edge of the sail above,  along the sprit, not along the top of the sail on the drawing, so my sail is the wrong shape.   Will have to make another one.  Silver lining....I get more practice on the sewing machine.

[Jason Builder]

Someday I will learn the measure twice , cut once lesson, but it wasn't today.

[Jason Builder]

Hi All, here is the 2nd sail, correct size.  Optimist decal applied to both sides.  Note bolt-rope stitched into the hems.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

Bonjour! 

 

Making inflatable float-bags using my mini lathe.  One could also easily carve these shapes with a knife, so if you are considering making this model.....you do not need a lathe, you can use a knife for this.

   

[Jason Builder]

I drilled and used the sewing needle from the kit for the mast-head wind indicator pole.  Snipped off

the top of the needle with a steel wire cutter.

Their is a nice brass ring that secures the foot of the mast, here it is installed at the floor of the hull:

Here is the mainsheet block assembly.  I drilled out the little cast blocks and installed them into the wooden block that mounts to the floor.  Then I rigged the mainsheet prior to gluing this assembly down.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

Rigged up the rest of the running and standing rigging per the kit, and installed the floatation cells.  This was a very fun model to build and the mistakes I made taught me once again to pay attention more even when I think something is "easy".  The kids enjoyed it as well and when it was done, my daughter said "where's the bailing bucket?!"......  all the opti's in the sailing school had bailing buckets and she had a clear memory of that.  So before I can call the model complete I will make a bailing bucket.  I'll 3D print it.  stay tuned.   Here's where the model is at now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Jason Builder

[Jason Builder]

 

Sorry for all the pictures at 90deg, not sure how to rotate pictures on the forum.....

[MrBlueJacket]

11 hours ago, Jason Builder said:

 

Sorry for all the pictures at 90deg, not sure how to rotate pictures on the forum.....

I had that problem, too. Just re-size the pictures down a bit.

[Jason Builder]

Thanks for the tip Mr. BlueJacket, just resized and re-inserted a number of the photos above and the orientation is now correct.....makes it much easier to look at the picture.  This was a very fun model to build and the result is a fine, accurate, model of an opti.

 

-Jason