Herreshoff 12 1/2 by Jeff Preisler - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters - scale 1" = 1'

[Jeff preisler]

I decided on this kit as I want to gain some more experience with hull planking as it doesn't look too difficult.  The Herrshoff 12 1/2 also known as the 'Buzzard's Bay Boy's Boat" was designed by Nathanael Herreshoff, (a famous yacht designer at the time) to build a sailboat to train children.  It had to be small enough that kids could handle, but capable of coping with the choppy waters and strong gusty winds of Buzzard's Bay, southwest of Cape cod on the Mass. coast.  (This bit of history is taken from the Bluejacket ship crafters build manual).   

 Following kit instructions, before constructing the basic hull structure, I stained the mahogany pieces with mini-wax cherry then applied a semi-gloss poly acrylic.  As far as the bulkheads and interior planking that are visible inside the cockpit, these were painted a flat grey color.  Structure went together well, and the planking begins.  Using CA for the planking, so far it seems ok but I'm wondering if wood glue would be the better choice as I did have to debond a couple of areas and start over.  As I progress with this build, I welcome anyone that wants to comment on what I should have done as I'm always open to learning and improving.

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful and timeless design. The perfect daysailer. 

 

Yves

[Jeff preisler]

Finished the planking and I am somewhat pleased with the result considering this is my 2nd time planking a model.  I little unevenness between some of the planks but with sanding and some automotive filler it should be Ok.  I see some models that have beautifully finished hulls with a natural finish probably little to no filler and that is what I would like to achieve someday.  I'm still learning.

[MrBlueJacket]

Very credible planking, Jeff.

 

Nic

[Roger Pellett]

You’re doing a great job!  I would love to own a real one of these boats but Minnesota is the land of 10,000 aluminum pontoon boats, not classic Herreshoff wooden boats.  While it is tempting to show off your workmanship with a natural finish, I believe that the boat would look much better with white topsides and red antifouling bottom. 

 

Roger

[Jeff preisler]

2 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

You’re doing a great job!  I would love to own a real one of these boats but Minnesota is the land of 10,000 aluminum pontoon boats, not classic Herreshoff wooden boats.  While it is tempting to show off your workmanship with a natural finish, I believe that the boat would look much better with white topsides and red antifouling bottom. 

 

Roger

Thank you.  Yes, I agree with you, this boat will have paint.

[Jeff preisler]

Lots of sanding, filler and primer and now it will be ready for paint.  After masking off the finished mahogany I will be airbrushing with True North precision paints.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Jeff preisler

[Jeff preisler]

Air brushed hull flat white then masked off water line and sprayed USN early green 1943 from True north paints. There were some dust particles in the finish, but I was able to sand them out with some very fine sandpaper (1800 grit up to 12000), probably a bit of overkill but I was able to get rid of the scratches to where it looked acceptable to me.

[Laxian Key]

Jeff, the paint looks great. How much did you cut the True North Paints (50/50?) and what did you cut it with?

[Jeff preisler]

15 hours ago, Laxian Key said:

Jeff, the paint looks great. How much did you cut the True North Paints (50/50?) and what did you cut it with?

I thinned it with True North Paints thinner approx. 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner.  about the consistency of milk.

[Jeff preisler]

Deck planking, cockpit coaming and trim work complete.  Had a little trouble when bending the cockpit coaming as it snapped when bending.  Probably my impatience caused this not soaking wood long enough??  As I'm pretty new to this I still haven't figured out the best way of plank bending, any tips would be appreciated in this procedure. After gluing cockpit coaming in place, I addressed the cracks in coaming with some thinned down scrap mahogany that I laminated in place, then applied a little stainable wood filler, sanded and re-stained.  After everything was sanded and dry, I finished the wood with miniwax polycrylic clear.  Final touch ups with paint and now I'm on to fabricating the rudder and tiller. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by Jeff preisler

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful.

[Jeff preisler]

Completed the rudder assembly per kit instruction then proceeded with the permanent mounting base.  I didn't really want to glue it to the base, but I wanted it to be secure.  Per kit instructions, I set a vertical 1/16 brass rod vertical in the aft end of the mount and also fabricated a wood cradle out of scrap mahogany from the kit to make it steadier.  On to the sails: after ironing out the wrinkles in fabric with wife's iron I cut them out and drew the panel stitching locations lightly with a pencil to use as a guide for sewing.  I did add approx. additional quarter inch for the hems which I folded over and glued with Aleene's fabric glue just to hold in place for stitching.  We have a Singer simple sewing machine at home (which I never used before) and educated myself watching a couple of you tube videos on how to use which was very helpful.  I sewed all the hems and the panel stitching locations and to my surprise it went pretty smooth for my 1st time using a sewing machine.  Next steps will be preparing the mast and boom.

[Jim Lad]

That's an absolutely delightful little model, Jeff.

 

John

[Jeff preisler]

 Thank you, and I'm glad you like.   Jeff  

[Jeff preisler]

After studying the plans and re-reading the manual and looking at some finished photos of this model I marked out locations for all eye bolts and eye pins.  Next, after prepping the mast, boom, gaff, and jib club with all the proper eyelets I added the 6 cleats to their proper locations and stropped all 8 blocks (one block was stropped with a becket).  Prepared the traveler and was careful drilling attachment holes so I wouldn't go all the way through the transom.  As far as finishing, they all were left natural, but received a coat of floquil Swedish wood oil and white paint in the proper locations.  The blocks were painted with a brown enamel color.  Now I'm ready for the rigging.

[MrBlueJacket]

Very nice work, Jeff!

 

Nic

[Jeff preisler]

Thank you, Nic.  Currently working on the rigging and it's going well thanks to all I learned from you in your rigging class.  The only trouble I had, which is totally my fault, is that I broke one of the turnbuckles when I pulled it too tight, Luckly I robbed one from the Nantucket kit that I haven't built yet and made a note in that kit to replace it.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Jeff preisler

[Jeff preisler]

All the rigging complete, Made the rope coils per instruction manual and touched up all the areas that needed it and I'm calling this project complete.  I am very happy with how this turned out, now I will just have to have the wife help me find a spot to display her.

[ccoyle]

That's a very handsome model, Jeff. Well done!

[MrBlueJacket]

Nice rigging! Your customer file now shows a 10% discount on the next kit you buy from us.

 

Nic

[Jeff preisler]

My photography knowledge is minimal, so I apologize for that; but I took some clearer photos that I thought I would add to this build thread.

[Django]

Very nice.  One of my all time favorite boats.  I’ve never sailed a 12 1/2, but I have fond memories of sailing Bullseye Sloops, (same hull form but with a Marconi rig, fiberglass hull and cuddly cabin).  I do love a gaff rig and I miss my old Beetle Cat, (maybe Bluejacket will introduce a Beetle Cat model).  

[rcmdrvr]

Truely a beautiful model.  It will enhance any space you use to display it.