New Bedford Whaleboat by Hsae - Model Shipways - Scale 3/4“ = 1‘ (1:16)

[Hsae]

I always wanted to build this boat. I bought the hard copy To Build a Whaleboat by Eric Ronnberg 20 years ago.

I found the kit by accident on eBay for a reasonable price. Inspired by the already existing excellent blogs in this forum I will give it a try.

The box I received didn’t look so good and I was afraid that the wood was wrapped already, but to my surprise it was still good (so far as I know).

 

There is one thing I do not like from the beginning, the drawings are on both sides, obviously to save paper. That makes it kind of annoying to look for certain things. I believe the older kits had it on separate sheets, or the newer version?

[Hsae]

The first thing I noticed that the molds do not match the drawing. Believing that the drawings are accurate I have some work to do.

 

 

[rcmdrvr]

Looks like a great little build.  Will follow your progress.

[Hsae]

I am surprised how bad the accuracy for the „laser cut“ pieces are.

Oh well, live and learn.

I did cut the molds according to the drawing, glued some strips on the molds where it was necessary. 
After that a lot of sanding. 

[Hsae]

Next was getting the waterlines on the molds and reduce thickness on the bow & stern (WL 1-4)

 

 

[Hsae]

Thank you for the likes & comments 

That will be a long build, time wise, because I can only work on the model on weekends.

Furthermore I had to build something for my cloth pin collection.

 

I managed to get the hull molds and the horses done. I encountered more issues withe the “laser cut” parts than I had imagine.

But nothing which couldn’t be fixed. It was just time consuming before you actually start building.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

On a side note, the waviness of the plan was / is kind of annoying.

you have to be very carefully if you measure something.

BTW, I reinforced the molds. 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Next was to bend and attach the cap strip. I used hot water to soak it and clamp it to the molds.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Of cause I forgot to notch mold #1 & #5. I noticed it after I had glued them together. In this case  a mini Japanese saw is very helpful. The blades are ultra thin, only 0.1 mm or 0.00393701” ! One saw is for crosscut the other for rip cut.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Next was to bevel molds # 1, 2, 4 & 5

 

 

[Hsae]

The big moment where I finally start building a boat, to attach the molds to the horses.

And an even bigger surprise, it didn’t fit.  In my infinite wisdom I glued the center horse already in place. With the result you see in the pictures. 
Maybe next time I should dry fit everything first, before I glue it together. Oh well …

After adding some strips under the stern & bow horse, I was able to level the mold.

 

[Hsae]

… laminating the steam & stern posts…

 

 

[Hsae]

I have a question for you guys.

How in the world can the two keel layer (1/16 + 3/64) match the six posts with 1/32 each?

The difference is roughly 5/64”. I am struggling with the scarf joint.

Or am I overthinking this? Just sand it down?

[Geoff Matson]

Hello, nice job so far. One thing I did with my plans was to just iron them with my wife's iron. Then I cut foam board to size and attach the plans with clips. You could also use just thick poster board. Just an idea. I look forward to you progress

 

 

[Hsae]

I was thinking that too. But I wasn’t sure if I don’t have the print reverse on the iron board. I’ll give it a try. 
Thats a good idea with the foam board. 👍

 

Thanks Geoff!

 

Hermann

[Hsae]

Meanwhile I did my first oar. I made it out of 3/8” square basswood.

Of cause the handle broke off. I will see if I can fix that, or if I have to cut into the oar a little bit further.

 

[Hsae]

Oar production …

 

 

[Hsae]

Thank you for the likes.

Slow process. Continuing with the paddles & oars …

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

I was also trying the line tub, but I don’t know if I like it …

[Hsae]

So, I am done with the oars & paddles, except painting and weathering.

According to the book from Willtis D. Amsel Paddels were reinforced with 2 pins with the handle.

I used 1 mm diameter plastic rods.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Hsae

[Hsae]

Btw, I found some nice photos from a 28ft. Bettle Whaleboat.

https://beetlecat.com/28-beetle-whaleboat/

 

Some impressions:

 

 

[Hsae]

Back to the model. I did my first big mistake. I already noticed that the dimensions are kind off (post #13), but I didn’t double check because I read that you have to take the measurement from the planking. Stupid me!
I made the lower keel too thin. 1/16” instead of 5/64” like stated in the parts list and elsewhere. So I have to redo the whole procedure. 😒

Well live and learn!

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Hsae

[Edwardkenway]

I like these whaleboats, looks like you've made a good start, despite having little problems to overcome! 

RE wavy plans: give them a once over with the Admirals iron, it works for me to flatten creases in folded plans/drawings. 

[Hsae]

Thanks for the encouragement! 
BTW, I did iron the drawings. It got much better.

 

Today I got something which was for a long time on my wishlist. A steam generator.

So far I did wood bending with hot water or with an iron, now I am looking forward to seeing this in action.

 

 

 

[Paul Gardner]

I'm a bit late to the game but have enjoyed your log. I'm about ready to start my whale boat so your photos are going to be very helpful.  Is there a further update coming?