Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by ahb26 - FINISHED - Midwest Products/Model Shipways - 1:24

[ahb26]

I continue my run of New England fishing boats with the Midwest Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack - now manufactured by Model Shipways.  Looking back at logs for the Midwest kit, it has been popular with experienced modelers looking for opportunities to modify and enhance the basic kit, as well as inexperienced modelers.  It has additional interest for me since my wife's parents had a cottage in New Harbor, Maine that looked out on Muscongus Bay (at least until the trees in the vacant lot across the road grew up).  I chose the Midwest kit over Model Shipways' own version in large part because of the fondness expressed by other members for Midwest kits in general and this kit in particular.  I am looking forward to an old-school building experience.

 

The kit arrived in good order, in a box that appears identical to the original Midwest box with the addition of a Model Shipways logo.

I took a quick look at the contents.  Previous logs pointed out two peculiarities/shortcomings of the Midwest-manufactured kit: balsa wood hull planking, and small cotter pins to be used as eyebolts.  The sheet balsa planking has been replaced with 1/16" basswood sheet, and there are real eyebolts in place of the cotter pins.  The balsa bow filler blocks remain.  I'll have to see if the basswood sheet planks can be made to conform to the boat's hull shape.  The manual has been slightly updated but still refers to the cotter pins and balsa planking.

There are two rolled sheets of plans, small enough to tape to my work surface.

I have made some progress, which will be covered in the first posts.

[ahb26]

I spent quite a lot of time reading over previous logs, both before purchasing the kit and during the early stages of planning and construction.  One interesting log was from Greg Springs (gsprings) who took on the build as a first-timer.  With lots of thoughtful coaching from other modelers, he was able to produce a fine-looking boat.  At the other end of the spectrum were kits that were extensively bashed, to the point where only a few original pieces remained in the finished model.  One very helpful log was by Piet.  He made a number of modifications, all of which were carefully explained in terms of how they differed from the original, why he was making them, and what was involved.  I would recommend anyone taking on this kit to look over the old logs to identify the pain points as well as the results that are possible.

 

I am planning a relatively by-the-book build, with the exception of a movable rudder and possibly planking the deck.  I really like Piet's open "work area" concept, removing the deck between the cockpit and cabin, but decided against it.  His built-out cabin is exquisite but beyond the scope of my ambitions for this kit.

[ahb26]

And so to work.  My first task was to dry-fit the bulkheads to the keel to check alignment and fit in the slots.  The fit was fine, with just some light sanding required.  Piet reported that bulkhead 4 was sitting 4mm too high, so I fitted the "keel strip" and observed that the run was smooth - no problem there.  This may be a fix since Piet built his kit.

Piet also noted that the notches in the bottom of bulkheads 2-4 where the keel strip runs are not deep enough to accept the 1/16" square keel strips.  You can see this in the photo.  The strips should be flush with the bottoms of those bulkheads.  You can correct this after the bulkheads are glued in (like I did) but it is easier to do it now.

 

As  I went, I added cleats to the bulkheads and keel to aid in alignment.  I also drilled 1/16" holes in the keel, perpendicular to the waterline, for future mounting.

Before I could do anything else, I needed to sort the functional tiller and rudder.  I settled on an arrangement similar to that of the Emma C. Berry: cutting a 1/8" slice out of the keel in line with the sternpost, with plates on either side to hold the stern section in place.  This required a new rudder from 1/8" basswood, attached to a 1/8" dowel.

I made up a tiller from 1/16"x1/8" mahogany, with a pin to locate it in the rudder post (I think this is called the "stock"??).  I will have to glue the tiller to the rudder near the end of the build, a potentially tricky operation.  To hold the bottom end of the stock, I made up a gudgeon.

I continued to dry-fit the bulkheads and add cleats until I was pretty confident that everything was properly aligned.

Bulkhead 3 is askew in this photo; that was fixed later.  I added two beefy cleats to the transom, with a light friction fit that allows the transom to adjusted up and down during the fitting process without disturbing its alignment.  I also dry-fitted the deck, with no alignment problems noted.  Finally I was able to glue the bulkheads.  I used my very square sanding blocks to maintain alignment while the glue dried.

To hold bulkhead 4 firmly and squarely against the keel, I used the cockpit floor with a thin shim to exert pressure.

Once the bulkheads were secure, I clamped the deck in place (no glue) and sanded the top edge of the transom to fit snugly against the deck.

I'll trim the deck once it has been glued in place.  I think that is the next step.

Edited March 13, 2023 by ahb26
Note that cutouts for keel strips are not deep enough.

[druxey]

A very methodical approach, Andrew. Looking good so far.

[ahb26]

On 3/12/2023 at 9:46 PM, druxey said:

A very methodical approach, Andrew. Looking good so far.

Thanks for the comment.  So far, I've been very pleased with how well the parts fit, with a few minor exceptions.

 

I carried on with gluing on the deck, fitting the breast hook, keel strips and battens, and fairing the bulkheads.  Gluing the deck at this point (as recommended in the instructions) adds stability rigidity to the assembly, which will be of great use later on.  By clamping the deck to the bulkheads and keel, I was able to use carpenter's glue almost exclusively, with a little bit of CA here and there.  I did it in two stages.  First was bulkhead 3 back to the transom.

Once that had dried thoroughly, I removed the clamps.  I was able to get glue onto the remaining bulkhead and keel surfaces, then clamped the front section.

Everything lined up perfectly - so far, so good.  The breast hook and keel strips were straightforward.

Next step was to install the battens.  Here, I had to do some work on the batten notches to get the battens to run smoothly.  At bulkhead 1, the breast hook partially blocked the batten notch, and the run of the batten through the notch wasn't smooth.  I pretty much mangled one side to get it right.

These photos show the modified notch on the right, and the pre-modification notch on the left.  At the transom, the notches did not align with the direction of the battens.  This modification wasn't as difficult.

 

With the battens in place, I could fair the bulkheads and battens.  I haven't noticed any problems with bulkhead alignment so far but I'll double check.

The keel is faired to a point between the bottom edge of the batten and the deck.  The top planks will maintain their full thickness to the end of the keel, then be trimmed off and sanded flat so the stem can lie against the sanded ends.  (It took a while for me to figure this out.)

 

I attempted some trial-fitting of the top planks against the bulkheads, battens, and decks, and quickly realized the the planks need to be softened up some and pre-shaped if possible.  I'm doing that now.

I fully expect that installing the planks will be a frustrating struggle.  If it can't be done, I can fall back on conventional planking using left-over planks from a previous build.

[druxey]

Ammonia is not necessary for plank bending. Warm water is fine for basswood.

[ahb26]

Moving along with planking... The two top planks were soaked and then fitted to the frame to dry overnight.

Gluing the planks to the battens, deck edges and bulkheads was a bit of a scramble.  I did each side in three stages, starting with the middle bay, then the bow and the stern.  No carpenter's glue here since there is no way to clamp everything that needs to be clamped - instead, I got CA into as many places as possible before positioning the plank, then drizzled it into the remaining joints while holding the plank in place with my fingers.  I used a lot of CA and a lot of accelerator. I had to unglue one section because the plank wouldn't lie on the batten; the rest were OK.  I trimmed the edges of the plank where they overhung the deck, battens, bow, and transom, first with an XActo and then sanding.  That got me to this point:

The bottom edge of the plank, which is glued to the batten, is sanded to a taper such that it blends into the curves of the bulkheads.  This step is critical for avoiding trouble later.

 

Next, I soaked the bottom planks and trussed them up to the frame.

I beveled the bottom edge of each plank where it meets the keel, and did some reshaping that I hoped would allow the plank to fit snugly against the keel strips.  However, I couldn't seem to get the forward edge of the plank to lie against bulkhead 1 - there was no way to clamp it.

Once the planks had dried, I again armed myself with CA and accelerator and glued them in place against the keel strip and the tapered edge of the top planks.  It took a lot of force to hold the planks in place until the CA had a chance to set, but they ended up in the right place - even against bulkhead 1.  All the overhang was at the top edge of the plank. 

I was able to trim away most of the overhang with the knife, then sanded out the rest.  The goal is to blend the joint to the point that you can't tell where it is when the hull has been painted.  It takes a lot of sanding, but I'm getting there.

 

 

[ahb26]

With the hull sanded, it was time to fit and shape the balsa bow filler blocks.

This turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. I quickly carved away most of the block with the XActo, then sanded out the rest.  Here, one has been shaped:

It only took under an hour to do both sides.  There are some inevitable seams that need to be filled:

So the cycle of sand, fill, repeat begins.  I read in another topic that the balsa can be hardened with polyurethane varnish so that it sands at the same rate as the adjoining basswood - I'll do that after I've sanded out the second application of filler.

[ahb26]

Thanks all for the likes and for looking in.

 

Sanding and filling continued for a bit longer.  The polyurethane did harden up the balsa and it sanded well.  I got to the point where I was ready for a trial coat of primer.

Smearing the filler over the balsa block did a pretty good job of hiding the grain once I sanded again. 

Here, I've done more work on the joints between the planks and filler blocks.  I've also glued on the stem, and added a surround for the centerboard.  This isn't in the plans and may have nothing to do with reality, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  It's supposed to represent the bottom of the centerboard trunk.

I glued in the centerboard and sprayed the final (I hope) coats of primer. 

I am pretty pleased with the hull.  It is better than the planked hulls I've done, admittedly not a high bar to clear.  I may need to touch up a few spots with filler before top coating.

 

I also made up mounting pins and a temporary base, to facilitate marking the waterline.

Next up: painting the hull, or planking the deck.  I need to think about which to do first.

[ahb26]

I decided to plank the deck before painting the hull, and I'm glad I did.  The planking process resulted in some messiness that would have required a lot of rework of the finished hull.

 

I have a large stock of 3/64" basswood left over from Emma C. Berry, mostly 3/16 wide" - perfect for deck planking.  Previously, I made cover boards from this wood, soaking and then bending them to shape using the sheet that held the deck as a jig.  I glued them on with CA, keeping the outer edge even with the side of the hull as much as possible.

I made a separate piece for the stern, allowing it to overhang the transom slightly.

I made a king plank from 3/8" wide stock and made sure it was perfectly centered on the centerline I had drawn before the deck was installed.

I then worked out from the king plank with 3/16" strips, using mostly carpenters glue with a dab of CA at one end of the plank to keep it tight to its neighbor where needed.

I did the same for the center section of the deck and the aft section, working out from the centerline. 

To my astonishment and delight, the planks that unite the three sections lined up perfectly with the outer edges of each section.  A couple more planks completed the job.

I'm in the process of filling the small gaps with glue and sawdust, then I'll finish the deck with tinted polyurethane, scrubbed with steel wool.  I'm also scoping out the work to be done in the cockpit area.  The cockpit floor is sort of odd in that it doesn't extend out to the hull - seems like a hazard - but that's the size the floor piece was and I didn't think it through.  Some of that will be covered by the bench.

 

[ahb26]

All of April has passed with slow progress and some gaps in the photo record.  Hull painting is complete and the coaming/cabin is in place, so it seems like a good time to catch up.

At this point, the lower molding (1/32" square strip) has been installed and the upper part of the hull, the toe rails, and the cover boards have been painted white.  (I finally bought some proper Tamaya masking tape and it's been a huge help.)  The rest of the deck has been coated with tinted poly varnish and dulled with fine steel wool.  I'm in the process of bending the upper moldings/wales, which I made up from 1/16" square strip sanded to 3/64" in one dimension.  I wanted something a bit more substantial than the 1/32" strip in that location.  It took about five brushed coats of the Model Shipways white paint to cover the gray primer - that paint doesn't seem to "like" the primer very well.

I drew the waterline on the white paint and masked it, installed the rudder, then painted below the waterline with Vallejo Model Colors Cavalry Brown.  It goes on smooth and covers well - a pleasure to work with.  I masked the lower molding and painted it (touch-up was required), and painted the upper molding before gluing it on.

 

I spent a lot of time on the cockpit and seating.  This was the result.

The seat and back panel assembly turned out to be a snug friction fit and can easily be removed and replaced.  There's no need to glue it in.

Since I planked over the deck, and the coaming strips sit on the deck in their middle section, the entire coaming and cabin are raised 3/64".  This means the frame that forms the back cabin wall needs to be extended by a like amount.  It also gave me the opportunity to install cleats in the deck edges to positively position the coaming as it is shaped and installed.

The cleats are made of 1/16"x1/2" strip I had on hand.  I soaked the coaming strips, then clamped them in place to dry.

The strips are slightly oversize and are meant to be cut to size after they are glued in so they butt.  I made a mess of the cutting but was able to patch things up with filler.  Here's where things stand now:

I will work on the cabin and other items to complete the hull next.

[ahb26]

Wow, six weeks gone by and not much to show for it in the model.  Other things going on in my life, and a certain amount of inertia with regard to working on the kit.  Things are moving a bit better now.

 

I painted the cabin roof, then glued it on.

The framework for the hatch was next.

Trail boards installed and bowsprit, samson post, and fairleads set in place.  (I have since remade the bowsprit in hardwood.  The one shown here was made from very soft basswood and did not hold up to drilling.)

I re-used the trailboard graphic from Emma C. Berry and added an old-timey rendition of my wife's first and middle names.

A few more bits and pieces completed the hull portion of the model.

The bowsprit and fairleads are still just set in place for the photo.  They won't be installed until needed during rigging.

 

I have made up the spars and some hardware for them (not in the plans) and started on the sails.  I'll cover those items in the next post.

[ahb26]

Thanks for the likes - much appreciated, especially given the slow pace of the project.

 

Spars and sails are complete but not yet assembled.  The gaff and boom jaws (I am not using the prescribed gooseneck for the boom) were straightforward.

This rig holds everything in alignment while the glue dries.  I sanded slight flats into the dowels to give the jaws a better glue surface.

 

This kit is my first experience making detailed sails.  The material supplied with the kit is a stiff linen of some sort.  It does not creep or stretch when it is being cut or when lines are drawn on it.  I reinforced it further with matte poly spray to keep the edges from fraying.  Here's the jib:

The dowel helps in tying uniform-size hanks. The instructions say that the halyards and sheets should be tied directly to the jib.  This doesn't sound quite kosher, but after considering alternatives I went ahead with it.

I glued triangular gussets to the corners of the sail to assure that the tied lines wouldn't pull out.

 

The mainsail was next.  To make the reefing lines, I sewed lengths of black thread through the sail, taped the threads on each end of the sail, and secured them with a dot of CA at the reef point. 

Then I trimmed the lines to length.  They hang down nicely.

 

So now I can lay out the whole sail plan, ready for assembly.

I'll do as much rigging as possible off the boat, then step the mast and complete the job.

[ahb26]

I think I am going to call this finished, although it could use some touch-up (the photos don't lie) which I may do later.  The rigging was straightforward.  I was able to rig the mainsail and partially rig the jib off the boat.

Before stepping the mast, I glued the tiller to the rudder post, a bit tricky given the tight access.  Then the mast went in...

and I completed the rigging.  Sounds simple, no?  Belaying the lines on the little cleats just about drove me nuts. The supplied line is springy and slippery, and leaps off the cleat unless tension is held on it throughout the process.  All my pre-rigging unrigged itself  But I finally got everything secure and formed coils from the excess line.  So here she is...

All in all, this build was enjoyable if at times frustrating.  (Aren't they all?)  I wouldn't hesitate to build another Midwest/Model Shipways kit.

 

[ccoyle]

Congratulations on a nice result!

[druxey]

Sweet! Congratulations on a great finish.

[ahb26]

Thanks!

I am currently repairing my "Yankee Hero" Eastport Pinky, which was knocked off our upright piano by our cat.  (I swear he did it on purpose in response to some real or imagined slight.)  After that - well, we'll see.

[gsdpic]

Very attractive little boat...just keep it away from the cat!  Or at least stop giving the cat reasons to detect or imagine slights

 

[Ron Gagner]

On 6/26/2023 at 4:08 PM, ahb26 said:

I think I am going to call this finished, although it could use some touch-up (the photos don't lie) which I may do later.  The rigging was straightforward.  I was able to rig the mainsail and partially rig the jib off the boat.

Before stepping the mast, I glued the tiller to the rudder post, a bit tricky given the tight access.  Then the mast went in...

and I completed the rigging.  Sounds simple, no?  Belaying the lines on the little cleats just about drove me nuts. The supplied line is springy and slippery, and leaps off the cleat unless tension is held on it throughout the process.  All my pre-rigging unrigged itself  But I finally got everything secure and formed coils from the excess line.  So here she is...

All in all, this build was enjoyable if at times frustrating.  (Aren't they all?)  I wouldn't hesitate to build another Midwest/Model Shipways kit.

 

 

[Kenneth Powell]

Great build with the working rudder and all. Midwest does make very good kits and I really what you've with it.

 

- Kenneth

[Ron Gagner]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:01 AM, ahb26 said:

Thanks for the likes - much appreciated, especially given the slow pace of the project.

 

Spars and sails are complete but not yet assembled.  The gaff and boom jaws (I am not using the prescribed gooseneck for the boom) were straightforward.

This rig holds everything in alignment while the glue dries.  I sanded slight flats into the dowels to give the jaws a better glue surface.

 

This kit is my first experience making detailed sails.  The material supplied with the kit is a stiff linen of some sort.  It does not creep or stretch when it is being cut or when lines are drawn on it.  I reinforced it further with matte poly spray to keep the edges from fraying.  Here's the jib:

The dowel helps in tying uniform-size hanks. The instructions say that the halyards and sheets should be tied directly to the jib.  This doesn't sound quite kosher, but after considering alternatives I went ahead with it.

I glued triangular gussets to the corners of the sail to assure that the tied lines wouldn't pull out.

 

The mainsail was next.  To make the reefing lines, I sewed lengths of black thread through the sail, taped the threads on each end of the sail, and secured them with a dot of CA at the reef point. 

Then I trimmed the lines to length.  They hang down nicely.

 

So now I can lay out the whole sail plan, ready for assembly.

I'll do as much rigging as possible off the boat, then step the mast and complete the job.

 

23 hours ago, Ron Gagner said:

 

My kit is arriving Wed. The info you gave me will be very helpfull. This will be my 4th project. I made all kinds of mistakes, to much CA, not following the importanace of alignment...  My building skills were in giant scale aircraft that I flew in scale events had to build strong to hold together a 20 lb. aircraft.

The pic is of a 1851 schonner   used copper tape  made strips 4 or 5 inches made a jig for the rivets. Not to bad for a hack...

[Ron Gagner]

9 minutes ago, Ron Gagner said:

 

My kit is arriving Wed. The info you gave me will be very helpfull. This will be my 4th project. I made all kinds of mistakes, to much CA, not following the importanace of alignment...  My building skills were in giant scale aircraft that I flew in scale events had to build strong to hold together a 20 lb. aircraft.

The pic is of a 1851 schonner   used copper tape  made strips 4 or 5 inches made a jig for the rivets. Not to bad for a hack...

It;s harder to post a pic than it was to build

Ron Gagner

North Oxford, MA