North Carolina Oyster Sharpie by Paul Le Wol - 1/24 - from plans drawn by Thomas Pratt

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, this build of a 44’ North Carolina Oyster Sharpie will be my first scratch build. The plans were bought from US Vintage Model Yacht Group. ( USVMYG ) They are drawn by Thomas A Pratt, taken from the lines of Howard Chapelle. They are a digital download with the plans and directions for a 50” model on one pdf and photos and directions of a 50” model being assembled on a second pdf. Acrobat Pro was used to scale the drawings to 1/24 ( 22”) using the tile function to print them out. All of the measurements are taken directly from the printed drawings. Detailed instructions are given on how to make the build board but I’m using the adjustable board that I already have. The inner stem is made first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inner stem is made from 1/4 x 1/4” basswood strip with one side planed at an angle so that the adjacent side is 1/8” wide. When all four pieces are glued together the forward side will be 1/4” wide to accept the 1/4 “ stem. Notches are cut at this time to accept the shear logs and the chine logs.It is mounted to the build board and all measurements are taken from this point.. The hull lines are all straight so I took the measurements from the drawing and started making frames from 1/16” strips of basswood.

 

 

 

The frames are attached to the build board using 4-40 hardware to eliminate any cutting later on. Notches are cut for the keelson which consists of three 1/8” strips of wood. The king plank sits on top of the frame and will eventually be adjusted for the curvature of the deck. Three 1/8” strips were used in case the center piece needs to be removed for the center board. ( But that probably won’t happen)

 

 

 

 

 

Once the center strips of the keelson and king plank were attached, vertical supports were added for the masts and bulkheads for the trunk, cockpit and hatches. Then the outer strips were added and more vertical supports were added so that the whole structure is 3/8” thick.

 

 

 

 

The two areas where the masts will be stepped are built out so that they are 1/4” square and then boxed.

 

 

 

 

The plan is to box in the entire bulkhead former and then add lateral supports for the frames before attaching the chine logs. Hope to see you soon.
 

 

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey.    

[Paul Le Wol]

Thanks Bob! 👍

[goatfarmer11]

It looks like you are off to a great start Paul.  I'll be tagging along for this journey.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hey Denis, thank you. It’s great to have you along!

[FriedClams]

Good luck Paul on your first scratch model and you are certainly off to a great start!  I love working boats of all sorts and to my eye, this design is beautiful.  How can one go wrong with Howard Chapelle?  Look forward to following along.

 

Gary

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Gary, thank you for joining the adventure. I’ve been enjoying this scratch building so far. Seems to be a more relaxed pace. Just a pile of wood patiently waiting to become something. ( Hopefully 🤞 )

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thank you for the Comments and Likes. They are very much appreciated. I have completed boxing the bulkhead former with 1/16” sheet working from the stem aft. The frames were braced as I went.

 

 

 

 

 

A template was made from a file folder to make the sub deck and the underside of the hull at the stern. A piece of 1/32” sheet was used for the sub deck and glued into place. The bulkhead former was not boxed where the cockpit is situated and the king plank will be cut out once the hull is planked.

 

 

 

 

The frame braces between frames six and seven will double as the floor of the cockpit. The chine logs were glued into place once all of the bracing was completed. 
 

 

 

 

 

The supports for the hull planking at the stern were glued into place and then the chine logs were faired.

 

 

 

The boat was removed from the build board so that it was easier to attach the sheer logs. It was then remounted to the build board and false frames were added between the real frames to give the hull planking some more support. 

 

 

 

 

Starting to lay out the planking on the underside of the hull. Hope to see you next time.

 

 

[FriedClams]

Looking good Paul - nice careful and clean work.

 

Gary 

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Gary, thanks for your kind words. I’ll be pretty busy over the next couple of months so I might not be able to make any updates. I’m hoping maybe a small one every so often. Don’t like to lose the momentum.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thank you for your Comments and Likes. Work on the bottom planking of the hull progressed far enough that I had to start thinking about fairing the stern.

 

 

 

The hull was removed from the build board. The edge of the sub deck was protected with tape and the filler pieces on the bottom of the hull at the stern were faired. Then the edges of the bottom filler pieces were taped and the edge of the sub deck was faired. This went back and forth a few times until it was all fair. 
 

 

 

 

 

Now the hull will be mounted back onto the build board and the bottom planking will be finished. I also wanted to mention that I bought The Sharpie Book. It has some interesting detail drawings and narrative about how these boats were put together.

 

 

 

Hope to talk to you soon.

[Mike Collier]

What kind of tool is that you are using for the building board?

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Mike, the build board was made using extruded aluminum t-slot tracks screwed to a pine project board. I bought the tracks at Lee Valley because they’re handy to where I live. They are surface-mounted because I don’t have a router to cut slots to flush mount them. The two outer tracks have an area to accept self adhesive measuring tape. I bought Starret measuring tape from Amazon. It comes in metric or imperial. The t-bolts come in 1/4 or 5/16 inch sizes and the plastic knobs have an embedded nut in them. They have different types of knobs depending on your needs. I used 2 inch aluminum square tube screwed under the board to to keep the board honest and to make it possible to clamp to the board. The square tube was bought ar Aircraft Spruce in Brantford Ontario also because they are handy to where I live. The board is a few.years old and so far has remained straight. I hope this answers your question.

 

 

 

[Mike Collier]

It looks like a well thought out building board that can be reused many times. Thanks for sharing.

[Thistle17]

Any progress Paul?

Joe

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Joe, thanks for asking. I was looking at her last night and thinking it was time to get back to it. Last summer I moved to this new ( for me ) place. It took way longer than I thought it would to renovate but I now have a work room. 

 

 

Then this came in the mail today. Hope it’s not too much of a distraction 😀

 

 

I want to start on the staves running around the stern in the next couple of weeks.

[davec]

Beautiful work - not sure how I missed this.  I just finished a much smaller sharpie. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

Dave

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Dave, and thank you. Your Sharpie is one of the best examples out there!

[Thistle17]

Paul I plan to follow your build progress. I acquired the Florida Shapie Fishing Schooner that is recorded on this site. Panel #33 is where I finished off about a year ago. Still some rigging to do and a case. I acquired it from the estate of a fellow modler who found it in n antique shop about 5 years ago. The model is scratch and is done equistely so I am challenged to achieve the quality it deserves. David Bennett of the NC Museum sent me some pictures of rigging of models in his collection you may wish to study. The rigging of these vcessels is relatively simple but there are some gaff hauls that I have yet to find a home for since there are no logical termination points but at the masts.

Joe

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Joe, the Sharpie you’ve acquired is truly beautiful and inspirational. I didn’t realize that it had been that long since your last post. Time certainly flies. Hope you are able to finish and display her soon. 

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, I got sidetracked when I moved last summer but I’ve managed to find some time between the renovations to work on the sharpie. The bottom of the hull was finished being planked and the stem was attached just before I moved. A couple of weeks ago the 1/8” x 1/8” strip of wood that blocked the center board slot was removed with an 1/8” chisel. A 1/16” strip of wood was added to the skeg to make it stand a little more proud. Then the shoe was made using 5/32” x 1/32” AYC. and  attached. It should have been a bit narrower but it won’t be noticeable once it’s finished. 
 

 

 

 

The staves were glued to the round stern with PVA so that took a week to complete. 
 

 

 

From what I’ve read the planking on the sides of the hull weren’t tapered but that might have been on the smaller sharpies. It seemed to be easier to taper them so that’s what I did. 

 

 

 

 

The planks were glued at the stem using Medium CA and then PVA for the rest of the plank. 

 

 

 

 

Now on to the starboard side with three strakes. Hope to see you soon.

[davec]

Great to see you back at work on the model.  Coming along beautifully!

 

Dave

[Paul Le Wol]

Thanks Dave, when I put the build on hold last year I was afraid I would lose momentum. Well I sure did 😀

[FriedClams]

Hey Paul, good to see some movement on this model!

 

On 3/27/2024 at 8:19 PM, Paul Le Wol said:

when I put the build on hold last year I was afraid I would lose momentum. Well I sure did

 

Easy to do - I know.  I think model building should always be about enjoyment and just doing the best you can, rather than the rate of progress.  And your sharpie is coming along very nicely.

 

Gary

[Paul Le Wol]

3 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Hey Paul, good to see some movement on this model!

 

 

Easy to do - I know.  I think model building should always be about enjoyment and just doing the best you can, rather than the rate of progress.  And your sharpie is coming along very nicely.

 

Gary

Hi Gary, thank you for your nice comment and for checking in on the sharpie. I’ve been slowly planking her. Been using two planks in each strake so usually I glue the end of the plank at either the stem or the stern and then the next day finish gluing the rest of the plank. So it’s been taking four days to complete a strake. A couple of months ago I picked up an Ultimation disk sander and started using it to taper the planks. I like using it a lot. And it’s so quiet! 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for the planking for now. Going to do some sanding and then work on giving the deck beams some camber before laying down the sub deck.

[JacquesCousteau]

Nice job, it's coming along really well and looks great! What wood are you using for the planking?

[Paul Le Wol]

Thank you Jacques. When I started planking the bottom I started in the middle and worked in both directions using the basswood that came with the Glad Tidings kit. When I ran out of 3/16” x 1/16” basswood I changed to the 3/16” x 1/16” leftover Alaskan Yellow Cedar that I had bought to plank the Glad Tidings.  So the bottom has a few inches of AYC at the bow and the stern. The sides of the hull are AYC. Started with 3/16” x 1/16” until it ran out. The rest of the hull will be finished with 1/4” AYC. She will be painted white so it should be okay. That was kind of long-winded wasn’t it 😀

[JacquesCousteau]

That makes perfect sense! I had noticed the change in color and was curious, it'll definitely be unnoticeable under the paint though.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, I have a bit of progress to show. The stern’s staves have been sanded 

 

 

A pattern was then made to create the section of the false wale that runs around the stern. That section was cut out of a 1/16” basswood sheet.

 

 

 

 

The basswood section was soaked in a pot of water for a few minutes and then clamped to a pot with the appropriate diameter.

 

 

Before that can be attached the crown in the deck had to be addressed. I used a construction article from the “usvmyg.org” website to make a deck beam pattern. I ended up with the pattern cut/sanded into a paint stirring stick. Tapered pieces of 1/8 x 1/8” basswood were glued to the top of the frames and finish sanded to shape using the deck beam pattern.

 

 

 

Once they are finished the hull planking will be started. Hope to see you soon.

[davec]

Great to see your progress - coming along beautifully!