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

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Colin, thank you very much for your comment and for the suggestions. Lots of interesting content there.

[FriedClams]

On 7/19/2024 at 2:16 PM, JacquesCousteau said:

Very nicely done, such clean worksmanship!

 

What he said!  Beautiful work, Paul.

 

Gary

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Gary, that you for your comment and thank you Jacques for the original comment. Much appreciated!

[tmj]

Very fine craftsmanship, indeed! I'm a late comer to your build log but really enjoy your style of building. A very pleasant combination of aesthetics, artform and skill! 

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi tmj, thank you for your kind comment, Welcome to the build log!

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thanks to all of you for the generous support. While working on the cap rails and painting the hull I was also working on the cabin. It is just about complete so this update will be about that process. There’s a lot of angles and curves to the cabin. The four sides were made from 1/16” x 1/4” AYC 

and after a lot of trimming, tweaking and dry fitting they were ready for gluing together. The window frames are made from boxwood strips. A 1/32” x 1/32” strip is glued to the back of the 1/32” x 1/16” strip to create a channel.

 

 

 

 

 I found it easier to glue them together while sitting in place.

 

 

After the glue was dry the cabin was removed. A beam was added to support the 3/64”  x 3/16” roof planks and then a coat of clear shellac was applied 

 

 

Sliding wood panels were used in the window frames instead of glass. My story is that some of the builders of these boats couldn’t afford glass. 
 

 

A few coats of paint later is when I noticed that I had forgotten the drainage holes in the sliders. Splash boards were used instead of doors because the cockpit is not that big. 
 

 

 

Now it’s back to painting the hull. Hope to see you soon!

[KeithAug]

6 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Sliding wood panels were used in the window frames instead of glass.

It looks nice Paul but did you have a reason why (apart from the cash strapped fisherman tall story).

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Keith, I’ve come across photos of a few oyster boats ( not sharpies) that have sliding wood panels as opposed to glass windows so I thought that it wouldn’t be too far of a reach for a sharpie to be equipped in a similar manner. The subject kind of reminded me of a book I had read a long time ago. I think it was a Louis L’Amour western where he was talking about buildings in the old west not having glass windows because it was expensive and difficult to get. I always enjoyed his books. Might have to pick another one up someday 😀

[KeithAug]

Excellent reasoning Paul. It now all makes complete sense. I don't know if they had toughened glass readily available in North Carolina in that era but if they didn't that would also support a wood solution.

[KeithAug]

Isn't the internet clever:-

 

Toughened glass was invented in 1874 by Francois Barthelemy Alfred Royer de la Bastie. Wire mesh glass was invented in 1892 by Frank Shuman

[FriedClams]

Nice work on the cabin, Paul.  I was wondering how you like working with the Alaskan cedar?  Never tried it myself, but something a little harder than basswood would be nice.

 

Gary

 

[Paul Le Wol]

9 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Nice work on the cabin, Paul.  I was wondering how you like working with the Alaskan cedar?  Never tried it myself, but something a little harder than basswood would be nice.

 

Gary

 

Thanks Gary, the Alaskan Cedar is very nice to work with. It will sand to as smooth a finish as you want and it holds a clean edge. Very nice for making small parts and it takes heat bending without breaking as long as you take it slow. All in all I like it a lot. Joe at Modeler’s Sawmill is very good to deal with._

[FriedClams]

Thanks for the info, Paul.  I'm going to give it try soon.

 

Gary

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up after being away on holiday, Paul. She's coming along beautifully.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

2 hours ago, Jim Lad said:

Just catching up after being away on holiday, Paul. She's coming along beautifully.

 

John

Thank you very much John. I hope that you had a great holiday!

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, many thanks for all of the Comments and Likes. About a month ago I started working on the cap rails and in that time they were completed and the hull painted. Between coats of paint the deck furnishings were being worked on. A piece of wood 3/16” x 5/16” was pinned to the deck as a placeholder for the bowsprit. The bulwarks were finished to the bowsprit and then the cap rails were made. The cap rail around the stern was cut from a sheet of AYC and assembled in the same manner as the covering board.

 

 

 

 

 I decided to use a strip of wood at the bow instead of cutting the cap rail from a sheet. It was a bit of a battle to get enough bend. Should have used a more rounded piece of wood for the jig. You can see a bit of a kink in the rail but the strip was wide enough that it could be sanded out. 
 

 

 

This is where the painting started. First a coat of clear shellac and then around 6 coats of thinned paint. The posts that support the dredge roller were added halfway through the painting because the cap rail and the rub rail needed to be notched.

 

 

 

The white - grey was finished being applied and then a few days later the hull red was applied below the waterline. I had the wooden plaque laying around so the boat was mounted on it in order to scribe the waterline and to show how it will sit.

 

 

 

 

Next comes a bit of sanding and touch up work. Then on to the deck. Take care of yourselves!

[Keith Black]

 Paul, that looks fantastic! Very very nicely done. 

[Paul Le Wol]

Thank you Keith, you are very kind.

[KeithAug]

The build quality continues to impress Paul. All looking very smart.

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, KeithAug said:

The build quality continues to impress Paul. All looking very smart.

Thank you Keith, I really appreciate your comments.

[Jim Lad]

She's looking very 'swish', Paul.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

11 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

She's looking very 'swish', Paul.

 

John

Thank you John, I think that’s the look I was going for. 😀

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thanks to all for your Comments and Likes. The past week was spent working on the cockpit. The floor was glued together and cut/sanded to size. Before gluing, the strips of AYC were sealed with WOP tinted with Vallejo Dark Slate Grey pigment . ( 1/2 tsp. / oz. ). The floor was then glued into place.

 

 

 

The cabin’s aft wall sits on top of the floor so this was glued in next.

 

 

The cabin wall material that was shaped a little while ago was taped back on to the mold and a piece 3/4” wide was cut from it and given a test fit.

 

 

 

The remainder of the wall material that was still taped to the mold was used to shape a strip of 1/32” x 1/16” boxwood that wood become the outer edge of the wall’s cap.

 

 

 

A jig was made to keep it honest while gluing.

 

 

A smaller mold was used to shape a strip of wood that would become the inside edge of the wall’s cap. This strip was then glued to the inside top edge of the wall.

 

 

 

The cap was sanded and thinned wood filler was applied to fill gaps in the lamination. 
 

 

After some sanding and a few coats of paint the wall was given another test fit.

 

 

Next I’ll be heading to the bow to start the deck planking. Hope to see you there.

[JacquesCousteau]

Excellent job! I particularly like the coloration on the floor planking, the tinted wipe-on poly really effectively gives it a slightly weathered look.

[druxey]

I'm late to the scene: very nice neat work and bending job!

[Paul Le Wol]

17 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Excellent job! I particularly like the coloration on the floor planking, the tinted wipe-on poly really effectively gives it a slightly weathered look.

Thanks @JacquesCousteau for your comment on the weathering. I was kind of debating about how far to take it. I think it will end up being semi-grunge.

 

13 minutes ago, druxey said:

I'm late to the scene: very nice neat work and bending job!

Thanks @druxey for your comment on the bending. I was thinking about the cockpit wall for the longest time wondering what the best process would be. 

[FriedClams]

Just like all your work, Paul - neat, clean and everything fits together perfectly.  Extremely fine modeling!

 

Gary

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Gary, thank you for your comment. It is really appreciated.

[KeithAug]

The use of the wooden cloths pegs made me smile. The build is coming along rather well.

[Paul Le Wol]

Thanks Keith, I’m not sure where they make clothes pegs these days but they don’t seem to be very good anymore. 😢