Lowell Grand Banks Dory by JacquesCousteau - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:24

[ERS Rich]

28 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

That said, I think I over-thinned the paint for my first few coats. This made it harder to keep from bubbling or from building up in the corners (of which there are many on the interior). It also meant that it still looked patchy after the third coat. Subsequently, I thinned it less. Despite the frustrations, I think the interior turned out pretty well.

Hi Jacques,

 

Your boat looks nice.  A couple of ideas to consider.  It is all about the finish.  

 

Wood fibers, in particular pine, because of sap, absorb paint differently across the board grain.  So unprimed wood can appear blotchy, again pine in particular.   There are products to “pretreat” pine prior to finishing, meant to even out the finish.
 

However, blotching or uneven finish absorption, may not be a bad thing, depending what you are going for.  

 

This is a wood kit, if the wood is say completely primed and painted so evidence of wood disappears, the finished product can look plastic.

 

On the other hand, evidence of wood, meaning the grain is visible, tells the observer they are looking at wood.

 

I like both of the pictures above, the first looks like a boat that’s been in service a while, the second looks like the boat is new.

 

Thanks

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by ERS Rich
Grammar as usual

[JacquesCousteau]

3 hours ago, ERS Rich said:

Hi Jacques,

 

Your boat looks nice.  A couple of ideas to consider.  It is all about the finish.  

 

Wood fibers, in particular pine, because of sap, absorb paint differently across the board grain.  So unprimed wood can appear blotchy, again pine in particular.   There are products to “pretreat” pine prior to finishing, meant to even out the finish.
 

However, blotching or uneven finish absorption, may not be a bad thing, depending what you are going for.  

 

This is a wood kit, if the wood is say completely primed and painted so evidence of wood disappears, the finished product can look plastic.

 

On the other hand, evidence of wood, meaning the grain is visible, tells the observer they are looking at wood.

 

I like both of the pictures above, the first looks like a boat that’s been in service a while, the second looks like the boat is new.

 

Thanks

 

Thanks, this is very helpful! I considered leaving it looking weathered, but there were some excess glue stains (not really visible in the photo, but easier to see from other angles) that looked weird and were better covered with more coats. It's a good reminder for me to do a better job cleaning excess glue as I go. But I'd definitely like to do a more weathered model soon!

[JacquesCousteau]

Painting the hull has been an adventure, but at least it's done now.

 

I was planning on painting the bottom red--I know it's not really traditional, but I thought it would add a nice touch. But before painting the bottom, first I wanted to use it to better test a light black wash for weathering (which I mentioned trying out on scrap in an earlier entry). I'm glad I tested it on an area that I would be covering first! It ended up simultaneously too dark and too watery and did not at all look how I wanted it.

 

Painting the bottom was a bit trickier than planned, though. I should have followed the advice I got to get Tamiya modeling tape, but scotch tape had worked pretty well for the trajinera I'm building so I figured I would just use that to mark off 1/8 inch above the bottom. Big mistake! While the painted lines on the trajinera were all straight, painting the bottom evenly required a curve to match the rocker. Scotch tape does not curve well. Then I tried using a pencil to lightly draw a flat waterline, but that also didn't go very well--clearly I should have planned better.

 

But I'm happy with how it turned out. I decided to just freehand it (except across the transom, I used tape for that) up to the top of the garboard. I thought my red paint was a little light, so I mixed a bit of black to get a sort of zinfandel color that I think worked out well.

 

I can't say I'm really enjoying painting as much as the building, and it doesn't help that I can't really build anything while I'm painting because I don't want to get sawdust all over the drying paint. But I'm definitely learning a lot, especially from mistakes, and I'm looking forward to the last steps and figuring out what to build next.

 

[robert952]

Thanks for the detail in the log. I appreciate the time you take to write about how you have experimented with techniques.bThis info can prove to be a help to others building this model.  Also, your experiences can be applied to similar work.  

 

I think every model can be a learning experience for the model builder and those of us following along. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, I've read so many useful build logs that I'm glad to hear this is helpful!

 

After painting the hull, I moved on to the cap rails, painting them a dark green. Here I should have double-checked the instructions before painting--the tip on taping the rails down would have made painting a lot easier. Instead I left the very ends, which I knew would be trimmed, unpainted to have something to hold onto. I also scraped and sanded some of the paint off the top of the wales. As can be seen, I also slightly trimmed off the tops of some of the frame irons that I was worried might get in the way. I touched up the paint afterwards.

 

Attaching the cap rails was a slow process of gluing from the bow back. This entailed at times leaving the rail floating a bit. Trimming the end took a few tries and a good bit of sanding, but I eventually got it to more or less fit. 

 

There was a small gap between the cap rails just aft of the stem. The instructions suggest using filler, but I don't have any. Instead, I cut a tiny sliver of scrap to size. After a couple tries, I had a good test fitting.... and then had a hard time getting it back out! I was eventually able to flip it up at the fore end with a toothpick and add some glue. Later, I sanded it smooth and painted.

 

I ultimately wasn't able to fully get the cap rails to strictly follow the inside edge of the gunwale, as the curve they were cut to slightly differed from the shape my hull took, but I think it worked out well enough.

 

I'm happy with the color combination with the wine-red bottom, too.

 

The end of the build is in sight! Next up, the beckets, which will require re-drilling the transom holes and touching up the paint. Then thwarts, thole pins, oars, and the base, and I'll be finished and on to the next model! After a great deal of thought, and considering my limited space and my wish to learn how to plank, I ultimately decided to go with the Model Shipways Muscongus Lobster Smack, which will undoubtedly be a huge step forward in complexity.

[JacquesCousteau]

Unfortunately, I haven't made as much progress on the dory as I would like--I was waiting for a pin vise so I could drill out the becket holes, and was busy with the trajinera build (I finally started the build log in the scratch-build section). I'll be traveling next week, so the dory won't be finished for a bit longer.

 

I did find the time to finish the oars, though. I just had one left to shape. Unfortunately my knife blade must be getting dull. While I was carving off an edge, it stopped cutting and started acting as a simple wedge, ripping off a substantial chunk of the oar, cutting far too deeply (as can be kinda seen below).

 

I still had one extra oar, so I wasn't too worried, but as a test, I wanted to see if I could correct the error. I glued the strip back on and let it cure overnight.

 

Then, I very carefully began shaping the oar. After a lot of sanding, I was happy with how it turned out. The split wasn't visible at all.

 

Finally, I gave a final sanding to the other oars. I'll be coating them with a sealer/varnish but mostly leaving them natural, so I needed to get off all the remaining char. Overall I'm happy with how the oars turned out, and I learned A. not to carve with a dull knife, and B. that many errors are correctable with a bit of patience.

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by JacquesCousteau

[druxey]

Good save! Also, with thin sections like that, cut with, not against, the grain. That can cause tear-out as well. 'Listen to the wood'!

[JacquesCousteau]

20 hours ago, druxey said:

Good save! Also, with thin sections like that, cut with, not against, the grain. That can cause tear-out as well. 'Listen to the wood'!

Thanks! I think this experience really taught me what it means to cut with the grain. I had thought I was doing so by cutting down the length of the oar shaft, but without paying attention to how its changing thickness meant that the line of the grain from where I was cutting extended deeper into the oar shaft than I planned to cut. Good to learn this now rather than on a more indispensable part!

[druxey]

Yes, grain can change direction unexpectedly. But you'll be alert for that now.

[JacquesCousteau]

Sorry for the long break between posts, I was traveling and finishing the trajinera. I've made good progress recently on the dory, though.

 

The thwarts required a good bit of shaping to fit, including beveling the side edges and part of the slot (which would have been easier to cut with a small chisel instead of the no. 11 exacto blade I used), as can be seen in the photo. (I numbered the thwarts on the bottom to keep track of them.)

 

It took a little while and a lot of test fittings, but they came out even in the end. As will be seen in later photos, I then added a sealer-varnish, as I did with the oars, which ever-so-slightly darkened the thwarts.

 

Experiments with using washes for weathering elsewhere proved encouraging, so I ended up applying a very thin black wash to the hull in order to lightly weather it. I didn't want a severe weathering, but just a little suggestion of a bit of grime, as might accumulate after a short voyage or two. My error with the previous attempt at a wash (discussed above) was using too big a brush, which slopped on a ton of wash at once. This time, I used my smallest brush and had a lot more success. It's hard to see in photos, but I do think it adds a bit of character. I also applied a wash to the bailer, but I didn't like the way it turned out--it was very patchy. I ended up later painting a thin white wash over it, and I think it came out looking appropriately aged--while the dory might be relatively freshly painted, perhaps the fisherman cut costs with a used bailer.

 

Next, the beckets. As nearly every build log mentions, the included rope is much too thick. I didn't want to shell out for international shipping with purpose-made modeling rope, so I hunted around a bit in fabric shops. None of the threads I found actually stated the width, so I eyeballed it and ended up with something perhaps a bit too thin. But, it will be useful for other lines on the boat, so I don't think it's a terrible issue. Plus, the beckets are pretty simple, so it will be easy to replace with thicker thread if it really bothers me in the future. The thread I got was white, so I dyed it a bit in the leftover black wash, which turned out ok. Following the kit instructions to attach the beckets worked perfectly, except that I used full-strength rather than watered-down glue, following suggestions in other build logs. I also tried a real stopper knot on the ends, but it was a little small, so I added a simple knot to make sure it wouldn't slip through. The knots were glued, too. Overall I'm happy with how the beckets turned out.

 

 

Next, the thole pins. The squared-off wooden piece you cut them from is very thin and I found it hard to sand it fully round. Instead, I took off the edges a bit--necessary for it to effectively roll for the cutting method--and then only rounded a bit at a time, just enough for one or two thole pins, then cutting them and sanding the next bit. This worked well, and the cutting method given in the instructions worked perfectly.

 

The instructions say that the thole pins are to be vertical. This doesn't follow any of the photos I've seen of actual dories, which have thole pins that follow the flare of the hull and which actually pass entirely through the cap rail and gunwales, as in this image from the International Small Craft Center:

 

Accurately modeling this would require drilling through the gunwales at the correct angle and making longer thole pins. The drilling seems like something that could very easily go wrong, and I'm not sure if there's enough material for longer thole pins, so I decided to just angle the pins out as they would look on a real dory. I think the "vertical" should be taken to mean that the thole pins are vertical when viewed from the side, not completely vertical from all angles.

 

 

At this point, the dory is complete by the instructions, except for making the stand. That said, I'm not marking this build log as "finished" yet, as there are a couple extra furnishings I'm working on that I'll be continuing to post about. Overall, though, I want to say that this has been a fantastic kit that I've really enjoyed. The pieces are well-cut, the instructions are very clear, and the kit has clearly been designed and made with care. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in starting up ship modeling (or anyone with experience who wants a simple, fun build). Anything I do to mess it up in the future stems from going off-kit to do my own additions.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by JacquesCousteau
Corrected museum name

[druxey]

Well done, Jacques! A very neat result.

[robert952]

Super build.  I enjoyed following along. Thanks for the details of your experiences. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks for all the kind words!

 

The trajinera, with all its chairs, table, and decorations, really built my confidence with scratch-building, and I wanted to apply that to the dory. So, I made a lobster trap.

 

This does entail a choice to build this less as a dory used on the grand banks, where they were mostly targeting fish, but rather a dory used for inshore fishing.

 

I based the design on photos from a number of other builds (shout-out to posts by users Keithbrad80, ThirdCoast, John Ruy, and Mr. Bluejacket), as well as on images and descriptions at these sites: https://www.fao.org/3/x2590e/x2590e07.htm

https://scarboroughhistoricalsociety.org/2016/11/lobster-traps/

 

The trap is mostly constructed of slats of basswood, 1mm thick (more or less) that I stripped from a 1/16th inch thick board (so, they're 1/16th of an inch wide). I would have made them thinner, 1/32 inch, but I had a hard time stripping the wood very precisely with just my exacto knife and a straightedge. I consoled myself with the knowledge that lobster traps were often built by hand by fishermen, and usually looked a bit rough, and pressed on. I drew a template to follow for the outer pieces, and then added the slats across the bottom, using a piece of scrap wood as a spacer.

For the curved frames, I soaked three slats in hot water and bent them around plastic bottle caps that were the correct size. I had some minor issues with the slats kinking rather than following  smooth curve--perhaps the wood was a little thick for such a tight curve--but I was able to use hairpins to clamp those parts down into more of a curve.

I was happy with how the curved frames and base turned out.

Attaching the frames was tricky, as there was very little surface area to attach them and they had opened up slightly after taking them from the mold. First I tried to use super glue to add a bottom piece--essentially making a "D" shape with the frames--but this did not work at all. The glue ran everywhere, and the frame stuck only to my fingers! After peeling it off and scrubbing my hands for far too long, I decided on a different approach. I added a slat running across both ends of the frames. Once that assembly dried, I then was able to attach all three frames at once to the base.

 

After attaching them, I noticed that the angle was a bit off. The top left part (in the photo below) didn't worry me as I was going to cut that part of the slat off anyway to make the entrance, but the bottom left and center frames were cut off and reglued, which resolved the problem.

 

One of the frames at this point developed a slight kink again. I tried to pin it down a little by attaching a support slat and clamping, which helped a bit but not fully. Later, with the trap mostly complete, I simply sanded a bit off the slats at that point, which brought them into a smooth curve with the rest of the trap.

Before attaching the funnels, I gave the whole assembly a light black wash to add some character. I wanted to do this now so that the trap interior wouldn't be unpainted.

Making the funnels was very difficult! I used a thin tulle for the netting,  dying it in the black wash so it was less white. Interestingly the surface tension is enough that the tulle just sits on top of the water untill you really force it in. I decided to do the interior funnel first, as it would be less visible if I messed up. My first plan to make the funnel was to attach straight strips of tulle inside the frame, which I would slit and glue into more of a conical shape. This did not work at all. Tulle is very hard to glue, for the simple reason that it's more holes than solid. When glued to itself, it prefers to stick to anything but itself, especially whatever is used (fingers, tweezers, etc) to push the tulle pieces together. With the first funnel a disaster, I cut it out and went back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, I made the funnel entrance rings. I soaked sone brown thread in the black wash to make it darker, then wrapped it around a cylindrical plastic brush cover and soaked it in glue, trimming the edges once it dried.

 

I decided the funnels themselves would have to be made as funnels before being attached to the frames, so I cut larger strips of tulle, rolled them into funnels, and glued. This was still extremely difficult, given the above-mentioned problem of gluing tule, but making it a single area to be glued instead of multiple was somewhat manageable (although this still left some of the "net" clogged with glue--at least it dried clear, and I picked out some with a needle). That said, the interior funnel was still much too wide. I decided to try two different methods of making the funnels. For the interior funnel, I figured the ring would be most visible on its exterior, so I placed the ring over the edge and slid it down to hold it into a better shape. I then glued the funnel to the frame, as seen. For the exterior funnel, which ended up much closer to the correct size, I figured the ring would be most visible looking in from the trap entrance, so I glued the ring to the funnel interior, as seen. I waited to attach the exterior funnel until later.

Once the glue dried, I moved the interior funnel ring into the correct position and glued it, then cut off the excess tulle once it dried. As the funnel was too big, it looked very messy, but 1) it was still a net funnel! and 2) it was going to be mostly boxed in anyway.

 

At this point, I also started making a buoy. I laminated two pieces of scrap 1/8th inch basswood and whittled and sanded for the body, and used my pin vice to make a joint to better attach the stick part (I have no clue what the correct terminology is). Growing up, my family had an old buoy as decoration, so I based my design on that one. Hence why the stick part (I'm sure there's a better word but this post is already long and I am tired) is cut off at an angle--the tip had broken off around a knot on our buoy. I also drilled out a hole for the rope, which almost split the tip.

 

 

Then to the exterior funnel. I added a pre-painted slat at the correct height to make the entrance. I decided that gluing tulle was too much of a pain, so instead I wanted to sew it in place. Surely, I thought, this would be easier?

I was mostly wrong. Sewing the tulle was a real pain in the neck. It had a real tendency to simply follow along with the thread instead of staying in place. After multiple failed tries, I ultimately had to glue down the four corners. This helped, but it was still difficult and every non-glued part pulled moved a lot, at least until it was halfway sewn on to the trap. The tulle moved so much that it partially ripped off from the ring, which had to be re-glued. The thread also had a tendency  to stick to itself. Finally, though, I finished and tied it off. It was sloppy, but at least it worked.

I noticed my spacing was a bit off on the left side, so I filled in the gap by tying a bit of string there. This helped a lot with reducing the irregularity, and isn't very noticeable. I also started attaching the pre-painted slats.

After finishing off the slats--some of which had to be carefully placed between the loops of the line holding in the netting--I finally added three small "buttons" used to close off the trap lid on top. With that, the trap was finished!

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out, and I think it looks good in the dory, although I still need to finish the buoy and line. Would a lobster trap's line be more likely to be coiled in a line tub/bucket, or just left more loosely coiled on the thwart?

 

 

A few thoughts on what I've learned:

 

On pre-painting the slats with a black wash: after initially painting each slat separately after they were cut to size, a slow process, for the side slats I simply painted the entire strip before cutting to size, later adding a bit of wash at the ends. This ended up making the ends a bit too dark as  the pigment in the wash was concentrated there, and I think it would look more consistent to paint the whole slat after cutting to size.

 

I probably should have used a thread the same color as the tulle, but I don't think the black looks horribly put of place.

 

In hindsight, I think it would have worked better to make the funnels mostly by sewing the tulle into shape, given how difficult it was to use the glue. The rings also probably should have been sewn instead of glued on. That said, tiny pieces of tulle are tricky enough to sew that this would still be frustrating.

 

I wish I had gotten the frames more square to the base, but I think it looks good enough for something that a fisherman would have made himself.

Next up: possibly a few more fishing tools, plus something else a bit larger.

[robert952]

Adding these details takes a kit to the next level.  Good job. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, I'm really enjoying making the fittings!

The University of Maine's Lobster Institute lists a gaff hook among the tools used in lobstering, especially for hooking the line connected to the buoy. Sounds good to me! I decided to make the shaft out of a toothpick, and the hook from a paperclip. I started by cutting off the tip of the toothpick and using the pin vise to drill a hole, about 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch deep, to secure the paperclip hook. I've found that, given the limited pressure you can exert on a pin vise, it's best to start with a small pilot hole and work your way up. Despite the small diameter of the hole I drilled, I still needed to use three drill bits to cut it! (This might in part be because I bought a very cheap pin vise and many drill bits are not very sharp at the tip, although for all I know that's normal for tiny drill bits). The photo below shows the toothpick, end-on, propped up by the pin vise.

I don't have a wire cutter, so I used some pliers to twist the paperclip back and forth at a certain point until it broke, making the hook. I rubbed the broken end on some sandpaper in hopes that that would wear down any jagged bits. Then I was able to fit the hook into the shaft. Thinking back to when I used to tie fishing flies, I used black thread as a serving on a makeshift jig. The serving was a bit messy but it worked.

I realized then that I should have painted the shaft before serving. Thankfully, I was able to carefully paint it without painting the serving. I didn't want it to be the same color as the trap, so I gave it a few coats of a thin ochre wash, followed by a light black wash to bring out the texture of the wood.

 

I also painted the buoy. I thought a thin white coat over a black wash would look good, but it ended up a little stark and grey. I mixed a tiny bit of ochre into the white to make more of a cream color, which I used to paint the buoy. I added a dark red stripe, then a very light black wash for texture. The photo below shows how the buoy and gaff hook turned out after painting--note that I left the end of the hook unpainted, as it will be cut off. Also note that, after finding in a test that the paint doesn't adhere very well to the paperclip, I decided to leave the hook as natural metal. Maybe in the future I'll experiment with aging effects on metal, but for now I can live with the hook being a bit shiny.

I finished the gaff hook by cutting off the end, painting the cut end black, and adding serving again as a sort of handle. I also glued in a loop of string to the end of the buoy to finish that part, as well.

 

About the rope/string: I wasn't crazy about how the beckets had turned out, so after some experimentation I found that the string looks better and more consistent if it's first lightly soaked in the cream-colored wash, then, after that dries, quickly dipped in a black wash. The photo below compares the original, right, with it after the cream wash but before the black wash, left. It's a subtle difference, but it takes some of the sheen off the string. The effect with the black wash can be seen above with the buoy, or later. I think adding the black wash makes sense for lines that would spend a lot of time in the water, like the lobster trap line, but I like the cleaner look of the cream wash for something like rigging. Hmmmm, shame there's no rigging on this dory... more about that later.

Finally, I wanted to make a rope loop for the line connecting the lobster trap to the buoy. I decided against a line bucket for now, but thought a rough loop (instead of a tight coil) sitting on the thwart wouldn't look bad. I made a jig using plastic brush protectprs and used watered-down glue to make the loop. My first attempt, pictured below, tried to make it look like the line had been simply looped around someone's arm from elbow to hand. But, it not only didn't turn out looking right--it was too tall--but also the glue was too watery, failing to hold its shape. 

Thankfully, the watery glue also meant the line could still be shaped. I simplified the jig to make more of a circular loop and gave that a try.

Ultimately, I'm reasonably happy with how it turned out, although I think it could be shaped to better fit, and hang more naturally, at the stern thwart. The line is by now soaked in enough glue that it's hard to shape it more. The gaff hook looks decent in the dory as well, albeit a little shiny, and I'm not totally sure where they would put it. All fittings are currently not glued in place, so if you want to suggest a more accurate way to place things, I'm all ears!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by JacquesCousteau
Fixed typos and photo

[JacquesCousteau]

(This was originally going to be part of the above post, but it was already pretty long).

 

At this point, I think I'm done with the furnishings. But, I've been working on a larger addition to the build: a mast and sail. I was especially inspired by the many fantastic build logs of the Bluejacket dory kit, which does include a sail. Although this dory won't have a rudder (or a centerboard) and isn't a dedicated sailer, simple spritsails were nonetheless common on dories, designed to be easily unshipped and used only if the wind was favorable. I plan to make mine so it can also be unshipped, which is not only an interesting possibility for displaying the model but also will make transporting it much easier.

The first step was preparing the mast step assembly. I noticed that the Bluejacket kit looks to be framed following the Shelburne dory style, with each frame made of three pieces held together with metal braces at the joints, while this kit, representing a Lowell dory, uses frames build of two pieces of wood. This means that each frame is rather thicker across the bottom than on the Bluejacket dory, which is relevant for the mast as the mast needs to be stepped through the number two thwart and down to a mast step on the bottom. The thwart in the kit sits centered on the frame, making it impossible to fit a mast as the frame is right under it. So, the first step for me was to make a new thwart from scrap wood, with the frame slots further back so that the thwart sits further forward. I also added a piece across the center on the bottom to reinforce the area where the mast step will be drilled, as I saw this on a photo of a dory in a museum (below). The mast step hole will have to be cut toward the front of the thwart to fit around the frame, but it will work. The photo below compares the kit's thwart (below) with my scratch-built one (above), prior to drilling the mast step hole.

Next, the mast step itself, which I made of scrap wood. Lacking any files, I decided the best way to make a square hole (measured for a 1/16th inch square piece) would be to cut the step in half, cut out half the step, then glue it back together. As can be seen, I first accidentally cut the wrong side, but I decided againat replacing the part. Instead, I filled it in with scrap wood and sawdust with glue. After sanding and painting, the mistake was invisible, as seen later.

 

After the glue was dry on the step, but before gluing anything to the dory, I drilled a pilot hole in the thwart and did a test fitting with the leftover 3/64th-inch thole pin material, just to check that nothing was horribly out of alignment.

It still wasn't time to attach the step, though--first I wanted to make the mast itself, so I could make sure to fit the mast step properly. I made the mast out of the scrap wood from around the display board. Following the suggestions given in the Model Shipways Norwegian Pram instructions (which are available for download on the model shipways site) I cut the 1/8th-square piece into an octagonal cross-section, making sure to always cut with the grain, and then carefully sanded it circular and tapered a bit at the ends by running it through a sheet of sandpaper that I held curved in my palm. I could do a better job getting it perfect in the future, but for a first attempt I'm happy with it. I also noticed that the basswood seems a little soft for making masts, and had to fill a divot that somehow got sanded into it with a mix of glue and sawdust, which seemed to work. I then drilled a hole at the top for tge rigging and added a bit of 1/16th-square wood at the bottom to slot into the mast step (I used the pin vise to drill a hole in the bottom to better hold the piece).

 

Finally, I drilled out the hole in the thwart for the mast. I did a test fitting, marked the location for the mast step, then glued it to the bottom after scraping a bit the paint that was where it would be. Then I painted the step.

I'm happy with how the mast fits!

As for the sail, I had no luck finding a really thin cotton fabric despite visiting multiple shops, but in one shop's scrap pile I did find a large number of pieces that are a good size for the sail (and extra in case I mess up). They're slightly thicker than I would like, but for now it will work, especially considering they were about 50 cents. I haven't started making the sail yet, but will be drawing on the Norwegian Pram instructions as well as the "Scale Sails For Your Model" pdf.

 

At this point, while I still haven't made the sprit or sail, there's something I'd like to ask for help to clarify. The Bluejacket kit depicts a spritsail rigged with a snotter and with lines tied off at cleats. This seems like the classic way to rig a spritsail. But, a different method seems to be used in the examples I've found online. The dory at the Mariner's Museum, seen below, seems to have the sprit basically just tied to the mast (which might technically be a snotter, just an extremely short one). The sprit-rigged lobstering peapod below also seems (it's a bit blurry) to be similar. No cleats in sight. (Image links: https://iscc.marinersmuseum.org/watercraft/grand-banks-dory/

And

https://maineboats.com/online/boat-features/evolution-maine-lobsterboat )

 

 

So, how should I go about rigging this? Part of me wants to just base it on the Bluejacket model and include cleats etc, which would look nice and be good for building experience. But part of me thinks I should follow the photos and go for accuracy. If I do the latter, though, there are two things I'm unsure of. 1) How does the loop of the snotter that goes around the mast stay in position and not slide around, especially given the taper of the mast? (I mean, I could glue it, but that seems like cheating). Reading online about spritsails on smsll boats, it seems like a sliding snotter could be used to adjust the sail, but that still doesn't tell me anything about how it would stay in position when you didn't want it to slide. 2) No hoist--I think that's the term for the line used to haul up the sail, but I might be wrong, different articles seemed to use different terms with one calling it a halyard--is visible. Where would it be tied off without a visible cleat?

 

If you have any suggestions, please let me know, I'd really appreciate any help. I've tried looking in David Steel's 1794 book "The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship," but while it's useful on the sails themselves it's not very clear on the questions I have. 

 

In any case, I'm learning a lot from this build, and really enjoying it!

 

[robert952]

Using sails to get and from the 'ole fishing hole' or for other purposes (i.e. lighthouse tender) seems a fairly common evolution for these work boats. 

 

Hence, my plans for my Peapod build is to add a sail (if I ever get the planking done).  I am using Chapman's American Small Sailing as my source for that purpose.

 

For dories Chapman states the sail was "usually a mast hole in the forward thwart that carried a loose footed spritsail.  Sometimes a jib was set." Further he points out that "since the dory had neither keel nor centerboard, the sails were only effective running free and the use of a jib seems to have been an affection."(pg 89) 

 

But, he then discusses (on the next page) 'shore dories' with a centerboard. 

 

He includes two plans, one showing the sprit-mainsail and jib rig and another two-masted sailing rig both with centerboards and rudders.  

 

I can scan the plans and post if you would like. The drawings are dated 1939 for the sprit sail and 1831 using what looks more along the lines of a 'leg of mutton' (?) set up - I think.

Edited July 13, 2023 by robert952

[JacquesCousteau]

40 minutes ago, robert952 said:

Using sails to get and from the 'ole fishing hole' or for other purposes (i.e. lighthouse tender) seems a fairly common evolution for these work boats. 

 

Hence, my plans for my Peapod build is to add a sail (if I ever get the planking done).  I am using Chapman's American Small Sailing as my source for that purpose.

 

For dories Chapman states the sail was "usually a mast hole in the forward thwart that carried a loose footed spritsail.  Sometimes a jib was set." Further he points out that "since the dory had neither keel nor centerboard, the sails were only effective running free and the use of a jib seems to have been an affection."(pg 89) 

 

But, he then discusses (on the next page) 'shore dories' with a centerboard. 

 

He includes two plans, one showing the sprit-mainsail and jib rig and another two-masted sailing rig both with centerboards and rudders.  

 

I can scan the plans and post if you would like. The drawings are dated 1939 for the sprit sail and 1831 using what looks more along the lines of a 'leg of mutton' (?) set up - I think.

Thanks, that's incredibly helpful! Clearly I should have checked Chapelle before diving in, haha. With the mast step already glued in place under the second rather than the first thwart, I think I'll have to live with my mistake there. But hopefully I can avoid any further errors. If you're willing to scan and post the plans, I would really appreciate it!

 

Looking forward to seeing your peapod build!

[robert952]

Here are the scans.  The print on the original page appears smudged.  But you can use the scale on the page to get a decent approximation for the size of the sails.  

 

With one mast.  NOTE:  If you look at the position of the mast it appears to be in the second thwart.  Likely because the jib covers the first thwart and attaches at the bow.  So, it may be a genetic aberration?  Evolution has a way of changing things and no single example is the exact way things were always done. You are as likely to have done it correctly as the any other model. 

 

And the two-mast version.  Again, both of these examples have rudder and center board.

 

 

If you down load these and they have gotten resized, PM me an email address and I will send them to you.  I scanned them at 600 dpi to give as much detail as possible. 

 

Source for these are:  American Small Sailing Craft by Howard, L. Chapelle copyright 1951 by WW Norton and Company.  Pages 91 (top image) and 93. (bottom image).

[JacquesCousteau]

2 hours ago, robert952 said:

Here are the scans.  The print on the original page appears smudged.  But you can use the scale on the page to get a decent approximation for the size of the sails.  

 

With one mast.  NOTE:  If you look at the position of the mast it appears to be in the second thwart.  Likely because the jib covers the first thwart and attaches at the bow.  So, it may be a genetic aberration?  Evolution has a way of changing things and no single example is the exact way things were always done. You are as likely to have done it correctly as the any other model. 

 

And the two-mast version.  Again, both of these examples have rudder and center board.

 

 

If you down load these and they have gotten resized, PM me an email address and I will send them to you.  I scanned them at 600 dpi to give as much detail as possible. 

 

Source for these are:  American Small Sailing Craft by Howard, L. Chapelle copyright 1951 by WW Norton and Company.  Pages 91 (top image) and 93. (bottom image).

Wow, thanks so much for these! Clearly I need to get Chapelle's book. Very interesting on the mast step, it looks like there's a hole on both the first and second thwarts (presumably you wouldn't use the jib if it was stepped in the first thwart).

 

I'll need to study the plans more, but my thought at the moment is that I can draw on the plans for inspiration but modify them a bit. Although I might try my hand at another dory in the future, it seems like a nice, relatively simple build to learn about scratch building from plans (instead of the "eyeball everything and hope for the best" method I used for the trajinera, with mixed results). Given that the dory I'm building isn't a dedicated sailer, lacking a centerboard or rudder, and the mast/sail is meant to be easily unshipped, I think I'll leave off the jib for now, and I might shrink the sail a bit, especially at the foot, to get something that would be more easily manageable with the sheet just held in hand. It's interesting that Chapelle also shows the snotter simply tied off around the mast, so I think I'll go with that instead of attaching it to a cleat as in the Bluejacket dory. The spar dimensions are also really helpful. Thanks again for the plans I really appreciate you taking the time to scan them, and I'm definitely making use of then even if I go with a slightly different sail plan!

[robert952]

You are quite welcome.  Glad to help. 

 

To your comment about stepping the mast when needed, there's a note on the two-masted sketch describing how to store the mast and sails. Necessity is indeed the Mother of Invention.

 

I think Chappelle just collected the drawings and pulled them together for his books.  He then commented on the "whys and wherefores." I like going through this book as it shows variations that were done to meet specific tasks or unique needs based on locale.  

 

As you point out, adding a sail seems a good way to get your feet wet on scratch build aspects. Hence, why I plan to add a keel, rudder and sail to a 'kit build.'  A lot of these work boats included a sail to otherwise traditional row boats.  As you found, there's photos which documents such changes. 

[JacquesCousteau]

I ended up modifying the Chapelle sail plan substantially, although the mast and spar dimensions are similar (slightly shorter as it's a smaller vessel, though) and I'll be following that example for rigging the snotter. I'm modeling a slightly shorter vessel than in the Chapelle plans, and one that isn't a dedicated sailer--the sheet is just held by hand instead of run through a block at the stern. So I shortened the foot to make a more manageable sail. I also raised the tack and foot a bit higher so the sail wouldn't interfere with any fishing equipment in the boat (althoughto be honest the sail on the peapod I showed earlier looks pretty low). Finally, I lengthened the head a bit so that, with the other modifications, it wouldn't be too small of a sail. I tried a few templates cut from scrap paper, eventually finding one I liked.

I followed the Norwegian Pram instructions to make the sail. I made a few mistakes with my first attempt. First, I should have waited to draw the sail template onto the fabric until after I added the watered-down glue, as I read in build logs that the pencil lines become impossible to erase after gluing. Second, my sail material was a bit larger than the non-stick flat backing I had (a spare flooring tile), so I ended up doing a poor job taping it. It seemed fine at first, but after leaving it to dry I found that the material had bubbled. The material was still useful for cutting reinforcing strips and corners, but I thought it wouldn't work for the sail.

For my second attempt, I cut a smaller piece of the material so it could be better taped down. It turned out much better, although it still had some very slight bubbling later (after I added another coat of glue with the reinforcement strips).

I added reinforcing strips around the edges. I also decided to draw on the seams and stitches with a pencil, especially because the fabric is a bit too thick and the reinforcements don't show through the other side very well unless it's held up to light. I was pretty happy with how the sail looked.

 

Meanwhile, I had been working on figuring out the rigging. Some articles online about sprit rigs suggested that you could just tie things down around the thwart, but that a cleat was easier to handle and better organized. Tying off around the thwart sounded like something that would make unshipping the mast harder--after all, I'm trying to model something that would be taken down and set up quickly when the opportunity arose--and also like something that would look messy. Ultimately, I decided to go with two cleats, on the fore and aft sides of the mast. This would keep things orderly and allow the mast to be easily unshipped, as a unit, or for the sail to be let down if desired. I made the cleats from scrap basswood.

I then made the spar from some scrap basswood. As with the mast, I found it a little hard to smoothly sand it round, and there were a few minor gouges during sanding. Ideally I think I would like to use a harder wood for masts and spars. I drilled a hole for the snotter and carefully trimmed the end for where the bolt rope loops around the sprit at the peak.

Next, the bolt rope. I wasn't fully happy with how my rope dyeing was turning out, so I decided to leave it as-is. In any case, I'm not planning on weathering the sail, so I don't want it to look out of place. I read a post, I think by ccoyle, somewhere on the forum saying that, if you're careful, you can attach the bolt rope right on the edge of the fabric. I actually had an extremely easy time doing so, which is a clear sign that my sail cloth is much too thick--the bolt rope is actually a bit thinner than the sail at the corners where there are multiple layers of reinforcements. In my defense, I couldn't find anything more suitable despite going to three fabric stores. Seemingly everything available is polyester.

The bolt rope, and sail more generally, turned out well, but I'm considering whether I should try a few more fabric stores to see if I can find thin cotton fabric. On one hand, it would be more accurate. On the other hand, it would be more work, both finding the fabric and making a whole new sail from it. In any case, I feel like I've learned a lot about sail making from this.

 

Finally, I also decided that I didn't much like the look of the cleats, as it was too obvious that they were the same material as the mast. I made new ones from a coffee stir stick. The wood was a bit brittle so it took a few tries, but they turned out better by the end. New ones at top, old ones at bottom.

Next to attach the cleats (again) and make a decision about the sail before I lash it to the mast.

 

[druxey]

Very nice modifications to the kit!

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, I'm having a great time modding things.

 

The dory is nearly done!

 

Given my difficulties with finding good sail material, I decided that I can live with the too-thick sail for now, and it wouldn't be all that difficult to change it out if I want to in the future.

 

I attached the new cleats to the mast after a little shaping. This time I was happy with how they turned out.

 

I got some new thread that's closer in color to manila rope. As practice, I tried a cleat hitch from memory (as can be seen, I messed up). In any case, I think this thread will work better for the running rigging.

 

Next I marked where the sail will be lashed to the mast with pencil. Punching the holes in the thick, heavily glued sail material was difficult. I ended up putting a needle in my pin vise and using it as a punch with scrap balsa beneath, which worked.

 

Even still, it was hard getting the needle and thread through the sail to lash it to the mast. But it was doable.

 

This time the cleat hitches were done correctly!

 

The fact that the sail is thick enough to stand perfectly upright without the sprit definitely shows that it's too thick... oh well, I'll learn for the future.

 

The sprit was a little tricky to tie off. I used a rolling hitch on the mast, which turned out ok. There was very little space to tie off the line around the sprit, though, that I just did a simple knot. 

 

Finally I tied the sheet at the clew. A few drops of glue rubbed into the line, and at the bolt rope loop around the end of the sprit, served to make sure everything would stay together.

 

The boat is nearly done now, I just have to figure out what to do with the dangling rope ends and rearrange the fishing gear into a configuration that makes more sense with the sail. Some of the excess rope, like around  the snotter, can simply be trimmed a bit close to the knot. Any suggestions for what to do with the excess below the cleats, or for the sheet? It seems like a few too many lines for each to be a neat rope coil.

 

 

(And, of course, I need to actually make a base. Given my difficulties finding thicker basswood, I want to keep the big basswood sheet for other purposes, but I need to figure out something else for the base then.)

[JacquesCousteau]

Things have been busy, so I worked slowly this week, but the build is finished!

Mark.bukovich's Chesapeake Flattie build had some great directions for making nice rope loops that hang off a cleat, so I followed his example. Mine ended up being a bit clunky, but they work, and in any case this isn't a naval vessel I'm modeling. I'm just glad the rope is up off the thwart. I used a bit of glue to help shape the line. Also, I clearly need to get some locking tweezers or hemostats for rigging, as it was very tricky to hold the bights with normal tweezers while looping the rope.

Also, as seen above, I did something a little unusual with the line hanging off the snotter. The simplest thing to do would be to just trim it nearly to the knot, but I figured you might want to have a bit of extra length in the line in case you needed to retie it on the fly or something. I also didn't want to just have a lot of line dangling. So, I tied a bowline with the excess, high up enough that it shouldn't snag anything.

I tried some different arrangements with the fishing equipment. Here, for instance, a thwart is removed and the lobster trap is in the middle.

Ultimately, I think the lobster trap looks best in the stern, especially because I want the funnel facing starboard so it's visible (and, with the rope and buoy, it's hard to fit it that way at the bow), but it might get in the way of sailing and steering there. I decided to leave it that way for now, but nothing in the boat is glued down so I can move things around if I change my mind.

I also added a loop in the sheet following the same method as for the lobster trap line. With that, the rigging was complete.

I've also been working on a scratchbuilt stand, as I would like to save all the thick basswood that I can (it's not readily available here, as far as I can tell). I'll have to pack things up for moving, so to reduce the risk of breakage I want something that can be disassembled. I also wanted something that looks nice with angled upright pieces. I probably way over-engineered this, but it's fun.

 

 

With the sheet looped and the new stand built, the dory was finished! I don't think it turned out half bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I had a great time building this. I really learned a lot about boat building and scale techniques, both from the instructions and also from the helpful folks on this forum. Thank you all for your advice and encouragement!

I'm still waiting for my next kit, the Model Shipways Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack, to arrive. (Between that kit and the lobster trap, I'm making a lot of lobster fishing things for a guy with a shellfish allergy!) In the meantime, I may start on another scratch-built Mexican vessel.... we'll see.

[druxey]

Nicely customized indeed!

[Bryan Woods]

Jacques, it all looks super! When you are constantly thinking of ways to better your model,you are also teaching habits and giving ideas to all of us:-) Keep ‘em coming!

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks, I'm glad to hear people find the log helpful! I think this is a great kit not just because of the quality of the parts and instructions, but also because it leaves a lot of room for personalization.

[ccoyle]

Excellent result!

[kurtvd19]

Nicely done!