Canoa de Rancho by JacquesCousteau - FINISHED - Scale 1:32 - Lake Chapala Fishing and Cabotage Vessel

JacquesCousteau · October 22

2 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

Whether they are visible or not, you know what they look like and the high quality of work you put in. To me that's what really matters. It seems like half the details I put on my SIB ships are almost impossible to see one it gets in the bottle. But I know they are there. You are doing beautiful work here. Keep it up, JC!

Thanks! I'm finding that it's ultimately more about the build experience than the finished product.

wefalck · October 22

For some people, building a model is mainly the means to consolidate in a tangible form the results or their research. So it is more about the way than the actual product at the end, although this can also be an aesthetic pleasure, of course.

Other people build models to exercise and demonstrate their skills and other just want something pretty on their shelves ...

JacquesCousteau · October 23

Still trying to figure out the sail material. On the other hand, I think I have the yard finished. I was able to most sand off the reddish stain, although some did stick to parts of the grain. I then added a very heavily thinned layer of gray stain (along the way managing to spill turpentine all over the office--quite a pain to clean up, I will definitely try sticking to stain pens in the future). As can be seen below, the yard looks pretty close to the mast color now:

There are still some slight differences, but at least some of it is because the mast and yard are made of different materials that seem to have taken up the stain slightly differently. The mast came from a dowel, presumably birch, while the yard is basswood. The yard looks like a pretty good match for the basswood deck planks, which received the same stain as the mast.

So, all I have to do by now is to glue the furnishings in place, make the sail, and attach the (very simple) rigging.

In any case, I recently received some very welcome news back on a job application, so I'll be staying in Mexico for at least the next year abd a half. To celebrate, I figured I would start my next build log, for a Chilean coastal sloop (lancha chilota, link in signature). Given that material issues have held up the canoa for now, I don't think a new build will interfere with finishing this one, and I'd already made some progress. Size comparison between the Canoa and the Lancha's skeleton, below:

JacquesCousteau · October 29

A bit of slow, halting progress on at least some parts of the build. Some people have made quite nice sails from tissue paper, so I thought I'd give it a try, as it's very cheap (I picked up several sheets for a few cents). I felt that my first test sail had been a little too cream-colored, so I tried to make it a bit more gray. A tiny drop of black paint goes a long way! I felt the color was a little dark, but I continued anyway as I could at least use it to test the tissue paper. As can be seen below, it seemed very smooth on the tile, but removing it from the tile (which required a bit of water) left it very wrinkled.

I decided against adding separate panels or drawing on the panel lines, because I think they will be entirely invisible in the furled sail. I did, though, decide to try adding the reinforcing strips around the edges. Unfortunately, it was quite difficult to add these, or more accurately, to remove the sail once they were added. The attempt led to several rips and tears, and the reinforcements came off in several places.

I realized that part of the issue is that the tile backing needs to be thoroughly cleaned after each use. Things stick too well if there's any residue. Having learned that lesson, I decided to keep using the gray sail as a test, while making a new sail in a better color with greater care:

I'll see how this goes. I have to say that the tissue paper is much flimsier than the coffee filter (which is an obvious point I suppose).

wefalck · October 29

I make my tissue-sails on a board covered tightly with cling-film. Paints and glues faintly stick on it and it can be peeled off instead of peeling the sail off, if needed.

Glen McGuire · October 29

On 10/23/2024 at 3:03 PM, JacquesCousteau said:

As can be seen below, the yard looks pretty close to the mast color now:

Really nice job on the color match. That can be difficult, especially with two different types of wood.

JacquesCousteau · October 29

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

I make my tissue-sails on a board covered tightly with cling-film.

Thanks, I'll definitely give that a try!

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

Really nice job on the color match.

Thanks!

I've also glued the fishing equipment into place, pretty much where I originally positioned it. I just moved one of the nets a bit forward so it would be more visible. This has been a straightforward process. The trickiest part has been that some ropes and other parts needed to be glued down so they weren't sticking up unrealistically.

One particular challenge was that the chinchorro net's floats couldn't really be pressed down any further and appeared to be floating a bit, as can be seen (not very well, admittedly) below, just next to the mast step:

So, I looped up some scrap rope and rolled up some scrap netting to add under it, so it looks more like the floats are just on top of a wadded-up net. I'm still deciding whether to do the rope and the net (first picture), or just the rope (second):

In any case, this is the longest I've had the rancho off since I added the rudder, oars, anchor, and other parts, and I don't think it looks half bad.

Still definitely going to keep the rancho, though!

wefalck · October 29

Not sure, it would work at this scale, but I coerce ropes into a 'natural' shape by wetting them with a fast-drying varnish and holding them down until the solvent has evaporated:

image.png.720d4019a2699c48bfcf2a4f8e5ef5a2.png

JacquesCousteau · October 30

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

Not sure, it would work at this scale, but I coerce ropes into a 'natural' shape by wetting them with a fast-drying varnish and holding them down until the solvent has evaporated:

Thanks! I was able to do that with the ropes tying the oars to the oarlocks, but I had a hard time getting enough pressure into the bottom of the hull around the crossbeams and other parts and so went with glue for some ropes.

JacquesCousteau · October 30

A bit more progress. Now that the fishing equipment is in place, I attached the mast and finally glued the rancho in place. The mast isn't glued, but (besides being firmly held to the mast step with a wooden peg) is firmly lashed to the crossbeam with 0.7mm rope. After knotting it, I was able to slowly tug on lines to move the knot under the crossbeam and mostly out of sight.

I also added the halyard with 0.7mm rope, using a knot as this seems like it would be easiest to remove, and placed the backstay. Neither is tied into position yet, but I wanted to see what things would look like.

I've also started on the parrel, which is proving to be very tricky.

On the Cargo Canoa, based on some very blurry photos, I made the parrel as basically a single line with a loop at each end, one to fit around the mast and one to fit around the yard. I've now found clearer photos that possibly show a very different parrel, as seen below:

Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=vvts2osBVs6S4R6nk8il

I see two ways of interpreting this. One, based on the way the parrel lines come closer to each other as they approach the yard, is that my original idea was basically right, but the parrel loop around the mast is simply quite wide. The other possibility I see is that the parrel is a single line with a loop at each end, but each loop goes around the yard, with the "body" of the parrel passing around the mast. Both options comport with other photos that show the parrel only loops around the mast once. It's also worth noting that the parrel is not very tight to the mast. At the moment, I'm torn about the best way to approach the parrel, both in terms of which option given above makes the most sense and in terms of which knots to use.

As both options involve at least one loop around the yard, I initially began with a simplified splice in 0.6mm rope.

But, I began to wonder whether a simple knot would make more sense. From what I've seen in photos, the yards were regularly removed from the mast, and this would be much easier to do with a knot than with a spliced and served loop (the latter of which would require the long yard to be awkwardly slid out of the loop). So, I started redoing the parrel with knots. I began with a clove hitch, but this seems very bulky, especially if there will be a second parrel loop around the yard.

So, if anyone has any suggestions about how to handle the parrel, I'm all ears.

wefalck · October 30

I don't have a picture to hand, but there seem to be ways of rigging, where the parrel has an eye spliced in the end and the rope goes around the mast, the yard then down through its own eye. In this way it can be hauled close or loosened from the deck.

JacquesCousteau · November 2

On 10/30/2024 at 3:11 PM, wefalck said:

I don't have a picture to hand, but there seem to be ways of rigging, where the parrel has an eye spliced in the end and the rope goes around the mast, the yard then down through its own eye. In this way it can be hauled close or loosened from the deck.

Thanks! That would make sense, and if I remember correctly a lot of Spanish fishing boats had something like this. But, as far as I can tell they didn't do this on Canoas. Every photo I've seen is pretty clear that the only lines running down from near the top of the mast are the backstays and the halyard. Some photos also show the yard hanging quite a ways off the mast, suggesting a rather loose parrel.

I'll have to think about it more. In any case, I'll be away from the build for a bit. I'm visiting my in-laws for Day of the Dead, and will be trying my hardest to eat my weight in tamales, mole, and pan de muerto over the next several days.

JacquesCousteau · November 4

While traveling, I brought along the second test sail to try out. Unlike the first one, it's made of tissue paper instead of a coffee filter, and has reinforcement strips glued around the edge and panel lines drawn on (I didn't bother getting them fully even, as this is just a test).

After wetting it and furling it (flattening one half to mimic how it will look resting on top of the rancho), I have to say that I think I like the look of the coffee filter better. In too many places, this sail took on sharp creases that don't look so much like fabric. Maybe I didn't soak it enough, but I did run it under the sink which seems like it should have been enough. The reinforcement strips are also nearly invisible and started peeling off in a couple places.

So, for the final version, I think I will 1) make it out of a big coffee filter, and 2) not bother with panel lines or reinforcement strips (although it will get bolt ropes). This is taking some time, but I'm looking forward to having a result I like.

JacquesCousteau · December 10

It's been a while since the last update, but I've finally been able to make progress again, and I'm in the home stretch.

First, as mentioned earlier, the grapnel anchor I had used turned out to be inaccurate, so while visiting family for Thanksgiving, I ordered a different anchor. Unfortunately, given shipping times and prices, I was only able to get one with a wooden stock, while photos make it clear that they used metal stocks. That said, everything I've read says that Britannia metal is pretty soft, and that's been my experience with filing off flash, so I decided to see if I could modify it to fit a metal stock.

The anchor kit with the wooden stock. Like the grapnel, it's 20mm long. Unlike the grapnel, it came pre-blackened, although I painted everything in the end anyway.

Drilling a new hole in the shaft by hand was a very slow process. It doesn't help that most of my cheap drill bits have a totally flat rather than a pointed tip, which is fine if you're drilling into basswood but seems to slow things and makes the drill bit slip easily when drilling into metal. I had to use a larger, sharp-tipped drill bit to mark the initial hole. It was also tricky finding the right pressure to place, as you do need some to make the bit cut into the metal. I learned how fragile drill bits can be: my thinnest one abruptly bent under the pressure. Alas, poor drill bit.

Nonetheless, after what seemed like a very long time, I finally got a hole through the shaft.

I was then able to superglue a length of brass rod in place to make the new stock.

The whole anchor was then painted.

Finally, I removed the grapnel and affixed the new anchor to the end of the chain. I'm sure I can find a use for the grapnel on another build. I'm pleased with how the anchor turned out, it looks much more accurate.

Compare with the anchor in this photo:

Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=g_ts2osBVs6S4R6nsc0d

Besides the anchor, I was also finally able to find some large coffee filters, and have begun work on the sail.

The end of the build is in sight!

FriedClams · December 11

Yes, those ultra small drill bits (#80 through #70) are real frustrating. They don't really cut - more like wearing through the material via friction. Just the same, your anchor turned out very nice indeed.

Gary

JacquesCousteau · December 11

2 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Yes, those ultra small drill bits (#80 through #70) are real frustrating. They don't really cut - more like wearing through the material via friction. Just the same, your anchor turned out very nice indeed.

Gary

Thanks! It's good to know it's not just me.

Slight hiccup in my plans. After cutting out the sail, I began gluing on the boltrope (0.35mm from Ropes of Scale) with white glue. I glued along the foot first. As usual, I had trouble getting the rope to stick right close to the edge of the sail.

Before I went farther, I decided to test whether the boltrope would hold when the sail was moistened and furled up--after all, the sail is covered in a mix of the same white glue, which becomes quite flexible when dampened.

In general, the glue held, but there were a few points where the boltrope came off, especially while wrapping up the sail.

As a result, I'm debating whether to include a boltrope or not. It would certainly be more accurate to include it, but I'm a bit worried about it coming partly off midway through furling and ruining the sail, especially as the furled sail will be much more rolled-up than I did in my brief test. I'm also debating how visible the bolt rope will really be. My sense from the test sails, like below, is that the edges of the sail really aren't very visible among all the folds. The presence of ropes used to wrap up the sail also may "trick the eye" into not really noticing if the boltropes are missing.

While the boltropes seem like they would only maybe be visible in a few parts on a sail furled up like in the photo below.

Source: https://memoricamexico.gob.mx/swb/memorica/Cedula?oId=vvts2osBVs6S4R6nk8il

In any case, it's something for me to consider.

Glen McGuire · December 11

4 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

I began gluing on the boltrope (0.35mm from Ropes of Scale) with white glue.

Do you have fabric glue available? I use Aleene's Fabric Fusion to glue on the bolt ropes for some of my small SIB sails. It has a good bond but dries flexible so it can survive me wadding up the sails tightly when I insert the ship into the bottle.

JacquesCousteau · December 11

24 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

Do you have fabric glue available? I use Aleene's Fabric Fusion to glue on the bolt ropes for some of my small SIB sails. It has a good bond but dries flexible so it can survive me wadding up the sails tightly when I insert the ship into the bottle.

Thanks! I'll have to check if it's available here, sounds very useful.

wefalck · December 12

Standard sailmaking practice calls for the boltrope being sewn on top of the sail (usually the port side), rather than the edge. Was this also the practice for these sails? that would give a larger contact surface, than just the edge.

Fabric glue might be good solution, but when the boltrope become unstuck, you can also re-attach after furling the sail at places, where it visibly has come off. Done that myself.

JacquesCousteau · Saturday at 03:23 AM

Thanks for the suggestions! I may have to get some fabric glue, but for now, I'm trying a bit of undiluted white glue.

I added the bolt rope and marked and cut out the holes in the sail to attach it to the yard.

I've been wondering how best to lash the sail to the yard. A wide range of methods have been used historically, from a simple loop around the yard to complex robands. I know that many small vessels with similar rigs use a single line to do it (although often not with a simple loop). However, in looking at the photos I've found of canoas, it seems more like they used separate, relatively simple robands--I have not seen any photos showing evidence of a rope running the length of the sail (besides the boltrope). See below:

Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/un-velero-panorama-MX14561525002424

Or here:

Source: https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/cargamento-de-entre-MX14652247742300/5

So, I've decided to just do separate, simple knots (secured with super glue) at each tie-off point. I've started with the central pair around the halyard, which will keep the yard from slipping away. I still need to trim the ends.

Edited Saturday at 03:24 AM by JacquesCousteau

JacquesCousteau · Monday at 08:57 PM

The yard and sail are now ready to be attached to the model, furled, and shaped.

Tying off the robands was a bit tedious but not difficult. Here it is nearly done, with just a few more left and some ends to trim.

And here, after finishing and trimming. I'm not sure quite how accurate my robands are, but I think they're a decent enough representation (see, for instance, the small knots visible in one of the photos in post #260), and they especially will be once the sail is furled.

Next, I added the fore and aft sheets, using .5mm rope from Ropes of Scale.

I then returned to the parrel, which I had inconclusively tried to figure out earlier. After considering the evidence, three things are clear. First, the parrel forms a pretty big loop around the mast--rather than the small loop I did for the Cargo Canoa, the two ends of the loop should join near the yard itself. Second, there's no photographic evidence of anything like the parrel system used on many Mediterranean lateeners, in which a separate line allows the parrel to be tightened and loosened from the deck. Third, upon close inspection, while the halyard knot itself seems pretty bulky, I'm not really seeing evidence of separate ropes like a parrel running around the yard. All of this makes me think that the parrel was tied off at the end of the halyard around where it was itself tied to the yard. Perhaps this isn't completely accurate, but it's more accurate than what I did on the Cargo Canoa and comports fairly well with the photographic evidence. With that in mind, I tied one end of the parrel around the halyard. The other end will be tied off once the yard is in place on the model.

The yard/sail assembly is now ready to go! Here's hoping that moistening and shaping it doesn't make it come apart.

JacquesCousteau · Monday at 11:35 PM

Furling the sail has been nerve-wracking, both because I don't want to danage any of the fragile pieces, and because it's a bit of a tricky shape to furl as part of it rests on top of the inclined rancho roof. This necessitates furling the sail on the model itself. So, I first took a bit of plastic wrap to cover everything so the rest of the model wouldn't get wet, and then placed the halyard through the mast sheave.

Rather than a really tight furl, I decided to try for a relatively looser one, especially toward the fore end. After a lot of careful folding, wrapping, adjusting, clamping (clamps will be removed before it fully dries), and placing weights, here's how it's looking so far.

And after removing some clamps:

I'm not sure if I'm 100% convinced by it so far. The fore end looks a little oddly-folded to me. I suppose that I can re-try, though, by rewetting it.

Also, as a quick note: on my test version, a single sheet of filter seemed too transparent and flimsy, even after painting and gluing, so I doubled it up then and on this version. I now think that it may have been better to simply go with a single layer, though, as the transparency issue wouldn't matter much on a furled sail, and the fragility can be handled by being cautious. Something to consider for the next build.

JacquesCousteau · Monday at 11:49 PM

Plastic wrap removed for the final drying.

At this point, I've decided that the hanging part of the sail forward doesn't look right--without any real weight, it doesn't hang very naturally. I'm going to try to place the plastic wrap over the fore half of the hull and re-furl that part.

JacquesCousteau · Tuesday at 12:25 AM

Re-furling the fore half has proven by far the most difficult part of this build. The bolt rope has come off at multiple points from the sail being dampened and re-dampened so often, and it still doesn't seem to be hanging quite how I'd like it. At this point, I'm going to let it dry overnight. Tomorrow I'll see if I can re-glue the bolt ropes. If I'm still unhappy with it, I may re-do the sail, this time with a single layer of filter, less material, and possibly without the boltropes.

Glen McGuire · Tuesday at 12:42 AM

I actually like the look of your initial fold of the fore end. To me, it hangs in an unruly but natural way. But if you are trying for a look that is more tidy and ship-shape, then refolding is a good idea. Beauty is in the eye of the modeler! :cheers:

JacquesCousteau · Tuesday at 01:09 AM

Thanks! I think I can be my own worst enemy at times trying to match what I see in my mind's eye. In any case, I was able to find the Aleene's fabric glue, so I'm hopeful that the bolt ropes won't fall off if I add them if I make the new sail.

wefalck · Tuesday at 08:36 AM

I think the overall impression is very good and looks 'disorderly' realistic. I agree, however, that the bunch, just before the first roband from the bottom, should be hanging down more and be less folded up and follow more gravity ...

Perhaps it is helpful to do what painter would do in such a situation: they would take a broomstick and a bedcloth or something like that and make a nearly full-size prop-up to study the folds and draping.

JacquesCousteau · 2024-12-18T16:38:41Z

After a bit of work, I was able to re-wet, re-shape, and salvage the sail, and the model is now nearly complete.

Upon reflection after my frustrating and rather chaotic first attempt, a few things stood out. First, on the positive side, I was happy with how the aft half of the sail (over the rancho) turned out, which spurred me to try to salvage things.

Second, while the white glue holding the boltrope in place had stood up to some tests on the sail and seemed like it would hold, the tests didn't involve nearly as tight folds as on the final assembly, and the glue came loose in many places. Fortunately, I was able to use the Aleene's Fabric Fusion to re-glue it in place, and it held up much better (thanks for the suggestion, Glenn!).

Third, a big part of the problem was that I needed to furl the sail in contact with the rancho roof to get the shape right, but none of my clamps were suitable to hold things in place, meaning that I needed to press down on the aft part of the sail while trying to shape it elsewhere. This was a recipe for disaster. After thinking a bit more, I realized that I could use thread to tie the sail/yard down over the rancho, and could cut it away later. This worked out--although I could probably have tied it tighter, and I ended up placing a clamp at the aft end solely to weigh it down a little, the thread at least held the piece roughly in place and allowed me to focus on the fore half.

Finally, I was using the sheets to wrap up the sail, but I wasn't able to get them very tight, which contributed to some of the loose and awkward folds/draping in the fore half. Upon rewatching Tom Lauria's video about making furled silkspan sails, I noticed that he was able to use a lot of separate ties, using the knots to get things tight. In his case, these were part of the model, but I realized that I could do the same thing with thread, then wrap the sheets over those locations and carefully cut off the thread. This worked much, much better.

So, here's the assembly while drying. In hindsight, I would not recommend using wood shims to clamp the sail material, as the wood stuck a little to the sail's glue, but it turned out ok.

There were a few places that I wasn't happy with, such as the odd bolt rope shown below--after being reattached, it had come loose again after being folded in a way that made it very difficult to re-attach it precisely to the sail edge. Unless you're looking right at it, though, it's hard to notice and just looks like a fold in the sail, so I decided that I could live with it.

In any case, here's the full sail assembly. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

Next, there were a few loose ends of the rigging to deal with. First, I finished off the parrel (the end of which still needs trimming below).

Then the end of the backstay. The looped excess line could be a bit tighter, but I may need to remove the mast and rigging for a possible move in about a year and a half or so, so I've only glued the end of the loop so far. I may try to glue a tighter loop with shellac if I can find any, so it can be easily dissolved in alcohol for removal.

Finally, the halyard. I was originally going to run this to the port belaying pin aft, but then I realized that this would only really be done when the yard/sail was hoisted. In most photos, when the yard has been dropped, the halyard just hangs relatively loosely. I've noticed quite a few photos that seem to show the rancho itself (or presumably its framework) being used to belay lines, so I decided to run the halyard through a few loops around the rancho framework near the mast, as though the crew has loosely tied it off to keep it from interfering too much with the fishing gear. At the moment, part of the line has been soaked in a glue-water mix and is being held down with a pair of forceps in order to look like it's hanging naturally.

Once this dries, I'll be able to remount the rudder, and the model will be complete!

Paul Le Wol · 2024-12-18T17:56:30Z

Beautiful rope and sail work Jacques!

JacquesCousteau · 2024-12-18T19:11:33Z

Finished!

I started making this model (or at least drafting my first attempts at plans) on 22 July 2023, and began this build log a few days later. It was my third build overall and my second scratch build. At the time, I thought it would be simple and quick, not much more complicated than the dory I had recently finished, and I thought that I could knock it out in a few months or so while waiting for a kit to arrive.

As it turned out, it ended up taking 515 days in total, just under a year and a half, to finish (and 270 posts!). Along the way, this simple build turned into multiple models (including a digression into making some entirely unrelated models as Christmas gifts) and a much deeper dive than I had anticipated into research, opening up a series of questions about, among other things, processes of technological change and intellectual exchange. I also developed substantially in my model-making skills, such that I can see clear differences between the Cargo Canoa (finished about a year ago) and the Canoa de Rancho. This build, and the many helpful comments from so many people, has taught me a lot. Even though it's a simple vessel overall, I tried my best to make it with care and to not shy away from difficulty, even if this meant, for example, tediously re-making the thatched roof. While there are still things that I can see could be improved, I'm happy with how it turned out. This has been an incredibly rewarding build, well worth the time and occasional frustrations, and I'm glad I did it.

Below: The Canoa de Rancho, at left, and the Cargo Canoa, at right. I feel like my improvement over time is apparent, although I also wouldn't have been as happy with my results on the Canoa de Rancho without making a lot of mistakes on the Cargo Canoa. (Figure at right for scale.)

There were a number of frustrating aspects of this build. To name three specific parts, the thatched rancho took a lot of time and experimentation, the sail was tricky to get right, and the metalwork for the rudder hinges was challenging.

More generally, it was difficult at the outset to proceed given that I only had photos to go off and no plans--in this respect, the model is perhaps one of the "models that shouldn't be built" according to Howard Chapelle. That said, I think I was able to produce a reasonable model based as much as possible on existing evidence, especially photos. (And it certainly helps that this vessel has a flat-bottomed, wall-sided hull--a curved hull would be significantly more challenging). Moreover, I've tried to be clear about the choices I've made in interpreting that (sometimes confusing or contradictory) evidence. Some parts of this build are quite conjectural. A lot of the details of the rigging (like the parrel or the robands) were not very clear in photos, but I hope that I've at least provided a reasonable explanation for why I went with the rigging details I went with. Similarly, while I have yet to find a clear photo of the floorboards, other evidence made it clear that they existed, and I hope that I have at least proposed a coherent and plausible explanation of how they might have been. Finally, with better photo evidence coming out over time, I have gradually come to believe that the locker under the helmsman's platform is inaccurate. This is an error on my part, and all that I can say in my defense is that at the time it seemed a reasonable interpretation based on literary sources.

Nonetheless, I don't think that we should let the possibility of making such a mistake hold us back. This is especially the case with branching out from modeling vessels that are well-represented in plans and in existing models, including most Latin American workboats--subject that I'm particularly interested in and that I think are well worth building. Ultimately, all that we can do is explain our reasoning and evidence as clearly and compellingly as possible and make a case for why we've made the choices we made.

I think the two main takeaways I've had from this build are:

1) This is an excellent, supportive community with a ton of resources. When I had questions about how to do something, I was often able to find existing posts that answered my questions, or I was able to ask and receive a lot of helpful advice about everything from judging hull colors in black and white photos to sail-making. I would not have been able to finish without such a helpful community, and I offer a heartfelt thanks to everyone who followed along, answered or asked questions, offered comments, or just gave the occasional like. It's easy to feel isolated in this hobby, but having so much support and so many examples of excellent builds through this site was really crucial in helping me push forward and strive to improve. Thank you all.

2) Being careful rather than trying to speed through things really pays off. This model took a lot longer than expected, but the end result is worth it. When I was building my NRG Half-Hull kit, I reflected on the advice to treat each plank as a model in its own right. The same can really apply to pretty much any part of any model. For any new modelers out there (as I was when I started this), I can't emphasize enough that taking the time to get everything satisfactory, and even practicing with test pieces, is the key to getting a result that you're happy with.

This has been a fun, challenging, and rewarding experience, and I can't wait to continue working on more Latin American (and other) workboats. I'm glad that I was able to capture, in model form, an often under-studied aspect of maritime history, one which was nonetheless important in shaping people's lives and can tell us something about the past. I hope that anyone reading this considers modeling an overlooked subject that speaks to them. This site has an impressive and growing collection of build logs for such vessels, and I can confirm that modeling one is a very worthwhile endeavor, challenges and all. Once again, thank you to everyone for your help and support.