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

[JacquesCousteau]

Between an exceptionally hectic time at work and a bit of travel, I haven't been able to spend much time on the build, but I was finally able to get back to it and make a little progress.

 

The thatching is very slow to make. Following Eberhardt's suggestion, I've been using some thread to string together small bundles of thatching material. Any gaps will be covered by gluing individual pieces after the thatching's on the rancho framework, and the thread will also be covered by the second layer so it's more for structure than for show. It's slow going, but seems to be working so far. That said, I realized that this layer of thatching is turning out a bit thicker than my previous attempt, so I'm a bit concerned about how well the overlapping layer will glue on to the first.

 

I also added extra wood to the "feet" of the rancho framework, so that there will be a sturdier gluing surface when I attach it to the rail. From photos, I haven't really been able to figure out how the actual rancho was attached to the hull. I'm considering trying to drill small holes in each foot and the rail in order to use a peg or bit of wire for a stronger connection than just glue. It's a bit tricky, though--the feet are quite small, and the rail isn't very thick so any hole will have to go all the way through it and will be visible.

 

Given how slow going the rancho is, I also wanted to work on some other aspects of the build. The rudder will have to wait until I make a stand, so no progress there yet. Instead, though, I was intrigued by a recent post on Chuck Passaro's Speedwell build about making and attaching metal rings. Rather than place the split ring in an eyebolt to attach it to the deck/hatch, which ultimately looks out of scale, he just crimps a bit of thinner wire around the split ring and uses that. For a better explanation, see post 599 of 7 February in his build log: 

 

Some photos show a pair of similar rings at the sides of the canoa's foredeck, so I thought I would try something similar. I don't have the thinner wire yet (it's on the way), but thought I could at least do a test on a piece of scrap. The first attempt (right) didn't turn out very well, as the hole was a bit too small and the loop protrudes too much, but the second attempt (left) turned out much better. The test also alerted me to the fact that this wire's black coating chips easily--I'll have to be a lot more careful with the actual rings.

 

Finally, I thought I'd note that, while poking around the library, I came across more information about small, flat-bottomed Spanish river and lake vessels. José Manuel Matés Luque's brief "Flat Bottomed Boats in Spain: The Forgotten Fleet," was published in Ships and Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archeology, Amsterdam 2012, Eds. Jerzy Gawronski, André van Holk, and Joost Schokkenbroek (Barkhuis, 2017). Among other vessels, I was particularly struck by the offset frames on the vessel below, from the Tablas de Damiel region (a wetland roughly between Toledo and Jaén). It's different in a number of ways from the Canoa de Rancho, but perhaps is suggestive of some of its design ancestry.

 

 

[Glen McGuire]

The thatch is looking good.  Glad to see you back at it!

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Jacques, everything is looking great. If the coating on the steel wire is giving you grief you can try sanding it off and then heat the wire with a butane lighter or mini torch.. The metal will turn dark grey giving it a more natural look. Someone posted this suggestion a little while ago but regrettably I can’t remember who it was.

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks for the support! Work continues to be extremely hectic, so I have made very little progress--but still something.

 

Bit by bit, I've finished the two lower layers of thatching. This was a slow process, but I think it worked out overall. The line of the thread is pretty wobbly, and there are some glue blobs, but all of that will be covered up by the upper layer of thatching.

 

 

I think I'll use the same method to make the upper layer. Once again, any imperfections at the top will be covered up--this time by a strip of cloth running along the top of the thatching. I expect it to take a while, again, to make the upper layers.

 

I've also begun prepping the rancho for attachment to the hull. I drilled a small hole in the rancho's feet:

 

Then, I placed the rancho in the correct position on the hull, and pushed a needle through the holes to mark where to drill in the rail. After that, it was pretty straightforward to drill out the holes in the rail. I'll have to tidy up some of the pushout after rancho is attached, but it's not too bad. The holes are tiny. I still need to scrape away the paint at the glue locations. The rancho will still be a bit fragile, but much more stable with a combination of wire pins and glue than with glue alone.

 

I'm now deciding whether to attach the rancho first, or to glue the thatching in place first. It'll be easier to glue the thatching to the framework off the hull. However, due to the curve of the rail, the thatching will be propped a bit off the framework at the bottom. I'm worried that trying to bend it up to take the curve after already gluing it into place might be difficult and could break the glue bond.

 

Another option may be to add the wire pins to the framework feet so that I can get the best of both worlds--gluing and clamping the thatching to the framework off the model, then using the pins to put the framework in place on the hull while it dries.

[Glen McGuire]

4 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

any imperfections at the top will be covered up

I think you've done a super job with the thatching.   To me, imperfections often make things look more realistic.  I would not go too overboard trying to hide tiny flaws. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Progress has been very slow, but I finally got started on making the upper layer of thatching. It's still tedious work, but I think I'm getting better at it. I've certainly had a lot of practice! This time I'm making both at once, which is a faster, although it's easy to get the strings crossed.

 

I've also begun work on the stand. I felt like the stand for the dory and the Cargo Canoa looked a little heavy, so I thought I would do something a little less obtrusive out of 1/8-inch square basswood strips, which I've stained to match the hull parts.

 

I still need to connect them, but I was able to test the base.

 

(Please ignore the mess all over the table). I'm not sure how I like the stand, it might be too high, or maybe it will look better once a horizontal support joins the bow and stern stand pieces. More and more I'm finding that I like the look of a more minimalist stand, like a bit of brass rod that locks into a slot in the keel. Unfortunately, that would be very difficult to make in this case, due to the lack of a keel. Any holes I drill in the bottom go into just 1/16‐inch thick basswood, after which there's a roughly 1/16‐inch gap, then the floor planking.

 

Finally, I should mention that this build's time to completion has been extended again. It now seems likely that I'll be moving internationally over the summer, by flight rather than car. It will be very difficult to pack the Canoa into a suitcase once it's fully rigged, but it's quite portable as long as it's just a bare hull. So, while I'm hoping to build many of its individual parts, I'm probably going to have to leave the rancho and mast/sail/rigging off for now. (In order to actually be able to finish a model that will be portable when complete, I've started the Midwest Maine Peapod kit, which is fun so far.)

[JacquesCousteau]

I finally had a peaceful weekend and was able to advance!

 

First, I finished the base. I'm not crazy about it, as I think I made it slightly too long, and I feel like the color stands out too much. I may paint it black, or make a new one to a different design later. But for now, at least the model has a proper stand.

 

 

I also finally made some progress on the rancho! First, I superglued bits of wire into the holes I drilled in the base of the rancho supports. I think I need a new superglue, as the stuff I got is extremely tacky and seems to stick poorly. Meanwhile, I was progressing bit by bit on the upper layer of thatching.

 

As can be seen, I improved a lot at keeping the string more or less in line. Unlike the lower layer, where I added varnish after each bunch of thatching, for the upper layer I used a generous helping of glue from the string to the top as I went (it will be covered later) and have only added the varnish now at the end. Once that dries, it will be time to remove the thatching from the backing (index card laminated in tape so the glue doesn't really stick).

 

I also glued the lower layers in place on the rancho, using a lot of coffee stir sticks and scrap to clamp.

 

The lower layer is now on pretty solidly.

 

I'm looking forward to finally being done with the thatching, it's taken far longer than I had hoped. If something goes catastrophically wrong at this point, I'll probably just make a wooden rancho, which would be less interesting but equally accurate at far, far easier to make.

[Harvey Golden]

I like the boat stand; it has a bit of a cribbing/strongback look to it.   A matching colored wooden base for the stand might balance it out nicely. The contrast with the black hull works well in my opinion. 

[JacquesCousteau]

@Harvey Golden Thanks! I may look into a base board. The stand is just stained basswood, so it wouldn't be hard to match, although I would probably have to pre-treat the board so the stain comes out evenly.

 

Well, I finally got the upper layers of the thatching on. The results are.... a bit mixed, I think.

 

As can be seen, I ended up doubling the upper support crosspiece so there would be more of a gluing surface to work with.

 

The very top will be covered with some cloth, which seems to be what was done on the actual vessels if I'm interpreting the photos correctly.

 

While I avoided the unnaturally straight edge I unintentionally gave my first attempt, I'm not totally happy with this one. As can be seen, the layers are each very thick. This wasn't a problem on my first attempt, as the layers were much thinner, but on this one it's very noticeable. While photos make it clear that plenty of actual canoas did have layered thatching, it never seemed to stick up so much like this.

 

From some angles, and from a distance, I don't think it looks bad.

 

But from others, it looks like a bad haircut.

 

 

So, I'm a bit torn about how to proceed. As I see it, I have a few options:

 

1) I could redo it with just a single layer so that I don't have to worry about any overlap, but that seems daunting. I've already spent months working on the rancho, and while I'm not on any timeline for completion, I would like to actually finish the build at some point, and I especially would like to be able to move on from the rancho into more interesting parts of the build.

 

2. I could redo it with a simple wood rancho. It would be a lot easier and faster, but I have to admit that I think it would be visually less interesting.

 

3. Leave it as it is, accept that I've done a lot on this already and have learned some lessons about considering how parts will come together while scratch-building, and hope that I one day come to love it, bad haircut and all.

 

4. Continue with it, but see if I can lesson the jarring transition between layers by sticking some additional individual pieces of straw into the gap, as I've started testing (without glue) below.

 

 

I think I'll try option 4 for at least a bit to see how it turns out. I don't think it's going to make the haircut look worse, at least.

[wefalck]

I think the stand quite matches the somewhat improvised look of these boats.

[Glen McGuire]

Another option might be breaking the the top pieces of each of your 2 layers in half (at slightly different lengths to maintain the randomness of the edges).  This would thin out the existing layers and give you 4 layers (or steps if you will) of roughly equal thickness. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

@Glen McGuire Unfortunately each layer is pretty solid in itself due to all the varnish, but I have been able to pick out a few here and there to disrupt the solidity of the edge of the layer. I've also been busy inserting new pieces one at a time into the gap on one side. It's not perfect, but I think it's looking a lot better. As with any bad haircut, letting it grow out makes the problem less noticeable.

 

As can be seen, the difference between the two sides is most apparent when viewed head on.

 

I may try to cut back a few more from the top layer, add a few more to the gap, and perhaps add a few shorter pieces above the top layer. It'll be a bit on the shaggy side, but that seems accurate for at least some canoas, based on the photos record.

[Glen McGuire]

Looking better and better!!

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks! Between cutting away some of the upper layer straws and poking new ones into the gap between layers, I think it's turned out in a way that I can accept.

 

 

 

The rancho isn't glued in place yet, just held by the pins.

 

Next, I'll need to add some protective/stiffening varnish, especially over the new additions. Then I'll be working out the cloth covering that runs along the top.

 

[JacquesCousteau]

I've moved on to the rudder. 

 

I wasn't happy with my initial attempt at carving a rudder from basswood in a similar shape to what I used for the Cargo Canoa. So, I decided to try something different. Although I don't have any good images of a full rudder, a number of photos depict a long rudder with one or two support beams. After trying out several shapes in card, I made a decision. I built it out of 1/16‐inch-thick cherry. In hindsight it would have been nice to use cherry for the hull frames and other parts, for more consistency, but I didn't have any then.

 

For the tiller, I followed the same process as on the Cargo Canoa, making it from some of the mango wood I collected.

 

The hinges have been giving me trouble. I first tried to make them by splitting part of a 1/64x1/4-inch brass strip in half lengthwise. For whatever reason, I couldn't seem to anneal it. It was difficult to work with and hard to get even, and difficult to cut.

 

I then was able to order some 1/64x1/16‐inch brass strips, so that I would only need to cut it to the right length. These annealed very easily, but it's still been very difficult to make the hinges. This is especially the case for the gudgeons, which need to wrap around a 1/8x1/16 rudder post and then extend further on the transom. There are a lot of right angles in a very short space to bend for that, and I've found it tricky to bend it properly. It's also been tricky to get the pin-end to be properly shaped to accept the pin, which will be a simple length of brass rod. Is there a limit to how many times I can bend a brass strip, or will re-annealing it keep it from becoming brittle and breaking?

 

I'm still working on getting them right. Once I get hinges I'm happy with, my plan is to use brass blackening to color them, super-glue the pins into the pintles, and then attach them to the rudder and hull and hang the rudder.

 

Any advice on making rudder hinges would be appreciated! I'm very impressed by the many examples that I've seen on other logs, but some seem to require more metal-working tools than I can really access now.

[JacquesCousteau]

I've been doing some more thinking about the hinges. The pintles are more or less straightforward to make, but the gudgeons are giving me trouble given all the right angles they take wrapping around the rudder post (which is external) and onto the transom. So I began to wonder if there was a way for me to fake it: what if I could cut slits in the transom around the rudder post so the gudgeons could just go straight back and run into the interior of the hull, and I then glued extra pieces of brass along the transom to represent the gudgeon's extension along the transom?

 

I first tried to draw it out:

 

Then I decided to test it with some scrap. I made a fake transom with a rudder post down the center and applied some sealer to stiffen it. Once that dried, I bent one of my gudgeon's arms back straight, and used my smallest drill bit to make a small slit on each side of the rudder post. I was then able to push the gudgeon into place.

 

 

It's actually very secure even without being glued. I then tested how it would look to place a strip of brass (in this case, the other gudgeon) to fake the arms of the gudgeon running out on each side of the transom. By placing it right up against the gudgeon body, I was able to largely avoid any visible gap. (Terrible photo below, it was hard to hold it in place and take a photo at the same time).

 

I'm planning on blackening the brass. I think that I should be able to avoid gaps with careful shaping. Any remaining gap I can probably cover with a tiny dab of black paint--at worst I'll just have to paint the whole hinge black, which would not be the end of the world.

 

Overall, this seems like a much easier way to do it than trying to get so many precise 90-degree bends into a small space. I just need to properly plan the gudgeon location so that the slits are covered from view by the helmsman's platform.

[JacquesCousteau]

Bit of a change of plans. While I read a lot about how to use Birchwood Casey Brass Black and purchased a bottle, one thing that skipped my mind was how to dispose it. I live in an apartment, don't have a car, and all hazardous waste disposal sites are a bit of a trip from here. Carting a jar of acid and toxic waste around on a city bus doesn't seem like a great idea, and I certainly don't want to dump it down the drain (my building is pretty old). If I don't really have a way to dispose of the waste, I suppose my best bet is to try painting the brass.

[wefalck]

You will be using a few ml at a time only. Don't dunk your parts into the bottle! You probably won't even consume the chemistry in these few ml with your parts. So get a small chemicals bottle from the chemist, lable it properly and you are good for a few more parts.

 

Once the blackening process takes too long, this is an indication that the solutions is becoming spent. You can let it dry then (out of reach for children and pets, of course) and dispose of it in the general waste. The quantities of Se etc. from a fre ml of solution are minute and will not harm anyone. Even if there were rubbish scavengers on the tips of Mexico, the material will be dispersed in the general waste.

 

I know, certain people would throw their arms into the air about the above, but one has to be reasonable and practical. 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thank you, good to know. Is it possible to blacken multiple types of metal in the solution at once? I have brass, copper, and some kind of white metal parts. I'd assume I can drop them all in at once without causing any weird reactions?

[wefalck]

Never tried that and it depends on the chemistry of the solution. Some products may not work with certain metals.

 

I would get myself a small plastic beaker, big enough for the biggest part and pour just enough of the solution to cover the parts. Let it react and take it out, when ready. Process one piece by one piece, so that you can control the process better. If possible use plastic tweezers, not metal one. If you don't have/cannot get hold of plastic tweezers, two toothpicks will do the job as well. In this way, you minimise the amount of solution used.

 

BTW, never pour used solution back into the original container, that should only contain fresh, unused solution (that is standard good chemical lab practice to avoid contamination).

Edited May 11 by wefalck

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks for the tips! While I slowly advance on the hinges, I turned my attention to the mast.

 

Looking over photos, I saw there was a wide range of thicknesses of Canoa masts. I ultimately decided to go with one made of a 3/16‐inch dowel, corresponding to a mast with a 6-inch diameter at the widest point. This is towards the skinny end for the examples I've seen, but my model is of a relatively small Canoa de Rancho, and I think the thinner mast looks better for this size.

 

For the mast height, I looked at 17 photos showing canoas from the side and compared the number of pixels of their mast height to their overall length. The height/length proportion varied from as low as .57 to as high as .99, but all but a few outliers were between .67 and .79. The average proportion was 72% of the overall length. On my model, that comes out to a hair over 8-1/4 inches long, which I marked on the dowel.

 

I've been using a mini block plane to taper the planks on my peapod build, and was curious to see if it would help with tapering the mast. I quickly discovered that, although the grain pattern was practically imperceptible to me, planing against the grain was a recipe for gouging the wood. Nonetheless, I decided to continue making the mast as at least a testbed. After planing a bit more with the grain--which I could only discover through trial-and-error--I finished the taper by hand with sandpaper. Some photos show the mast capped with a sphere, forming a ledge for the backstays to be tied off around, so I used a combination of an exacto knife and sandpaper (for the top of the ball) and files (for the bottom half of the ball and the ledge) to shape it. Then, I drilled out the holes to mark the sheave at the top of the mast. I drilled from both sides, which reminded me to be more careful, on the actual mast, with making sure I'm lining up the drill properly.

 

Here we can see the top of the mast. I have not fully carved the sheave, but I might as practice for the real one.

 

And here is the other side. The gouge is visible running along the mast, even after a good bit of sanding.

 

I then sawed the mast to the proper length, and drilled out the bottom to accept the 1/16‐square peg that holds the mast into the step. The peg, placed separately in the step, is visible below.

 

Unfortunately, I drilled out the hole slightly off-center, more on the aft side of the mast than it should be. This compounded an earlier error--way back when I originally placed the mast step (or the aftmost crossbeam? I forget which came first) I set the mast for a slightly steeper rake aftward than I wanted.

 

Despite these issues, the mast does fit in the model. Here we see it with the excessive rake aft.

 

So, redoing the mast will allow for a better-raked, smoother mast without an ugly gouge. Alternately, on a whim I reshaped the bottom of the mast (which was angled for the rake) and reversed it, which corrected the rake, as seen below:

(Apologies for the bad lighting)

Much better, but there's still that gouge, which also will make it difficult to stain the masts if I decide the natural wood is too jarring. That said, if I leave the masts natural, the gouge would be mostly covered by the sail on the finished model....

 

So, there's where I'm at. I suppose the question is whether the gouge will bother me if I leave it.

[JacquesCousteau]

Brief update: I will be making a new mast after all. I decided to try staining this one as a test, and as I feared, the gouges really messed up the finish and became much more visible. The test also confirmed that I do prefer the color of the stained wood for the mast.

 

So, I've begun tapering a new mast from the dowel. It was tricky to figure out which way the grain ran, but I was able to reverse the direction of my planing to fix the handful of gouges that did occur. I also aggressively sanded. I don't have a drill or lathe, so my method is to fold a piece of sandpaper around the dowel, use my hand to hold it somewhat tight to the dowel, and sand it lengthwise and by spinning simultaneously.