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

[JacquesCousteau]

I've been working on both the larger Canoa de Rancho and the smaller Cargo Canoa.

First, painting is proceeding on the Canoa de Rancho. I'm liking how it's turning out with the black hull.

 

On the Cargo Canoa, I drilled out the holes for the belaying pins used to hold the backstays, and also cut out a rudder slot in the aft rail (which ended up being unnecessary).

 

I made smaller paper hinges (seen here, painted, alongside the larger unpainted first hinges I made).

Attaching them was complicated, and I'm not totally happy with how it turned out. I was worried about the flimsy paper not holding up, so I attached the top gudgeon with a dab of super glue. Of course, I then immediately stuck it on a bit off-center and couldn't get it off. I'm considering this a learning experience, so I left it as-is.

For the lower gudgeon, I wanted to get the spacing right, so I flipped the hull, placed the gudgeon to be glued on the lower rudder pintle, and hung the upper hinge. Despite this, I somehow still got the lower gudgeon too high, as can be seen.

But, the rudder hangs about where it should, can move side to side, and above all, can be removed for transport, so I'm going to leave it as is and learn from my mistakes when I get to this stage on the Canoa de Rancho.

 

 

 

[JacquesCousteau]

A few minor updates.

 

On the Cargo Canoa, I painted below the waterline on the rudder. I also have been working on the mast, which I whittled/sanded down from one if the mango sticks I prepared a few months ago.

 

 

The mast isn't perfectly straight, but will work. I'm still finalizing its shape, and may cut it slightly shorter as it looks a bit high right now.

 

On the Canoa de Rancho, I managed to ruin the hull paint by adding a protective layer of sealer/varnish over the top. I've been doing this with the interior without issue, but on the black paint, it turned out quite glossy.

 

So, I lightly sanded and added an extra layer of black acrylic on top. I would still like to find a non-glossy protective top coat, but for now at least even if the top layer of paint gets scratched, there's a protective coating over the lower paint layers. Also, I should note that, based on discussions on this site about scale viewing distance, I didn't use pure black paint, but mixed a very small amount of white. I think the hull looks pretty good now.

 

 

One problem, though, is that the tape I placed around the ends of the crossbeams didn't really block the paint from getting on them. I had to spend a good bit of time scraping paint off the crossbeams, and they're still a bit messy.

 

Finally, I realized that I needed one more crossbeam to better support the rails close to the bow. Following the example of many photographed canoas, this beam is much thinner than the main beams.

 

 

Overall, I'm pleased with how things are going, and I'm looking forward to adding the rails and foredeck and finishing the Canoa de Rancho's hull.

Edited November 16, 2023 by JacquesCousteau
Fixed typo

[FlyingFish]

2 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

mango sticks

Huh? Mango stick, what's that? (I'm a Brit, go gently!)

[JacquesCousteau]

39 minutes ago, FlyingFish said:

Huh? Mango stick, what's that? (I'm a Brit, go gently!)

No worries! I don't have access to much modeling wood here, so while visiting my in-laws, I stripped the bark from some dead wood that had fallen from their mango tree. I had read good things about fruit woods. Given that I don't really have many tools, my ability to use the wood I collected is very limited, but I can at least make a mast out of it.

[FlyingFish]

It looks very fine wood indeed - very fine grained. Good choice.

[JacquesCousteau]

The Canoa de Rancho's rails have been a bit slow to make. They need to follow the curve of the hull very precisely, so as to extend outward from the rails without extending into the hull at all. Somewhere I read that you should approach each piece when you're planking a hull like its own separate model, so I'm approaching the rails with that mindset.

 

Following the example of a lot of photos, I decided to make each side's rail out of two parts, with lap joints connecting them and connecting the aft rail. To mark out the interior line of the rails, I placed a bit of tape, drew along the line, and then transferred it to the basswood sheet to cut out.

 

This was followed by a lot of shaping and sanding to get a precise fit. I also decided I like the look of slightly thinner rails (starboard side in the photo below, at which point there was still a lot of shaping to go), although I'll have to sand a bit off some of the supports that ended up a bit long.

 

I soaked and heated the fore rails, and clamped them in place to follow the hull's upward curve at the bow.

 

Cutting out the lap joints is tricky work, given all the curves. I ultimately decided to do the aft rails first, as they need to be the most precisely lined up with the wales--further forward, the foredeck will cover it up if I'm slightly less precise.

 

As can be seen, I stained the rails like I did the crossbeams and other parts. However, I'm now having some doubts. As can be seen below, the wood grain runs at different angles at the midship joint, which is accentuated by using stain.

 

I'm now wondering if I should just paint the rails brown, as seen with the small test piece, below. It would also add a bit more contrast with the other stained parts on the top of the hull.

 

Let me know if you have any thoughts!

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Jacques, I think both stain and paint look equally as nice. On the Cargo Canoa maybe you could slide a slice of black wire insulation or something similar over the pin of the upper pintle to fill the gap. Everything is looking great 

[wefalck]

I wouldn't worry about the wood-grain not matching up at the joints. This would be quite common in this kind of craft, where they would have used what was available at the moment.

 

Talking about woods: mango wood seems to be quite common as building material in certain (sub-)tropical regions. The dhow-builders in Tanzania/Zanzibar, for instance, use it extensively.

 

Whith this kind of rough-and-ready working boats it is always difficult to strike the balance between precision in modelling and the somewhat rough look of the prototype. However, poor workmanship is difficult to sell as the rough look of the prototype ... the 'roughness' has to be also to scale. 

[JacquesCousteau]

2 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Hi Jacques, I think both stain and paint look equally as nice. On the Cargo Canoa maybe you could slide a slice of black wire insulation or something similar over the pin of the upper pintle to fill the gap. Everything is looking great 

Thanks, Paul, that's a great idea for the hinge!

 

2 hours ago, wefalck said:

I wouldn't worry about the wood-grain not matching up at the joints. This would be quite common in this kind of craft, where they would have used what was available at the moment.

 

Talking about woods: mango wood seems to be quite common as building material in certain (sub-)tropical regions. The dhow-builders in Tanzania/Zanzibar, for instance, use it extensively.

 

Whith this kind of rough-and-ready working boats it is always difficult to strike the balance between precision in modelling and the somewhat rough look of the prototype. However, poor workmanship is difficult to sell as the rough look of the prototype ... the 'roughness' has to be also to scale. 

Thanks! That's also very interesting about the mango wood. It's been nice enough to work with that it makes me wish I had access to milling equipment and a thickness sander. As for balancing precision and real-life roughness, it's definitely a tricky balancing act, and I've had to learn quite a few things along the way--I'm glad I can use the Cargo Canoa as a test bed, although it does mean it isn't turning out quite as nice as I'd like. For instance, I'm reconsidering how I'll do the rudder hinges on the Canoa de Rancho, as the Cargo Canoa's hinges are still too large/out of scale. I may be forced to learn how to do metal work, after all...

[JacquesCousteau]

I finished the lap joints on the Canoa de Rancho's rails. I'm much happier with how they turned out, especially around the stern, than I was with the Cargo Canoa. It pays to figure these things out off the whole model.

 

As can be seen, the stained rails kinda blend into the rest of the wood, so I decided to paint them.

 

While working on that, I've made some progress on the Cargo Canoa. First, I shortened the mast and shaped the top of it--the backstays will tie off around the ledge.

 

I then used drill bits, a file, and a dot of pencil lead to simulate a sheave at the mast top.

 

 

Finally, I decided that it was about time to make a cargo for the Cargo Canoa. Eduardo Gibbon mentions that the canoa he rode on previously unloaded a shipment of watermelons, so I decided to make a few. First, I glued a toothpick into the hole in some wooden beads, both to help fill the hole and to provide a handle while painting.

 

Then I filled in the remaining gaps with sawdust and glue, and sanded once it was dry.

 

I painted a light green base coat. As can be seen, I didn't fully mix my yellow and dark green paint, so as to be able to pick and blend different hues.

 

I then painted some darker lines, experimenting with line thickness and waviness. Not all of them turned out great, but my plan is to put them in a crate or two, which can partly cover the worst of them. (Plus, it's not like every watermelon is exactly alike...) Finally, I should note that these are, at scale, definitely on the large side, with a diameter of over a foot. The next size of bead down that I could find would have been a good bit smaller. But I think they'll still work--maybe it was a good year at the farm that produced them.

 

Now I just need a crate or two for them.

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by JacquesCousteau

[JacquesCousteau]

After the rails were painted, I glued them to the hull of the Canoa de Rancho. As can be seen below, this entailed scraping off the paint at the points of contact in order to get a better joint.

 

I glued the aft rails in place first, as these need to be lined up with the most care--I have more wiggle roon toward the bow, where the foredeck will cover things if the rail isn't perfectly aligned with the wale. The starboard aft rail went on very easily, but the port rail was harder to hold down against the wale. Given the lack of clamping points around the middle, and that a rubber band would have pushed the rail inward and thrown off alignment, I had to just hold the rail in place by hand for a while.

 

The fore rails are trickier, as they follow a curve upward, but with all the crossbeams there are many more clamping locations.

 

I left the fore rails slightly wide, as I'll be sanding the exterior of the edge into a smooth line once the glue has fully dried. There will then have to be a bit of paint touch-up, and I'll be able to move on to the foredeck.

 

As for the Cargo Canoa, the watermelons' paint dried and I was able to remove them from the toothpicks. The resulting cut does a pretty good job of representing the stem.

 

I was inspired by the very common market crates (guacales) used for fruit and vegetables to make my own, although I made it rather larger than the standard crate so it could carry more than a single one of these fairly large watermelons. Guacales are typically made of very rough wood, so I used some slightly irregular scraps leftover from when I was thinning down the frames, and applied a black wash.

 

 

It adds a nice touch, a splash of color, to the canoa.

 

That said, I couldn't help but think that the squared-off guacal was a poor fit for the spherical watermelons (a note: maybe I should have sanded some into more of an oval shape for variety, but the beads are made of a very hard wood and I gave up pretty quickly). I went looking for photos of how they transported watermelons, and found the photo below from the early 1900s (correct time period, although it's from Mexico City and not Chapala) of a watermelon vendor. As can be seen, he's carrying his load in a net bag.

Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A434539

 

I may have to try making a similar net bag, although I would want to get a different sized net fabric than I'm planning on using for the fishing nets.

[JacquesCousteau]

Sanding down the rails on the Canoa de Rancho was a slow process. The fore port rail was a bit too oversized, as can be seen below (at which point I had only sanded the starboard rails):

 

I also don't think I quite got the rail shape right. It was very hard to tell while just dry-fitting, especially because the fore rails had to be held in place due to the curve, but there seems to be a slight pinch where the fore and aft rails meet amidships. If I were redoing this, or to make rails in the future, I would probably make card templates at the start.

 

Further sanding:

 

After getting the rails to an acceptable thickness, I repainted the edge and other locations that needed touching up. After a few alternating layers of paint and light sanding, I finished the rail with a light, even black wash.

 

 

Next step will be the foredeck. But, this seems like a good break point. For those who celebrate, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[JacquesCousteau]

Brief update tonight.

 

I've begun planning out the foredeck and the rancho (the palapa-like structure aft that gives the Canoa de Rancho its name). I decided to use card to figure out the correct sizes. The rancho needs to be tall enough for an adult to stand up under it in the center, and the scale figure I drew was very helpful for this. Note that the card stock will provide a rough template for the frames, with the thatching over the top.

 

As for the foredeck, there seems to have been a wide variety of lengths on the real vessels, so I'm deciding between a shorter one and a longer one. The longer one looks best, I think, balancing the rancho, and the extended platform would probably be useful for fishing, although it does cover up quite a bit of the bow floor planking which I quite liked the look of. (As an aside: from what I see on other build logs, what I've been calling flooring or floor planking may actually be called the ceiling? I'm not really sure what the correct terminology is.)

 

Shorter foredeck:

 

And longer foredeck:

 

Plank widths shown on the card templates are approximations as I was testing some different widths.

 

As much as I'm enjoying this build, it's likely that I'll be making very little progress on it until January. Things have gotten pretty busy with work, and in mid-December I'll be traveling again, this time leaving Mexico for the time being. So, I'll have to pack up the Canoa de Rancho to continue the build from the US. The hull itself is pretty sturdy right now and could be easily packed, but I'm concerned that the rancho would be pretty fragile if attached. While I may do the foredeck before traveling, my main building goal right now is to finish the Cargo Canoa, which I'm planning on leaving in Mexico for now, and if I still have time, to do a few small, simple, and greatly simplified builds designed to be used as Christmas ornaments that I'd like to give as presents.

 

All of which is to say, I'll probably be posting some more on the Cargo Canoa, but I'm not going to work on the Canoa de Rancho for a bit.

[JacquesCousteau]

I've turned my attention to the Cargo Canoa.

 

First up, I lashed the mast against the crossbeam. The rope I'm using is the same I used for the dory, dyed lightly in a black wash. It works, but I'm hoping to order something better once I'm in the US. The mast on these small vessels was readily removable, so I decided to just have the lashing knot in a visible place. As can be seen, I also made the yard, again from mango wood.

 

I wasn't thinking and trimmed the loose ends too close-- I suspect there would be a bit more to work with. Oh well.

 

Old photos show that the mast was supported by one or two stays running aft. Given that this is a pretty small vessel, I decided to do just one stay--that way, I could also tie off the sheet around the unused belaying pin. At the top of the mast, I experimented with serving the loop a bit:

 

As for the belaying pin, the knot looks a bit clunky from the exterior:

 

However, I'm happy with how I was able to loop the loose end and drape it in what looks to me like a convincing way when viewed from the inside.

 

I've also been working on the sale, using the thinnest cotton fabric I could find. I dyed it lightly in a brown wash to give it a used look. Here it is with the yard, which I've also been working on:

 

Unfortunately, disaster struck while adding the bolt rope. When I tried to move the sail to make sure it wasn't sticking, not only did the bolt rope come loose, but so did the edge reinforcement that I had glued on much earlier:

 

In general, the watered down glue doesn't seem to be sticking very well. I was able to fix things with unthinned glue, but it seems to have left the sail a bit wavy. I'll see if I'm able to successfully attach the rest of the bolt rope, or if I need to redo the sail.

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Unfortunately, disaster struck while adding the bolt rope. When I tried to move the sail to make sure it wasn't sticking, not only did the bolt rope come loose, but so did the edge reinforcement that I had glued on much earlier:

 

I've always used diluted Aleen's Tacky Glue for this job, and I've had fabric glue recommended for it as well but haven't tried it.

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

 

I've always used diluted Aleen's Tacky Glue for this job, and I've had fabric glue recommended for it as well but haven't tried it.

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try!

[JacquesCousteau]

I've finished the Cargo Canoa's sail and rigging! It has been a good lesson in planning ahead.

I was able to repair the sail from the issue mentioned in the previous post--the bolt rope is a bit wavier there than I would like, but I think the result is acceptable. I then lashed it to the yard. Midway through, I realized that I needed to tie on the halyard first, so I did that. I forgot to take pictures.

Next, attaching the yard to the mast. After studying some photos earlier, I had realized that the yard isn't only held by the halyard, but also by a parrel of sorts (marked in blue in the following photo--the red marks the halyard).

(Source: https://digitalcollections.smu.edu/digital/collection/mex/id/2308/rec/26)

 

Unfortunately, I had already attached the stay, as it would have been much easier to make the parrel off the boat and then slide it onto the mast. Making it on the mast resulted in a very ugly parrel, especially as the serving was extremely hard to do in the tight space. As can be seen, with the halyard threaded through the (false) sheave in the mast and the yard raised, the top of the mast is a bit of an unholy mess. Thankfully it's less obvious on the port side, which is the side I plan on displaying.

As I discussed way back around the start of this build, the running rigging is very simple, just a fore sheet and aft sheet. I added these after attaching the parrel--much easier than making the parrel, but still something that would be easier off the boat.

 

The larger Canoa de Rancho will have more defined tie-off points, but for this smaller vessel, I decided to tie the fore sheet (and the halyard) off around the crossbeams, and the aft sheet at the starboard belaying pin. At each, I decided to make a simple loop with the excess rope. These loops were then glued in place. For the halyard and fore sheet, the loops were simply made in the end of the rope, which made it difficult to then glue them flat to the deck. For the aft sheet, I cut the line short, made a separate loop, and glued it over the top. This was much easier and I will definitely be doing this more often in the future.

With that, the rigging is complete! Just a few steps to finish the Cargo Canoa: I need to figure out the anchor and its cable, make a few extra crates or something to represent cargo (a lone crate with five watermelons looks a little odd--a very small cargo), and add something to the stand to hold the boat in place better, as at the moment it's just sitting on top.

 

 

 

The main takeaway from this for the Canoa de Rancho is to better plan out the rigging ahead of time--add the sheets before attaching the yard to the mast, make the parrel off the mast and before making the stays, and attach the halyard and parrel to the yard before adding the sail. Secondarily, when making rope coils, I should pay more attention to the direction of the coil and where the start and finish are--the aft sheet loop was intended to go a little further forward so as to not be on top of the hinge, but I looped the coil in the wrong direction and had to make do. Despite these issues, I'm happy with how the Cargo Canoa is turning out.

Edited December 3, 2023 by JacquesCousteau
Added photo

[wefalck]

Looking good!

 

I gather the book on catalan lateen-rigged boat that you got, will give some more ideas on the specificities of that rig. One of these is that the parrel is a sort of rope with an eye at its end that goes around the mast and is fixed to the halliard. The purpose is to be able to loosen the parrel to allow a better adjustment of the antenna. Not sure though, whether this would be case on the more lugger-sail like sail of the canoa here.

 

On the photo below from the Albufera near Valencia (Spain), the parrel is a pretty ugly affair, not quite ship-shape:

 

Probably your photographs don't show such detail, but usually the rope that attaches the sail to the yard is not just wound around, but at each grommet there is a half-hitch - I don't have an image to hand that would show this. In that way, the sail has less a tendency of slipping along the yard or pulling out of shape.

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by wefalck

[JacquesCousteau]

8 hours ago, wefalck said:

Looking good!

 

I gather the book on catalan lateen-rigged boat that you got, will give some more ideas on the specificities of that rig. One of these is that the parrel is a sort of rope with an eye at its end that goes around the mast and is fixed to the halliard. The purpose is to be able to loosen the parrel to allow a better adjustment of the antenna. Not sure though, whether this would be case on the more lugger-sail like sail of the canoa here.

 

On the photo below from the Albufera near Valencia (Spain), the parrel is a pretty ugly affair, not quite ship-shape:

 

Probably your photographs don't show such detail, but usually the rope that attaches the sail to the yard is not just wound around, but at each grommet there is a half-hitch - I don't have an image to hand that would show this. In that way, the sail has less a tendency of slipping along the yard or pulling out of shape.

 

 

 

Thanks, this is very helpful! I haven't been following the book, as this rig seems to be different in a lot of respects. One of them is that the parrel seems very long, much more so than on a typical lateen rig, as seen in the photo in my post above (the one where I marked the halyard in red and the parrel in blue). Similarly, in the photo below, it's clear that the yard is at some distance from the mast, so any parrel (which I assume is hidden behind the sail) would have to be fairly long:

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

 

From photos like that, and with little knowledge of rigging in general, I assumed that the parrel was a separate line from the halyard. But, I think it would make more sense to tie it to the halyard rather than the yard itself. I'm not sure if I'll be able to redo it on the Cargo Canoa, although I think I'll give it a try--worst case, the parrel disappears and the rigging is slightly simplified compared to what it should be. I'll definitely get it right (or as close to right as can be determined) on the Canoa de Rancho.

 

As for the rope connecting the sail to the yard, that's very good to know! I based my design on what I did for the dory's sail, but there the sail was meant to be hoisted and lowered as needed. Some photos do show some details of this point on the canoa. On larger canoas, they definitely had a half hitch at every grommet, as can be clearly seen below, so I was planning on doing that for the Canoa de Rancho:

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

 

However, my first impression from photos was that smaller vessels (and maybe even some larger ones) just looped the rope around the yard. But, looking again at the photos below, I now have my doubts. As can be seen, some of the ropes connecting the sail to the yard are pretty angled, and look like they might be simple loops--which, earlier, made me think that I could just loop the rope. But other points along the yard seem like they could be a half hitch at every grommet. I'm now wondering if some of the angled ropes that I thought were simple loops are actually just the sail's bolt rope at points where it's come loose from a torn sail, with the rope holding the sail to the yard at those points not being connected directly to the sail, but to the bolt rope only. (If that makes any sense).

(Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nullboy/6386212181/in/album-72157628104176801/

 

(Source: https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/islandora_74/islandora/object/fotografia%3A141039  )

 

So on reconsideration, I think you are correct. That said, I think I'm going to have to live with this error on the Cargo Canoa, at least. Redoing the sail's connection to the yard would be very hard without redoing a lot of the other rigging, and I don't have much time until I leave. But, I'll definitely get it right on the Canoa de Rancho (assuming its hull doesn't get somehow crushed in my suitcase.... maybe I shouldn't joke about that).

[JacquesCousteau]

For the past few weeks, besides the work mentioned in previous posts, I've also been working on the Cargo Canoa's anchor. This has been a long, slow process.

As Ramón Rubín notes, canoas usually had their anchor ready to drop at a moment's notice, which is confirmed by many photos. Given the canoa's dismal capabilities sailing to windward, if the wind changed to an unfavorable direction, it was preferable to drop anchor and wait for it to shift again. So, an anchor is necessary for this model, and from most photos, a simple grapnel would be most appropriate for a small vessel like the Cargo Canoa. However, I have no metal working skills, tools, or supplies, which has turned out to be a serious hindrance.

For the anchor, I decided to try making one from wood, using curved basswood arms (made my bending a thin strip around a shot glass) and a toothpick for the stock. After my attempts at drilling a hole in the toothpick to tie it off only led to the toothpick shattering, I decided to glue a circle of thread, instead. Here we see the anchor before painting:

Ultimately I am not happy with this anchor.

 

The shaft is too thick, the arms aren't curved enough, and the loop at the top is too big. I'm going to try to redo it, but if anyone has any suggestions for how to go about this, I'm all ears.

Photos of canoas also usually show an assemblage at the bow from which the anchor was hung.

 

 

Both photos from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nullboy/6386212181/in/album-72157628104176801/
Although it's hard to see details, some photos, as well as José María Sepulveda's drawing and the model in the Guadalajara regional museum, show a two-pronged structure. Although details are sketchy, I'm assuming the anchor cable was lightly tied around the prongs so as to be released quickly, as otherwise I'm not sure how the anchor could be left dangling at the bow.

https://lugares.inah.gob.mx/es/museos-inah/museo/museo-piezas/10858-10858-canoa-la-brisa.html?lugar_id=480

 

My first attempt, way back in October, was an entirely self-inflicted failure: I made it from memory rather than actually looking at photos and gave it only one prong!

My next attempt used thinned toothpicks for the prongs, on 1/16‐inch basswood. However, as can be seen below, it ended up a bit overly large. On the model it looks cartoonishly oversized.

So, I made a third. This time I used a bit of a staple, which I "cut" by bending repeatedly at one point until it snapped, for the prongs, and used 1/32-inch basswood for the other parts. The support in the middle had a slot filed out in the middle so that it saddles the metal prongs. As can be seen, the resulting piece is tiny!

But, it looks much better on the model. Now I just need to paint it and redo the anchor.

However, I'm sharing build time with yet another project: Christmas gifts! I decided to make some nautical ornaments for family. For my parents, I'll be making a lobster trap ornament. It follows the process I used during the dory build, but at 1:12 instead of 1:24 scale, which makes it a bit easier to make. So far it's just some painted strips of basswood.

For my brother: he's interested in early modern German history and is working on drawing an insanely elaborate DnD map based in part on the Holy Roman Empire. The map includes quite a few lakes and rivers, and shipping and fishing will apparently play a major role in the campaigns he's planning. He was curious about what sort of vessels might be used, so I decided to make him a model of some kind of German river vessel, something easy to build (no complex hull shapes!), that could be small and sturdy enough to hang on a tree, but complex enough to also be placed on a desk when it's not the holidays.

After some searching, I decided to make an Ems Punt, a type of flat-bottomed, snub-nosed barge used on the Ems River. I haven't made a full build log, as it's not going to be as accurate or detailed as I try for in my other models, but it should make a nice ornament at least. I've found a range of lengths given for this type of vessel, so the scale is approximately 1:150. The model is 5 inches long.

 

Here are some sites with info about this type of vessel: https://www.heimatverein-haren.de/schifffahrtsmuseum/freilichtausstellung-schwimmenden-museum/museumsschiff-haren-i/
http://www.emssaga.de/ems-puente/

I started with the deck, leaving a large space for the hold. To simply the build, I got rid of the sheer forewards, and the sunken cockpit aft. I glued some bulkheads to the bottom. In order to strengthen the hull and provide a sturdier planking surface amidships, I also added horizontal supports that effectively plank the interior of the hold. The bottom, which is distinctively angled up at the bow (the pointy end is the stern), cracked a bit at the angle, but held together enough with glue. I scribed planking along the bottom where the hold will be, and gave the interior of the hold a black wash.

To simplify things, I reduced the number of frames, which are visible in the hold. With the top and bottom still separated, I added the vertical parts of the frames, using a square to make sure they lined up.

I then glued the top and bottom together, using rubber bands to get a strong connection.

 

I then added the floors. I've now faired the sides, and the hull is ready for planking, to be followed by deck fittings then the spritsail rig. I messed up and cut the bow too short--the bottom should extend further forward to match the wales, which will sweep up a bit at the bow--but I can just add an extra piece when the time comes.

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by JacquesCousteau
Added photos

[wefalck]

A bit bizarre that someone in distant Mexico/USA should build a model of an 'Emspünte' ...

 

Unfortunately, I would have only technology solutions for your anchor-problem, I would either solder the grapnel up from brass wire or perhaps making a design for laser-cutting from paper stiffened with varnish.

 

Actually, if you can get hold of some wire, material doesn't matter too much, you could bend four 'fish-hooks', bundle and tie them with some threads and smear the whole assembly in white glue. I think the village blacksmith would have used a similar process to make the real thing, using rebar or whatever iron rod would have been available, bending them and welding them together, adding reenforcing sleeves to the shank.

[JacquesCousteau]

On 12/6/2023 at 3:04 AM, wefalck said:

A bit bizarre that someone in distant Mexico/USA should build a model of an 'Emspünte' ...

 

Unfortunately, I would have only technology solutions for your anchor-problem, I would either solder the grapnel up from brass wire or perhaps making a design for laser-cutting from paper stiffened with varnish.

 

Actually, if you can get hold of some wire, material doesn't matter too much, you could bend four 'fish-hooks', bundle and tie them with some threads and smear the whole assembly in white glue. I think the village blacksmith would have used a similar process to make the real thing, using rebar or whatever iron rod would have been available, bending them and welding them together, adding reenforcing sleeves to the shank.

Thanks for the suggestions! I was able to remake the anchor, and while it's not perfect, it's much better than it was. I used wire from an old twist tie after cutting off the plastic. I was able to "cut" it by repeatedly bending it sharply at a point until it broke. I made four hooks, one longer than the rest with a loop at the other end. I superglued them together one at a time, using a clip to keep them from sticking to anything. The wire could be better formed, especially at the loop, but given my lack of tools (those are my only pliers at the moment below) I deemed the result acceptable.

 

 

I then served the shank in thread. This was difficult to do near the "hooks" as they snagged the line a lot, so I wasn't able to use the thread to taper the shank's thickness as I would have liked.

 

Finally I painted the anchor and anchor support. Although the acrylic won't stick well to the metal, once finished the anchor will just dangle so it shouldn't chip too much. As can be seen, the anchor is much improved over my first attempt. In the future, besides getting appropriate tools, I'd also like to try using thinner wire.

 

 

As for the Ems Pünte: I really just came across it by chance. Given that the hull is basically a box, it was easier to build than a more curved hull, while also being more visually interesting at this scale than something like an Austrian Zille. I'm nearly done with the planking. Bending the planks required some creative clamping:

 

Before attaching the uppermost plank, I'll need to paint its interior edge.

[Paul Le Wol]

Nice upgrade on the anchor!

[JacquesCousteau]

I've been working on a few additions to the Cargo Canoa.

 

I already had the crate of watermelons, but needed something else, so I decided to make some sacks. Some photos show canoas laden with simple sacks of goods. I used the same cloth as the sail. My wife showed me how to use the sewing machine to sew together two layers of the cloth on three sides--she sewed the first and I did the next two. Then I inverted the sack so the seams were on the inside, stuffed it with scrap fabric, and hand-sewed it shut.

I placed the sacks under the crossbeams just ahead of the mast.

It would have been more accurate to fill the canoa with a lot more cargo. As the photo below shows, they could be quite heavily laden! But, I decided that a few sacks plus the watermelon crate was enough to add interest to the model, and make clear the vessel's purpose, without adding so much that the boat practically disappeared under a heavy load.

 

https://www.mexicoenfotos.com/antiguas/jalisco/chapala/lago-de-chapala-MX14271628900172 

 

These vessels were often poled (see above) and when not in use the pole was often placed over the crossbeams dangling over the bow like a bowsprit. To represent this, I whittled some mango. I left it a little rough-hewn.

Finally, I added a few supports on the sides of the stand to turn it into more of a cradle, giving it a more stable base.

 

As for the Ems Punt, I finished planking, added the raised bow, and painted. In order to get a smooth line, I painted over the tape with clear sealer first.

Next to add the leeboards, deck furnishings, and mast.

Edited December 10, 2023 by JacquesCousteau

[JacquesCousteau]

The Cargo Canoa (though not the Canoa de Rancho) is finished!

There were just a few final steps. First, I hung the anchor off the bow. I had to guess at how the anchor cable would have been handled, as I haven't found any photos that show much detail. I made the cable in three parts--one part tied around a crossbeam and glued off on the floor planking, one part tied off at the anchor then run around the anchor support before also being glued off at the floor planking, and a big messy loop that was glued in place over the ends of the other lines. It's not pretty, but I think it works.

Then, I redid the parrel more in line with what Wefalck showed, tying it off around the halyard's knot at the yard. This was quite difficult, as there was very little space for tying knots given the other lines and sail already in place. But, after several tries, I got it. I made the parrel a bit longer than the earlier attempt, following the example of several photos, and hung it down a bit further on the mast. The mast top now looks much cleaner than before. (The close-up photos also really highlight that I need to get my hands on better rope!)

Overall, I'm quite pleased with how this build has turned out. It started out as what I thought would be a throwaway test bed made of coffee stir sticks, and turning it into a worthwhile model entailed finding out how to fix a twisted hull. It has quite a few inaccuracies, simplifications, and bits of shoddy worksmanship. I also might still reposition the pole and try to add a nameplate. But my skills improved throughout the build and I think that the cargo and anchor are a nice touch. I'm looking forward to applying the lessons learned on this build to the larger Canoa de Rancho once I'm able to get back to work on it.

 

 

 

 

[Paul Le Wol]

Jacques! Congratulations on finishing The Cargo Canoa. Looking great.

[FriedClams]

Been reading your log from the beginning Jacques, and just now caught up. An interesting pair of open boats and I appreciate the background information you provided.  Nice finish on the Cargo Canoa - looks great.  Will be watching for updates on the Canoa de Rancho - such an elegant upsweeping bow.

 

Gary   

[JacquesCousteau]

3 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Jacques! Congratulations on finishing The Cargo Canoa. Looking great.

 

2 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Been reading your log from the beginning Jacques, and just now caught up. An interesting pair of open boats and I appreciate the background information you provided.  Nice finish on the Cargo Canoa - looks great.  Will be watching for updates on the Canoa de Rancho - such an elegant upsweeping bow.

 

Gary   

Thank you! I'm looking forward to getting back to the Canoa de Rancho either later this month or in January.

[JacquesCousteau]

Not to derail my own build log, but the Christmas presents are coming along.

 

I've finished the hull and deck furnishings (windlass, hatch, deckhouse with some sort of ventilation pipe, bitts) on the Ems Punt and gave it some seasonally appropriate stripes. I also made the rudder assembly, which uses bits of a staple inserted as pins to betyer secure the tiller and to attach the rudder to the hull. The rudder (and mast) will be left off for now for ease of transport, and will be attached once back in the US.

Work on the lobster trap is also proceeding. This time I'm sewing rather than gluing the net funnels. Sewing them is still a bit tricky, but works better than the glue. I now just have the final funnel to make.

[Glen McGuire]

Just found this build log.  Very impressive work!!  I especially like the paint job you did on the watermelons.  Unexpected details like that really bring it to life!!