Wa’a Kaulua by Glen McGuire – FINISHED - 1/100 - BOTTLE - Traditional Hawaiian Ocean Voyager

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, you'll be speaking Hawaiian and downing mai tai's by the end of this build. I love a good mai tai.

[mtaylor]

'Necessity is the mother of invention' has reared it's head again.  Excellent solution.

[BANYAN]

Great progress Glen (wish I could report the same).  Neat solution to connecting the hulls but still able to pass through the mouth of the bottle.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Glen McGuire]

2 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Glen, you'll be speaking Hawaiian and downing mai tai's by the end of this build. I love a good mai tai.

No way am I waiting till the end of the build, mai tai's are my favorite drink!!  

[Boccherini]

Glen,

apologies for this, does this mean vessels built on Maui require an anti "fowling" paint?

 

Grant. 

[Keith Black]

*Keith points at Grant......"He said it!"

[BANYAN]

LOL - love this banter - and, of course your skills on display in the build Glen

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Glen McGuire]

9 hours ago, BANYAN said:

LOL - love this banter - and, of course your skills on display in the build Glen

Thanks, Pat.  Glad you are feeling better.  Hopefully complete recovery soon!

[Javelin]

perhaps not a bad idea to put some kind of stopper on the hinging parts, so you can pull the hulls apart till they reach that mechanical stop and up perfectly parallel? 

Not sure if it's required, but I hate to think that they end up not being parallel or one a bit more ahead of the other. As you know it's a mess when trying to work with two hands through a bottle neck.

 

Anyway, an inventive and interesting way of construction.

[Glen McGuire]

Work begins on the "pola" (deck).  The pola sits on raised Kūanueneu's (the ribs that connect the two hulls together).  This gives the pola plenty of clearance above the waves while riding thru rough seas.  For my pola, I cut planks (3.5mm x 6cm) out of queensland maple, glued them side by side, and affixed a 3rd Kūanueneu.  That one will not hinge like the other two.  Queensland maple is another native Hawaiian wood, but is not actually a true maple.  It gets its name because it resembles curly maple.

 

The 2nd pic below shows the pola dry fitted between the ka'ele's.

     

 

Next step is putting on a rail.  In some illustrations of the wa'a kaulua, the rail curls down to the pola at the front of the boat like the one below.  I liked that look and decided to try and replicate it.  .  

For my rails, I decided to use bamboo.  I doubt if the original rails were made from bamboo, but it's easy to work with at the thin diameter I need and it's also native to Hawaii.  The first step was to put my thin bamboo rods on the drill lather and make them even thinner - down to slightly less than 1mm in diameter. 

 

Next, I dropped them in a pot of boiling water for about 20 minutes.  In the meantime, I cut a small piece of scrap wood into the curvature I needed.  After I pulled the 2 pieces of railing out of the boiling water, I strapped them to the curved piece with rubber bands and pressed with one of my scrap pieces of railroad track.

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

I let the rails dry overnight in their makeshift mold.  For the stanchions, I used a straight razor and cut off pieces of bamboo that were a bit less than 1mm in length.  Then I CA glued them into place.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Glen McGuire

[BANYAN]

Very nice work Glen, really starting to come together now.  I think the turned down leading rails also look the part - good choice.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Keith Black]

 Looks fantastic, Glen. Would you please post a photo of the whole collapsed together as would be the case for passing through the bottle neck. I'm having a hard time imagining the hulls and deck structure hinging in unison, TY. 

[Glen McGuire]

4 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I'm having a hard time imagining the hulls and deck structure hinging in unison, TY. 

Me too, Keith!  I could not figure out how to make the hulls and deck fit into the bottle as 1 assembly.  So, the plan is to take the hinged hull structure by itself and insert into the bottle.  Then straighten it up and glue it down.  After the glue is dry, I'll add the deck/mast/sail assembly as a single piece and glue it onto the ribs connecting the 2 hulls.  The masts will be secured to the deck before insertion, hinged down flat towards the stern, then raised after all the glue is dry. 

 

That's the plan, anyway.  But we know how well my plans end up sometimes!  😵

[Keith Black]

I couldn't get past the outer deck edges hinged to the hulls and all three acting in unison with one another. Close to falling asleep last night I thought that the deck required three hinges, the two at the outer edges and one in the center.  

[gjdale]

Once again I’m late to the party Glen - don’t know how I missed the start of this one! Looks like this will be another very interesting project. You’re off to a great start. And instead of penguins, you can insert miniature chickens! Now there’s a fowl thought……

[Glen McGuire]

12 hours ago, gjdale said:

Once again I’m late to the party Glen

Glad to have you on board for another ride into the great unknown, Grant!

 

A small update here (although not small in time spent, which was 3-4 hours of eye-crossing work).  I added a back rail and then lashing to all the places where the tiny stanchions contact the rail.  Almost made me want to go tie some ratlines.  Almost, but not quite!  😃 

 

The lashing is 136D 6/0W fly tying thread.

[BANYAN]

Wow Glen, that is very nice work at any scale let alone at the eye-watering scale you are working with.  I think that deserves a double 'tot'.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Glen McGuire]

On 12/3/2023 at 3:55 PM, BANYAN said:

I think that deserves a double 'tot'.

Who am I to argue with Pat.  A double tot of Bundy it is!!    

 

After my double tot (or was it a triple tot?), I made the mistake of scrutinizing my work and I did not like a couple of things.  First, the pola (deck) looked like it was sitting too high above the ka'ele's (hulls).  I know it's supposed to ride high enough to give plenty of clearance between it and the water, but it's a bit tall compared to the illustrations I've been using as a guide.   Second, I did not like the way I had squared off the Kūanuenue's (connecting ribs).  I thought they would look better with a smooth curve going from the edge of the pola to the ka'ele.    

 

So time to backtrack just a little.  In the pic below, the "before" Kūanuenue's are on the left and the "after" on the right.  We're only talking about 1mm of height shaved off, but I think it makes a difference and gives a better overall look to the boat (compare the 2nd pic below to the pic above Pat's post directly above).  I also went ahead and made a pair of mast steps.  Those are made out of macadamia nut wood. 

 

Next, I started thinking about the masts and sails, which also made me think about the rigging.  These boats did not have a lot of rigging, but the question I had looking at mine was where would the rigging be tied off (running rigging in particular)?  So I went back to my main illustration and found a small detail I had missed.  There are wooden protrusions which appear to be extensions of the wae's (the spreaders that look like seats).  The running rigging is attached to these.  

  

 

The next question was how to make and add these without messing anything else up.  The solution was toothpicks.  After staining, I cut slightly less than 1mm of the tip and then CA glued them on.  I think they ended up resembling an extension of the wae's poking thru the mo'o (gunwale).

 

This seemed like such a simple little boat when I started!!  😵😵😵

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Glen McGuire

[Ian_Grant]

Cut 1mm lengths off toothpicks! 😬   Gives a sense of how tiny your boat really is. Great work as always.

 

It does look better with the deck lower down!

Edited December 5, 2023 by Ian_Grant

[Bryan Woods]

Really Amazing Glen, especially working tiny:-)

[Keith Black]

Great job, Glen!

 

 Hey, in the illustration you're using as a build guide a figure is seated on something at the bow, is that something you'll try replicating and also the doghouse between the mast? 

[BANYAN]

3 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

This seemed like such a simple little boat when I started!! 

That's always the way isn't it Glen?  Probably natures way of ensuring we don't get to complacent I suppose    Anyways perhaps worth another tot?  Now where is that keg?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Glen McGuire]

25 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

Hey, in the illustration you're using as a build guide a figure is seated on something at the bow, is that something you'll try replicating and also the doghouse between the mast? 

Yes to your 2nd question.  Definitely going to do some kind of thatched structure.  Some illustrations show a doghouse like you call it, but others show more of a small pavilion-like thing.  So I am TBD on exactly what I'm going to do, but I will do something.  Probably add it separately inside the bottle like I did for the archer's tower on my quinquereme. 

 

 

As for your first question, it brings up something I've been uncertain about.  And that is which end is the bow and which end is the stern.  Here's the full pic below.  I see the native sitting at the stern holding a long oar he is using to steer the boat.  I think he would be looking forward as the boat rides up the backside of the waves.  The waves look like they are moving left to right and the sea gull's wings look like he is gliding downwind.  However, the curvature of the sails and the little stringy thing hanging from the top of the left sail make it look like the wind is coming from right to left, which would put the seated native at the bow.  How about the way the rigging is tied?  Seems like it is tied downward to the left which would mean the wind is moving from left to right, wouldn't it?

 

 

 

[Knocklouder]

You would think the the man holding the rudder is at the stren, is the way the boat goes.  But maybe these boats are ambidextrous, if he takes his rudder to the bow, depending upon which direction  the wind blows, I dont know lol.

 I think I sucked in to much clear coat fumes  tonight  from my  Pegasus  deck lol  Your boat is looking great Glen.  

Edited December 5, 2023 by Knocklouder
Missing info

[Keith Black]

 Having the full picture is helpful...........yes, he is sitting in the stern controlling the rudder.

 

22 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

How about the way the rigging is tied?  Seems like it is tied downward to the left which would mean the wind is moving from left to right, wouldn't it?

 

 That's the way it looks to me, Glen.  

[mtaylor]

Glen, I quite agree with Kieth.  I think the sails are giving us an optical illusion.  If looked at one way, it appears they are billowing from bow to stern.. and yet, they; also look like wind from astern and blowing forward.  Makes my eyes cross if I look too long.

[Ian_Grant]

I was trying to get my eyes to "see" the sails as billowing away from the viewer but it doesn't work. The rising/setting sun is somewhere to the right, so given the shadowing on the sails they're billowing towards the viewer. The tell-tale shows the wind coming from somewhere forward. I think the boat is going a point into the wind. I see the guy sitting at the stern but he does not seem to be holding anything, nor is the rudder in the water. Actually no one is doing anything much. Could they have heaved to for a break? There's no wake evident.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Ian_Grant

[Glen McGuire]

9 hours ago, Knocklouder said:

I think I sucked in to much clear coat fumes  tonight  from my  Pegasus  deck lol

Clear coat fumes and a double tot and that boat will be going both directions at the same time!!

 

6 minutes ago, Ian_Grant said:

I think the boat is going a point into the wind.

Could be a bit of a quartering cross wind coming in from about 10 o'clock?  Hard to tell. 

 

Regardless of what the artist did with the wind, I believe the native is sitting on the stern.  The only difference it makes is that I have the railing curving downward towards the bow and there is a slight difference in the heights of the kupe's (the bow and stern ends that sweep upward).  Otherwise, the whole thing is symetrical.

 

7 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Makes my eyes cross if I look too long.

Mine too!!

[Harvey Golden]

3 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

Regardless of what the artist did with the wind, I believe the native is sitting on the stern.  The only difference it makes is that I have the railing curving downward towards the bow and there is a slight difference in the heights of the kupe's (the bow and stern ends that sweep upward).  Otherwise, the whole thing is symetrical.

This looking very nice!  The steering oar is definitely astern, and wouldn't be switched end-to-end when shunting (a form of tacking), as symmetrical hulled multihulls had dedicated bows and simply tacked.  The end shapes look good-- not sure to what extent anyone knows what the original voyaging canoes actually looked like (the Hoku'lea is conjectural).  The upper painting in your above post is of a Tahitian type, which is fairly well documented.