Devin J. Collins 1899 by Ferrus Manus - 1/36 - Bristol Channel pilot cutter

[GrandpaPhil]

I have found Chapelle’s books to be invaluable.

[Ferrus Manus]

Thank you for the recommendation. I will have to look into it. While this is a pilot cutter, other similar boats like the Lizzie Annie are equally valuable resources. The shallow hull sets the Devin Collins apart from other pilot cutters, and from what I've seen, all pilot cutters are unique. 

Edited April 24 by Ferrus Manus

[Isaiah]

I’m just confused because the plan before your drawing has a straight bow, but then you said you’re redesigning to make a straight bow?

Edited April 24 by Isaiah

[Ferrus Manus]

10 hours ago, Isaiah said:

I’m just confused because the plan before your drawing has a straight bow, but then you said you’re redesigning to make a straight bow?

The plan shown was not my own. It was a representation of what I wanted my bow to look like. I redesigned my own bow to reflect the online image. That picture is likely a photocopy, my designs are all drawn on paper with pencil. Go back and look at the original side profile of the boat. I hope that answers your question. 

Edited April 24 by Ferrus Manus

[Isaiah]

4 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

The plan shown was not my own. It was a representation of what I wanted my bow to look like. I redesigned my own bow to reflect the online image. That picture is likely a photocopy, my designs are all drawn on paper with pencil. Go back and look at the original side profile of the boat. I hope that answers your question. 

Ok gotcha.

[Ferrus Manus]

This is the newly designed false keel, based on the revised drawings of the profile view of the cutter. 

[Ferrus Manus]

This is one of the only good views of the deck of the Lizzie Annie, apart from the obstruction of the bow by the massive genoa sail. 

Look at the distinct absence of a cockpit. The designers worked around this by angling the tiller upward. This boat is small enough to be controlled by a man on the tiller, rather than requiring tiller gear. For that reason, I might be making the executive decision to exclude the cockpit on the Devin Collins. The main reason for this is to avoid unnecessary complications in the build, and simplify the framing. The lack of a cockpit leaves more room for other things on the boat, such as crates of ale or books for the deckhands to read while they wait for a large windjammer to enter the Bristol Channel. 

 

This cutter has a very small cockpit and no deckhouse:

 

While this cutter has no cockpit and a tiny deckhouse:

 

The recurring theme I notice in the realm of pilot cutters is a distinct lack of uniformity. 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Looking back, I will be going with my original plan to plank the interior of the bulwarks. This will be achieved by placing the upper half of the main wale above deck level, to support and align the bulwark stanchions. Scuppers will be drilled into the upper part of the wale. lower and upper part of the bulwarks will be in-filled with, presumably, wood planking material. This will form the cap rail as well, being made up of two thin planks inside and outside the top of the bulwarks, filled and sanded. The eyebolts (?) for the shrouds will be inserted into the top of the bulwarks. The making up of the bulwarks (and all the planking in general) will occur after the deck is put in. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Alright guys, here are the rest of the keel frames. 

There are only four more frames to do, and those will be the stempost frames. I might take a different design path for those, as the modified semicircle shape won't suffice for a frame with a significant length and very little width. After I'm done making the frames, I'll cut them and the false keel out and slot them together to see if I'm happy with the overall hull shape. 

[Isaiah]

Do you have a bandsaw? That would be very helpful. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Yes, in fact, I do!

 

[Isaiah]

That’s great, it’ll come in handy thought the build.

[Ferrus Manus]

Thing is, it's dusty as hell, obscured by a bunch of bubble wrap and unused lengths of baseboard and cardboard floor covers for painting and sheetrock and even more baseboards. I'm not even sure it's been used in my lifetime. It'll be interesting to try out, though. Assuming it even works, it's the only power tool I'll need, save for a drill. 

[Ferrus Manus]

If all else fails, I can probably just buy some low quality scroll saw and hope it survives long enough to cut out the keel and frames. 

[Isaiah]

Another really helpful tool is a bench top sander. Even if you just buy the cheapest one you can find just to sand the frames it’ll be a million times better than hand sanding.

 

I have the Triton spindle and belt sander which is really good, but i wouldn’t say I use it enough for the price.

[Ferrus Manus]

I'm pretty sure we also have a disc sander that I could use to fair the frames. It depends on the application and how useful it'll be. I designed the frames so that the only fairing I have to do is what's absolutely necessary. Don recommended me a hand planer to take off greater amounts of material. Might as well sand/fair my sorrows away in the summer night air (I live in the northern hemisphere unlike you and Steven). We have quite a few metal files, which I'm sure will rip through the frames like butter, then go back in with a sanding sponge for the finer sanding and the more sensitive parts, like the bottom of the frames. Most shipwrights fair by hand, which is more precise and has less likelihood to take off too much material. 

Edited May 22 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

Today marks a major milestone in the build. I am DONE with the designs for the keel and frames. 

Designing the keel and frames has taken me more than two months, which is about the same amount of time I spend on most small models. The next step will be to cut everything out and test fit it together to get a good idea of what the boat's lines will end up looking like. I can guarantee the framing won't take nearly as long as the designs did, and I plan to have the framing done (framing, sanding, filler blocks) by the end of June, with the boat ready to be planked. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Nicely done!
 

I usually use 60-120 grit sandpaper for fairing.

 

If I were going to buy a scroll-saw, I would recommend getting the best one you can afford so that it will last longer and cut more accurately.

I have a Delta scroll saw that I’ve never taken out of the box.

I keep meaning to use it but I haven’t needed it yet.

 

Personally, I like my coping saw for cutting out parts because it’s easier to control, for me.

Edited May 22 by GrandpaPhil

[Ferrus Manus]

These are the keel and frames, cut out of the diagrams. 

The ruler is for scale. 

[Ferrus Manus]

A band saw is probably the best (and fastest) tool for what I need to do. It's kind of hard to believe these paper cutouts you see here took me 2 months. I suspect the actual framing will be easier, because all I have to do is glue these to pieces of wood, cut them out, assemble them, and fair them down. 

[druxey]

Never regret time lofting and drawing; if you did it correctly, the actual construction and fairing will be (comparatively) easy!

[Ferrus Manus]

That's what I figured. However, as the drawing paper doesn't want to behave, I have no real way to mock up the shape of the hull. 

[GrandpaPhil]

A copier and a cardboard box is your friend for a quick mockup.

[Ferrus Manus]

Or just some strategically placed blue tape.

[Isaiah]

I would fair by hand, unless you have what I have with Vanguard models with the engraved fairing lines and a dremel than just fair by hand. If you use a bench sander to fair the frames, You’ll overdo it before you can think.

[Ferrus Manus]

Isaiah, that's what I meant to say in one of these messages. I am aware of Vanguard's good design, but that can't be replicated in a home shop without some kind of ludicrously expensive and massive CNC machine. 

Fun fact: paper is, in fact, a 3-dimensional object. 

If this isn't the worst mock up you've ever seen, stop lying to yourself. 

My main goal in doing this was to determine whether any of the frames were too wide, and they aren't. My precise measurements earlier in the build paid off. Now, I just have to disassemble this thing without ripping the paper. 

Edited May 23 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

New plan. 

 

As you fellow shipwrights know, I worked on the outlines for the Devin Collins for about 2 months. I apologize for my absence. But, we're scrapping the entirety of the plans. 

 

This is because I will be halving the number of frames down to 10 as well as the scale. The sheer size of this thing has tormented me ever since I began, and I have now come to the point of making the decision to cut the size in half. At least it can be displayed (as well as constructed) more easily. Silkspan sails will be in order and the rigging blocks and ropes now need to be half the size. 

That's not all. I will likely buy some wood from the local model shop and probably redo the drawings directly on the wood, at half scale for every other frame. The hull planking thickness can remain the same- it won't show anyway. More than that, the stanchions for the bulwarks will be less load-bearing, and thus easier to pull off. 

 

The Lizzie Annie, my main reference for this, should do great in helping me determine the height and thickness of the beams. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Most pilot cutters you see today seem to be highly restored and modernized. As you can see here, pilot cutters in their heyday were kind of a hackjob as well, just not to the same extent as other working boats like oyster smacks: 

 

[Ferrus Manus]

Okay, after a few months away from this build I have had the opportunity to make some decisions. 

 

Decision #1: The scale of the model will be anything that produces a model between 2 and 4 feet in length. The scale is going to be subservient to overall size, not the other way around. This is going to be important later, as I have ideas for a solution to the hull design problem. 

 

Decision #2: The hull will have to be bought, and there are several reasons why. Firstly, I have come to the realization after seeing some of Vaddoc's builds that you really need some kind of CAD software to accurately reproduce a smack-type hull, which I do not have. Basing the model off of a pre-built (or pre-formed) hull will greatly increase the accuracy of the model, over my own mickey-moused calculations. Sarik Hobbies in the UK has some great pre-formed hulls that I could transform. I have significant amounts of experience, both on and off the forum, with modifying kit hulls to accommodate scratch-builds, so this should be the best option. 

 

Decision #3: I will be using primarily pilot cutters as sources for this model, instead of fishing and oyster smacks or other types of coastal vessels. This way, accuracy to a given type of vessel can be ensured. 

 

I might also be using significant amounts of plastic card instead of just wood for the deck fittings. 

 

Here's a picture of a glass-reinforced plastic hull that might work: 

Do we think it's close enough? 

[JacquesCousteau]

Best of luck with the project! One question: why not borrow the lines of an existing pilot cutter? There are a number of hull plans available in books like Greenhill and Mannering's Inshore Craft that would lend themselves to a plank-on-bulkhead build, and it would be entirely possible to come up with your own deck arrangement to personalize the build. Just a thought.