Maine Peapod by JaquesCousteau - Midwest Products - 1:14

[JacquesCousteau]

My other builds are going through some doldrums at the moment as I'm working on very tedious parts, so I felt like starting a new build. I thought that I should make some progress on the stash of kits that I've accumulated--the Model Shipways Lobster Smack, Midwest Peapod, Corel Sloup, and Disar Jábega. I limited myself to rowing vessels, given that it looks like I'll be doing a big move this year and it would be complicated to pack something with sails, so I was left with the Peapod and the Jábega. I really wanted to like the latter. Seeing Spanish fishing boats, including a Jábega, in the Barcelona Maritime Museum was what got me interested in picking up modeling. But Disar's kit leaves a lot to be desired. From reputation, I expected some issues and simplifications, but I hadn't realized that the model's hull shape barely even looks like a jábega, being weirdly squat instead of sleek. So, I decided on the Peapod.

 

It's a very straightforward kit. The hull is built shell-first on a mold, with frames and other internal pieces added afterward. I didn't take a picture out of the box, but the wood's quality is solid and the laser-cutting seems fine. You get a nice plan sheet and some fairly thorough instructions (although they're a bit skimpy on details on how to actually plank), a solid build board, several laser-cut formers and other parts, and a few bundles of sticks. Everything is basswood except for two mahogany strips for the rub rail.

 

Although I enjoy doing research on the boats I'm building, I think other build logs have generally covered it for this one and have pointed to useful sources and the like. Basically, it's a small Maine workboat, notably used for lobstering but also for all manner of other work, as it has a seaworthy and capacious hull that rowed well. (Some were also sailed--I'm looking forward to robert952's kitbash to build a sailing peapod). The kit includes plans for a lobster trap, and even a tiny cast-metal lobster, so I may build it that way. But by now I've already made two lobster traps--which is a lot for someone who's allergic to shellfish!--so I may look into some other fishing activities to model intead.

 

One thing I noticed is that the kit's construction method is not necessarily accurate. The kit's hull is strip-planked with a ton of narrow 1/8x1/16 inch basswood strips. Some modern peapods are indeed strip-planked, but historically they were either lapstrake or carvel-built using wider planks. I briefly toyed with converting the build to one of these styles by shaping my own planks, but the formers are very widely spaced, which would make it difficult to determine the shape of the strakes. So I decided to just go with the strip planking--the hull will be painted anyway, and existing build logs show that the result looks nice.

 

There are a few build logs already that have been quite helpful in understanding the kit and some of its issues. Right off the bat, they pointed me toward the problem that the formers are very flimsily-attached to the building board. As can be seen, they're just edge-glued to the board, after you mark the centerlines and locations to get everything aligned.

 

So, I added some supports cut from scrap. I think the curves add a nice almost art deco touch.

 

The photo also shows my second deviation from the instructions. The instructions have you just glue the stem and sternpost to the keel plank. I did that, and then realized after that they weren't squared. I was wondering how to hold the posts vertical when I realized that I could just install them on the building board first, using the centered formers to hold the posts squared, and then could glue the keel plank in place on top. It took a bit of work to figure out the right location for the posts so the keel plank would fit the notches. I also had to prop the posts up on some 1/8‐inch scrap in order to get the posts to sit right. The other option would have been to remove a very large amount of material from the former notchs instead, but I decided to just add the scrap (althoughI still had to slightly widen and deepen the notches with a file). In any case, I was able to install the keel plank after marking the frame locations as per the plans.

 

 

I noticed that the keel plank was hovering a little over the second and fourth formers, so I slid a piece of sandpaper under the central former to lightly sand it down. It worked well and didn't significantly change the former's shape.

 

The next post will discuss the beginning of the planking process. All in all, this is shaping up to be an enjoyable, simple little build. (Knock on wood)

[JacquesCousteau]

Strip planking the hull has been fun so far, although I think it's going to become more complicated soon as I get closer to the keel.

 

The strip-planked hull starts at the wales and then moves in toward the keel. Some other logs noted that the hull tends to squeeze shut once it's pulled off the formers. To mitigate that, I've been bending the strips by soaking, heating, and letting them dry in place. Slow, but nothing too bad. It's great to start getting a sense of the hull shape, even with very little planked.

 

I've been trying to do both sides at the same time. It's working ok so far, but definitely requires some creative clamping. One of my solutions is seen below:

 

That turned out to be a pretty delicate balancing act, though. Many times, the clamp assembly wants to spring back off the hull. Using a large clamp to hold it in place has helped, although it will be harder to do the further up I go:

 

I somehow cut one of the strips slightly too short, and didn't notice until everything had dried. As the strip is glued all along the length of the other strip, it was still held securely in place, but there was a slight gap.

 

I was able to add a bit of scrap wood to fill the gap. It doesn't look great now, but should be smooth once sanded and painted:

 

My plan is to do the first three or four strips without additional shaping (besides slightly beveling the edge). Then, I'll start narrowing the ends a bit.

[JacquesCousteau]

A bit more progress on the planking. I'm bending each plank with water and heat and allowing it to dry in shape before gluing, which should help keep the hull from springing shut once it's taken off the formers but means that I can only do a pair of planks or so per day.

 

Lacking a rabbet, there's been some variation in where the planks end on the stems. I don't think it will be a problem once thinks are sanded and painted, though. Thankfully the 1/16-thick planks should be able to withstand a bit of aggressive sanding, which seems to be the only way to make this strip planking method work.

 

Although it's difficult to see, I began tapering the planks after the fourth strake. My plan is that the first strake will be covered by the rub rail, and there will be a stripe of paint below that, so I am hoping to use the strakes to help guide making an even paint strip.

 

One issue that I've run into is that the planking strips aren't totally consistent. Some are slightly narrower or wider than others. Unfortunately, as a result my planking runs are now slightly uneven at one stem. I'm trying to correct the issue by better shaping the next strake.

 

In any case, another set of planks is now drying overnight and will be glued tomorrow. Clamping this hull has definitely been a bit tricky!

[JacquesCousteau]

As can be seen, I was able to correct the unevenness at one of the stems by paying more attention to shaping the planks. Although one plank is wider at the stem than its pair on the other side of the hull, this discrepancy shouldn't be noticeable once the hull is sanded and painted.

 

As I continue, I'll pay more attention to making sure the planks are an even width as I taper them. I recently got a mini plane, and I'm looking forward to using it to taper the planks.

[yvesvidal]

Charming little boat. Great work putting it together.

 

Yves

[JacquesCousteau]

This build hasn't been forgotten, I've just been making very slow progress planking it one strip at a time. As I've been soaking strips to take the necessary curves, and I prefer using white glue over superglue, it takes a while to make visible progress even when I'm able to work on it every day.

 

The mini plane has been extremely useful in tapering the strips. I'm able to taper two at a time so they're even. That said, there have been a few strips that I cut too short at the ends and had to replace. Thankfully, because the strips get shorter as I get closer to the keel, I've been able to reuse the strips I cut too short.

 

 

As can be seen above, despite my best efforts with tapering strips, beveling the edge, and bending them to the proper curves, I still ended up with a marked "clinker effect" around the turn of the bilge. This seems to be a very common issue on these Midwest strip-planked kits, and I'm not sure what more I could have done to prevent it. My sense is that the large distance between formers makes it difficult to bend the strips to shape, and that properly twisting the strips is a bit tricky because I've tapered them so much at the bow and stern. In any case, I don't think it's a serious problem, and it should be readily covered up by sanding and wood filler.

 

 

I've now reached the last strip where I'm able to clamp it to a former, as the gap will be too small with additional strips added. If anyone has any clamping suggestions for this, I'm all ears!

[robert952]

You are off to a good start. 

 

I've read through countless build logs.  Just about every kit seems to have some minor issues with fitting things as the instructions indicate which require tweaking in some form. You seem to be on track to resolving those on this model. 

 

I am interested in seeing your progress as you seem to be caught up with where I am at on the build.  (A couple more small home projects and I should be able to get back to my build. 

[JacquesCousteau]

2 hours ago, robert952 said:

You are off to a good start. 

 

I've read through countless build logs.  Just about every kit seems to have some minor issues with fitting things as the instructions indicate which require tweaking in some form. You seem to be on track to resolving those on this model. 

 

I am interested in seeing your progress as you seem to be caught up with where I am at on the build.  (A couple more small home projects and I should be able to get back to my build. 

Thanks, your log has been very helpful in knowing what to expect with this kit!

[robert952]

5 hours ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Thanks, your log has been very helpful in knowing what to expect with this kit!

Glad you found it useful.  I picked up an tidbit or two from yours also. 

[Desertanimal]

Looking forward to watching this boat come together. 
What kind of mini plane did you get? I’ve got the Veritas mini block plane showing up on Monday, fingers crossed. 
 

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, Desertanimal said:

Looking forward to watching this boat come together. 
What kind of mini plane did you get? I’ve got the Veritas mini block plane showing up on Monday, fingers crossed. 
 

Thanks! It was a very cheap plane that I bought on Amazon. I don't know how long it will stay sharp, but so far it's been very useful.

[JacquesCousteau]

I've been making further progress on planking. These photos show the most recent planks set to dry into shape--I have not yet shaped the ends.

 

As can be seen, I've realized that bobby pins, combined with rubber bands and some scrap, are very useful in holding the strip in place while it's edge-bent.

 

Although I've been substantially tapering the strips, it apparently hasn't been enough, and the "garboard" won't be reaching all the way to the stem and sternpost.

 

Overall, this has been a very interesting planking experience, and quite different from how things are going on my concurrent NRG Half-Hull kit. I've found the strip planking to be a bit difficult to work with. Perhaps because of how I've been tapering the ends, it's been very difficult to get the wood to twist, and it's especially wanted to come up off the middle formers, leading to the "clinker effect." In hindsight it may have been simpler to have either not tapered at all or tapered very little. I also have to wonder how this would work with a slightly wider strip--say, 3/16 instead of 1/8 inch. It would probably be harder to edge-bend, but maybe the extra width would make it easier to hold it down again the formers? 

 

In any case, I'm still enjoying the build, just trying to think through what I'm learning from this experience.

[robert952]

For your future planking projects you may want to consider soaking the planks. 

 

I have a PVC fixture I put together.  Filled it with hot water and soaked each plank for a few minutes.  Typically 5-6 minutes since I used very hot water.  When reading through the logs, 10 or more minutes pop up often.    

Then I was able to get the curve and that little twist needed on the pieces attached to the stem.  The challenge for me was to be sure that the plank stayed in place until the glue dried.  While CA would have dried faster, I like the ability to tweak a board using carpenter's glue or similar PVA. I spent a bit  holding the plank in place by hand.  

 

I left the wet planks in place overnight until they dried out before working the next one.  A couple of times I used a hair dryer to speed the process when I wanted to progress more than a plank per side. 

 

 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks! I actually have been soaking and heating the strips, although via a different method. First I soak them in water for a bit, then wrap them in a damp paper towel, then microwave it all, usually for about 15-20 seconds or so. It seems to work ok, I think the main issues I've had have been with getting the appropriate twist in the strip, given the difficulties I've had with clamping at the ends. But perhaps I should try a longer soak and see if that helps.

[robert952]

On 6/9/2024 at 8:19 PM, JacquesCousteau said:

 But perhaps I should try a longer soak and see if that helps.

Hard to say.  This hobby, and working in wood, requires a lot of experimenting to find what works best for each of us. Your method sounds feasible and workable.  

 

I didn't have much trouble bending the soaked wood, but holding a couple of planks in place did require some finessing with painter's tape and rubber bands.

 

I did have some challenges similar to what you are seeing.  If you look at the drawings in the manual on pages 9 &10, the last few planks were not planks in the strictest sense. The ended up looking like shaped 'fill in' pieces with the last 2-3 just laying on the bulkheads.  The bottom is relatively flat on each side of the center plank.

 

I also had to add a couple of  "splinters" cut to fill in a couple of gaps.  You have to look closely on post 19 of my current build log (link below) you will see such on each end of the plank against the center bottom plan.

 

I often follow the motto: File to fit. Hammer to adjust. Paint to hide. 

 

Doesn't look as sharp as what you are doing.  (And the filler is giving me challenges on fairing the hull.) But I figure my lack of skill can be fixed with filler and paint. Well, that's my dream. And it's all part of the learning process as skills improve.

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, robert952 said:

Hard to say.  This hobby, and working in wood, requires a lot of experimenting to find what works best for each of us. Your method sounds feasible and workable.  

 

I didn't have much trouble bending the soaked wood, but holding a couple of planks in place did require some finessing with painter's tape and rubber bands.

 

I did have some challenges similar to what you are seeing.  If you look at the drawings in the manual on pages 9 &10, the last few planks were not planks in the strictest sense. The ended up looking like shaped 'fill in' pieces with the last 2-3 just laying on the bulkheads.  The bottom is relatively flat on each side of the center plank.

 

I also had to add a couple of  "splinters" cut to fill in a couple of gaps.  You have to look closely on post 19 of my current build log (link below) you will see such on each end of the plank against the center bottom plan.

 

I often follow the motto: File to fit. Hammer to adjust. Paint to hide. 

 

Doesn't look as sharp as what you are doing.  (And the filler is giving me challenges on fairing the hull.) But I figure my lack of skill can be fixed with filler and paint. Well, that's my dream. And it's all part of the learning process as skills improve.

Your suggestion to use painters tape is an interesting one. I briefly experimented with using Tamiya masking tape to try to hold the planks in shape, but it didn't stick very well. Probably because I am cheap and was using the leftover strips of tape I had already used once to spile the planks on my NRG Half-Hull build. But, if I had just bought some ordinary painters tape and tried that, I probably would have had much better adhesion. This probably would have been very useful around the bow/stern, where clamping was especially hard.

 

Your build log has been extremely helpful as I work on this build. Hope you're able to add to it soon! I will also definitely be using a lot of filler on this hull to try to mitigate the unintentional clinkering.

 

[robert952]

The wider painter's tape (a.k.a. Frog tape) is a couple inches wide and burnishes into position nicely. And, yep, worked well around the bow and stern.  I still held the planks in place until the glue partially set. Then I taped it as tight as I could to hold them overnight.  Also, though probably obvious, I worked on both sides for each plank and pulled them together with the tape at the bow and stern. 

 

Thanks for the kind words. After I put some 'stuff' on the walls, our 'feel moved in' check list will be complete and approved by the Admiral.   So I can get back to model work. No promises as to exactly when though. (I have actually taken some sand paper to the model but no serious work.)

[JacquesCousteau]

I finished planking the hull. The last two planks on each side were tapered down with the plane to paper-thin at each end. As can be seen, I had to use shims to hold the second-to-last in place while gluing.

 

The final strips just slotted into the holes on each side of the keel. Once the glue dried, I was able to remove the rubber bands. Not the smoothest of hulls, but I'll take it.

 

To deal with the unwanted clinkering around the turn of the bilge, I added Elmer's wood filler. Unfortunately I bought walnut-colored filler without realizing it, but this will all be painted anyway. My goal isn't a totally smooth hull--the working peapod in the photo at the top of this page doesn't seem to have a perfectly smooth hull: https://www.woodenboat.com/online-exclusives/gallery-peapod-lines --but rather to reduce the unevenness. I tested with one side first.

 

And then sanded. 

 

It seemed to work, so I added filler to the other side and set it to dry.

 

Once it dried, I used a saw to cut the stem and sternpost. It took very little pressure to pop the hull off the formers. It definitely looks like a boat now! The hull wants to narrow very slightly, so for now I'm going to keep it on the building board.

 

Clearly the interior will need a good deal of sanding and smoothing, but I'm looking forward to the next steps.

[Desertanimal]

You say it’s not the smoothest, but those planks look amazing. 

[JacquesCousteau]

1 hour ago, Desertanimal said:

You say it’s not the smoothest, but those planks look amazing. 

Thanks! One thing I would do differently if I redid this would be to be more careful about making sure all the planks run to the end of the stem/sternpost. Thankfully it seems to be evening out with a little filler.

[robert952]

Looks great. 

 

Though the instructions don't say to add shims, it seems to be a necessity for this stage of the build on this model. It seems too easy to cut a tad too much off of a plank even with careful sanding.  

 

I hope I can get mine this smooth.  And I agree, the inside of the hull will be a bear to work on. I plan to experiment with thinning out the filler a bit. I read somewhere that makes it easier to get the filler in the gaps and makes sanding it smooth easier. 

 

Did your hull 'pull in' when you took it off the form?  Mine didn't.  The instructions indicate that you may need to keep the center 'bulkhead' in place until you have the ribs installed. Just curious. I still have the board in place just in case. However, nothing has changed.  

 

 

[JacquesCousteau]

Thanks! I'll definitely have to try thinning the filler when I add it to the interior, I'd prefer to keep a lighter touch there. My hull seems to have pulled in only very, very slightly when I had it off the formers, but not enough that I'm concerned about it. The instructions seem to assume you'll just glue the strips in place without pre-bending them to shape, which probably helps explain it.

[JacquesCousteau]

Next up, I added the keel. The instructions say to use two of the 1/8x1/16-inch strips used for planking butted together. As it turns out, the strips are just barely too short (I think by around 1/8 inch) to use a single strip, which would have been a simpler option. In any case, I soaked and heated the strips and bent them to shape, leaving a little overlap to better cut them to size.

 

Once they were dry, I trimmed them and glued them in place.

 

I then added a little more filler, especially where there was a slight gap, sanded, and added a coat of sealer-varnish to the outside of the hull. I'll be handling the hull a lot while I work on the interior, so I wanted to protect the exterior, especially the filler, which is not very hard.

 

One downside of this method of keel construction is that it's hard to get the keel perfectly straight. Mine ended up with a slight kink, as can be seen. Oh well, it will not be visible to anyone when the model is on display.

[JacquesCousteau]

A little more progress. First, I added the breasthooks at each end. These required a little shaping, and there was a slight gap between each and the stems, which I ended up filling with a bit of scrap wood and filler. 

 

Next, the frames. The instructions say to start at one end and work your way from there. However, the markings I had made on the keel for the foremost and aftmost frame were both covered by the stems, so I started with the second frame, figuring I could measure back from it once it was in. As can be seen, despite soaking in hot water, it kinked in the middle.

 

However, the real problem was with getting it in straight. The instructions give no indication of how to do this, just saying to make sure it's straight across the hull. This was harder than I expected, as the frame twists at an angle. As can be seen, from some angles the first frame looked ok:

 

But it clearly was twisted and off when viewed from other angles:

 

So, I decided to redo the first frame (which I'll remove later) and instead add the frames from the middle out. The central frame shouldn't have any twist to it, and once it's in place, I can use spacers cut to the right length to make sure that subsequent frames are straight and properly spaced. I marked the midpoint along the sides, as well, to help make sure the frame is correctly positioned. It's drying in place now.

[JacquesCousteau]

Approaching this step from the middle-out (just like in the show Silicon Valley, come to think of it) has been working much better.

 

I've been proceeding in batches of frames, which are soaked, clamped in place to dry, and then later glued in with precise spacing. As I've found in a number of aspects of model boat-building, bobby pins can be very effective clamps in situations where you don't need much pressure.

 

I did realize at a certain point that my spacers were a hair too long and the difference was adding up, but I was able to correct the issue. The central frames look very off in the photo below, but it's an effect of the camera angle.

 

In the photo below, the bobby-pinned frames have been glued and are drying, while the outermost frames will be glued next.

[JacquesCousteau]

The frames are now finished! Overall I'm happy with how they turned out.

 

I found that working with large batches was most efficient: I set up a number to dry in place after soaking them in hot water, and then glued them in place afterward one at a time. It was a pretty quick process. I made sure to fully dry out the soaked strips before gluing, but I didn't find that I needed to let the glue fully dry before placing the spacers and adding the next frame, instead just letting it dry enough that the pressure from the spacers wouldn't move it out of place (generally 45 minutes or so).

 

Here we can see the last batch drying at bow and stern.

 

And advancing toward each end:

 

Finally I trimmed off the excess and used a sanding block to smooth along the top.

 

 

One issue to watch out for with adding the frames is that, even bending them very slowly, I found it difficult to keep some of them from kinking at sharp bends, as can be seen on many frames below. I may try adding a dab of filler at the kink to see if that helps.