Muscongus Bay lobster smack by Dan Poirier - Model Shipways - 1:24

[Dan Poirier]

I'm starting my third ship model, the Model Shipways Muscongus Bay lobster smack (1:24).

 

I'm especially looking forward to this one because I just got back from my first trip to Maine, and got to see how they fish for lobsters now.

 

The kit was packaged like the previous Model Shipways models I've built, with the addition this time of an extra-large sheet with full-size diagrams of the spars and sails. I checked out the parts list, and everything seemed to be there.

 

  

[Knocklouder]

Good luck on your journey!!! 

Bob M.

[Dan Poirier]

My previous two builds used frames or molds initially attached to a temporary board. For this one, we start by building the boat's central spine, to which the frames will be permanently glued. The spine is made up of several surprisingly thin pieces of wood, glued together. There's provision for a movable centerboard, but I decided to simplify the build a bit and just glued the centerboard in place.

 

Gluing the main boards of the spine together took every clamp I have!  After that was dry, several odd pieces were added to reinforce the spine at different points.

 

  

 

[Dan Poirier]

I've installed the frames now. To  make sure they were exactly at right angles to the spine, I used rubber cement to position some temporary supports made from old scraps until the glue was dry.

 

  

 

The transom and frame 10 had to be built together. The start of some interesting curves in this model. Plus, some fingers-crossed clamping as it was attached.

 

     

 

The cockpit seats came next. These needed to be painted now since they'd be hard to reach later, so I got to bring out the red paint.

 

   

 

And then, the deck. It came as two long, complicated, very thin sheets of wood that had to be wetted and carefully shaped into place, with more creative clamping and rubber banding. It took a couple of passes to get all the points that needed to be glued actually attached.

 

  

 

It's really starting to look like a boat, and it doesn't yet have any hull at all. Very rewarding.

 

[robert952]

Your journey continues.  I am coming along for the ride. 

 

I believe you can never have too many clamps.  I have a 16X22 inch tub with various sizes and types of clamps including the old standby of spring type clothes pins, plus push pins and small nails. (I even swiped several straight pins from the Admiral's sewing kit.) They are organized roughly by size, type and strength.  

[GGibson]

Hi Dan!  Just peeking in on the beginning of your Lobster Smack.  Great start so far! This was a fun, educational build for me.  You should enjoy it!  And, as you have already discovered, you can never have enough spring clamps or rubber bands!  I think everyone had a challenge in connecting the two sides of the deck to where it looked proper, so you did fine with it.  

 

Will continue to follow your progress!  Carry on! 👍

[Dan Poirier]

A quick side note. In step 10, one of the instruction photos seems to show a piece along the keel being installed upside-down. I think what might have happened is that the kit has changed and the photos have not been updated.

 

The photos from the instructions show the end of the keel piece (to the right) rests over the end of the stem piece.

 

 

In the model, this joint appears to have been turned over.

 

 

Should I report this somewhere? Does Model Shipways follow these forums?

 

[Bryan Woods]

As a novice myself, those type of things make me want to second guess myself. I bet those photos in the manual were made in the 70’s 🙂 This is a build that after you finish, you feel like you could build another. Then you can’t decide, so you just buy several:-) You’re doing a great job!

[Wawona59]

I probably wouldn't worry about the lap joint since the end result is basically the same.  However, you could probably make a comment on the ME website in a review of this kit.  When you're finished with the Lobster Smack you could upload photographs of all three models under the Shipwright's Combo kit.  I've enjoyed following your builds so far of the Dory and Pram.  I'll be following your Lobster Smack build. I bought this combo kit with the idea of making some small holiday gifts for friends.   Keep up the good work!

[MBerg]

Looking great already, Dan. Hoping aboard this one too. I wish I was able to spend the time to keep up (still planking my pram), but it's nice to get a sneak peak of whats to come!

[druxey]

There are some differences between the photographed prototype and the production model. As noted, the end result is the same.

[Dan Poirier]

I'm in the middle of planking.

 

In my last model, I used steam to soften the planks for bending, but though it softened them fast, they seemed to cool just as fast and I found myself without enough time to shape the planks.

 

This time I'm using hot water again. I did the first few in a thermos of boiled water, but the planks got too long for that. Now I'm just boiling them on the stove in a big frying pan 🙂 Being soaked through with boiling water, the planks stay hot and flexible longer.

 

Of course, then it takes forever for the planks to dry again 😞. 

 

I'm guessing this is one of those problems without a perfect solution, but I'd love suggestions if there are better ways.

[Bryan Woods]

Good morning Dan, the more you try, the more you think of other ways. Then you will find the way that works best for you:-) There are many skilled builders here ( I’m not one of them) that you will witness in their build logs that will spark another idea. I believe things like this just add to the build and also make it just yours:-) Keep up the good work.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Dan, your lobster smack is coming along very nicely. You’ve probably seen in other people’s build logs suggestions that they look at Chuck’s tutorials on plank bending where it shows using jigs and heat provided by a small iron. Once they cool they tend to hold their shape. If the plank needs a twist you can clamp one end to the bench and use a heat gun to bend and twist the plank with your free hand. I’ve noticed that if planks are soaked in water for too long they lose their ability to gently curve from one bulkhead to the next. Instead they bend at the bulkhead and head straight to the next one. This is of course just my opinion 😀. Good luck with your build!

[SkiBee]

Great job, keep up the good work and unless you plan on staining the hull, wood putty fixes most mistakes.

 

[Dan Poirier]

Chuck's videos are great! I found them here on Youtube.

 

His videos are not so much about bending planks around curves in the hull, my current problem, than they are about adapting rectangular planks to fit well on a hull that is not the same distance around on the top and bottom of where the plank is installed. In the beginner models I'm doing, the individual planks are custom-shaped by laser-cutting, so that's taken into account already. I'm sure I'll need Chuck's techniques when/if I start doing models that just come with a stack of identical, rectangular planks that need to be fitted.

 

I've been browsing other plank bending videos, and I'm starting to think I want an electric plank bender. But before I do that, I'm going to read some more forums.

[yvesvidal]

Great model. It is also nice to see a ship modeler, living in the same area (Triangle, NC).

 

Yves

[Dan Poirier]

I'm about done with the planking, except for a tiny bit more work with plastic wood and sanding things smooth.

 

I won't post plank-by-plank photos, but here are a few highlights.

 

The hull mostly faired:

 

Stem, keel, and sternpost:

 

Installing the garboard, using some of the plank clamps I bought at Model Expo. These did not work very well for me.

Then I made some clamps from binder clips like I've seen on some other build logs here, and was much happier with those.

So, after a lot more of that, and also switching to using an electric plank bender, I started filling cracks and sanding and have gotten it looking like this:

[GGibson]

Looks very good, Dan!  Great work so far.  I recall doing a ton of sanding at different grits all over the hull, but especially around the stern.  And, yes, I loved using the binder clips, as well!  Carry on! 👍