Norwegian Sailing Pram by palmerit - Model Shipways - 1:12

[palmerit]

Next kit on deck in the Model Shipways Series.

 

A few notes and lessons learned:

 

Some folks put tables of contents on their opening post that they update. I thought I'd put some notes on key points folks might look out for if they work on this model. I did that post-mortem for the NRG hull. I'll doing this as I go for the Pram.

 

- Definitely check out several build logs as you go along. While there are detailed instructions, sometimes they are a bit confusing. And in one of the first steps, the description of what to do is opposite to what they show in the photos. I decided to follow the photo, which was what a lot of the build logs do here. And one log that chose to follow the written instructions ended up having to hack things later. 
 

- I found another place where the photos do not align with the instructions. A photo shows the wrong part attached to the lower stern transom. 
 

- The build board is not very sturdy and it’s easy to break the holders on the building board for the bow and stern transoms. Just think of them as a surface for holding rubber bands and/or clips and to help set the spacing between the bottom planks.

 

- It’s easy to misposition pieces that will support other pieces later. For example, I had too much space between the two forward-most bottom frames so when I tried to add the mast step several steps later I had to unglue (with isopropyl alcohol) the forward-most bottom frame and reposition it back a mm or two). 

 

- Another example is the positioning of the seat frames. It's not entirely clear from the instructions where these should go. It's more following the photos than anything else, unless I missed some key to unlock. I recommend skipping ahead several steps and getting the seats. You can figure out where the seats need to go and hence where the seat frames need to go better if you do them together than trying to position the frames and them hoping that things fit. You do need to (probably) sand and shape the seats to get them to fit, even if the seat frames are positioned perfectly. But doing the seats and seat frames together will probably result in a better final product, and a bit less frustration.

 

- Model Shipways paint is not the best. It’s a bit thick and gritty. Definitely need to thin with water. I’m using it because it came with the three-kit Shipwright combo. Also, the basswood isn’t the smoothest wood so it doesn’t matter as much as it might if the wood wants “fuzzy”. 
 

- A heads up: when you get to using the copper tubing and copper rods, the instructions don’t seem to give the right thicknesses. There are three kinds. Use the one that fits for a particular step. 

Edited December 13 by palmerit

[palmerit]

My new toy makes it easier to sand the char and keep a 90 degree angle (something I had trouble with using sanding sticks, even against a machinist square). 
 

It’s sibling chopper was really useful doing the NRG hull. 

Edited November 12 by palmerit

[RossR]

I love those two items from Ultimation.  

[yvesvidal]

These are serious tools. You will be saving a lot of time (and efforts) with these.

 

Yves

[palmerit]

I made a bit of progress on the first steps of the hull. 
 

As others have noted in their logs, the building board and supporters are not terribly sturdy. Also, it’s easy to accidentally snap the supports at the bow and stern unfortunately (I snapped one of them trying to push it in and had to glue it back together). Be careful. 
 

The photo in the instructions for the stern transom shows the stern quarter knee being attached rather than the stern transom knee. Unfortunately, I first followed the photo and then after looking at some logs more closely I had to replace the piece. But since I had beveled using the wrong piece I had to bevel some more. 
 

The instructions to put little cuts in the stern transom was a bit confusing (they really are small cuts). Ultimately, the edges of the lower stern transom need to be beveled to accept the two bottom planks and the keel plank straight on. The center part of the stern transom is where the keel plank lies. The left and right of that are where the two bottom planks lie. Since the planks overlap, the center part need to be a plank thickness higher than the left and right. Doing this right also means that the stern transom knee can be glued flush to the keel plank. I had to do some sanding down to get the planks to lie flush and to allow the stern transom knee to lie flush with the keel plank (because of my earlier bevel misadventure). 
 

Before gluing the planks, I shaped them (first wetting them in hot water, then forming them over a bottle). After 1/2 drying, I glued them on. 

Edited November 17 by palmerit

[palmerit]

Trimming and sanding to the bevel the bottom and keel planks at the transoms after the glue dried overnight. 

[palmerit]

Ok, so this section is confusing. 
 

I think ultimately what you’re trying to do is make a small notch at the stern end of each garboard plank so the there isn’t a gap where the garboard plank, bottom plank, and stern transom all come together. It’s called a “gain” (a term I don’t remember from building the Dory) but also referred to as a rabbet here. Here I just have garboard (with nothing cut out) laying on the bottom plank and stern transom. 
 

I think I also need to make sure I bevel the stern transom so that the garboard lies flat. 

[Bryan Woods]

She’s looking good Palmerit! Look at the Pram log by Modeller_masa. He shows how he did it.

[palmerit]

Thanks for pointing out the @Modeller_masa build. 
 

I was finally able to use my tiny veritas chisels to form the rabbet (plus my files and a bit of sandpaper).  

One of the photos shows the garboard with the rabbet (right) and without (left). The one with does have much of a gap, the one without has a gap. Being a boat, in water, you would not want gaps. 
 

Thankfully my iPhone has macro mode so I could zoom into the rabbet for a photo. 

[palmerit]

Shaping the second shrake plank. 

[Jim M]

Looking good. Those chisels look awesome.  did you get the add ons for you slicer and sander?

[palmerit]

I did get the add-ons for the slicer and sander. Haven’t attached or tried them yet. They came with the set. 
 

I do need to sharpen the chisels. They’re sharp but can be sharper. When I bought the chisels, I also bought some stones and a guide for sharpening the chisels (and for sharpening my kitchen knives). Lee Valley has a nice collection of toys. 

[palmerit]

Planking is complete. A little off on the bow end. 

[EspenT]

That is looking very nice. I am waiting for my 3 kit bundle to arrive so I can start as  well. 

I am noticing during the Sherbourne build that I definitely need 2 builds going at the same time to avoid downtime during gluing. 

[palmerit]

I had to remove the forward-most bottom frame and move it back a mm or two because the two frames were too far apart to support the mast step. 

[palmerit]

Added the “Rub Rails”. It wasn’t entirely clear from the instructions where they go and there were no photos. I put them on the outside attached to the upper sheet plank flush with the inwale top. 

[palmerit]

A ton of sanding of the dagger board. It needs to slot into the dagger board case after it is painted. 

Edited December 6 by palmerit

[palmerit]

First bit of painting of the hull. 

[palmerit]

I’m working on the tiller assembly. The instructions say you need 1/16 brass rod but it’s the 3/64 brass rod that fits. 

Edited December 12 by palmerit

[palmerit]

And the hole on the smaller piece of the tiller assembly is 1/32, not 1/16. 

[palmerit]

Painting is done. Starting to add hardware. 
 

I used the (somewhat gloopy gritty) Model Shipways paint because it came with the three-kit Shipwright combo. I thinned the paint a bit with water. While this paint wouldn’t be great for a ship with a smooth hull or with other kinds of wood, I think it works fine for a 1:12 fishing boat like the Pram. After a few coats of paint and letting it dry I added an airbrushed coat of Vallejo matte varnish. 

Edited December 13 by palmerit

[palmerit]

Placed the floor boards and seats (thwarts and stern sheets). I definitely had to narrow some of the floor boards to all fit in place. I had narrowed the seats in an earlier step. 

[palmerit]

To make the rudder gudgeons I had to wait until I had my razor saw and miter box. I had both, but the razor saw I had wouldn’t fit so I had to order a new one. You need to cut really small pieces of copper tube and a miter box is really the only way to go I think. 

[palmerit]

It’s a bit unclear what PE pieces to use to make the pintles. I don’t know if I used the wrong piece for one of the gudgeons or if the kit doesn’t supply all the right pieces (I saw others suggest that there weren’t enough pieces or the right pieces). I’ll try to make it work. 

[palmerit]

At the step to make the display stand (which is before adding the rudder onto the boat). I wasn’t quite sure how best to notch the rods to accept the cross pieces. I ended up sawing down just a tiny bit to the width of the notch on both sides (measuring the the top the height of the notch on the cross piece rather than follow the instruction because the instructions weren’t entirely clear after a couple readings. Then I filed a bit on both sides, checking if the cross piece fit, filing some more, checking again, until it fit snug. Then glued. 

[palmerit]

I’m guessing the plans are out of scale (they’re on a page in the instructions, not on a separate sheet). The mast is cut from a dowel to 10”, with marks at 1” from the lower end and 3 1/8” from the upper end for the start of the tapers. The mast in the plans in the instructions is less than 10”. I’m guessing I’ll need to zoom in my printer. I saw in my Dory build from other logs that the plans weren’t to an accurate scale. Maybe the same is true for the Pram instructions? I missed a note to that in other logs, but I just made a quick pass. Frustrating if so. 

[palmerit]

Enlarging to 103% seemed to get the plans closer to scale. 

[palmerit]

The dowel supplied with the kit is a good bit wider than what’s needed in the plans. Not sure why. The instructions even note that the dowel is 1/4” and the plans indicate it should be more like 5/32 at its widest. That’s a lot of sanding, scraping, or planing. 

[palmerit]

The instructions acknowledge how much the dowel needs to be reduced in size. And notes how long it took the kit designer to do it. 
 

The question is still why? A 3/16” dowel could have been supplied instead. Maybe it was the economics and 1/4” dowels are way less expensive. Or maybe Model Shipways bought a literal ton of 1/4” dowels and supplies with kits with them whenever possible? Or is there another reason to supply a dowel so much larger than it needs to be?

[palmerit]

I used the drill method to shape the mast. I wrapped the end in several loops of paper to avoid getting chuck marks on the end of the mast. And I used a clamp to keep the drill running.