Steam Schooner Wapama 1915 by Paul Le Wol - Scale 1/72 = From Plans Drawn By Don Birkholtz Sr.

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, FriedClams said:

Wonderful work, Paul! 

 

 

HA!  Yes, scuppers are always nice to have in the rear-view mirrors.  Very nice progress and everything looking great.

 

Gary

Hi Gary,thank you very much. Good to hear from you. 

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all well. Thank you very much for the Comments and Likes. The bulkheads at the fore and aft ends of the main deck have been sided with 1/32" horizontal edge glued strips of 5/64" AYC. The sliding doors were glued to the siding and then everything was painted with Vallejo Model Air White Grey (71.119). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chafing planks were finished to the forward end.

 

 

The bulwark planking was done next. There is a stanchion in there so there was a lot of measuring and cutting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These areas had to be completed before the Main Deck House could be installed. The bulwarks were airbrushed and except for a few attachment points  she is ready for the deck house and the sub deck.

 

 

 

 

Hope to see you soon!

[Jim Lad]

Nice progress, Paul.

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Jim Lad said:

Nice progress, Paul.

 

John

Hi John, thank you very much!

[FriedClams]

Those two stanchions and the bulwark planking fit together nicely, Paul!   I like that Vallejo paint color - a warm neutral gray, not bluish.  Looking great.

 

Gary

[Paul Le Wol]

Thank you very much Gary. Paint colors certainly can be a challenge. I think I’m going to wait to see what you choose for Pelican below the waterline 🙂

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, hope you are all well. Thank you for your Comments and Likes! This update is all about the stringers that run run the length of the main deck. Now that the main deck house is permanently glued in place the first stringers to be installed will be the assistant stringers. They run on either side of the deck house so they were the easiest to locate.

 

 

Strips of 1/16 X 3/4" basswood were glued to the underside of these stringers between the bulkhead to support the other stringers and the 1/32" plywood subdeck.

 

 

 

 

Next came the main hatch stringers They are glued inboard of the assistant stringers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly came the side stringers that sit on top of the main hatch stringers. 

 

 

The subdeck was then laid. I used 8 pieces just to make the gluing easier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main Hatch was laid out and the coamings were glued to the subdeck.

 

 

 

 

The strongbacks were hung on the coamings and the hatch boards were glued into place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few coats of paint.

 

 

 

I think the painting of the hull will be next. I hope to see you then! 

 

 

[FriedClams]

Precise and cleanly executed work as always, Paul.  Great stuff.

 

Gary

[sheepsail]

Ooohhh pretty pictures.   Too bad here is not a :heart: Icon in the reply emojis.  will have to do for an extream like.  (hope I am using the emoji right.)

[Paul Le Wol]

33 minutes ago, FriedClams said:

Precise and cleanly executed work as always, Paul.  Great stuff.

 

Gary

Hi Gary, thank you very much for your comments!

 

5 minutes ago, sheepsail said:

Ooohhh pretty pictures.   Too bad here is not a :heart: Icon in the reply emojis.  will have to do for an extream like.  (hope I am using the emoji right.)

Hi sheepsail, thanks very much for your comment and extreme like😀

[Jim Lad]

More great progress, Paul!

 

John

[Paul Le Wol]

22 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

More great progress, Paul!

 

John

Thank you John, have a nice holiday. Wishing you well!

[Glen McGuire]

Fantastic work, Paul.  Those silver clamps look very interesting (and useful).  Not sure I've seen those before.

[Paul Le Wol]

4 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

Fantastic work, Paul.  Those silver clamps look very interesting (and useful).  Not sure I've seen those before.

Hi Glen, thanks very much. Those clamps are used to re-attach the screens after fixing mobile devices. Got them from Amazon. 33CAD for eight of them. They come in handy every once in a while. I think I searched for mobile device clamps.

[Ian_Grant]

On 7/13/2025 at 6:33 PM, Glen McGuire said:

Fantastic work, Paul.  Those silver clamps look very interesting (and useful).  Not sure I've seen those before.

I was thinking the same thing....

[yvesvidal]

Here they are: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Cellphone-Adaptable-Fastening-Compatible/dp/B0DHGVLX59/ref=sr_1_22_sspa?crid=1IF7OPO8BUICR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7U0XEdagigfcY5ua3SLhqXfny7vezKNSHAj4-oY2JM_lBhMpqKD8eZMPPoO9KUElyqCBlrr4Forq4fAhneJBApdsm2vro0KYXTCOTjbEmKKhuFlszCSUcQcaWPTLudEdDDccF9GOZWir1FXzKhicXb_vOBL3WLpsi827lTVUd6PXjVjq4mW2aDbJkdbU77up.NFr1PGVXLpiZGg8hSEUgkY1W0rAonStv7x26dBLQsd8&dib_tag=se&keywords=mobile%2Bdevice%2Bclamps&qid=1752690770&sprefix=mobile%2Bdevice%2Bclamps%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-22-spons&xpid=9Sf7wwcZ9MxkF&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1

 

Max opening: 15 mm.

 

Yves

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

I was thinking the same thing....

Hi Ian, I may have to keep editing my post. Don’t know what is going on over at Amazon but those clamps are now 40 CAD.

[Ian_Grant]

9 hours ago, Paul Le Wol said:

Hi Ian, I may have to keep editing my post. Don’t know what is going on over at Amazon but those clamps are now 40 CAD.

As always with Amazon, there are various vendors at various price points with the inevitable "straight to you on a slow boat from China" at the bottom. Of price and quality. I see six for $16 plus $6 shipping.

[Paul Le Wol]

Hi Everyone, thank you very much for your Comments and Likes. The part of Wapama's hull that is grey has been painted. I tried using Vallejo Model Air USAF Light Gray 71.276 but it was lighter than I wanted. Added 4 drops of Vallejo Model Air Steel Grey to a full bottle of USAF Light Gray and I think it darkened up just enough.

 

 

 

 

The lockers that sit under the overhang of the forecastle deck were next. They are made from 1/32" plywood and sided with 1/32" x 3/32" AYC.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the end walls were sided there was a bit of adjusting to ensure that they cleared the deck beam and knee that are situated aft of them 

 

 

The inboard walls of the structures were sided and doors were added.

 

 

A jig was made to construct the stanchions  that support the deck beams and everything was dry tested for fit

 

 

 

 

More painting

 

 

For a change of pace I started to build the cabin deck houses. They extend down to the same footings as the main deck house to make it easier to  make the end walls vertical. The side walls of the aft cabins were lined up with the side walls of the forward cabins to make sure that met vertically.

 

 

 

 

 

The sheer of the deck was drawn on the cabin walls and the side walls of the aft cabins were then situated.

 

 

 

 

I spent a fair bit of time trying to get the red for the hull below the waterline figured out. I came to the conclusion that it should look like the far shot that Phil @Dr PR took of Wapama at the pier. The red almost looks black because of the light, the water and the reflections.

 

 

So I used Vallejo Model Air Hull Red 71.039 which I just happened to have a bottle of.

 

 

 

 

The next thing will be the the outer planks on the guards and deck planking. Hope to see you soon.

[JacquesCousteau]

Fantastic work!

[Dr PR]

Very nice! The model is starting to look like the real thing.

[Paul Le Wol]

11 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

Fantastic work!

 

5 minutes ago, Dr PR said:

Very nice! The model is starting to look like the real thing.

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your generous comments!

[Keith Black]

 Absolutely lovely work, Paul. 

[Paul Le Wol]

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

 Absolutely lovely work, Paul. 

Thank you Keith, I greatly appreciate your comments!