Bateau de Lanvéoc by JacquesCousteau - Scale 1:32 - From Ancre Plans

[JacquesCousteau]

With my Lancha Chilota build about to shift from wood-working to rigging, I decided that it’s a good time to start another build. Once again, I’ve selected a relatively small, “traditional” workboat. This time, though, I have a complete plan set, which in theory should cut down on the second-guessing I’ve experienced in many other builds. There’s also a fair bit already written about this vessel, so I will not be doing as much research as on my Latin American builds. This will be a major step up in complexity from what I've built before, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

 

Since I started modeling, I’ve wanted to do a Plank-on-Frame build, and I’ve been fascinated by Ancre’s monographs. I was lucky enough to be able to access a few, mostly for warships, via the library, and I was amazed by the level of detail they show. But the ones I was really interested in were for the small and mid-sized working boats. I initially thought I might build the Gozzo Santa Caterina, but the model would be quite tiny in my preferred 1:32 scale, plus a few existing build logs pointed out a few issues with the monograph’s plans. Instead, I decided to go with the Bateau de Lanveoc. The monograph has a lot more detail on the type’s history than is given for the Gozzo, although unfortunately I could only get it in French—my phone’s translate function will be getting quite the workout.

 

The Bateau’s hull is very simple, with fewer parts than even the Gozzo, which makes it ideal for a first full POF build. More importantly, I think it’s a very interesting vessel. The single square sail looks almost anachronistic on a boat from the 1800s, and the hull, while far from sleek, looks quite charming to me. To my eye, the keel/stem/sternpost assembly look reminiscent of what I’ve seen for earlier, much larger Atlantic vessels, while the framing looks more like what I’ve seen for Mediterranean vessels. I’ve rescaled the plans from 1:36 to 1:32, bringing the model in line with my Canoa and Lancha builds.

 

After considering several wood options, I decided to build primarily out of alder, with cherry for the mast, yard, and bowsprit. From what I’ve read, alder is harder than basswood and not as hard as cherry, and it sands and holds an edge well without fuzzing like basswood. Its Janka Hardness is comparable with Alaskan yellow cedar. While I know that some recommend against using Alaskan yellow cedar for framing, saying that it’s too soft, this model has fairly bulky frames that should mitigate against this. It seems like it should be very workable with hand tools. I’ve actually had the alder for quite some time, as I placed an order for the wood from Ocooch Hardwoods last year in Chicago to celebrate finishing my most intensive quarter of teaching yet. Ocooch was able to mill the wood to custom sizes down to a minimum of 3/64-inch thick for the planking, and I found their customer service and shipping to be excellent. The cherry for the mast (plus some sheets) I got from Modeler’s Woodshed, where Joe also did an excellent job with the order. Unlike Ocooch, Modeler’s Woodshed and mill down to 1/32-inch-thick (or apparently even thinner). In my experience, both businesses are good options, and you can’t go wrong with either (at least if you’re in the US, I have no idea how international shipping would go).

 

I foresee this being a pretty slow build. Things are going to ramp up at work soon, so I’ll be pretty busy. Plus, much of the work of cutting out frames and other parts will have to be done at the carpentry workshop I’ve been participating in—where I can access a fretsaw and other tools that I don’t really have the space for at home—which I’ll probably only be able to attend once a week for the foreseeable future.

 

I should also note that I’m considering a few different ways of building this. One option is to do a complete build, painting the exterior black (as the actual vessels were tarred on the outside) and leaving the interior natural. Another possibility is to do something like an Admiralty-style model, leaving it unplanked below the wales to show off the frames and construction methods, and leaving the wood all natural. In this case, I could either build it with the mast and rigging (which would be interesting but takes up quite a bit more space) or do it as strictly a hull model. I’ll have to decide eventually, but there are a lot of frames to cut before I get to that point.

 

For this first post, I want to leave things on a question that I have before I make any sawdust. Looking at the drawings, it seems like the rabbet in the keel is quite different from what I’m used to seeing. Generally, the keel rabbet is a v-shaped notch (with the angle of course changing over the length of the keel). But from the plans, it seems like the rabbet over most of the keel is simply a 45-degree angle cut along the top of the keel (see simplified drawing below). The rabbet runs directly into the frames.

 

Moreover, there do not seem to be any notches in the keel for the frames, or in the frames for the keel, which would bring the bottom of the frames a bit lower on the keel. Finally, the keelson is also not notched and seems to just sit on top of the frames, leaving space between each. This means that there’s nothing (except the spaced frames) to seat the end of the rabbet. To me, this seems like a very strange design that, on an actual vessel, would very easily leak along the seam of the keel and the planking. Yet this seems to be what the plans show (see below) and what was done on this build: https://www.alexshipmodels.com/2016/12/10/le-bateau-de-lanveoc/

 

Below: Cross-section of hull showing keel and frames. The lack of frame notches is apparent.

 

Below: Side view of the construction showing the lack of keel notches and the space between the keel and the keelson.

 

Below: Side view of stem and fore part of keel with rabbet marked in dashed line. You can see how the rabbet is a notch along the stem, but then runs straight into the top of the keel.

 

Below: Frames, once again the lack of a keel notch in the floors is evident.

 

(Sorry for the blurry photos, I’m not very good at close-up photography on my phone).

 

So, am I reading the plans wrong, or is this how I should actually build it?

Edited 3 hours ago by JacquesCousteau

[Paul Le Wol]

Jacques, I’ll miss your extensive research but I look forward to this interesting build. Good luck!

[François de Saint Nazaire]

Hello Jacques,

 

I will follow your project with interest. Lanveoc is a small town near Brest in French Brittany.

 

Bon courage Tonnerre de Brest ! as  captain Haddock said