Norwegian sailing pram by Kenchington– FINISHED – Model Shipways – 1:12

[SaltyScot]

Sometimes taking a nice break empowers us with new ideas, Trevor. Stepping away is a healthy thing! She looks sharp through my eyes, sir.

[JacquesCousteau]

Very nicely done!

[MBerg]

Nice work! Equally glad to see you get back to your pram and sort that rigging out with something you're happy with.

[Kenchington]

Thank you or your support, gentlemen!

 

After snatching some brief time to work on it, the standing rigging fix is now done:

 

I will have to make changes to the mainsheet and its rope horse, but that will best wait until the tiller and rudder are done. The shorter, tighter horse might complicate repeated test placings of the rudder/tiller combination.

 

I resumed work on the tiller last night, so progress picking up a bit.

 

Trevor

[Kenchington]

Tiller finally completed -- only seven months after I started on it!

 

I explained the logic of my chosen solution back on post #89, so no reason to repeat any of that. However, discussion on another MSW thread through the summer got me thinking, so I will state one more point:

 

When building a model of a specific vessel, Nelson's Victory for example, we should really strive to represent that one prototype as she was at some stage in her career. Heading off into fantasies of how she might have been, even though she wasn't, isn't what most of us are about. However, the pram isn't one boat but a design from which many full-size boats have been built. I am not trying to replicate any one of them specifically. Rather, I am aiming for a model of a boat as I would want her if I had one to the pram's design. I haven't tried personalizing the hull but I have modified the rigging, much as I would with a full-size boat. As it happens, my 22fter arrived with a short stick for a tiller, similar to the one in the pram kit. That had met the previous owner's needs but was dangerously inadequate when sailing in the sea breezes in my harbour. I added an extension right away and, as soon as I could, stepped up to the much-more-elegant tiller that the builder offered as an optional extra on new boats:

 

The pram needs a different shape of tiller, to suit her different rudderhead and the angle of her rudder hangings, but I have gone for a similar concept.

 

 

Since this was a substantial departure from the kit design, I needed to begin with a card template, to check the length and curvature needed, if the end result was to match the ergonomics of a solo pram sailor sitting astride the midships thwart:

 

Then it was time to rough out a scrap of hardwood -- in my case a bit of jatoba, as I have oddments left over from a (full-size) boat project:

 

Back in the spring, I got some way forward with shaping that but the Dremel cut too deeply at one point and I gave up for the summer. Maybe I should have started over but, in recent days, I decided to press on, even though the final tiller would end up thinner than I would have liked (about 1 inch diameter, if scaled up). After a whole lot of hand sanding, I ended up with a near-final shape, matched to the rudder, though with extra wood left at the rudder end as I could not be sure where the side pieces would lie:

Also in the spring, I made two side pieces, following the kit's design but longer and in jatoba.

 

I checked the alignment of rudder and tiller on the model (then checked again, and once again). Happy with that and to be sure that everything would line up, I taped the rudder and tiller down:

then slipped a brass rod loosely into the hole in one side piece, placed that in the notch in the rudderhead and lined everything up. Oily tropical hardwoods can best be glued as though they were solid plastic -- meaning CA. A dollop of that on the tiller (avoiding the rudder) and the side piece was pressed into place. Once set, the whole thing could be flipped over, taped down again and the second side piece added in the same way. That gave me:

 

Next was a whole lot more sanding, not least to make the top and bottom surfaces of the main tiller and its side pieces flush. Also to smooth the junction between those into a prettier curve. Then I tried putting annealed brass rod through the holes in the side pieces, following the kit instructions. Putting rod into holes was easy but when I tried to make heads out of the stumps of the rod, I just bent the metal and cracked the wood. So I fastened a short bit of rod into place with CA, filed down the metal and sanded the glue off the wood. With a whole lot more sanding, shaping and a hole drilled for the tiller-extension's pivot, I got to:

That got its fancy end dipped in white paint and the rest wiped down with tung oil, bringing out the rich colour of the jatoba.

 

Meanwhile,. I took the kit's tiller extension but did not even try inserting the brass crossbar as the instructions want it done. The diameter of the provided rod is very nearly as large as the thickness of the basswood extension, leaving no room for error and very little strength. If the pieces were double their thickness, I would have fitted a wooden crosspiece with a half-lap joint instead, but that was beyond me too. So I gouged a slight groove into the very end of the extension and glued a bit of brass rod there, using CA again.

 

My attempt to form a head on the next piece of rod was as unsuccessful as the previous one had been, so I made the extension pivot from a brass nail, glued into its hole, cut, filed and painted over. That gave me a finished tiller unit that looks like:

And in place on the model:

 

Not as neat and nice as I had it in my mind's eye -- but very little turns out that well! Anyway, I'm happy with the final outcome, not least it's colour contrast with the rest of the pram.

 

Now I have oars to finish, running rigging to tidy up and then I think the model will (finally!!!) be finished.

 

 

Trevor

 

Edited Friday at 02:23 AM by Kenchington

[JacquesCousteau]

Very nice work personalizing the tiller!

 

As to your point about accuracy to a specific ship vs. accuracy to a generic type, I have to admit that I prefer the latter style. Figuring out the range of possibilities and choosing which option I want to depict and why seems more fun than trying to pin everything down to exactly how it was, at least at the moment. Who knows, though, maybe after a few more builds I'll change my mind.

[Kenchington]

Oars and Rowing the Pram:

 

The pram is designed with two rowing positions, one for each thwart, and (many steps ago) I added the four wood-and-brass fittings for holding the rowlocks. (The latter are technically "crutches" but nobody remembers that!) The kit comes with four rowlocks and laser-cut blanks for four very elegant oars. However, I very much doubt that the full-size boat could be rowed by two people. Certainly, once the mast is stepped, an oarsman on the forward thwart would forced to sit ramrod straight, pulling with arm muscles but unable to use the power of his/her back. That would quickly prove exhausting. Even with the mast left ashore, two adults would have trouble: The one on the forward thwart would be forever hitting the back of the other, when leaning forward to bring the oars towards the bow to begin the next stroke. Maybe two small teenagers could row together but I see the pram as a boat for one oarsman -- one usually sat on the midships thwart but with the forward position available when going for a quiet evening row with a significant other draped across the sternsheets. (Politically correct here: I make no assumptions about the genders of the two!) With the weight of the decorative individual far aft, the oarsman would have to move to the forward thwart to maintain fore-and-aft trim.

 

So: Only one pair of oars aboard, usually used in the after rowing position (the one at the midships thwart).

 

With that decided, preparing one pair of oars was straightforward and fully explained in the kit instructions, so no need for me to add much here. Mine turned out as:

 

Oar handles are supposed to be left as bare wood. (The idea is that your hands blister less. Mine get torn up anyway, so I wear padded weightlifter's gloves when rowing any serious distance!) To simulate bare spruce, I used the ModelExpo clear finish, as with my pram's floorboards.

 

The looms and shafts I did with tung oil, to simulate varnish -- as with the pram's hull. The blades I painted white, just for the visual effect on the finished model.

 

The leathers were placed as per the instructions, without trouble. I used 1-inch strips of the paper that I had dyed with leather die for "leathering" the boom jaws. The instructions call for raised "buttons" at the handle ends of the leathers. I did not deign to have anything of the kind on mine: Buttons are needed by racing oarsman, who have to concentrate on speed and power, so cannot spare thought for finesse. Otherwise, they are only needed by rubes who haven't learnt to row. So not on my pram, thank you 😀

 

Oars used to come from the manufacturer with a copper strip nailed just above the tip of the blade, supposedly to halt any splits that may start there. The kit instructions call for painting the tips to simulate the metal. However, Shaw & Tenney of Orono (https://www.shawandtenney.com) have deeper and wider knowledge of traditional oars than anyone else I know of, and they discourage the reinforcement. Not unreasonably, they advise that the nails holding the metal strip create more trouble than the strip prevents. (Having used the same pair of their oars for 20 years with no splitting, I cannot disagree.) My inclination, therefore, was to leave the pram's oar blades white. But I couldn't resist the visual effect of genuine shiny copper. So I sliced some adhesive copper tape in half lengthwise and stuck that on. Call it artistic license!

 

 

The remaining problem is what to do with the oars because, in truth, the kit ones are much too long for such a small boat. Even with the handles slightly crossed in front of the oarsman's chest, in the approved posture, so much of the oar would be outboard that the poor guy would wear himself out fighting the weight of the oar instead of working at pulling ahead. The trouble is even more acute with the sailing rig in use and the oars merely stowed (awaiting a need -- such as when the wind dies to a mirror calm and the sailor is called home for the family dinner). In fact, my choice for auxiliary power in such a boat would be a canoe paddle, rather than oars.  Still, it would be a shame not to display the pram in all the glory the kit can provide.

 

After some thought, I chose to show the one pair of oars in their rowlocks, with handles tucked under the mast thwart -- where they would be a nuisance while sailing but secure and ready to hand as the wind fails and the sail hangs like the flat board that the kits provides for. Rowlocks are glued in with CA, to avoid losing them, but the oars are loose.

 

So, my version is:

 

Now I just have to tidy up the running rigging.

 

 

Trevor

 

 

[king derelict]

You have made a beautiful and evocative model. The details are wonderful and your log is both informative and engaging to read.

alan

[Kenchington]

Thank you, @king derelict. You are too kind!

[Kenchington]

FINISHED

 

Or that's what I'm declaring anyway:

 

 

In truth, that mainsheet is refusing to lie quitly where it wa put, so  it will likely need more attention with white glue:

 

But I'm still calling the model "finished". This build log isn't quite done though. However, my final thoughts will have to wait for morning: The 7th game of the World Series is nearing its climax as I type!

 

Trevor

[JacquesCousteau]

Congratulations, great work! You've added a lot of personality to the kit.

[Knocklouder]

Great looking boat, Congratulations, 

 

Bob  M.

[druxey]

Congrats on a beautiful finish, and condolences on the result of the seventh....

[Kenchington]

Thank you to all for your kind comments on my build of this kit! I am very, very aware of how limited my skills are compared to yours.

 

And @druxey: Having been born and raised in England, then spending my adult life in the birthplace of hockey, I am fortunately not a baseball fan. (If I was, as a Nova Scotian, I'd probably follow the Red Sox and that must be a painful experience for all concerned 🥲) Last night's game was exciting but I don't need to cry when the chances of this world deny Toronto victory.

 

After all, when it really mattered, Bluenose never lost the Fishermen's Cup!

 

Trevor

[robert952]

Great looking model. I'm looking forward to the rest of your build log and your next build. 

[ccoyle]

Lovely model, Trevor!

[Kenchington]

Time for a final wrap-up posting, with lessons learnt. I won't list all of the new skills acquired in building the pram. Suffice to say that, if someone had shown me pictures of my finished model before I started work on the Model Shipways banks dory and told me that I would soon build a pram like this, I would have refused to believe it. That's how far forward the two kits have brought me. So many, many thanks to both David Antscherl and Model Expo for making the "Shipwright" series available to novice builders!

 

That's also a message to anyone new to the hobby who may read through this log in the future: No one way will suit everybody, but the "Shipwright" kits have been a wonderful introduction for me and I'd recommend other beginners give them at least careful consideration. That includes starting at the beginning with the dory, not skipping forward and beginning with the pram or the Muscongus Bay sloop.

 

Next, these kits are intended as learning experiences and if all a novice does is learn before pushing an unsatisfactory model aside, then at least she or he will have learnt. However, I hope I have shown that it is possible to produce very satisfactory display models while learning also. Curiously, I think the key to making it all work is a bunch of things that we were supposed to learn at kindergarten but too often have forgotten through the decades since -- things like patience, precision, persistence and perseverance, pragmatism, practicality, a healthy dose of perfectionism and others of that kind.

 

One shock (and I know I'm not the only one to run into it) was discovering that you can't always simply follow the instructions. With that comes a warning, founded in experience with the pram: Sometimes you can't rely on the written word, but when you step away you are flying solo. It is very, very easy to crash and burn! So care and forethought are essential.

 

Lastly, I think I have confirmed to myself (and maybe to others) that, when building a model, there is a major advantage in understanding the full-size prototype. Not just understanding it as a physical artifact that could be displayed in a museum but understanding it as a human creation -- as something built to fulfil a purpose and used in a particular way. In concept, the Norwegian pram is not so very different from the pram dinghy my parents bought me when I was 12, while it has much in common with my current 22fter too, so I came to it with my own understanding of such boats. In the case of the banks dory, I am 9/10ths the way through writing a book on the halibut fisheries of the northwest Atlantic and hence deeply immersed in details of life and work aboard dory schooners. But the better example comes from Jean Boudriot's superb "74-Gun Ship". I am (at long, long last) working through the fourth and final volume. For those who haven't read it cover to cover: The first three volumes tell you all you need to know of the physical structure of a French ship-of-the-line of the 1780s that you might wish to represent in miniature. The 4th puts the people and their work into the ship. There's no one thing there that I didn't know something about the English equivalent of (some of it from N.A.M. Rodger's "Wooden World", for example, or Brian Lavery's books). But to see the layers upon layers of complexity involved in operating a major warship, all laid out together, is stunning.

 

But only when we understanding how and why men lived aboard and worked the ship we are modelling will its many complex details begin to make sense. And only when they do can we make sensible decisions about how to fill in the inevitable gaps in contemporary information.

 

 

Enough with the deep thoughts better left in academic ivory towers! Building the pram was a very satisfying experience and I'm looking forward to tackling the Muscongus Bay boat.

 

 

Trevor