San Francisco Bay Scow Schooner by palmerit - Midwest Products - 1:48

[palmerit]

Gluing and clamping on the sides. Will need to sand the bottom flush after the glue dries. Then the bottom pieces will be added. 

[palmerit]

So I made a mistake that I think I’ve corrected. 
 

While I read things over a couple times, I skipped over the step of adding the deck before adding the sides and bottom. I think I was just remembering how some of the other model kits have gone, where the deck is after the hull. Also, the diagram that goes with adding the deck doesn’t look like adding the deck. Well on this kit, the deck is before the sides. I ended up have to cut the sides from the top batten (that I so proudly announced in my previous post). The deck needs to be sanded quite a bit to fit. If you actually follow the directions you add the deck and then sand it flush with the battens, then add the sides, then add the bottom. (Again, this model does not have traditional planking.) I did split the sides a bit so I will need to add some glue, filler, and do some sanding. The whole model is painted, so filler and sanding will be fine in the end. 

Edited May 9, 2025 by palmerit

[Jim Lad]

She's coming together beautifully.

 

John

[palmerit]

Note that the instructions include some steps that aren’t needed. For example, cutting out a notch out of the cabin roof for the door and rounding the corners of the roof. Those are done in the laser cut piece now. 

[TerryPat]

Very nice build!!

[palmerit]

I’ve been making a bit of slow progress on this model, even if I haven’t added any posts. I added the cabin - which you can’t see because I have it and the desk masked off - and doing some painting of the hull. A couple more airbrushed coats to go. For the hull I chose a Vallejo Model Air Pale Green 71.095. It looked nice with the Vallejo Model Air Yellow Ochre 71.033 that will be used in various other places. Other colors will be some Off-White 71.270 and Black 71.057, maybe a couple others. 

[palmerit]

Completed the painting of the hull. It’s gone slow because I painted this when also painting some other models. Next steps are adding pieces to the deck. 
 

(Still have a bit of cleanup to do with a 000 brush. Nearly all the painting was with an airbrush and masking.)

Edited November 24, 2025 by palmerit

[Jim Lad]

Just catching up. She's looking really good.

 

John

[palmerit]

I was planning to place a Syren order for more blocks and rope and knew I wanted to replace both on this kit. I hadn’t yet opened the plastic ziplock with these pieces and found this for the blocks. Sad. 

[ccoyle]

55 minutes ago, palmerit said:

I was planning to place a Syren order for more blocks and rope and knew I wanted to replace both on this kit.

 

Understandable, but just know that the Syren blocks will not be period-correct -- if Alma is representative of the type, scow schooners were rigged with internally-stropped blocks.

[palmerit]

2 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Understandable, but just know that the Syren blocks will not be period-correct -- if Alma is representative of the type, scow schooners were rigged with internally-stropped blocks.

Are there alternative sources?

[JacquesCousteau]

15 minutes ago, palmerit said:

Are there alternative sources?

I think Syren offers internally-stropped wooden blocks, although I don't know if they're the right size.

 

Another option would be to fake internal stropping, as done here:

 

 

[ccoyle]

7 hours ago, palmerit said:

Are there alternative sources?

 

Check BlueJacket, though theirs will be metal.

[palmerit]

Syren has internally-stropped blocks, but their smallest is 6mm. The blocks on this model are closer to 5mm. Though who knows how close these plastic bits are to what was actually used on this boat. They're the same plastic blocks that were included in the Midwest Crabbing Skiff I built. I wouldn't be surprised if these are just the generic blocks they include in lots of Midwest kits. 

 

My options are (1) use the plastic blocks that come with the kit that look terrible (and likely aren't really period appropriate either), (2) use nice Syren blocks that aren't period appropriate but look nice, and look like blocks, (3) use Syren internally-stropped blocks that are too big by a mm, (4) try to make my own, (5) check with Bluejacket.

 

I can't get myself to do (1). And (4) is beyond me, at least for this model at this time. It's probably going to be (2) but I might order a set of the Syren internally-stropped blocks just to see how they look and even if I don't use them here I might use them in a future model and I might order some from Bluejacket after I take a look at what they have online.

[ccoyle]

6 mm works out to a little over 11" in 1/48 scale -- I suspect this is too large for your model, but to be certain you'd need to get hold of the actual block sizes for Alma. That would take some digging.

[palmerit]

For those - like me - who don't know the differences between blocks, here's another useful discussion (with drawings):

 

[palmerit]

The one from here (thanks @JacquesCousteau) simulates internal stropping with wire around the block that is painted using wood filler to hide the wire and painting with Vallejo Old Wood (so you can't see that the wire is actually on the outside rather than the inside of the block). I suppose that's something I could try.

 

Edited yesterday at 05:42 PM by palmerit

[JacquesCousteau]

The Nautical Research Journal has an article in Vol. 20, No.1 by Ben Lankford titled "The Rig of a Scow Schooner." I bought the pdf version a while ago. He mentions reconstructing typical block sizes based on Steel, Kipping, and other "standard tables." The drawing seems to include block sizes, but it's hard to tell--in the pdf version, the drawing is blurry. I've included a small portion of the image below.

 

Assuming the numbers next to the blocks are in fact their sizes, it looks like the main sheet used 12- and 13-inch blocks, 8.5-inch blocks were used at the aft end of the main boom for the main top lift. Elsewhere it looks like 10- or 10.5-inch blocks for used for the gaff halyards, 6.5-inch for the topsail halyard, and even some smaller ones elsewhere. (This is, of course, a very rough summary based on some very blurry text, so take this with a grain of salt). The full article may be useful to you, as it can be ordered for pretty cheap through the NRG store, but you'd have to decide whether the blurry drawing is a dealbreaker. (It also includes a belaying plan and other detailed drawings, though without dimensions, that are a bit larger and very slightly clearer.)

 

Edited yesterday at 09:06 PM by JacquesCousteau

[palmerit]

55 minutes ago, JacquesCousteau said:

The Nautical Research Journal has an article in Vol. 20, No.1 by Ben Lankford titled "The Rig of a Scow Schooner."

Great! Thanks for the pointer. I actually have all the volumes thankfully. Haven't been able to read them all.