Gjoa 1872 by Jond - 1:48 scale - Amundson's Cutter

[John Ruy]

36 minutes ago, Jond said:

The 4^th image shows starting the delicate job to paint the inside of the bulwarks and sides only of the ribs white,

Nice work on the Bulwarks. I like your method of aligning the scuppers. Better than drilling them out, after planking is completed. 👍 

[Jond]

John 

 

You need also to thank the Norwegian builders that chose it.  I think it would be very practical on a fishing vessel.   Think of all the mess while working and little holes by each rib and one trap door for fish guts on the typical Gloucester fisherman.   Perhaps this open slot means more water on deck when healing over in a blow, but the crew all wore rubber boots anyway.

 

[wefalck]

Well, this slot under the lowest bulwark-plank seems to have common feature on smaller vessels all around the Baltic and Scandinavia, particularly, when the water-way was more or less flush with the deck. I have seen many original vessels and models like this.

 

Another option would have been hinged freeing ports that were locked in fine weather with a latch. The freeing ports are essentially the lowest bulwark-plank divided into sections that are individually hinged. I will discuss this particular feature in the forthcoming post on my building-log for a Rahschlup.

 

In the 1870s seaboots commonly would not have been rubber although such boots seem to have been manufactured since the middle of the century. They were oiled leather, above knee-length and had either wooden or heavy leather soles with hob-nails. In the Arctic, rubber-boots would have been impractical, as the rubber becomes stiff and brittle, prone to cracking and also conducts heat much better than leather - cold feet guaranteed in spite of heavy woolen socks. 

[Jond]

Thank you wefalck for the incite to the slot. I am sure you are right about the rubber boots too. 

 

Let me introduce you to a famous Maine boot first made in 1912.   These are the L L Bean boots that even today are extremely popular.  We in Maine all where a version of them around here over the next several months. The lined ne for snow and the unlined are especially popular in spring. I will admit however our outside durations do not approach the conditions of these brave explorers or fisherman either.

cheers 

[Jond]

Gjoa 7. Complete rudder and bulwark "shelf"

 

This week I have been able to get a few things done. I am about the middle of this stage and planning for the next one.

• 1-4. these four view show getting replacement drill bits, so I can complete the last pintel, and the laying out of the tiller by scaling a drawing.  I have a few sheets of pear wood that are great for this type of detail work. The third and forth view show installation and  the trimmed-out transom. I keep learning the hard way how critical it is to stabilize things like brass strips when drilling tiny holes.  I have broken many drill bits.
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• 5 this view is a group of new poplar strips I milled to use for both the bulwark shelf and cap rails.  
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• 6-9 show the progress of the shelf
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• 10-11. these views show all the belaying pins are in and the steel rod shelf supports are going in.  I am thinking to keep the brass pins brass. I know they should be darker but I like the look.
• 

Next up will include the cap rails. And planning for deck furnishings
 

Edited December 6, 2025 by Jond
typo

[sheepsail]

1 hour ago, Jond said:

Let me introduce you to a famous Maine boot first made in 1912.

I make watch straps and other things from old leather Usually pipe organ leather.    So I see an image like this and say oooh look at the watch straps.

 

This is an actual advertisement from my copy of Dickens' Little Dorrit, was printed in 1855.

 

 

We have fun replicating this at the Dickens Fair.

 

-julie   (Who is pretending to build a model of the Forester,  While acting in the Dickens Fair at the San Francisco Cow Palace.)

 

Edited December 5, 2025 by sheepsail

[John Ruy]

1 hour ago, Jond said:

  I am thinking to keep the brass pins brass. I know they should be darker but I like the look.

Looking Great Jon,

 

I like leaving brass belaying pins brass, too. Helps highlight the details. Like rope coils. 😎

 

John

[Jond]

Julie

thanks for dropping by. nice connection to reuse of good old material.  I am sure there are many old LL Bean boots around

 

cheers

 

[Jond]

John

 

thanks for reminding me of all those coils to make near the end.  they are just like ratlines.   got to do it though 🥴

 

cheers 

[Jond]

8 complete rails and plan deck work

 

Thank you everyone for your likes.  It helps keep the fire burning.  This is a partial update to record completion of the cap rails and this phase…. “ the hull”  .  It’s kind of like topping out of a building.  I suppose i could get a miniature Xmas tree and set it on the rail.   I had a nice glass of Single malt and now we move on...

 

• 1,2,3 these images show the completion of the cap rails.  It was pretty straight forward, as I used the rest of the milled poplar and cut out three sections for each side.
• 

 Next up will be to complete the deck furniture but first I need to plan it out. I think there are three parts.  First all the stationary stuff, Then the mechanical stuff then all the rigging stuff that is best to get on deck or the rails early.

 

• 4 I scaled the 1950 Model Shipway deck plan using TurboCad then cut it out to lay on deck. I then used light pencil lines to mark where things will go. I then will be using this plan and the long cross section to get dimensions.  
• 

 

• 5,6,7 these views show the progression of making up blocks to represent the stationary element.  Some of these I will trim down build back up with cladding.
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• 8-9 are just further along as the cap rail is now all painted and the 10 stationary deck pieces are laid out with some early shaping. I see in the photo I have a few more of the iron brackets to add in as supports for the shelves too. I need to get them done before setting any deck stuff.  None of this first phase includes the mechanical equipment.  That is a tough phase to follow as I quickly leave my comfort zone trying to make chains to actually fit on wheels etc.  I am thinking about it though as I look for material.
• 

 

 

All for now.

[Jond]

9 working on the deck furniture. 

I am working away through the deck furnishings.  

• 1. I counted ten main deck stationary items including the skylights, and here 8 of them are almost ready to glue down.
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• 2 ,3,4.   these three views show my experimental approach to make then main windless out of paper, a tiny wood dowel and plastic gears sanded down to size.  The two deck brackets holding the shaft coming forward from the engine room. I switched to brass.  
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• 5  I am using the old thread trick to try to simulate iron rods for the forward skylight.  I used pins on the aft cabin skylight.  We’ll see if It works here.
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• 6 here I have blackened the windless parts.  the paint helps the paper become more solid looking. I found that black magic marker is better than paint however on both the paper [ second coating] and dowels.  It does not thicken the dowel. I also used it on the brass clips.  All is still loose here though I did make and glue down the engine room topside /skylight.  I have no information, so I am following Harvey for what I assume is the engine cooling water return across the deck to be sure is stays above the water.  I’ll talk more about the windless when I figure it and the two chains out. It is tiny at this scale.  
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• 7-9. here I show my rube Goldberg method of using my midi lathe to sand down to shape a mast that is longer than it.  The railroad rail anvil is a family heirloom. I then stepped the rough mast just to take a look.  It is shown to be absolutely plum in the drawings, so here we go.  The last closer view shows the pumps going in and the bow sprit in place. 
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There is still much to do here, and I am unsure of the mechanics of the rest of the deck workings. I a using the drawing section which is reasonable, and I will do my best but remain unsure as the photos are not complete and the system is not like our new England set up.   It is fun to learn though

Cheers 
 

[Cathead]

Nice progress! Love the anvil.

[druxey]

Good progress. Love the extended tailstock!

[Jond]

Dear Cathead

My father in law was a navy officer below decks running the boat [ Destroyer] during WWII.  After he came home he spent several years working in Schenectady, NY where they build Railroad engines and this anvil ended up in his shop.  I don't know its history other than it was one of his favorite possessions.   I am sure it has a hidden story that would be fun to know.

 

cheers 

[Jond]

thank you Druxey.

 

I have used similar setups  making masts with Sitka spruce up to almost 3 feet.  However masts or other spars over about 15 inches only come up from time to time and I somehow get through the challenge.  A more worrisome issue is the Norwegian rigging come straight at me.....Thanks to Harvey I just got a rigging book written by a Swede that looks like a whole new rabbit hole to descend.  We'll see how that goes.

cheers 

Edited Friday at 08:56 PM by Jond

[Jond]

10a part way through the deck furnishing

Before sharing progress. I want to share a news clipping I received just recently. A local retired Shipwright passed away and donated his library to the local library book shop. The volunteer there helps us at the historical society, She knows I am doing a multiyear study of our shipyards as well as the study of the Northwest passage and other related stories.  She showed me this clipping knowing it would fascinate me and here we are.

• 00 

The online record states that the San Francisco park had suspended the repairs to Gjoa in 1939 but resumed them after the war, and completed the effort in 1949.  The clipping here is from 1957 and has a great photo of the deck.  This image agrees with a one other [ I posted it earlier] and I have followed it. The forward anchor windless assembly is black and the mid or Main windless is dark here, and green in a museum image.  So along with the enjoyment of hearing about unsuccessful engine pirates, we gain a tid bit of info to either use or not  I understand today much more of what is on board seems to be white. There are not however comprehensive images I have found and for a few issues, I hope to be more successful. Specially how did they rig the tillar?

The working progress including a snowy New Years

This partial update is to cover some of the fiddling to get the deck furniture done. When scratch building, we get to rummage through our stash of unused stuff.  Either unused kit material or surplus buying that now fills many plastic tubs. We also get to build stuff, and it can be a real learning curve.
A.    First up the anchor windless.

• 1 -2 here I have taken an unused kit supplied windless that will need to be extended both for winches and gears for the drive chains.  In view 2 I  drilled holes for short extension shafts.
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• 3-4. here I am used sheet pear wood to make up the windless stands.
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• 5 and here we are finally set in place. I do openly admit the diameter of the barrels is a bit undersized, sorry…… 
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Ice Bucket 

I have a question that I plan to ask Harvey….if the ice bucket is suspended as it is shown on the drawings all by itself.  I assume hung on some of those many mast rings. However, I ask……, with no extended climbing means, how did the crew get there if the wind and sea are a mess?

• 6-7 show two images of the ice bucket on the schooner Bowdoin.  It sits on a spreader, and the ratline takes you right there.  Just a comparison and the basis of my rhetorical question.
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• 8-9 to build the bucket, [ it has sloped sides] I took the inside lines from the plan and shaped a plug.  I then covered it with saran wrap and over a few days glued piece after piece.  I then sliced off the bottom of the plug and glued it in for the floor.   
• 
• 10-11.  here is an overall view showing the anchors and some progress on the bowsprit. The second view shows the anchor winch with chain leading to the boxes and ice bucket sitting on the deck waiting for me to figure out how to attach it to the mast. The main winch pieces are waiting to be assembled with the pumps too.
• 

Cheers 
 

Edited Friday at 08:59 PM by Jond
typo

[sheepsail]

You are sore tempting me to this ship.   While before my time I love the SF connection.

 

The SF Chronicle has a photo archive.  A friend of mine has used it to get high quality photos from the SF Fox which was a theater scrapped too soon.   The paper also advertises that old photos are available.   From time to time reporters will find interesting unpublished photos.   I am not sure how much of this is scanned.   Might be possible to locate a high quality version of the deck photo.

 

The halftone, like the only know photo of the Saginaw is pretty course so even this could possibly be cleaned up a bit. 

 

-julie  building a Forester lumber schooner. 

 

[Harvey Golden]

On 1/2/2026 at 12:05 PM, Jond said:

Ice Bucket 
I have a question that I plan to ask Harvey….if the ice bucket is suspended as it is shown on the drawings all by itself.  I assume hung on some of those many mast rings. However, I ask……, with no extended climbing means, how did the crew get there if the wind and sea are a mess?

Hi Jond!  I wondered the same about the crow's nest-- I'd never heard the term "ice bucket" before, but I like it!  It appears (on the old Model Shipways Plans?) that it had a 'Jacob's Ladder' (rope, with wooden rungs).  I still haven't found out whether or not there was a hatch in the floor of the ice bucket, or if one went over the top to get in-- the rope ladder seems to just go up to the bottom of the bucket, so probably it had a hatch floor?  Hope this helps, and hope someone who knows will chime in. 

Best, Harvey

[Jond]

My bad....I should have written" Ice Barrel". not bucket.  Here is a picture from the biography of Donald MacMillan who went with Peary to the North pole and then led his own expeditions from 1910 to 1954. He designed and built the Schooner Bowdoin right here in our town , so I am quite prejudiced.    Bob Bartlett was with him too with Peary and again sailing Ernestina Morrissey. Their name for the barrel is what I latched onto a few years back.  Here is a photo from his book with the caption.  More important is to understand the ease of entry.  All the peak halyard blocks and lines are behind the mast making it easy to both hold on and climb in over the top. getting to the spreader is no big deal.  Perhaps when I get there I will find the same logic.   

 

I don't argue the idea of a trap door, it just doesn't seem safe. Think of the thick gloves/mittens and bulky clothes being worn while climbing or worse descending. what is there inside to stand on while the hatch is open?  etc.   I am totally guessing at this point but would image the Jacob ladder SHOULD have gone to the top....😁.  I'll wait till I get to the halyard rigging.  I probably just leave it a mystery.

 

  cheers