Lowell Grand Banks Dory by LoydB - Model Shipways - 1:24 - First Build

[tmj]

10 hours ago, Kenchington said:

For me, and probably most others, the dory build is a lesson in creative clamping!

 

Like 'this'! LOL

 

[LoydB]

After getting it off the stand, realized there were a few places that the plank didn't completely touch the frame, so touched those up. Plus added the bow strip. I'm just guessing on which thickness of wood to use, as the instructions don't mention it and I don't see a plan view that specifies.

 

[LoydB]

Shaped the false stem, and attached the first two side cleats.

 

[LoydB]

Finally back on this after the holiday season, hope everyone is doing well in 2026. 

 

I cleaned up the seats and added the seat risers, I'm closing in on it. Question though, what are the pieces circled in red? I'm starting to get 'Why are there leftover bolts?" after reassembling something vibes.

 

 

[Old N Salty]

LoydB, the long part you have circled on top looks like it might be one of the riser supports that go under the seats.  The small ones i don't see.  You may want to refer to some of the other members build logs or try sending the pic to Model Shipways they have fantastic customer support.

  

[Kenchington]

The dory has both "bands" outboard and "gunwales" (inboard) to reinforce the top of the sheerstrakes. (They are steps 16 & 17 in the instructions.) The longer piece circled is one of those -- a gunwale, I think.

 

Don't worry over the smaller circled pieces. They are duplicates and should be left over if you don't break anything!

 

Trevor

[LoydB]

2 hours ago, Old N Salty said:

LoydB, the long part you have circled on top looks like it might be one of the riser supports that go under the seats.  The small ones i don't see.  

  

 

The seat risers have already been installed.

 

 

2 hours ago, Kenchington said:

The dory has both "bands" outboard and "gunwales" (inboard) to reinforce the top of the sheerstrakes. (They are steps 16 & 17 in the instructions.) The longer piece circled is one of those -- a gunwale, I think.

 

 

In the instructions, the gunwales are made from 1/16" square stock. I have no idea what else it could be for. 

 

[ccoyle]

An eagle-eyed member alerted me to this build log being in the wrong sub-forum, but it is all fixed now!

[Kenchington]

3 hours ago, LoydB said:

the gunwales are made from 1/16" square stock

OK: It has been a year since I built my version of the kit, while I've had much else to fill my head in the meanwhile!

 

Is the piece you circled the "band"? You don't seem to have those fitted in your photos from earlier today.

 

Trevor

 

 

[LoydB]

On 1/4/2026 at 6:20 PM, Kenchington said:

Is the piece you circled the "band"? You don't seem to have those fitted in your photos from earlier today.

 

 

I don't see any outboard bands in either the instructions or in the various pix I've seen online, but I'm also a noob, so maybe I'm not looking for what I think I am.  I'll email Expo when I'm back at the house later, thanks.

 

 

[JacquesCousteau]

I'm pretty sure they're the bands. On my build, I added them at this point:

 

They sit on the outboard side of the planks, following the sheer.

[MikJ]

On 1/4/2026 at 4:48 PM, LoydB said:

I cleaned up the seats and added the seat risers, I'm closing in on it. Question though, what are the pieces circled in red? I'm starting to get 'Why are there leftover bolts?" after reassembling something vibes.

 

I'm also preparing to start the dory build soon, and following your log.
From looking at my boards and the instructions, the long circled pieces should be the bands, to be applied at step 16. I guess that's where you are now.
And I suppose the shorter ones are for the bottom and side cleats. What did you use for the cleats?

[LoydB]

Ahah. There's no actual picture, it's just on the plan sheet. I missed that completely, thanks y'all.

 

[LoydB]

1 hour ago, MikJ said:

And I suppose the shorter ones are for the bottom and side cleats. What did you use for the cleats?

 

I used basswood strips. I gotta say, having a labeled view off all of these lasered sheets would have added 2 pages to the instructions PDF and would have been immensely helpful. 

[ruifac]

On 11/28/2025 at 6:31 PM, Kenchington said:

Sure is! I got by without turning to Superglue but it needs a lot of care, first to only use the minimum required pressure and then to have the force bear on the stem or transom, not on the unsupported plank. I didn't do a build log for my dory but, looking back at the photos I took, I did the garboards with the kind of rachet clamp that allows you to only squeeze as tight as you choose. Later planks that couldn't be grippe that way got rubber bands, with a clamp to the baseboard to control both tension and the angle of the force applied.

 

For me, and probably most others, the dory build is a lesson in creative clamping!

 

Trevor

It sure is. This was my first build and I had to think out of the box for those clapings and elastics all the time. It was a fun build and a great learning experience.

[MikJ]

17 hours ago, LoydB said:

 

I used basswood strips. I gotta say, having a labeled view off all of these lasered sheets would have added 2 pages to the instructions PDF and would have been immensely helpful. 

Ok, I re-read the instructions: they explicitly say that the bottom cleats should be cut from the wood strips. Then, the pieces on the wood sheet are for the side cleats only, and 4 out of 8 are probably there as backup in case something breaks.