Portuguese Barco Rabelo by Ferrus Manus - Ocidental Replicas - 1/75 - PLASTIC - a Douro River work boat from the early 20th Century

[Ferrus Manus]

Hello all, 

If you remember my recent build log, I made a Medieval Hanseatic cog for an ex-professor of mine from community college. As a bit of background, he grew up in Portugal and recently traveled back to Portugal during the summer while classes were out. Anyway, as a sort-of belated birthday gift, he decided to get me this: 

This is a model of a type of riverboat that operated on the Douro River, in Portugal, called the Rabelo. The Rabelo boats mainly transported Port wine from the upriver wineries to the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, where they were (and still are) exported to the world. Anyway, I have tried to find this model online for at least a year, with no luck. So, Professor Afonso and I decided to exchange ships. 

I plan to build this model as one of the original Rabelo boats from the early 20th century, and I plan to make it as perfect of a replica as possible, using some new techniques and materials. Overall, the kit is extremely well-executed and detailed, so there are no problems there. 

I plan on using several documentaries as well as some photographs as well as a book for reference. 

Edited September 28 by Ferrus Manus

[Ferrus Manus]

We need not dredge up the shipwrecks of the Douro- these boats existed in living memory, and some, I assume, still exist in their current form. However, some documentation would be nice. For that reason, I will be ordering a book about the design and function of the Rabelos. 

In other news, I will be starting the model officially probably tonight. I have the hull off the sprue. It's a very detailed, very beautiful thing, with correct dimensions and wood grain molding on both the interior and the exterior, and markings for the correct alignments of parts. This already sets the model above many others I have built. 

Here is the diagram on the back of the instruction sheet, which will be very helpful with determining where everything goes: 

The first order of business will be to clean up the parts and attach the four oarlocks at the fore and aft, and then the eight removable planks that serve to increase the freeboard of the ship. In addition, the fulcrum for the steering oar, the espadella, will be added. 

Afterwards, the hull will be painted. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I began work on the Rabelo by installing the forward oarlocks and putting the removable boards into position. Then, I painted the entire hull. The hull was painted with a mixture of brown and grey, then a brown wash was applied, and afterwards, I dry-brushed the interior of the hull. Here are the results: 

The manufacturer was kind enough to put the ejector pin marks in places that wouldn't be seen on the completed model. 

[Ferrus Manus]

I've painted quite a bit of the boat now, including the decks, some parts at the bow and stern, and the boat's very long name: 

Later, the decks will become crowded with the crew's tools and equipment, so enjoy them now while they're bare. More to come soon. 

[Ferrus Manus]

In a long overdue and I assume much awaited update, I have begun work on the apegadas, the large platform that sits above the stern upon which the steersman pilots the boat. I have also made a very interesting observation: The stated scale of 1/75 would make this one of, if not the largest Rabelo boat ever sailed. For that reason, I will be amending the scale to something closer to 1/64. 

I have stolen some 1/64 scale figures to use as the crew of the boat. This will be my first model to feature a crew, and I already have ideas. 

 

Paulo and Miguel argue about the improperly stowed tools and equipment: 

Some more images of the apegadas: 

What I have also found is that the crews of the Rabelos had a habit of tying all of their "stuff" to the timbers immediately underneath the apegadas, as shown below: 

That's easy when the bottom of the platform is at maximum two feet above your head- not ten feet. For that reason, the crew of my Rabelo will have to stow their gear closer to the deck and within reach. That will be the next job. 

[Ferrus Manus]

@JacquesCousteau I revisited your Canoa de Rancho just now, and immediately recognized just how similar these boats were to the Rabelo boat I'm working on now. Truly, convergent evolution does exist in shipbuilding! 

[JacquesCousteau]

11 hours ago, Ferrus Manus said:

@JacquesCousteau I revisited your Canoa de Rancho just now, and immediately recognized just how similar these boats were to the Rabelo boat I'm working on now. Truly, convergent evolution does exist in shipbuilding! 

Very interesting! There are certainly some overlapping features, presumably driven by similar needs.

[Ferrus Manus]

The Rabelo now has its payload, that being 32 pipas ("pipes" or casks) of Port wine from the Alto Douro vineyards, bound for Vila Nova de Gaia. The casks are partially covered with my first-ever attempt at a tarpaulin, which is folded back so you can see them. 

If there weren't enough things in the cargo section already, there will also be a bundle of poles for the aft awning, as well another bundle for the poles and boat hooks. The men would intentionally beach the Rabelo for the night on a sandy part of the river (few and far between) and in the morning they would pole the boat off of the sand and back into flowing water. That doesn't include the two large planks they would have stowed lengthwise onboard the ship for offloading the wine: 

They would also often sail down the river with no rig, as the river's momentum was often sufficient to keep them in motion, sometimes supplemented with rowing. They would then set the completely removable mast and sail at either Porto or Gaia for the return journey. Remember when I mentioned the need for the removable planks to increase freeboard? The reason why those were necessary is that these men packed the boats so full of wine as to be dangerously overloaded. The rest of the equipment has yet to be stowed under the apegadas. 

[Ferrus Manus]

Special thanks to @madtatt for teaching me how to make tarpaulins.