Gary Thomas by J Snyder - 1:16 - William Atkin 25 foot Sloop

[J Snyder]

I am starting on my first scratch build of the boat I helped build as a student at a boat building school near Fort Bragg, California in the 70s.

I have some mulberry wood that I am using for the stem, keel and deadwood. It has pronounced grain but is free and available.  I haven't decided on the level of detail for this first scratch build.  I built a thickness sander attachment for my drill press to get the lumber down to size and got started.

Gary Thomas Sail plan.pdf

[Jim Lad]

That's a very nice looking yacht!

 

John

[J Snyder]

I was one of two that worked on the full size one from lofting to sending it off. It was a wonderful experience to build the real boat and I look forward to building the model.

[KeithAug]

Good luck with the build. I looks like an interesting  project. You might find that building small is just as time consuming as building the real thing.

[ccoyle]

I'm trying to decode your title. Are there two names in there? One for the sloop and one for the designer?

[J Snyder]

Yes Chris, You figured it out. Sorry for the confusion. Keith, I hope not! I hope to build a series of them getting more detailed as I go finishing with one with full interior in a larger scale maybe 1:12 or 1:10

[J Snyder]

Well a lot of things to figure out. And I already regret using hardboard for the molds. That's what inexperience and a supply of hardboard gets you.

I fastened the molds from the bottom of the building board so I can remove them individually. I'm thinking of adding frames to the edge of the molds to add to the gluing area.

[J Snyder]

I tried to get the molds to stand vertical but carefully making them but I had to resort to shimming with a piece of paper under the back half of the mountings. I cut some basswood strips and and soaked them in a glass of water that I boiled in a microwave.  I am forming the boxwood on the edge of the molds for added support for the planking.

[KeithAug]

It is sometimes fun to follow a first scratch build because prior knowledge does not constrain how things are done and mistakes provide endless opportunities for innovation. Following along is going to be educational. 

[J Snyder]

 Yes, I got the prototype build method in my head and a lot of kit build photos so trying to blend them is a challenge. Like the keel assembly I cut out all the pieces like the prototype when I could have made it in one piece.

 

[J Snyder]

Because of not extending the stem I had to figure out a way of holding the top. So I cut a block and inserted a steel pin that fit into a hold drilled into the stem.

Then I tapered the deadwood. Next up the transom.

[J Snyder]

I haven't got much done on the model after starting to fair the molds I am disappointed in the section lines accuracy that I used to cut out the molds. Now, I know that the lines should always be drawn full size using the table of offsets and I attempted that in a couple of different CAD programs and I found quite a few problems with the table which left me puzzled (one or two off by one foot but many off by unusual amounts) so I went with the sections as drawn for this model.

I should clarify the years ago when I joined the boat building class almost all the lines had all ready been laid down and faired on the loft floor so I didn't get to experience the frustration of deciding which point to disregard or where to fit the line for a fair curve.

I just spent some time using the free version of DELFTship. After transferring the lines using the table into the program I used them as a guide to see where to disregard areas for fair lines and still get the shape and dimensions of the boat.

And as typical of me much time was spent trying to do simple things like changing layer names. I don't think you can with the free version? If it is posable I could not find a way to do so! 

I got the hull looking "fair" so next time I can use the CAD file for the molds. I will get back to work on the existing model and fix the problematic areas. 

[KeithAug]

On 12/10/2025 at 3:29 PM, J Snyder said:

I am disappointed in the section lines accuracy that I used to cut out the molds.

Yes that is a common problem. I invariably find that I have a few section that need to be "filled out" using edging strips. All part of the fun of scratch building.

[J Snyder]

Well, I got the low sections raised with some boxwood strips. and the fairing is good enough. Now comes the planking layout. On the full size boat we made the garboard from a full dimension 2" x 12" plank planed down and shaped to follow the curve of the molds. I will check and see if that makes sense in scale.

[J Snyder]

I need to correct something the wood I am using now is Basswood not Boxwood. I pick up a quantity from JoAnns going out of business sale. But of course most of it is not thin enough for the planking so I need to order more.

[J Snyder]

I got the plank layout finished. I started with laying a 1/2" wide batten to see how planks would lay naturally. But that would cause the planks to sweep up and end on the sheer so they will all have a curve to the keel at the bow and slightly at the stern. I know this is not unusual but I was surprised that much of the mid stations don't need any curves. When I start cutting the planks this will be seen.  

[J Snyder]

Slow start on the planking. I made a pattern for the garboard plank and to my surprise both sides are the same!

Tomorrow put some twist and bend where needed and glue them down. The widest point on the garboard turned out to be 5-1/2 inch a far cry from the nearly 12 inch we used In the full size boat.

[Jim Lad]

Always good to get the planking started - even better when both sides match! 😀

 

John

[KeithAug]

On 12/15/2025 at 2:20 AM, J Snyder said:

to my surprise both sides are the same!

The more you practice the luckier you get.

[J Snyder]

Jim, I think it will start to look like a boat soon.

Keith, Yes but with only 15 planks per side I will need a few more boats and different shapes before I get good at it.

 

I got two more from the garboard on and I am working on the sheer strake. I'm using 1/8" (3.2mm) stock for the sheer strake because there is a lot of curve at the stern for a nice width plank. The last two molds have a lot of curve at the top so I used a small gouge to cup the end of the planks and sanded the out side down to 3/32" (2.4mm) so the sheer will be a little thicker then the rest of the planking. I have been "steaming" or boiling the planks using a microwave. Then I dry them with a MonoKote heat sealing tool.  

[J Snyder]

I thought I would show a picture of the DIY thickness sander I made. I got the sanding sleaves and drum from Amazon and I made the spindle on my lathe. To keep the drum running relatively smoothly I have the spindle mounted in the base on two small ball bearings. The base is a cut off section of a manhole cover I got from work. and the "table" is a piece of 1/2" (13mm) steel plate. both the base and table are milled flat and square.