Marie Jeanne 580 by Roach Boi - Billing Boats - 1:50

[Roach Boi]

Here we are, my first build log on this site! 

 

I received this kit at a Christmas gift and I've had my eye on it for awhile. Not sure what drew my attention to this boat but I find its design really interesting and I love the enormous tuna rods that come off the side. I'm an experienced modeler but relatively new to the wooden ship hobby so follow along if you're interested in how I try to tackle this beast of a kit. I'm going to be working on this alongside the lobstersmack which I have on hold for now but I want to make a log for this kit specifically because of the limited logs I've found of the billing boats version of this French tuna boat. 

 

 

I'm a bit ahead in the build already at the time of writing this but I've been taking some photos along the way. The first step was to build a base with some scrap wood to fit the helling (heeling?) for the keel. I used the bulbing board from my Model Shipways Dory along with some scrap pieces of wood I broke apart to afix the keel in place to help angle the ribs correctly. I squared this triangle helling with some machinists blocks and sandpaper before gluing it to the bulbing board, I did the same to the bottom of the keel to make sure everything sat nice and square to the board.

 

 

After this I began installing the ribs as shown. I used my two machinists blocks on either side of the rib to keep it square to the keel while gluing (I was a bit further along in this photo but wanted to show how I did it anyways). The trickiest part was getting the ribs to sit evenly from side to side (port to starboard?). As they were slightly loose to the keel so it allowed some play. I just eyeballed this knowing my blocks were the same height and that the rib should be equally high on both sides of the keel. After this I added the two support rails for the ribs. I presoaked these and fitted them before gluing.

 

 

I left the rails long in the back in anticipation of the transom, I figured they could add some extra structural integrity to the stern of the ship. Also, I was test fitting the false deck during the installation of these rails as to make sure the alignment was correct when I glued them in. 

 

The front support rail that spans the first 3 ribs at the bow needed some sanding to get it fitted. It protruded too far upwards into the deck than I liked and needed to take a few mm off the front and bottom of this piece to get it to sit right. Here's some more photos of the build at this stage:

 

 

 

 

Anyways let me know what you think! Hopefully I'm doing this build log post correctly. Its time for this sailor to retire to bed, more updates tomorrow!

 

[yvesvidal]

Billing Boats has plenty of beautiful and cute ships. I will be following your Build Log with a lot of interest.

 

Yves