Ship's Boat By KevinR - FINISHED - Model Shipway - Small

[JSGerson]

If you don't mind, I've got a few more question for you:

 

• Did you notice that the transom seemed to be short in height? On my model there was a 1/16" of an inch gap inside the the keel transom notch. At first I thought the gap must have a purpose that would reveal itself as the build progressed, but now I don't think so. I added a filler strip across the transom. Since you are ahead of me, did you run into the same thing?

 

• Did you have trouble determining where the sheer strip actual met the stem? It appears to be above where the curved 1/16" strip ends on the stem. I guessing the point of contact to the stem is forward of the curved stem strip because the planking would be against the strip. The plan is not very detailed there. What did you do?

Thanks, Jon

[KevinR]

Jon,

I also noticed the transom was short.  After I remade the keel, I noticed that I forgot to cut the notch for the transom, when I went to glue it. I thought about going back and cutting it, but decided that it would look better if the transom was a little higher, and it fit perfectly without it. If I had cut the notch the bottom of the boat would have been straight. The bottom of my boat is a little higher in the stern. I think it looks more realistic. Whether it is historically accurate, I do not know.

As for the shear meeting the stem, I just estimated based off of the drawing in the plans.

 

 

 

[michael20]

Hey Kevin,

I see you have made great progress, Your bat looks great. Once you sand it up you will find that it will make most of your glue mistakes disappear. You can always use natural stain and it would highlight the grain and not change the color of your wood. Keep it up, it looks fantastic.

 

Happy Modeling,

Marty G.

[KevinR]

Marty, thanks for the comments and advice.

[KevinR]

Marty, sorry for the short answer, I was on my way to bed. My plan is to sand it down and stain it. If I like ho it looks I leave it. If to much glue shows or my planking job bothers me to much I will paint it. I never intended this to be a show piece. I just figured it would be a easy and cheap leaning tool. It may not look to good, but I have already learned a lot and know that I can do much better next time.

[KevinR]

I finished the planking today and cut the boat off of the formers.

I started sanding the port side. I left the starboard side alone so that I could see the difference.

 

Marty, I am hoping that the glue does not screw up that stain. I really do not want to paint it.

I See no reason to use a plastic or cast metal ship's boat if you can build a boat to replace it.

[dgbot]

Outstanding job Kevin.  I can understand why you wish to leave it natural.

David B

[CaptainSteve]

Kevin,

 

I agree with DG. She looks just fine.

Besides, these boats were all hand-made by imperfect creatures called "humans".

So, a few tiny imperfections will give it "character".

[JSGerson]

It's coming along very nicely. You're making a lot more progress than I am as I plod along.

 

I did notice that you ended up with the result that I have been trying to avoid so it will be interesting to see how you handle it. There is a gap between the bow bulkhead and the planking which I believe is a model design flaw. As I figured it, there should have been a notch in the keel for the bulkhead and handled just like the ribs. It would have made the bulkhead wider so all the planking would have fitted flush. Hopefully, when all the other stuff is put it their place, this minor flaw will be hidden.

 

Jon

[KevinR]

Jon,

You may be right on the positioning of the bulkhead. When I added the shears, I realized that this was going to happen. I just did the best I could.

Options I have considered:

1. Fill it in with wood putty.

2.Cut wood to fill the gaps.

3. Cover it with another bulkhead.

The bow is suppose to be a locker, but adding another bulkhead, even at 1/32" thick, would make it to big IMO. Whatever I do, I hope planking over the bow will hide any defects.

 

Up until now I have not worried about scale. Now I am re-thinking the plans. If I treat this as 1:48/1:50 scale the full size boat would be 21-22'. By my reckoning that would be 4 or 5 rowing benches. The plans show 3 rowing benches and a large area for the coxswain. I will most likely have at least 4 benches. Maybe I can squeeze in a 5th.

I have been looking at the Sultana's boat to get ideas.

I estimate the sultan's boat about 18' and has 4 rowing benches.The benches look to be about 8" wide. The strips for the benches in the kit are 1/8" which translates to 1'. The Sultana's boat also has washboards with knees bracing them. Lots of possibilities.

[JSGerson]

Because I chose the 4 3/4" sized boat to fit the Rattlesnake, I'm treating my model boat as 1:64 scale, the same as the Mamoli kit.

 

I thought about a bow locker, but not sure what it would look like for this boat. Take a look at the boats Captain Steve made for his 1:76 scale USS Constitution. He did a fabulous job on four different boats. There should be plenty of ideas to choose from for lockers, seats, oars, etc.

 

Jon

 

Edit: changed "six" to "four: I stand corrected

Edited February 17, 2014 by JSGerson

[KevinR]

The strips for the benches in the kit are 1/8" which translates to 1'.

Correction to my earlier post. The kit comes with 1/4" strips for the rowing benches which translates to 1' at 1:48 scale.

[scott larkins]

It's looking nice so far.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

[KevinR]

I ran out of the 1/16x1/16" strips that I needed to finish the ribs. I tried to cut down some of the wood that I did have on hand but the results were disappointing after installing the ribs. So I removed the ribs and bought some more 1/16x1/16" strips. I had problems bending the new strip, the wood grains were not straight, so I got lots of splinters. I ended up splitting some 1/32x1/8" strips into 1/32x1/16". I used 2 pieces laminated together for the remaining ribs. Thinks JSGerson for the idea. It was a lot easier to work with.

[scott larkins]

I can see where that would be a little tough.  Making good progress though.

[KevinR]

I am getting close to the end now. Today I built the floor boards. Then added the seats to the boat.  All that is left is the rudder and the rail. I am also thinking about adding washboards to the rails.

[michael20]

Wow Kevin,

 

That little boat looks great. I'll be looking foreward to seeing the finished outcome.

 

Happy Modeling,

Marty G.

[KevinR]

I was busy this weekend and accomplished quite a bit.

 

I traced the boat onto card stock so I could get the shape of the rails. Then cut out the shapes and glued them to the boards.  When the card stock was glued it stretched about 1/4". Luckily it was not enough that I could not correct.

 

I wanted to add wash boards, so I made the knees to brace them and bent 2 planks.

 

Adding the port side wash board went smoothly, The starboard side though was a different story, All 4 of the knees broke off at the rail and had to be re-glued.

 

 

Edited to remove duplicate posts.

 

All that is left id to add the tiller and apply the polyurethane.

Edited March 3, 2014 by Kevin from Hampton Roads

[dgbot]

Nice way of making the raill.  No bending.

David B

[KevinR]

David,

I wasn't sure I could get them to bend that much. I chose the easy route.

[KevinR]

Ok it is finished. Here are the final photos.

[CaptainSteve]

That's a really good job you've done there, Kevin !!!

[dgbot]

I like well done.

David B

[JSGerson]

Very nice. I'm still plodding along, one step forward then two steps back. I'm no further ahead than I was 3 weeks ago. I must commend you for a job well done. 

[scott larkins]

Very well done sir!

[KevinR]

Thank you everyone for the complements.