Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by Piet - FINISHED - Midwest Products - length 15"

[GLakie]

It's a good thing you're doing for Wounded Warriors Piet. All I can do for now is send them $19 a month, but wish I could do more. My nephew Justine's been in the Rangers for more than 20 years now, and you never know when bad things can happen.

 

Cheers 

[Piet]

Hello George, actually all the attaboys go to Sawdust Dave, he is the one who dreamed it up.  But, I'm glad to be able to participate in a small way and hope that Dave's event draws a large crowd with success in raffling off all the models that are being made for donations.

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

After looking at the drawing again I realized that I have to make the centerboard well as Hexnut mentioned it.  So then, this morning I set out to "modify" the keel portion where the centerboard would be.  I removed enough keel material between bulkheads 2 and 3 so the top is even with the cabin entryway.

 

Now to make the side planking for the centerboard well.  I took a piece of poplar lumber and ripped-off 2 each 1 mm planks from it.  I won't make them stick ip too far above the work deck.

Next I shaped the planks is such a way that they can be glued to the sides of the keel and run into the cabin about 3/4 of the way forward.  Looks okay to me.

 

I also ripped-off a bunch of 1 X 5 mm poplar planks for the work area planking.  These still have to be sanded.  I'm also going to add a few more deck beams and a few fake frames in that area.  

 

Then make pattern for the cabin side panels and a few knees for the top deck.  Oh, so many more small items to add detail, not only in the cabin but in other parts of this lovely little boat.

 

Sorry, no pics today.  I got busy cooking a few Indonesian dishes.  Both my wife and I love Indonesian food.

 

See all yuns tomorrow.

 

Cheers, 

[Piet]

Hello all, it;s been a few days since my last post but I have not been sitting on my hands.  Been busy with other projects, one of which is version 2.0 of the O19 dinghy.

Also thinking about modding the cockpit area by cutting down the last bulkhead so I can extend the deck / floor of the work area into the cockpit.  Dee Dee and Hexnut mentioned it and I saw it on Dee Dee's build.

 

Most things are still in the rough state but tidying-up  and adjusting all of the modded stuff should go rather quick.  

 

I installed the planking on the cabin bulkheads, or made a start with it.  I don't know yet how far I'll go with the cabin furniture, it'll most likely be sparse.  Thinking now to put two bunks in on the starboard side, a shelf like thingy for a table and Hexnut mentioned a stove.  Hmmmm, yes, a stove - - - but - but -

 

The fish / lobster well is now also almost ready to plank but I need to think about framing for the hatches.  Also making a bunch fake frames for the cockpit and work area.

 

I laid the "king" plank already in the work and cockpit area. I'm close to ready for planking that section.

 

Well, here are a few pics of where we stand right now.  

 

I started paneling the forward bulkhead and used 0.65 mm birch plywood.  I put some moulding on the sides to make it look more finished - - - hmmm - actually to hide a few rough edges   I think I'll leave it in thi color and put some clear poly on it.   The rest will be done when the sides are installed.

 

Same procedure with the cockpit aft bulkhead.  This too is not finished yet.

 

Here is the aft bulkhead cut down with some additional stringers for the deck / floor planking.  I am also adding a partition just aft of the cockpit and you see it here loosely put in place.  There is still some trimming to be done.  I left the space open for the helm.  You can also see the "king" plank in place.

 

An overall view looking forward.

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

I made some progress between my other activities. 

 

I continued planking the cockpit / work area deck / floor, which is almost completed.

 

I also made two deck beams for the fish bin with the carlings for the bin access holes and hatches.  I'll be continuing with the planking and hopefully adding a few fake frames in the cockpit / work area.

 

I made the access holes 20 X 20 mm square, the opening will be reduced by 1.5 mm on all sides due to the uprights for the hatch covers that are to fit over them.  This'll give me a working opening of 17 mm across.

 

Here is a picture as she looks as of this afternoon.  I need to spend some time with the O19 dinghy tomorrow but between glueing jobs I should be able to work both at the same time.

 

 

Cheers,

Edited December 16, 2014 by Piet

[GLakie]

Lookin' mighty fine Piet!

[bdgiantman2]

Your model is coming along very nicely and you are doing a great job. Maybe I should see about donating my first model of the Lobster Smack to the same charity, although yours looks way more realistic.

[Piet]

Thank you George.  Yup, she's coming along okay, so far.  Ready to plank the fish bin 

 

Hello bdglantman2, thank you too for your kind words.  Don't worry about realism. The people that may get one of these models can most likely not tell the difference between a schooner, a yawl, ketch, sloop or whatever.  As long as they have a nice looking model on the mantle and donate to a very worthy cause   

If I wanted realism I would build one scratch in a larger scale.  I just love this type of vessel and I did design my own Freedom sloop model that I build scratch.

 

Cheers,

[russ]

Very nice work so far. The hull looks great.

 

Russ

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for visiting and your like votes.

 

Hello Russ and thank you for your kind words, appreciate it.

 

 

I'm not in the least thrilled with the balsa side planking and have caused some damage to the top sides in handling.  But I guess that's the price i am paying for batching it to this extend.  If the boat is build according to the build guidance this won't happen though because the deck'll be on first.

 

Okay, I managed to complete the planking of the cockpit / work area and the fish bin deck.  I also made and installed planking to the fish bin aft bulkhead.

 

Next job?  that'll be a toss-up right now.  I think I need to make a few false ribs for the cockpit / work area to strengthen the side planking.  I did glue a strip of heavy paper to the outside at the sheer.  I was even contemplating of a sheer nylon cloth over the hull with poly urethane like I did on the O19 sub hull. 

 

Well, in any case I'll play it by ear right now and keep plugging along.  At least I'm in the building-up stage and not tearing things down 

 

 

Cheers, 

[Piet]

Thanks everyone for dropping in and clicking the like button.

 

Well, I decided to make the additional "false" frames in the cockpit / work area and at the fish bin.  I figured it enhances the look somewhat and will give the deck some more points to glue to.    

 

I also installed the framing for the fish bin hatches.

 

Everything is still in the rough and awaits dressing-up.

 

Here are the pics of today's activities.

 

 

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

She's coming along nicely Piet!

 

Cheers 

[Piet]

Thank you George for your kind words and thanks to all for visiting and clicking the like button.

 

Did some work on this little sloop.  I made the bench seat for the cockpit out of a piece of 1.5 mm boxwood that I cut out of a previously made plank.  I made that plank for another project out of a larger timber on my 10 inch bench saw and smoothed it down with a belt sander.

 

Looking at the photo I think I'll have to make it a little narrower and also narrower planks.  I kinda followed the kit drawing but it just looks a little to big.  

There'll be (fake) storage lockers under the seats therefore the seat planking will have to be close together to keep most of the water out of the lockers

 

There is some more cleaning and tweeking to be done with other things as well but I'm progressing.

 

 

 

Cheers, 

Edited December 21, 2014 by Piet

[russ]

Nice looking seats. The miter joints look very good. Great detail.

 

Russ

[Piet]

Hello Russ, Thanks for dropping in and your very kind words.  Let truth be told about the miters - - - I cut the entire seat out of one piece and temporarily pencilled in the planking lines     Yeah I know, I cheated a little but I am already going way overboard with the bashing thing and really did not want to spend the time to make a build-up seat assembly.

 

I did cut the seats back a few mm this afternoon but spend most of the day on my O19 dinghy rudder hinges.  

 

Cheers, 

[popeye the sailor]

you've made some great progress on her Piet!   have a wonderful holiday season...you and your admiral!! 

[Piet]

Thank you Popeye and Gwen and I also wish you and all yours a very meaningful holiday and a healthy, prosperous 2015.

 

Cheers,

[Piet]

Hello everyone, I trust all y'all had a great holiday.

 

I finally finished the dinghy for my O19 submarine model and can spend more time on this little boat.

In between jobs I managed to finish the cockpit seat and installed it.  

I'm now moving forward and started on making the bunks for the little cabin.  The lower bunk is all glued in but the top bunk still needs to be finished.  I'm holding off with that one till I have scrounged up "stuff" for the mattress and bedding materials before I can glue the top bunk in for excess to the lower bunk.  I still need to stain the bulkhead planking before I can finalize the bunks.

I don't know yet about other furniture beside a table.  A stove would be nice but I need to think about that one.  It would pose a real fire hazzard and we need to put some asbestos heat shields in    OSHA and the EPA will not be happy with that idea   

 

I also made the gudgeons and pintles for the rudder today but need to wait with installing the rudder till the cabin interior is finished.  That'll be the last thing to do before I can put the deck on.

 

Here are a few picks of the work so far.

 

 

 

I made lockers under the benches to stow "stuff" in.  

 

Perhaps not standard equipment, having two bunks but I figured - why not.  I plan to add 2 mm to the cabin roof to give the top bunk a little more headroom 

 

Cheers,

[russ]

In boats like this, a lot of cooking was done on deck using a charcoal fire and a pot.

 

Russ

[bdgiantman2]

Piet and Russ, thanks for the information and the pics. I did the same thing on my Lobster Smack putting the "lockers" under the cockpit seats. Didn't think that a little boat like this would have bunks considering usually did short hauls, but interesting to learn about the cooking being done on deck. This model is coming along very nicely. Keep it up.

[Piet]

Thanks for dropping in Russ and BD, and for your kind words and info, it's much appreciated.

 

Yeah, I remember the stories from my friend up in Maine, he was / is a professional lobster fisherman.  Of course he used a power boat and always came back to shore in the evening.  However, there were times he went out further north and stayed overnight.  He would anchor in a sheltered cove and overnight there.  He had one of them Coleman thingies and cooked a simple one pot meal.

 

I already decided not to put a wood-burning stove in the cabin for exactly he reasons mentioned.  I did embellish on it though but only for the fun of it.

 

The same things could have happened way back in the mid 1850's so I just wanted to play with this idea with this little boat.  This model is also to be donated for auction where the proceeds go to the "Wounded warrior" funds and deviate enough from the kit plans to make it unique.   I wanted to have some fun with this build and deviate a little from making it a replica of how a real 1850's lobster smack looks like.  It kinda, sorta does but with some added "artistic license."

 

If I wanted to build one for me then I would scratch-build it using the plans from Howard Chapelle's book.  Do the research on it to find exactly how they looked like, how the were equipped, etc.  But I have already build a Friendship sloop model for my wife and am now finishing my father's submarine and am half way through a VOC ship.

 

Okay, up for a progress report in the next post.

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

 

 

[pete48]

Very Cool Piet, I just discovered your build log ( I have been away for a while ) Looks Good, They are very fun to build

Here is a Scratch build I did with a retractable centerboard

 

Best Regards,

Pete

Edited December 30, 2014 by Pete48

[Piet]

Progress report.  I have been messing around in the cabin and made two bunks with mattresses on the port side.  Then I made a fake cabinet on the starboard side with a little table.  The cabinet is just a plank with the cabinet doors and mouldings scribed into it.  

 

I am looking for some material for the blankets.  I may have to go to the fabric store and see if they can give me a a few square inches.  For the mattresses I used small pieces of styrofoam and wrapped pieces of an old handkerchief around it.  With the blankets over it it should look quite nice.

 

I made the helm from boxwood and soaked it in water overnight and bend it around my coffee cup and clamped it till it was dry.  I stained it in New England MapleI and used the same stain for the cockpit benches and the cabin furniture.

I painted the cabin walls white as the bulwarks.  I used Testors flat white, looks okay.   

 

I installed the rudder and helm.  It works 

 

I am ready to cement the deck to the hull but am rather apprehensive doing it.  The kit plans call for using slow acting CA but even with that I am afraid that I don't have enough time to position the deck properly. I have done a few dry runs and I do need more time positioning it properly then the CA gives me.  

I'm really leaning towards using Titebond glue and plenty of elastic bands to clamp it down.  Right now I'm not committed yet to which glue I'll be using.

 

Okay, here are a few pics of how the sloop looks like as of today.

 

This shows the finished benches and the helm.  The deck is just laying loose on top of the hull.  Thinking about the paint scheme, I may just paint the frames, bulwarks and bulkheads green.  I'll use the same green for the cabin coamings, toe rails, trail boards and wales.  I think to paint it red below the waterline and white above the waterline.  Just thinking ahead right now.

You may also see a pencil outline to where I thought in trimming some decking away.  This too is still up in the air.  It seems strange to me to have such a wide deck area where they man-handle lobster traps in and out.  But then again, why make extra work for me.

 

This hows the two bunks with the mattresses.  Yup, it's a fist class cabin, nothing but the best. 

 

This shows the starboard side of the cabin with the fake cupboard and table.  The cupboard is still  made to fit after the coaming and roof are being installed.  Thinking of adding a strip of wood around the top of the coaming for extra glue area for the cabin roof.

 

 

Cheers.

[russ]

Good looking details. The interior details are really great.

 

Russ

[Piet]

Hey Pete48, thanks for stopping by and the good words.  Also thanks for the pic of your model and yes, they are a fun boat to build.  Your's looks really very nice.  I didn't go so far as retracting the centerboard on mine.  I think I am already doing way too much but I'm having a ball with it.

 

And Russ, thanks you too for your compliments.  

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

She's trimming out nice Piet.  All you need now is satellite TV. 

 

Hope you and yours have a safe and Happy New Year Piet!

[Piet]

Hey George, good to see you here again and thanks for your kind words.  Hmmm, satilite TV?  Microwave oven, toaster oven, coffee maker, - - - what else do we need?  

 

Cheers,

[GLakie]

Maybe a wet-bar? 

 

Cheers

[popeye the sailor]

drat!  George stole my thunder!       looks great with the sheer deck on........looks sweet all around!

[jbelwood]

Hello Piet,

 

I'm quite new to the MSW site and trying to get my feet wet in building wooden boats.

Currently building Bluejackets Grand Banks Dory to get experience in building lap

strake hulls. Has been a frustrating experience. 

 

I'm interested in your build because there is so much basswood involved. Curious to

see your technique in preparing and painting this material. The hull exterior of my

dory has acres of basswood sheet. Need some advice.

 

Thanks,

 

John Elwood