24' exploration gaff-rigged ketch by vaddoc - FINISHED -Scale 1:12, a Tad Roberts design

[Omega1234]

Hi Vaddoc

 

Nice!  You should be commended for your attention to detail as well as for your painstaking commitment to getting all those rivets done.

 

Looking good!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[vaddoc]

Nothing really exciting to show, life is a monotonous mask-drill-glue-file. But I think that the the first 500 rivets deserve a post!

I only took a photo of one side, no strength left to photograph the two rivet lines on the other side.

700+ more left...

 

 

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Vaddoc

 

500 rivets done and 700 more to go. It's moments like that makes one realise the meaning of the saying "labour of love".

 

Well done!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

You are a braver and better man than I Vaddoc.   Rivets would drive me nuts.

[michael mott]

 

Rivets would drive me nuts.

But I will happily drive in 3700 treenails.......

 

Great job on the rivets Vaddoc, the finished appearance will be worth the time and effort.

 

Michael

 

 

Michael

[druxey]

Rivetting so far looks great, Vadoc!

[vaddoc]

Thank you all, I really appreciate your support.

I must admit though I am not at all confident that the boat will end up looking as good as it deserves.

 

With a baby now in the house work progresses slowly. The sheer plank rivets are now left and of course all rivets forward of station 0 at the bow.

 

 

This plank was left unpainted by the american team and I am tempted to do the same. There will also be a rub rail added which will hide the uppermost rivet line. In the next picture also note the shaping of the stem which at the level of the sheer plank is left square.

 

 

I needed a brake so I concentrated on the false stem. It was first shaped with the needle files and then glued to the hull. Hopefully there is some similarity with the previous picture.

 

 

 

 

With this done its back to riveting. I am concerned that the CA glue will stain the wood and although this is not a problem for the lower planks, if the sheer plank is left unpainted it will need a lot of sanding which with all the rivets will be ddifficult. I am also concerned that there will be a lot of stains on the inside of the hull but there is no better alternative to superglue. So here it goes.

First I covered the plank and then marked the width of the rub rail to make sure all upper rivets will be hidden

 

 

 

And drill and glue and drill and glue and drill and glue...

 

 

Drilling 200 holes in a row is very satisfying

 

 

And another brake was necessary, so I finished cutting the centerboard slot

 

 

And finally all rivets done! There are a few left at the bow but the cant frames need to go in first. The sheer planks are sanded with 180 grit but the glue stains are still somewhat visible.

 

 

 

And finally, the long awaited moment has come. The boat needs to be taken off the jig, turned around for the cant frames to be installed and then positioned back to the jig for the rest of the rivets to go in and then fairing, priming and painting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picking up the boat I was surprised, the hull is very light but extremely rigid. Next the cant frames went in which took a bit of head scratching but I am happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

Lots left to be done but making progress at last!

[Omega1234]

HinVaddoc

 

I think Butterfly has finally broken free of her cocoon! Wow, the hull looks nice and shapely, especially when viewed from above.

 

You must be feeling pretty chuffed now!

 

All the best

 

Patrick

[vaddoc]

Top of the world Patrick!  

[druxey]

Sweet lines, vaddoc. She looks lovely so far. Well done.

[Yambo]

Looks great vaddoc!

[captainbob]

She's a lovely little boat and you've done a fine job on the lap-strake.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

Very nice and congratulations in getting her right side up.

 

Michael

[Omega1234]

Top of the world Patrick!  

 

...and deservedly so!

[vaddoc]

Many thanks to all for your support and comments!

 

The built continues but problems start pilling up again! I am afraid the photos that follow are not that great.

On the plus side, I seem to have avoided having a flat sheer towards the bow which I understand can happen if the plans do not compensate for this visual effect by increasing the curve.

 

 

However the hull surface is far from ready to be painted. I did some fairing which I thought was adequate and I proceeded to shape the end of the stem and then mask the whole boat prior to spraying white primer.

 

 

 

 

 

And then the primer went on which revealed how inadequate my fairing was.

 

The bow looks rough and the rivets are standing out too much.

 

 

Deep scratches were revealed in two of the planks

 

 

The plywood has a rough surface despite previous sanding

 

 

and finally the plank-stem junction needs some attention

 

 

I think that with some putty and careful sanding will improve things. Certainly I will not (or should not) move on to painting the hull until I get a nice smooth primed surface. 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Vaddoc,

 

Here's my thoughts just from looking at the photos... If you're painting it, than sanding and filler will be good.  If you're weathering it, after painting, it won't take much.   Not trying to be insulting, so I hope you don't take it that way.  I like the way it looks now and would weather it, but that's me.

[vaddoc]

Your suggestions are always most welcome Mark, looking at the pics I feel you are probably right. It did not cross my mind to weather the boat but it does looks like it has had years of use already. I am afraid though I do not have the skills yet for a proper weathering job and would not want to try on this particular boat, it has taken me 10 months to reach this point!

Besides, all the frames and interior woodwork have already been sanded to a shiny 400 grit. I ll give it a try to get a smooth surface and if not possible I will probably need to build another small boat out of the same wood to experiment with weathering. 

But I do agree, a model of a beat up worn boat is so much more interesting than a shiny new one!

[Yambo]

That first thin coat of primer is a right pain in the butt isn't it vaddoc! I always seem to have the same problem - hull looks lovely, get some primer on and then get sanding again. At least it shows you where the work is needed.  

Edited May 3, 2015 by Yambo

[druxey]

Yup, primer will show up everything! Fortunately, in this case a bit of automotive filler and sanding will see you right. I'd use caulking at the plank/stem joint, though.

[captainbob]

That's why we use primer, to show us that what we thought was good, wasn't.

 

Bob

[vaddoc]

Yambo and Bob, the primer certainly did its job, but I was surprised how bad my carefully sanded hull actually was.

 

Druxey, the caulking suggestion is an excellent one but I read your post after I had gone into a putty frenzy. Still, it might be needed as I can't get a clean edge at the joint.  I tried steel wool but the improvement was marginal. What would you use for caulking? Would it need to be used also all along the keel and planks as well as the stem?

 

This is how it looks after the final sanding to 320 grit.

 

 

 

 

 

it looks smooth but still not perfect. This is a critical stage and time spent fairing will be paid back many times after painting. I am sure more sanding and fairing is needed. Also, I am concerned the edges of the planks might get rounded off with all the sanding.

[druxey]

Acrylic/latex caulking is good as it will take paint, whereas silicon will not. As it is not really sandable when dry, you will need to apply it carefully and wipe it with a damp piece of paper towel to smooth it.

[vaddoc]

Thanks, I know what you mean. Never thought of using it for modelling!

[vaddoc]

There have been no updates recently but really I was too busy changing nappies and singing lullabies. 

 

I did however clean the garage and my work bench!

 

 

The silicon filler worked reasonably well, the stem-plank junction is somewhat smooth on one side. I think I need to redo the other. The hull has had 3 coats of primer with sanding in between and is smooth. Still, new imperfections appeared so some filling and another sanding and coat of primer will be needed. Hopefully, the last! Then I plan on using Halfords gloss white appliances can paint and matt varnish to finish.

 

But first the waterline needs to be determined. 

 

I put together a simple tool.

 

 

I marked roughly the waterline, it looks somewhat funny near the stern but it is nearly perfectly symmetrical in both sides

 

 

 

 

This is how the hull looks at present, still lots need to be done.

 

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Vaddoc

 

Nappies and lullabies will always take precedence over our hobbies, but it's still nice to be able to get back to the models once in a while.

 

Having said that, your ship's coming along really nicely! It's amazing what a bit of putty and primer can do to transform a hull. Another thing that has struck me, is just how big the hull is. Perhaps that may in part be due to the light colour of the hull now, but nonetheless, she's a beauty.

 

Well done.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[vaddoc]

Thanks Patrick, yes, the size is satisfying, 24" long! 

In contrast, I know someone who can fit 112' feet of boat in his palm!

[Omega1234]

Thanks Patrick, yes, the size is satisfying, 24" long! 

In contrast, I know someone who can fit 112' feet of boat in his palm!

Hmmmm....now I wonder who that could be?

 

Seriously though. Thanks for the compliment and all the best!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[captainbob]

your lapstrake is really looking good.

 

Bob

[vaddoc]

Thanks Bob, it came out better than I expected. The most difficult part I think was bevelling the edges so that the planks would sit flush to the frames and to each other.

 

I re-did the stem plank junction and again the result was terrible. 

 

 

It actually looks acceptable up until the primer goes on. I had to again take the filling out and re-do it for the forth time. The next pictures were taken after many coats of paint and show the port side which is ok and the starboard one, which is better but still not ok.

 

 

 

The good side is with the silicon caulking (thanx Druxey!) but even after 4 tries I cannot reproduce the result on the other side. I think I must accept defeat.

 

Next, I marked the waterline. It looks near the bow to have a funny shape but actually it is straight. At the stern I added a bit of curve so that the line would be fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have started painting the hull, the spray cans are really easy, 15 min between coats and no clean up. The next pics are after 7 or 8 coats, the areas of unprimed wood still show through.

 

 

 

It still needs another 8 coats I think, then re-mask and paint red the waterline. I will brush satin or matt (or gloss?) enamel varnish over, I wonder though if I  should sand the paint with something like 1500 grit.

[pete48]

Hello vaddoc, Nice looking build you have here , Looks good

 

Best Regards,

Pete