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[B.B]

Hi there, yep another trawler ,"Lady-Lin"  one of the 2 builds on the go at present, she is 43.5 inch's at 1:16  scale of a 58 ft prawn trawler ,there was actually 2 built side by side  at Bob McLaren's Boat yard at Ballina through 1980 for Bill Goode ,they were  named after Bill's wife "Lin-G" & "Lin-Far" to be operated  from Cairns ,north  into the Torres Straits area, the timber used on the model is spotted  gum & Colonial Teak for the keel , stem & deadwood areas, the  frames, stringers, ribs & planking from Beech. Many thanks to Joe McGettigan for the use of the plans, Bruce Harrison for printing them to the appropriate scale and to kevin Rasmussen for the lovely Beech I'm using on the builds, cheers.....

[Mark T]

Well it's about time too     Hi Brian hope you're well mate.  So this is nearly 4ft long with just the most lovely wood and carpentry - I'm in for this one     Good to have you back!

[ballastanksian]

What Mark said! That keel assembly is beautiful and not just the look of the wood, the shape is lovely and the different parts used to create it!


Looking forward to another fine build Brian 

[B.B]

Thanks guys, I have been a bit slack on the posting side meant to start putting this one up a couple months ago, I kicked off with 2 on the go at the same time ,got up to the w-house stage on both models then carried ahead with the smaller model, cheers  .

[B.B]

Hi there, with the frames set up and all faired off , started on fitting the beech stringers, also made some brass dovetail plates for the deadwood area ( each section of the deadwood was glued and doweled ) and some of the beech planking 10 x 3 mm  ( larger model 12 x 4 mm planking) , cheers. ....

[Circlip]

Wooden version of your Brass dovetail plates known as a 'Dutchman.' Silly question but why are the frame stringer notches so deep?


  Regards  Ian.

[Mark T]

The brass dovetails - what a really nice feature

[B.B]

Hi Ian, no harm in asking, they are seated that depth to allow for the ribs that will be placed over them so as the ribs are flush with the frames ,cheers.

[Circlip]

Will wait to see the planking. Diagonal?


 Regards  Ian.

[B.B]

Hi there, had bit of trouble trying to add more post ,everything seams to be working now ??? these photo's showing the shoulder shelf made from Merbau, then the ribbing ,after breaking a couple was time to steam the remainder, then starting the planking procedure. cheers  .

[Circlip]

Got it, thanks 


 Regards  Ian.

[Mark T]

Your carpentry is inspiring - That garboard plank is just perfect and they are quite difficult to make without rising up the bow.  Like you I've snapped more pieces than I care to remember 

[B.B]

Morning Mark, yes once you get to the second or 3rd plank you have to let them fly and have to start putting a few steelers in. cheers 

[NickelBelter]

Absolutely fantastic woodworking, as always!

[B.B]

Morning , This section showing her planked to the deck level ,then after sanding and a coat of wood preserver applying her first undercoat, installed most of the deck beams except for a few , pre fitted those to allow easier access for painting .also the lift out deck sections. Cheers.  .

[Mark T]

When you scale up a model boat it really makes you see just how huge those beams and frames really are.  Prawn trawlers must be very strong boats 

[B.B]

Hi Mark,,,, Those deck beams & frames are over sized ( Guilty  ) makes a strong model thou  , cheers  .

[B.B]

Hi there, I was going to fit the scooter motor but decided to go with the Torpedo 800 spinning an 80mm 4 blade Robesch propeller , then soldering and fitting the rudder stock tubing, with the base for the 12 V battery the plan was to use the larger of the 2 x 12V batteries being a 4 Kg , but when i gave her a float test to much weight forward so used the 2.75 Kg  12 V battery . In the bottom I used  X40 Bond coat ( 2 pack) a pool covering, with the Merbau sponsons I cut then to suit the bow they had in them , but after steaming they wanted to curve up on one side and down on the other but didn't matter anyway as being steamed they sat in position till the following day before attaching them, then brushing the white undercoat inside the hull. Cheers  .

[B.B]

Hi There, once the inside of her was sprayed , then layed the ply deck before fitting all the staunchion post and planked , wasn't happy with the height of the stem as the plans for that size vessel varied depending on what the owners wanted, the easy way or smart way would have been to leave the stem longer, so spliced bit more on the top ( live and learn :) ), then cut out the shoulder sponson's (semi hardwood) from old furniture made in Malaysia ,that was steamed and put in position ,when all done gave that section a coat of wood preserver,,,Cheers .  ......

[Martin (Admin)]

Great Stuff BB!

..... almost a pity to cover up all that lovely woodwork .... 

[B.B]

Hi There, thank you Martin .After undercoating bulwarks etc, onto the w-house, she had a step up w-house on her, i find it easier to lay the ply base in position on the main deck and the raise deck section ,after getting it to a curtain stage can remove and replace easier access to work on, most of the frame work was of Colonial teak & Merbau the remainder was Beech and ply...Cheers  .

[B.B]

Hi there,  some more photo's of the W-house construction, with the step up w-house floor I glued it into position then realized i needed that section clear to be able to put my hand up through there when installing the windows after the painting completed so had to scribe from both sides to cut a temporary section out that can then be placed back in, that was up there with measuring once and cutting twice ??? Cheers.  .....

[B.B]

Hi There, Plying the W-house and marking and cutting her windows out , and making the door louvers  ( for both models)  Cheers,  .

[Mark T]

She's starting to look very elegant now 

[mrzippy]

I'll second that Mark - like your own builds, here we are witnessing another masterclass in model carpentry !  and what a pleasure to follow.

Brian I'm intrigued to know how you made the initial cuts so accurately around the window frames please? what gadget was involved??
always a grueling task, taking hours of fiddly work and if not spot-on stands out like a sore thumb.
In your photo it looks like the burnt edged cuts you get with a laser?

Re the mention of "When you marked out the rabbet on the stem did you use French curves for the job?"
from a commercial art background my weapon of choice for gentle compound curves would be a Flexi-Curve or Flexible Curve.
They take a bit of practice in manipulating the thing to the correct shape - once mastered give good results,
but there is a limit to how tight a curve can be introduced etc.

Many years ago I worked with an artist who owned a complete set of antique wooden 'Ships Curves' and they were a sight to behold -
dozens of the things, like French curves on steroids, some were around a metre long - all contained within a beautiful Burr Walnut carrying case,
not something one used that often, but invaluable when the occasion arose.
regards Paul.