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ricktimmer
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Able Rate
Joined: 29 Dec 2009
Posts: 23
Location: Atlanta
Country: usa
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Hi All,
My first post here, and my first WIP ever...
Kit Information
This is the Blue Jacket kit (KLW105) which is in 3/4 inch scale with a finished LOA of 20 inches. See Blue Jacket Ship Crafters for cost and availability. It is plank-on-bulkhead construction and is my first wood model (and first model anything for me in about 35 years).
Catboat Background
Based on my reading (actual books and the Internet), the catboat is a working boat design that dates back to at least the mid-1800s. It was used for a variety of tasks, including mackerel seining, handlining for cod, swordfishing, party fishing, scalloping, lobstering, water delivery, livery calls, courier duty and many other prosaic roles. From the Chesapeake Catboat Association (“CCA”) web site, “In short, the working catboat was the waterborne pick-up truck of its day, used at a time when America’s roads were notoriously poor or non-existent.”
There are several distinguishing characteristics of these boats. Typically, it is half as wide as it is long. It is a shallow draft, centerboard boat. With the centerboard pulled up, the draft is often no more than two feet. The length is typically between 12 and 40 feet, with a modern catboat commonly running about 18 feet in length. The boat is also characterized by a single large gaff sail with the mast set well forward in the bow. The rudder is a large, barn-door rudder that can be as large as one-sixth the boat’s overall length.
Again quoting from the CCA web site: “…Indeed so ubiquitous was the catboat in the alongshore waters of northeast American that it was taken for granted. For generations it was designed, built and sailed with extraordinary skill by mostly anonymous men of humble origin who began, more often than not with a carved half model. Many came out of small shops and or barns where the shipwrights were also house carpenters…”
Unfortunately, the boat fell into some disrepute (and indeed, some thought the design would become extinct) due to a variety of reasons, but most all related to a lack of common and nautical good sense. The craft began to be used for pleasure and racing, and it became common for less experienced sailors to crowd on too much sail. Under such circumstances, the design developed an ill-deserved reputation for being unstable and unsafe.
As indicated on the CCA web site: “Redemption came with a modest group called the Catboat Association (CBA), which in 1962 brought together two-dozen seasoned skippers of mostly elderly cruising cats on the Connecticut shore. They sought mutual aid, friendly support, a helping hand for what they saw as a ‘noble but diminishing breed’ “. The boat is now a very common pleasure boating design frequently seen along the coasts of North America.
Build Information
I actually picked this up about 18 months ago and made a quick start of it – completing it to the stage you see below. I then got very wrapped up in reading about model ship building (and nautical history generally) after about two months work on it. The more I read, the more intimidated I became and worried that I had made serious errors along in my initial efforts. The reading (and lurking in forums such as this) has been fun, but time to actually get the cutting implements, glue, and sandpaper out to do something. I’m hoping that posting this WIP will keep me honest and on the straight and narrow.
This initial post will be the boat as I am now picking it up after sitting neglected for well over a year. I’m posting the starting point, warts and all with wood putty ready to be sanded down.
The kit and plans are for a modern catboat with running lights and power. I’ve decided to modify it slightly and try to build it closer to a working boat of the late 19th century. Thus, I’ve dispensed with prop and the modern Danforth anchor.
I plan to finish in white for the hull above the waterline and cabin. The decking will be in a buff tan color. The hull below the waterline will be in a dark red color. There will also be mahogany and brass details. The sail will be set fully unfurled. I hope you enjoy my progress, and I look forward to your feedback (but be kind to a newcomer to this wonderful hobby).
Thanks for taking a look... Hopefully, not too long until the next post when I will also post some images of the plans and remaining bits of the kit.
Cheers, Rick
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