24 - Dories

The end is definitely in sight! In fact, if this were a model of the Bluenose II, we could probably declare mission accomplished - assuming, of course, that the deck was configured appropriately. However, this is a rendition of the original Bluenose, a working schooner, so it would not be complete without at least a couple of dories lashed to the deck in preparation for an outing on the Grand Banks

The original kit came with a couple of boats glued to the deck that presumably were meant to represent dories but there must have been something lost in translation by whoever built this kit. (Maybe in China?) Here is a picture taken during the early stages of the rebuild when I was trial fitting some of my initial hardware and the deck furniture was still aboard.

Original dories fitted to the model.

Since these were obviously not going to suffice, I resorted once again to the Web and was not disappointed. Dories are still being built and used to this day, although perhaps not in the same role as at the beginning of the last century. 

Dory races - near Lunenburg?

Regardless, there is plenty of information to be had and if you want a full scale dory built, a shop in Lunenburg will happily oblige, with a range of sizes to suit (http://www.doryshop.com/). 

But for my purposes, I was looking for plans that I could scale and came across a web site that had exactly what I was looking for. ( http://www.shearwater-boats.com/doryinst.html) And best of all, the plans were free and were accompanied by detailed build instructions.

Dory plans - assembly.

Dory plans - components.

Not surprisingly, these plans closely resembled the detail that Jenson included in his book.

Dory detail from Jenson's book.

Having availed myself of some thin (35 thou, 3-ply) plywood at a Michaels arts and crafts store, I was ready to build a couple of dories. I first scaled the plans to the required 1:44 scale, cut out the main components on heavy card stock and then traced the outlines onto the plywood.

 

Major components copied to card stock prior to tracing on plywood.

Once the pieces were cut from the plywood, I used gel 'super glue' to assemble them into a dory. In my initial attempt, I tried to form the curves as I glued, which did not quite work as anticipated. The resultant shape, whilst an improvement over the original version, nevertheless failed to suitably capture the curved sides.

Initial attempt at a dory - unsuccessful.

The solution to this problem was to steam the plywood and bend it into the final shape prior to gluing. This worked much better, but as with other builds in these latter stages, I did not take any pictures so you are only left with the end result. However, the steps were not difficult and once the main pieces were assembled, the rest was simply adding detail, including a set of oars.
 

Grand Banks dories.

Using very thin plywood allows for scaling the size up or down as desired. After my first failed attempt, I scaled the plans down to test my theory that steaming and bending the plywood was the solution and was able to produce a model about two-thirds the final size.

Small feasibility model.

One issue that I had not addressed to this point were the scuppers. This was another instance where the original kit neglected to faithfully replicate the full-scale vessel. If building the hull from scratch, openings for the scuppers would merely be factored into the design, as it has been for the Bluenose II rebuild.

Scuppers - Bluenose II rebuild.

However, in my case, it was not feasible to cut roughly 80 scuppers in the rails with any degree of fidelity. particularly given the questionable material that comprised the hull. My only option was to simulate the scuppers in much the same way that I had replicated the wooden grates. So it was back to MS Word for a solution. Using Jenson's drawing as a guide, produced the diagram below. After printing and cutting out the strips, glued them to the model.

Drawing of simulated scuppers.

To blend the paper into the background, will have to cover with clear lacquer which I've yet to do.

Simulated scuppers.

(As an aside, I noted in the picture of the Bluenose II scuppers that the cutouts for the chainplates closely matched what I did for this model.)

It also strikes me that the kit builders perhaps added the thin white stripe to represent the scuppers. Regardless, there is no corresponding stripe on the rebuilt Bluenose II so I think a bit of touch-up is in order. And I doubt the original Bluenose had a gold stripe on the rail, so I'll not be adding that detail either.

And that about wraps it up. I intend to add a few work-related items to dress up the deck, such as buckets, barrels, nets and other paraphernalia, but for all intents and purposes I am satisfied with the end result as it stands now. In the next post, I will publish a set of photographs of the completed model.