MODELMAKING-

Dave Greenwellof PracticalBoat Owner producedthis sailing model of a Thames barge to coincide with the SeventhAnnual InternationalWooden BoatShow at The GreenwichMaritime Museum.See the end o.f rhearticle for detailso.f our own model-making competition.

Staysailbaryes unde. way. rhe bowsprit barqe it es*ntia f the sameln aI respects #ffir,,except obviously for the additional spar

O celebratethe seventh with a collectionofheadsails set annualWood€n Boat Show beforcthe maston a proud bowsprit held in the eroundsof and a jaunty mizzcnfollowing up thc Greenwich-Maritime Museum,which this yearis being Their historystretches back over sponsoredby PracticalBoatOwner, it two hundredyears with over two hasbeen decided to hold amodel thousandrcgistered at the turn of the the resultingmodel $ill haveherhull boatbuildingcompetition. Entrjes will century.And, althoughthcy wereall reducedbv a cubefador while the sail bc exhibitedandjudged at the show. unmistakablcas Thamcs sailing andthe kdelNill havereduced the The histo cal connectionbetween barges,thcrc wcrc manyvarialions souare The re\ull ma\ ioDearcorrect the MaritimeMuseum and the which noi only makethem interesting aridrn scale u rthrhe ohgirial, but the Thames,made a Thamessailinq - barse tothe modelmakerbut alsoprovide a actualproportions between sail arca anobvioos subiect. It hasthe measureof licenceso that if we arenot andhull size- especiallyinthe beam JJ!Jatuseof beinsa verv\imole sheoe absolutelycorrccl in cvcry dctail, wc andsail area Nill be wrong asfar as $ rthhlu-Ff bolrs. s[aighriide\'and a' shouldnot offcnd bdrgccnthusiasts. sailinggoes. She would probablybe shapclytransom upon whichher stout unstableand under-oowered. ruddct is hung.But the moststriking Sailor scale? The answeris to iilgglethefigurcs, ieaturcof thesemasnificent craftthat There are, in fact, two typcsof irppha crearr!eeye and. if youare ; plied thcir tradebeaween the heartof model:scale and work'ng. The reall'\eriou\ about making her sail 3 our capitaland coast l portsand rivers problemis that it's extremelydifficult propcrly.add a modelyacht type I fromthe Humberin thc northto to mnkea true scalemodel tbat will weightedkeel. Outofthe water she 6 Exeterdownin the westcounlry! was sailpropcrly. By takingthc lincsirnd maylook a little incongruousbut the E rheirdistinctive rigs comprising a vast dimensionsofa tull-sizebargc - or for keelwill be hiddenwhen the modelis : sprit-riggedmainsail above which was thatmatter anysailing boat - and in itsproper element. The derails that ! azl invariablyset a large!ops'ltogether simplyreducine it by a constantscale, followrra for a sarlingmodel, drawn e PtaA(_t-I('At_ w()()I) w()RKI N<;. MAY r993 The

hull. ol\tEtNcH STEEF

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UITETOADJUSTSPAITFROM EYEBOUI\ID MAST, BACK THROUGHEYEAND UP JJI _l PRA( l( AL WoOf)\ | 'RKINC. MA-Y- MODEL MAKING Mnsingrboutzt;itlt BOATS

1- Themain components ol the huI before assembly. 2. The as.embled piecesbefore the addition olthe deck. 3, Un.le tsi de view wit h t h e tnnsom linesmatked outfor

4. Thehatch coversfitted, and a ttial hang fot the tuddet. up to capturelhc spirit ofrhe 5. Themainnast and bowsptit tradrtionxlThamea sailing barge. 6, Detailofthe mast and Becausethe hull is basicallya box with shapedends, the simplesandwich 7, Theheary keel necessatyto methodofconstruction seemed most give the vesselsailing apprcpriarc.This is a well rried it foam\nhen curins, Denetrating any a, Fittins the topnast and paft metho'Cof buildinAmodel yachts bur \ordsin the ioint. B;ciuse the exiess- of the standing rigging. becauseonly thc endsofthe hull need squeezesoul, the job canlook rather a 1obe shaped.I decidedthatthe messwhenthe clampsare removed, mid-sectionsides should be piecesof but unlikeconventional glue thaCs 1Ommthick waterproofp1)'wood with difficult to remove,the foam canbe thesandwichsections restricted to the lifted easily. oDeninchatches. As tim! wasrunninq - sliort, ichosethe \ealedoption with Like all sood shiDbuilders.I started Creatingthe shape dummy hatchcovers. This meantthat by layingtie keelihich, in this case, My next taskwasto liberatethe I hadto make a completelywater-tight meantmarking out and makingthe shapesofthe bow and sternfrom the hull-to-deckjoint and to seethe boitompanel.I used a pieceofTain. layersofcontoured timber. The bow poi)urethanesqueezing out all round thick rimber(fi shedsize), by 23 by wasthe easierend,having simple wasa reassuringsighl But thebig 6ir. After cuttirg the yrin. deepslotto convexcurves.The stem. on the other advantaceofhaving a removable takethe add-onkeel. the plwood hand,involved a measureofconcave hatch;sihat shotrldlhemodel not trim sjdeswere glued and scre\iddinto workto establishthe win€glassshape qujlerirht, youcrn puta fewlumps of place.Then camethe bow and stem of the transom.Here I tbund a l;:ad,nv,1ethe horrom where it would sectionblocks. each made up ofthree moderatelycurved, outside bevel havegreatest effect. piecesof 7ain.rhick solid ti;ber gougethebesttoolfor the job but the Shewas beginning to takeshape but fashionedas shown in the drawing. gentleuse ofa smallsanding disc therewas somethinA missing- she The elabomteshapeswe.e oot an wouldhave done just aswell. The aim neededa properstem.So a slot was attemptto be artistic,but an attempt is symmetryrather than absolute cut in thebow to lct in apieceof %in. to reduceweight everyounce that accuracyand keepingan eyeon the thicktimber $,bichwas glued securely canbe savedir the huli canbe put gluelinesgives a usefulguide as to in Dlaceand carved to qivethe backas ballast on the bottom ofthe ' trailitionaistraishrstein barae keelto improvestabilitv. I usedquick- o;ce the hull shapehad been silhouette.The-next iob was ing the setting,w;terproof poli.uretbandto finaljsed,itwas time to fit the plywood railswhich I cut from a pieceof 3 by gluethe partstogether. The novel deck.At thispoint I had to deiide if yrin. timber. They stretchalmost righl featureofthis type of adhesiveis that sheshould have a sealedhullor round the edgeof the deckwith just a

PRA(-TIC.AL woC)D\vc)RKIN(;. MAY 1993 smallgap to takc the bowspritwhich cloth bu! not vcry appropriatefor this options.Also. you can alter the sitsjust to onc sidcof the stcm. model.I havenot includedthe aclual tensionon the rLldderset up. I left my Becauseof the crossgraining towards dimensionsof the sailsI madc. kecla full rcctanqlein thebeliefthat I rhebows,I glued the rail strips in place becauseanyone making their own wouldprobably have !o lrim someoff andweighted them down whilstihe modelwould be unlikely to reproduce eitherthe front to stoDher bearinsuD gluecurcd. Rudder and leeboards exactlythe sizeofspars I used.They into wind too quickly.or offthc bacli \!erc next.Thc designofthese is rery arebest mcasured direct I made to havethe oppositeeffect. As it !raditionalaboard Thamcs sailing papcrtemplalcs!o star!with, tumedout. it wasjustaboui right. Br barges,and arethe areaswhere the balancingthe reactionofthe rudder scaleeffecl plals iI! biggeslrole. Makingher sail againstthat ofthc headsails(rhose Ahoarda full-siz!harAe. rhe leebodrds The two nain areaswhere aheadofthe mast).I could send hef aremassive. but when scaleddown are adjuslmentscan be madeare in the offon a loyagewith the knowledge nere tokens.So that thev would work shaDeof thekeeland bv alterinqthe tbatshc would eventuallyger back to realisticallyon mlrnodei,I let in combinationof saiiswh:ich, witithe thcsidc ofthe model boadng pond. piecesoflead sheetinto the bottom Thamesbarge, gives quite a fe$ Who could askfor anythingmorel 1Yrin.Alihough they add little or nothingto her sailingability. she *ould not be'proper'withoutthem. PBACT'CAL WOODWOBK'NG The thingthat really enablesher to sail ,!, $ intlurril is the model'yachtt) pe MODELSAILING BARGE COMPETITION Keel.I miloemrne I srmptefectangle Win all four of thesefabulous prizes 7in. deep with around slb oflead strip frcm the Blackand Deckerrange by fitted to the bottom edge.This keelia heldin placeby tx'o smallbrass plates enteringour Model ThamesSailing that canbe removedso that the keel BaryeCompetition caDbe removedfor storage. HAVINGread Dave Greenwell's article on The rudderis alsoan importantpart makinga modelThames sailing barge why not oftheworkingmodcl, but. instead of havea bitof fun andenter the competition with finishingflush with the bottom. asis yourown model. All entrieswill beon displayat the caseon ihe full-sizeboat. the theSeventh Annual International Wooden Boat scaled'downrudder has to extend Showat the Greenwich I\,4aritime Museum, belowthe bottom so thar it hasa good Greenwich,London SE10 9NF from the 3rd to flow ol$,ater to act upon. 6thJune 1993. Blackand Decker have generous y agreedlo The rig sponsorthe competition, and tf'e best tl.ree MostThamcssailing barges ha!e entriesin theopinions of thejudges will each lhreemasts and two sprj!s althouAh receivea Blackand Decler Culsaw, a cordless at a glancethey appearto havejust drill,Power file, and a jigsaw(in totai worth trvomasts. The one in the niddle of f275). the craft.thc main mast.in fact carries the top masttiom whichthe tops l is IMPORTANT CRITERIA rer.The smallone ar rhchack is the PLEASEensure that your entry is THEREis no needto slavish y copy Dave'smodel, .f/izzen.Bothmain mist_and mlzzen prcperly packedfor itsjourney as rhesesailing barqes varied a sooddea in sizeand navea spnt$ hrcnr\ thc nIAesDSr lhxt we can acceptno responsibiliiy shapeandlo someetrenl ln riqgi.galso, bul your holJsup Ihe rop corner (tha he:d) of toranydamageincu(ed in modelshould be recognisablya Thames sarLns lransil. You wil flnd h prefefable barqeand be madeoredohinanrlv from wood ard the suii.Masts and sparscan be made to make your modelwith masts approximatelytothe dimerslons shown. from dowellinsbut I Dreferto shaDe whichcan be lowered{as jn the rhe