Dutch Hoogaars Fishing Vessel

[UrkerVisser]

Hi everybody!
My 'Mantua' Dutch Hoogaars ARM 82 fishing vessel kit in 1:25 scale just arrived! It's a smaller sailing vessel with a large rudder on a tiller plus has two leeboards and a flat bottom. She also has a cabin fore and aft.

I still haven't completed my 1:64 scale Bluenose (1921) or my 1:142 scale Grimsby/Hull Side-Trawler but wanted a nice wooden kit, something big and not too complicated. This vessel will be 630 mm long.

So I'll start this series off showing what's in the box:

The piece are all nicely laser cut and I also show the rudder's tiller so you can see how nicely the laser cut shows light through it. Cutting this piece out otherwise would have been difficult indeed! (The older 'Mantua' ARM 82 kits were not laser cut.)

There are also a nice selection of detailing parts including sail material out of linen, rigging parts & deck accessories plus trim out of thin brass laser cut brass sheet metal.
And also there are 4 big pages of full sized blue prints and also instructions. And there's even wood stain powder to mix with 100 ml water with instructions on how to stain the parts before popping them out.

Best Regards, UrkVisser
(By the way Urk is a fishing village in the Netherlands and 'Visser' means fisherman; I speak English Dutch and German.)

 

[Bluebeard]

I will follow your build since I also have started this kit but from an old version found on ebay.

 

[AndyA]

Looks like fun! Large-scale models of small craft are great. If you ever need extra inspiration, Youtube has fascinating videos of Dutch barge races.

 

[UrkerVisser]

Looks like fun! Large-scale models of small craft are great. If you ever need extra inspiration, Youtube has fascinating videos of Dutch barge races.

Hi Andy!
What got me into this large scale project is the fact that Urk, Netherlands has a long fishing fleet history. And since they've lost almost 290 men to the sea since 1868 the people of Urk are also very religious and each church there has a large scale model of a fishing vessel mounted, displayed or even hung right above the main isle up front! This made me very envious indeed so I had to have one for myself! Haha!

Best Regards, UrkVisser

 

[UrkerVisser]

Hi everybody!
At present I'm thinking through what paints, tools or machines I may need to oder.

Maybe I need to buy the 'Proxxon 250 DB - Mini Wood Lathe' for tapering my mast, boom and gaff.



Can anybody recommend a method for tapering masts, booms and gaffs without using a lathe? I don't think the masts and so forth on my Hoogaars need much tapering but some of course.

The 'Proxxon' wood lathe would cost me about 146 € plus 46 € for a three jaw chuck, 50€ for a set of gouges and another 12 € for shipping. (Ouch!
And my retirement funds aren't much here.)

Does anybody have experience with this small 'Proxxon' lathe? It would be a disaster if it's only usefull for making the legs for doll house chairs
(which my wife would love).

Best Regards, UrkVisser

 

[Marquinius]

It depends on how precise you want the mast to be tapered. You will have quite some trouble spanning this length in a Proxxon lathe anyway. It's rather thin and I figure it will start bending and wobbling during the work.

What worked for me on an approximately 30cm mast of about 8mm original thickness, was a very simple rotating disk sander. Lidl will sell them under their Parkside brand for 20 euros for so. I simply turned the mast between my fingers while sanding and eyeballed the taper. And I use the sander a lot for other sanding jobs. Buy a bunch of sanding disks through Temu or so for just a few euros. Some of these disks are satin like smooth, which is great for finalising small parts.

But I am not a wood worker and I'm sure there will be folks explaining there are better ways to taper masts.

 

[Marquinius]

Oh, buy a length of mast thickness at the local store and try your hand first at sanding and turning between finger. Of course pine will sand differently than hardwood, but the technique is similar.

 

[UrkerVisser]

Thanks, that's a good solution! I have a nice 'Einhell' delta sander with a lot of sanding triangles plus also a 'Einhell' table type belt/disc sanding machine; it will work if I'm careful enough. It's definitely slow and lacks power for a big 230 Volt motor; but maybe better so.

A 'toy like' lathe and cheap gouges would be an expensive failure. A jawed chuck would be needed and would only work if you can see light through the chuck and out the left side of the machine.

In the days of my youth I've used large engine and wood lathes plus a 'Bridgeport' miller but that is a long time in the past. But have my drill press, 'Skil' mini circular saw, table saw, ceiling and wall sander, double grinder, flex plus jig saw, power drill machines of various types plus a 'Proxxon' Mini-Mot drill system plus the 'Proxxon' Mini-Jigsaw. Plus the sanders I mentioned.

I also worked in the electronics and electrical trade plus built Amateur Radio gear so I'm also well equipped there.

Best Regards, UrkVisser

 

[Jim Fortnam]

Your best approach is to adapt full size practice if you need some accuracy. Block plane (a 60 ½ in Record tools or Stanley tools old lineup) is always useful. You can make up a shooting board for it, and add a taper feature. Difficult to describe in words, but here goes. A shooting board is typically some sheets of ply. Oh, wait whilst I go take a photo..
This is a small shooting board, the construction is pretty obvious. The stop is housed at 90 degrees to the runway. For cleaning up ends of small items, hold the item against the stop, and run the plane back and forth, with a fine cut. The stop prevents spelching, the cut is at 90 degrees in two planes (check the squareness of the plane body!)

To adapt for tapering a spar, or a plank, or whatever, you need to add a top plate to allow the work to be angled relative to the runway. Here's a chunk of timber in place to illustrate
and to make it adjustable, cut a pair of slots into that top plate and through the baseplate. Here are a couple of bolts just laid down to show what I mean. Imagine them as slots with thumb screws through to allow you to fix the top plate at whatever angle you need.

Now the jig is made, you can set the gap between the top plate and cutting line at the stop to be the desired smaller diameter. Angle the top plate so that the gap between it and the cutting line at a position corresponding to the length of the spar where the maximum diameter should be, and tighten the bolts/wingnuts.

Now, with some scrap, run a test. The plane will take off a shaving at each pass. Use some scrap to hold down your work, so you don't plane your fingertips. (ask me how I know about this!) You will want to rotate the mast/spar on each pass. The jig will stop cutting when your desired size is reached. If any flats are still evident (there may be some small evidence) then a few strokes of 400 grit or twiddling it in a fold of abrasive will make all ship shape.

Sorry I don't have all the building tools to hand to photograph. All are tucked away and a bit inaccessible at the moment but I hope this gets the idea across.

A (small) rebate plane would work too, but a block plane is accurate and comfortable. and a word of warning - not all block planes are made equal these days. I bought one for a group making a full size skiff which turned out to be effectively unusable. There is a reason these old models sold in millions. You can pick them up at car boot sales for not much, and they are easily reconditioned with no specialist tools needed.

The main thing is that you can produce work which is accurate, and repeatable.

 

[AndyA]

Can anybody recommend a method for tapering masts, booms and gaffs without using a lathe?

Brother UrkVisser:
I am a fan of starting with square stock as suggested by Jim Fortnam in post #9. For a thorough discussion, see the thread entitled "The dreaded octagonal profile from a round dowel." In any case, do not use the dowel on the right side of your photo. In the photo you can see that the grain is running out badly. One of the advantages of rectangular stock is that you can orient the grain within the spar. Remember that full size masts were made from straight-growing trees so that the grain was always running the right way. Fair winds!

 

[UrkerVisser]

Your best approach is to adapt full size practice if you need some accuracy. Block plane (a 60 ½ in Record tools or Stanley tools old lineup) is always useful. You can make up a shooting board for it, and add a taper feature.
View attachment 503632

Thanks Jim!
I'll build what you have shown here. Hopefully I can find a good sharp plane here.

Best Regards, Urk Visser

 

[UrkerVisser]

Brother UrkVisser:
... In any case, do not use the dowel on the right side of your photo. In the photo you can see that the grain is running out badly.

Thanks Andy for pointing this out, I never even noticed this defect until just now. Also the brown dowel in my photo also looks weird on it's far end; no telling what kind of wood it was made from. I'll buy something to make better ones. 'Buche' is a popular hard wood here; I believe it's called 'Box Wood' in english.

Best Regards, UrkVisser

 

[donfarr]

VERY INTERETES IN THIS ON FOR NEXT PROJECT IS THERE A LINK FOR COST VERY INTERRESTING GOD BLESS STAY SAFE ALL DON

 

[UrkerVisser]

...IS THERE A LINK FOR COST VERY INTERRESTING GOD BLESS

Hi! I'm new here and uncertain if I'm even allowed to mention prices (which would be in Euros € anyway in my case) or the names of wholesale or retail dealers or stores other than just mentioning the names of Manufactures.

Best Wishes, UrkVisser

 

[UrkerVisser]

Hi everybody!
Well, I just got home from my local hardware, home & garden center which is only 300 meters away.
I bought some new 10 mm & 6 mm diameter wooden doweling to replace what was packed with this kit.

I really wanted doweling made of 'Beech Wood' (which I mistakenly translated as 'Boxwood' in an earlier post). Alas, all their 10 mm's were only suitable for use as garden sticks or for flower pots!

But I did find two really nice 10 mm dowels out of Pine plus a good 6 mm dowel out of Beech. Beech is a hardwood which looks like Oak and the forests here are full of them.

You can see they have a nice grain and are perfectly straight. Also in the photos are the 8 little clamps with soft nylon jaws which I also bought there today.

And of course I've been busy for the last three days sewing sails for my schooner project 'Scientific Kit No. 164 - 1:64 scale Bluenose (1921). Sewing machines and an Overlock and Coverlock are also in my fleet of power tools! (I can out-tailor my wife with one hand tied behind my back! Haha!)


The last photo here also shows some other stuff I ordered with my kit such as the three super glues but the 1 mm anchor chain is for my trawler project and the 3 mm blocks and 6 mm rings are for my schooner. (The rings will have to cut down to either 4 or 5 mm.)
Greetings! UrkVisser

 

[AllanKP69]

The rings will have to cut down to either 4 or 5 mm.)

Have you tried making your own? It is just a matter of wrapping a piece of brass or copper rod around the appropriate size drill bit then snipping them off and soldering them closed. No fancy tools needed.
Allan

 

[UrkerVisser]

Thanks Allan!
Yes I should have thought about this before ordering these rings as I do have enough copper wire laying around from remodeling the kitchen or from model train and electronics projects.

And I also have a special ring pliers which I've never yet used. I thought maybe copper would be to soft but ofcourse there's no North Sea 'Orkan' storms in my dining room anyway! Haha!

But I can't buy any brass stock or other hobby supplies here locally and
when I make a hobby supply order it's generally once a month to 'squeeze the most' out of the shipping costs.

I would loose over a half a day round trip going to Hamburg and chances are I would probably end up ordering what I needed anyway.

Too bad I didn't think to install the rings when the masts were set but now all the shrouds, mast tops and such are already in place.

Oh, I was looking for something like a good old 'Stanley' block plane for tapering masts, booms and gaff when I was at the home center this morning. But alas no luck there!

In internet I discovered really nice block planes made by 'Spear & Jackson' of Sheffield, England but they don't have any distributors here in Germany. Too bad! They are only about 500 miles west of me as the pigeon flys!

Greetings! UrkVisser

 

[AndyA]

But I did find two really nice 10 mm dowels out of Pine plus a good 6 mm dowel out of Beech.

Sorry if it sounds like nagging, but I really dislike starting with dowels. Starting with rectangular wood results in less work and a better product. It's easier to control the run of the grain and establish the taper of the spars. The same principles apply to oars. The process is essentially the same for models and for full-size craft. Rip the wood into a square cross-section including the taper. Plane off the 4 corners to make the spar octagonal. Plane off the 8 corners, etc. until you have the required smoothness.

First photo shows basic tools required for model spars and oars: knife, finger plane, and sanding block. Not shown is saw (coping saw, Japanese pull saw, or bandsaw). Second photo is a 1:12 RC model sailing dory. All spars are pine. Masts are round; booms are rectangular. Third photo includes full-size (kid-size) oars built for a kid-size Auray punt. Inboard portions of looms were left square for 1 ) balance, 2) to reduce rolling around when inboard, and 3) less work when carving. Fourth photo is a Sea Bright skiff with mast of red cedar and sprit and jib club of fir. Note that the rig is similar the Hoogaar's. Every item was made by the same basic process. Fair winds!

 

[UrkerVisser]

Starting with rectangular wood results in less work and a better product.

Yes, that certainly is a better method however I can't find where to buy a good block plane here plus I lack the proper saw for rip sawing thin wood with a taper. My table saw is too big for that and not fine enough for small things. Maybe I'll eventually buy the 'Proxxon'' mini table saw which I looked at today. It would be great for thin stuff like strip wood.

But not having a plane I plan to use my 'Einhell' Disc/Belt sander and also my 'Einhell' Delta sander. If my results are poor I can always go back for some square stock.

Here's my sander it has 80 abrasive.

Greetings! UrkVisser

 

[AndyA]

I can't find where to buy a good block plane here plus I lack the proper saw for rip sawing thin wood with a taper. My table saw is too big for that and not fine enough for small things.

Nothing fancy required. You only need:

• some pine scraps
• Japanese pull saw, coping saw, or other small saw (if you want to go with power tools, a scroll saw or band saw)
• simple finger plane

Fair winds!