How to Cover a Ship's Boat

glennb17

glennb17

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Hey Everyone,

I'm working on a kit that has a bread and butter longboat. I'm on my second try and have decided that I can make a really nice hull exterior, but sanding the interior just isn't worth it. I'd like to build the exterior with all the details and then cover it on the deck in an authentic way.

I'm assuming some of the exterior hull will be visible and I think what I am working on will look good. But I don't know what the tarp should look like, how and where it should be tied down. The subject is circa 1805.

Any advice, references, and especially pictures of similar models would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Glenn
 
Hard to find much on this but perhaps these will help. Not from 1805 but I don't think practice on covering boats has changed that much (except for blue shrink wrap). The first photo is from "The Visual Encyclopedia of Nautical Terms." Fair winds!

life boats.jpglori b 3.jpghannah15.jpghannah16.jpg
 
One more pic. This is a photo of the Macquarie (ex. Melbourne). She was an iron-hulled clipper built in London in 1875. Sailed the London to Australia route. Pic is from "The Merchant Sailing Ship: A Photographic Survey" by Greenhill and Giffard.


macquarie.jpg
 
I would try several layers of facial tissue soaked with thinned white glue. It could be stained brown to resemble old canvas by using tea to dilute the while glue. Cut the tissue to the approximate shape you want, soak it and allow it to dry. You can put it over a cardstock template of the top of the boat you wish to cover as it dries. Another option is to use thin lead foil or even the foil coverings of some wine bottles.
 
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Thanks guys,

One thing I'm picking up here is that it likely has to be pretty dark brown to reflect a waterproofed canvas. Also, the model pic from @AndyA and comment @Rob444 suggest the sheet be custom to the boat shape rather than a rectangle pulled over. I'm thinking of using a small amount of silkspan with some glue and burnt umber acrylic rolled into it, dry it as a sheet, cut to size, glue in a seam and punch some tiny grommets, then wet it again and weight it over the form of the one I made a mess of. Then I can transfer to the good one and use some tie downs. Also, a couple athwartship arched battens as we see in the pics to keep the cover curved to avoid collecting water would be good too.

I might be setting myself up for almost as much work as doing the whole job. Maybe I'll give making the inside afterall. If I don't like it, I can always cover it. Most likely, I will try both. Now I just ned to find some thin boxwood scraps for the boat interior. Basswood always looks so fuzzy on tiny pieces, no matter what you do.

Thanks again and keep the facts coming, it's good to know. I'll come bacl and post what I make in a few weeks.
 
You could try silkspan or another type of tissue used in model airplane wings. Modifying Tom Laurie’s method of using silkspan for this seems to me to be the perfect solution and you can paint the tissue to the color you want. Just my 2-cents.
 
Sgt_Bill said:
I used an elmers glue watered down solution and kleenex for my Housatonic. It drapes and wrinkles nicely.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I had in mind. I was going to use silkspan, but if a tissue works...
Is it just cut oversize to the boat and draped over? It looks like it almost has a seem around the edges. How long is that boat.
Thanks!
 
Rob444 said:
I would try several layers of facial tissue soaked with thinned white glue. It could be stained brown to resemble old canvas by using tea to dilute the while glue. Cut the tissue to the approximate shape you want, soak it and allow it to dry. You can put it over a cardstock template of the top of the boat you wish to cover as it dries. Another option is to use thin lead foil or even the foil coverings of some wine bottles.
Click to expand...
I used a single layer of tissue, just one ply, wetted with dilute PVA glue and draped a rectangle of the right size over the boat. It draped perfectly. I then painted a second coat of PVA "dope" then a final coat of tan paint.20240302_101335.jpg
 
I'm not sure what era it may apply to, but I've read that early ships stored their boats upright and uncovered, used to collect rainwater for use by the crew. The article also mentioned this kept the wood from drying out and leaking. I always thought they'd be stored upside down to not collect water, but that isn't how most are stored. Plus larger ones would be harder to turn over. Just some thoughts.
 
glennb17 said:
This is exactly what I had in mind. I was going to use silkspan, but if a tissue works...
Is it just cut oversize to the boat and draped over? It looks like it almost has a seem around the edges. How long is that boat.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
What I did was glue a frame outside of the boat about at the length I wanted the cover. Let the tissue hang so you won't see the frame outline. Trimmed it just below that frame after it was dry. One tissue is enough. The ribs you see is 20 ga wire. The frame is about 1/32 thick. Nothing fancy underneat the cover. This boat is 5".
 
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