Would you like a pleasant alternative to "Black Friday"?

 
You may not know about Chincoteague...

but, it's a place near and dear to our hearts. If you are trying to avoid the mass hysteria of "Black Friday", I recommend that you consider a trip to Chincoteague, Virginia instead.

Years ago, when we started to go to "carving" shows, many of our friends and colleagues, in particular, the late great Lee Scheely, told us: "You've got to go to Chincoteague!". The way it was put made the show a bit intimidating. We didn't know if we could even get in, especially where our subject is boats, rather than birds. There is, however, a good deal of carving that goes into our work and so we started "doing Chincoteague". It may have been one of the best things we've done.

There are actually three of the Chincoteague carving shows each year: Thanksgiving, Easter and Labor Day. We've never been able to do Labor Day for unrelated reasons. We've discussed the Easter show on our Facebook page. This weekend (Friday & Saturday Nov. 25th & 26th) is the Thanksgiving show. It's also a Christmas show.

Let me tell you about these shows. They are held at the Chincoteague Combined School in its gymnasium. No huge signs out front. You might think that you're looking at a Holiday Bazaar or other Craft Fair when you only look at the outside of the building. A school with a lot of vans and trailers parked outside. Sounds like a bunch of amateurs???

When I first came to these shows, I was blown away. The exhibitors represented the Master's Masters of carving, many that I knew from Havre de Grace and The Waterfowl Festival and other great nationally recognized shows. Among them were Bill Veasey and Shannon Dimmig, Vince Ciesielski (I probably spelled his name incorrectly), Bill Cowen, Jennifer Daisey, Russell Fish, Walt Schmitz, Bill Hickson, Rocky Detwiler and scores of other truly great carvers. The painters and sculptors were no less amazing. Other artists, such as Donnie Thornton and Don & Donna Drew really rounded the shows out nicely. There is no room to mention many of them, no less to describe their work.

What was also amazing was to find such a low key atmosphere, where you didn't just have the opportunity to see some amazing art and artistry, but the opportunity to spend time talking with the artists and getting to know them. Over the years, we've made a lot of friends and we've learned a lot of things from being in the Chincoteague carving shows. Unfortunately, we've lost more than a few of those friends over those years, such as Lee, Don Repsher and some others who we came to expect to see when we arrived and now really miss. We were lucky to have the opportunities to learn from them and to be able to call such great people our friends.

These shows have changed over the years. Everyone used to know about them - they were legendary. Word of mouth has been overcome by electronic media and low budget shows can't buy the advertising that the large retailers can. The Deborah Waterfowl Show and Auction is a truly great show with truly great carvers and artists of many kinds. It's an honest display of high quality things, in some cases among the best in the world of those things.  They are reasonably priced and made with precision and care. If you are looking for gifts, you will be amazed at what awaits you.

As you consider the idea of patronizing small businesses, I recommend that you consider this show, full of hard-working people, who, although they may not be immediately recognized as such, are small business owners. Proceeds from the show benefit the Deborah Heart & Lung Center in Brown's Mills, NJ. As with the eggs that we carve for the silent auction at the Easter show, we apply our talents to wooden balls such as the one below. Come to the live auction on Saturday night to get your hands on some very special things...

The show is only a small reason to come to the island of Chincoteague. It's a beautiful town with shops, restaurants, hotels, B&Bs and beautiful views. The Wildlife Refuge opens up miles of road that are only open for Thanksgiving weekend. You can see the famous ponies (don't tell me that you've never heard of "Misty of Chincoteague"), Snow Geese, deer, beaches and... I've told you enough.

Again... Avoid the Malls! Come to The Deborah Waterfowl Show and Auction, Friday and Saturday, November 25th & 26th, 2011 at the Chincoteague Combined School in Chincoteague, Virginia. For more information call (757) 336-6161

Blast from the past!

"Where did you find that???" Nancy was doing some re-arranging and came across some old "stuff"...

I had almost forgotten the era of the "WinkieMobile". It's not such a bad name when you know that it was in honor of my old shop supervisor, Winston, an aging, but wonderful, Springer Spaniel, who was around for the building of all fourteen of them.

I know that I have many better shots of them somewhere, but these are available now and bring back some memories of the little car that we used to make, that we thought was a bit special. Unfortunately, it had over 300 parts to each one and we were unable to get back anywhere near what we put into them. Still, they hold a special place in my memory.

There was an evolution that came from the basic idea of it. A little car that was made of fine woods, with all sorts of features that kids might like. The hood opened and inside was a brightly colored engine with removeable spark plugs, air filter and the engine block came out too. Beneath that was the sophisticated steering system, operated using spindles and nylon rope to absorb shock. The trunk opened and contained a wrench made from maple, as well as a threaded jackstand so that the tires could be changed, or exchanged, with the spare which was held to the trunk lid by a maple "bolt" large enough to easily be turned by small hands. The wrench could also be used to extend the length of the car by unscrewing some maple nuts under the frame and sliding the the rear portion  of the car either forward or back.

That evolution started with visiting a friend's toy store and finding out that there was much more involved than looks. The next step was to have it kid-tested and they virtually destroyed the first designs in minutes. We still have those cars. Finally, the, much more solid, WM3 design was adopted and everyone loved it, but...

What was special about the cars was that they were made from very fine hardwoods. They were all painted with a lacquer-like feel to their painted surfaces, but all finishes were done with water-based paints.With all of the parts involved, we had to create a lot of special templates and jigs. It took from four to eight months to build one.

Although "Fire Engine Red" was the most popular color, we also made them in White, Dark Blue, Yellow, and Teal. The seats were usually "book-matched" as in the white one above. The lighter wood is Tiger Oak and the darker wood is Black Walnut. We made their seats from Birds-Eye Maple, Black Walnut Burl, Koa and some other very interesting woods. The steering wheels were made from Purpleheart, Mahogany, Maple, and others. The bumpers of the white car above were made from Purpleheart. The bumpers went through an interesting evolution of shapes, the first being made as assemblies to form springs from Ash, changing to solid shapes that had "fiddle heads" carved into their ends. That was some interesting carving.

The last WinkieMobile was a custom order. You can see the "fiddleheads" on the ends of the bumpers. The seats were book-matched Black Walnut Burl with Ash trim. It had a gold-lettered license plate. The hinges of the trunk lid were made from Koa.

Every now and then someone remembers that we used to make "those little cars". They were probably doomed from the start. We charged about $500, which didn't come close to covering costs. We were faced with people saying: "Why would my kid want that? They have a battey powered jeep and I didn't pay that much." We even had offers to have them made overseas for us. Our answer then was no and it would be the same now. To make them properly, you have to love them and nobody else would do that.

It's a moot point now. Hurricane Isabel flooded our shop in 2003 and we lost many of the necessary templates and jigs required to make "those little cars".  We had pretty much moved over to making only boat models by that time anyway, because they were in high demand.

Still, I have some good memories of "those little cars". Perhaps I'll find some of those other photos, so you can see the engines, the steering mechanisms and the chassis...

Need to find something special for the Holidays??

If you are looking for serious Holiday gifts, for others (or even for yourself), I hope you’ll hang around long enough to read this...

As authors of a book that includes much common sense, but also some pretty specialized information, we've been particularly pleased, not just at the number of favorable reviews that we've gotten, but about where some of those reviews have come from.

When I used to play music for a living, the older and wiser musicians would remind me "Don't listen to the hecklers; they're probably drunk." They also followed that statement with "Don't get too high on the compliments; they're probably drunk. These are good words of wisdom for anyone trying to keep their assessment of the opinions of others in check. The same guys would also point someone out in the audience and say "If that guy says you did well, it means something", referring to someone that had been in the business for many years. Of course, "that guy" might put you in your place just as quickly; maybe more often.

We wrote our book for all levels of model makers. That is to say that it provides fundamental information that can teach anyone to learn the art of model making and it also has a significant amount of information that can add to any master model makers skill set. There are a number of areas of focus including; learning the art of "scratch building"; concepts and techniques for improving your ability to "see" your subject in order to better represent it in your model; understanding shapes, spatial concepts, drawings and how to measure boats accurately; different ways to build and display models; tools; materials; construction theories and much more.

It's got 160 pages, 264 photos, and 94 drawings and it took 4 years to write. Those photos were culled from thousands; the drawings from hundreds and the fifty some odd original chapters were focused down to twenty. It was quite a bit of work and, as with the playing of music, when you put your work out in public for others to judge, you want to know what they think... ...what they really think.

At shows and book signings, we’ve received positive compliments from all sorts of people and it's been very gratifying. We don't always know who among them knows what, but we certainly know, from some of the serious conversations that we've had, that among them have been some very knowledgeable model makers. Unfortunately, those conversations are gone to the wind...

With our book, as when I was a musician, we wait for “that guy”, who is known for their expertise, and whose words can be relied upon to “mean something”. Because we believe in the quality of our book and want confirmation that we succeeded at doing what we intended, it means a great deal to us when “that guy” speaks up. It also helps us as we write our next book.

When you know who “that guy” is, you know that what they say can help guide you, especially if the subject is one that you don’t yet know much about or in the case where you are looking for a gift for someone else. We have now heard from a number of “those guys” and it is probable, if you happen to be reading this, that you are well aware of one and likely more of those we’ve chosen to list here:

As you read note not only what is said, but who is saying it. They are people who know what they are talking about:

From the November 2011 issue of The Waterman’s Gazette, a trade publication of the Maryland Watermen’s Association. The Watermen that work on deadrise and other types of workboats in the Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay rely on the “Gazette“. Watermen have no problem telling you what they think; good or bad. The review says some very nice things, referring to how model boat builders and enthusiasts“, both “professional” and “hobbyist” will benefit and “can apply the principles learned for design techniques and theories to other models they want to build” and concluding with “it’s well worth the price”. Believe me, Watermen know value.

Tom Holmes, noted expert and restorer of classic Century boats and President of The Century Boat Club, wrote in The Thoroughbred, a magazine published by The Century Boat Club, “their attention to detail is awesome” and “their chapters on Understanding Lines Drawings and How to Measure a Boat are very instructive for club members tackling a restoration job, especially a basket case. Their approach to problem solving is fundamental to a boat restorer especially if you are not simply copying , but need to scratch build boat parts. You will learn many skills and approaches to boat building from reading this book.”

Good Old Boat Magazine, well read by many for years said among many nice things: “My learning curve would have been much less steep if Fundamentals of Model Boat Building had been available.” and “I looked at this book from the perspective of a fellow model boat builder and found the explanations and terminology easy to follow. With that in mind, I asked my husband, who is a sailor, but not a model builder, to look it over and he told me it’s a fascinating read.”

Fine Woodworking Magazine, respected by woodworkers the world over; in addition to awarding our book as a prize, included this in their assessment: “This seems like a pretty intense book, but if you want to build model boats, this book will show you how to do it all.”
 

As of this time, all of the reviews that we have seen have been very positive and we are very pleased and proud to recommend our book to you, or your loved ones. There are many others and I will be happy to give you the sources so you can read their complete reviews. Just email me at johninto@intothings.com

That said, I want to know all opinions, whether you are a novice or a master, whether your opinion is full of praise or full of criticisms. We have yet to see a negative review, not that we would look forward to it, but we really want to know of all honest opinions. We really want to know what you think. Take a look for yourself!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

The 41st Waterfowl Festival, Easton, Maryland, November 11th - 13th, 2011.

We do a lot of shows during the year, generally around a dozen, or so. Shows that we've done cover many parts of the U.S: East to West, from the Chesapeake Bay to Lake Tahoe and North to South from Upstate New York to Florida and many places in between. We've even been invited to shows in Scandinavia, Germany, England and Australia. Such invitations make us go "Wow!", but doing them has not been feasible, as of yet.

We've learned a lot of things on the "show circuit". Such trivia as that there are more boats registered in the state of Michigan than in any other state. Which state did you think it was? We've also learned where Thousand Islands Dressing was invented and a lot of places where excellent Barbecue can be found. One of the things that we like to do, whenever we're a ways from home, is to take a visit to the local supermarket. We like to eat and every place has its own specialties. Moon Pies in the South; River Rat Cheese in the North, etc..

Being in the "Boating Industry", we are particularly aware of seafood centers. We came from Boston, home of the best seafood in the world, to, The Chesapeake Bay, home of the best seafood in the world. We like to visit San Francisco, home of the best seafood in the world, The Gulf Coast, home of the best seafood in the world, Callabash, N.C., certainly home of the best seafood in the world and The Pacific Northwest Coast, home of the best seafood in the world, especially smoked sturgeon... Every one of these places has the best seafood. They really do, period.

Best, but different. Each one has its array of signature dishes and I love them all. The shows that we go to are different and "the best" in a similar way. Our next show "The Waterfowl Festival" is in Easton, Maryland. My understanding is that it started strictly as a "decoy show", with just bird carvers. It's grown in its forty one year lifespan into one of the most respected wildlife art shows in the country and, indeed, it draws artists from all over the globe. Among the arts are paintings, bronze sculptures and the highest forms of the art of carving birds. This is a vast under-representation of what you'll find.

In fact, this show has grown into many interesting venues throughout the city of Easton and also attracts spectators from around the world. As always, we will be at the show with our models in the Artist's Emporium (normally the Easton Middle School). There, you will also find several great bird carvers; metal sculpture wizard, Paul Lockhart; Courtney Design, creators of amazing wildlife jewelry; Donnie Thornton, famous Chincoteague feather painter and several other great artists and artisans, as well as some suppliers of special tools and supplies for carving and other related arts.

Although we've been doing this show for years, this is the first time that we will have our book "Fundamentals of Model Boat Building" with us. It was a four year project. You'll understand why when you get to see it.

We've really come to enjoy spending time with our friends from Schiffer Publishing Ltd. at recent book signings in Baltimore, Solomon's Island and Oxford and I think that we're going to miss them as we return to our traditional model display. It was certainly nice to have someone else set everything up and to be able to just "show up". We will have our full array of models, our photos, our mini workbench and our computer with us in Easton. Please be sure to come see us.

Even though we won't be sharing a booth, Schiffer Publishing will also be at The Waterfowl Festival at a different location. We can't tell you exactly where yet, but we will keep you posted. If you are a connoisseur of the carving arts, you may be familiar with books by William Veasey, Tom Wolfe or Steve Rogers. They are all Schiffer authors and just a small representation of a great publishing house. If you are a connoisseur of reading, you will find something that you'll love with over 4,500 interesting titles available on all kinds of subjects. http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764331053

The 41st Waterfowl Festival is being held on Friday, November 11th, through Sunday, November 13th, in locations throughout the city of Easton, Maryland. Check their website for more information: http://waterfowlfestival.org

One Author's Opinion...

The conventional "minds-eye" image of the life of an author could be that of someone sitting on the porch of their Malibu beachfront cottage, jotting down words as they come to mind, avoiding calls from the late night talk shows, without a care about anything but the plot of their book and the daily glance at the New York Times ratings of the last book... ...the life-threatening intrusion of "writer's block"... ...the miraculous insight that leads to a night of furious typing to create a 400 page novel that immediately hits #1!... ...movie rights!... ...Broadway!...

Nice fiction...

Over the years, I've known a number of authors; some in my family, who've been "up there", so to speak. I can now say, with great pride, that I am an author, too. With that pride also comes a certain humility that I am among many, many, whose works are far more important in people's lives than mine. Still, I know that I worked honestly, carefully, and very hard to make something that I hope lasts longer than I do, understanding that once I let it go I have very little control over its future.

It hasn't taken long to learn that we live in a time that threatens the existence of authors and other artist's, especially musicians, because our technology is growing at a rate far greater than our ability to control, or even understand, what the effects of it can be. It's already been decades since musicians and music writers started losing livelihoods due to cassette and then CD reproductions of materials that were sold openly on the street.

More recently, almost every household has scanning and/or digital photography equipment. While it may not seem like the same thing as counterfeiting currency, the ease of which anything on paper can be copied has resulted in a world-wide market of pirated books. In an era of unprecedented material acqusition, as well as personal debt, the idea that you could acquire a book that you've always wanted to read for a very low price or even for free, is very compelling. It's sadly amazing to see what is offered.

That concept should be balanced with an understanding of what would never have been, if authors didn't get paid to do their jobs and if publishers tried to print books strictly out of their own pockets. I can't imagine and I am not sure if anyone else could.

You can counter this with the rationale that we are living in a new world. There are certainly benefits to the new technologies. I'm sure that I have a lot of advantages over my grandfather, who typed on manual typerwriters, due to word processing programs and spread-sheets. This new world type of thinking has also led to a new way of doing business that has been developing in recent years...

In more recent times, extremely large, multi-faceted corporations have developed with goal of marketing virtually anything that exists. This means that they have, within their corporations, companies that make product A, companies that make product B, companie that make product C, etc., etc.. This gives these large corporations unimaginable resources and leverage.

If such a corporation wants dominance in product B, for example, they can give product B away to customers for free, Company B operating at what, for other companies, would be a severe loss, the other various companies within the large corporation providing the capital to keep Company B going indefinitely. Other companies that make product B, starting with the smallest, go out of business until the large corporation largely, if not totally, dominates the market for product B and then can raise prices to whatever they want, now being "the only game in town". That "town" just happens to be known as the planet "Earth".

This same leverage can be used to force other companies, whose function they may not be so interested in replacing, to operate under unfair terms.

As an author, who relies on the fair selling of the books that I write, I would simply like to be paid for the years of research required, the writing that kept me up late many nights and as a token of the enjoyment that I hope that you are getting from the book that you reading. As someone with a small, but developing sense of what is involved in bringing a book to fruition after the author has submitted their manuscript, I would like to believe that my editors, book designers, marketing staff, warehouse workers and everyone else, that I've seen work very hard, get fairly treated for what they do.

It is not acceptable to simply copy someone else's work for free. Please look carefully at the "bargain" that is in front of you to be sure that it is a legitimate copy. If it's a good deal, I'm all for it. I want you to ready my book, after all. If it's not legitimate, please think about what's behind that "bargain".

I'd like to commend Peter Schiffer for his work in trying to help authors.
See this link: http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/press_release.php?id=48
I hope that others will follow suit...

One model-maker's opinion...

Model makers are one heck of a competitive group of people. It's a good thing - it makes the art better and better. Good model makers always want to get to that "next level". It's not unlike other arts or music. I love to see what others do and sometimes I'm blown away. Take for example, functioning miniature V-8 engines, or huge R/C 747s, or some of the Gibbs & Cox ship models from the 40's (let's not forget August Crabtree). I used to make more R/C boats professionally, but true R/C afficianados want to be able to claim credit for the performance of their model themselves.

Sometimes there are aspects to our competitiveness that have to be watched. Often a model-maker looks at what another model-maker has in front of them and unconsciously assumes that they are seeing that model-maker's best work. This is how we reassure ourselves of our abilities and is natural.

Unfortunately, such comparisons may be flawed...

You will never, ever, see our best works, unless you are our customer, or the work is on display in public. Why? We can't risk traveling with works that are either too fine, or at a stage of construction where the details are too delicate. Dealing with preparations for shipping is scary enough.

When you make models for a living, there is an "economics" to the work. Some models cost hundreds of dollars while others cost tens, even hundred, of thousands of dollars. It's self-explanatory; the amounts of time, effort and quality of materials differ at each end of the spectrum.

You may be familiar with intricate models made from pieces of bone or toothpicks by someone imprisoned for decades. With nothing else to do for 20 years, it was probably therapeutic and the only thing to do. I can't imagine... Occasionally we run into someone that has been working on a single model for over 20 years. It's not the same situation, but what they have is usually wonderful.

We've got to be careful about our comparisons. Often times between apples and oranges. We look at someone else's great work and become depresssed. Why?  Model-making is about learning and getting better. If it is that great, learn from it. Bear in mind that your own work may be better than you realize.

Much worse is to make an assumption of  another model-maker's capabilities in order to measure your own.

I will say it again, "you cannot know what you don't know". This means that while you've got your chest out about your great skills, someone will come along and "blow you away", because you weren't paying attention.

All model makers are different in some way, shape or form. I seriously  doubt that August Crabtree could have built a functional V-8 engine and the converse for the engine modeler. They are/were both great model-makers. I think that they would both have respected each other's work, knowing the differences.

Your most important competition is with yourself. Work on learning more. Judge yourself fairly. Make models that you like and in the way that you believe they should be made. You will probably change your beliefs every now and then, but if you keep growing, you'll be contributing to the world of model-making.

"Always sign your work. It's very sad to see a great model with no way of knowing who made it."

A really good way to spend the morning...

Readers of our book will certainly be able to relate. We had a great morning, today, helping to change the Annie Buck's summer configuration to her winter configuration. It starts with a ride to the public wharf, where there is enough space to maneuver. The ride, on a perfectly cloudless day, with temperatures at right about 70F, was gorgeous. The trees are just starting to get color now. Just enough to add highlights to the woods behind the marshes.

The process is much like an old barn-raising and although it involves a lot of heavy lifting and potential injury, I look forward to it every year. Five of us disconnected and lifted the summer canopy  (PP. 77, figure 12 in "Fundamentals...") from its supports and onto a trailer, where it was driven to its winter storage place where we placed it for safe keeping. I don't know how much it weighs, but it's certainly in the hundreds of pounds, if not a half-ton, or so. We went to the wharf in the shade, but when we were done removing the canopy, the Annie Buck's cockpit was wide open and full of light. It makes her a whole different boat.

That was the first half, and actually the easier part, of the process. We then had another beautiful boat ride to another local dock where her mast and boom were stored. The mast and boom are required in oystering when dredging or patent tonging (pp. 76  figure 15). The mast is made of iron and it's a good thing that most of the guys lifting are watermen - they are extremely strong from the work that they do. Getting a long mast (25'?) onto a boat when you have to carry it on a narrow dock (3') can get you knocked into the water very suddenly. Once the mast is aboard the boat, it must be mounted to a support plank, then made upright and then secured with wire rope and turnbuckles. The various lines that hold the mast in place have to be tensioned exactly right, the consequences potentially being life threatening. The boom's installation must wait until the mast is ready. Otherwise there would be no place to install it and it would just be in the way. The boom is mainly aluminum, but also hundreds of pounds and long. Still, carrying it is much more pleasant than carrying the mast was.

I'm always amazed at how these guys work together, all of them knowing exactly what needs to be done, because they all have the same kinds of boats and after the Annie Buck is squared away, the group will move on to convert the other boats. David has a lot more work to do before he can work with his rig. There are all sorts of lines to inspect/fix/rig. He has to hook up various hydraulic lines and other elements of the system. He'll need to install his culling board. He is gearing up for the work of winter. That means making sure that his engine and everything else important to running the boat is in perfect shape.

Nobody could do this work alone. It's an honor to participate, knowing that my contribution to the effort is minimal, but I always learn things and the rides on the Annie Buck, to me, are worth every bit of it. I look forward to reversing the process in the Spring...

Deer Isle Koster "KDI" Kit Version

Hull #3 of the KDI will soon be cut on the CNC machine and built. The computer model is a refined version of the first two built out west for designer Bruce Elfstrom. The modeling was done in collaboration with 3D CAD extraordinaire, Dan Clarke.

We will keep folks posted as the first kit version is cut, built, and released to the market sometime this Fall.

What is our book really about?????

"Fundamentals.." is an intriguing romance between plank and frame, the steamy cherry bending to her master's wishes. Meet the curvaceous "Annie Buck" and learn the story of how she got to be the way she is. Watch out for the "slicers" and the "whittler", see what the protaganist learns in the bedroom, We can't tell you the finish, but sometimes it involves a good shellacking...

See what the critics are saying:
Fine Woodworking calls it: "intense". Good Old Boat says:"My learning curve would have been much less steep if Fundamentals of Model Boat Building had been available." James J. B. says: "provides great insight". Chris P. says: "A great resource for anyone". Lisa F. says: "Remarkable detail." Gail G. H. says: "I highly recommend this book."

Come meet us at The Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, Maryland on October 8th and 9th, 2011 and get your own personally autographed copy.

What do authors of model boat building books like to read???

In addition to Gene Johnson, Edwin Leaf, Steve Rogers and other model making greats, I like to read Goethe, Dostoyevski, Freud, Hesse, Priestly, Camus, Cerf, Tolstoy, Epictitus, and just about any other author whose descriptions are as of things are as powerful in one's mind as to make them real, in the same way that a model is meant to convey something that is real.

Just what do we mean by "Fundamentals"?

When you write a book and begin the title with the word "Fundamentals", there is a certain implication. Let me put it simply: Our book teaches you what you need to know to choose a subject boat and make a model of it. It teaches the things you need to become a model maker. It also contains a wealth of useful information for veteran model makers. Here is where you can find out more http://intothings.com/fundamentals.html

The Lightship "Chesapeake"...

It's always nice when someone posts photos of your work on the web, especially when they have expertise about the boat in question. This is a model of a lightship that we did back in the mid - 90's. The research involved taught me a lot about  the history and work of lightships in the United States over the last few centuries. These ships were used, not only in coastal waters, but within the Great Lakes. Almost every lightship station had a succession of different vessels as technologies improved. Lightships were different from each other and varied in size. Prior to being the "Chesapeake", this lightship was the "Fenwick". If I recall correctly, it came off of the ways in Charleston, S.C. in 1928. It's sister ship, LV117, on station as the "Nantucket", sunk when the "Olympic", sister ship to the "Titanic" hit her on a foggy day in 1934, killing several crew. It was dangerous and, as I understand it, very boring work. All of the lightships have been replaced now by "Super Buoys". http://www.lightshipmodeler.iwarp.com/custom3.html

Some thoughts...

You can see that we like to write... I like learning. Model making is interesting because there is always something new to learn. There are many great model makers in the world. Most are self-taught. We are, as well, but I was lucky to have had a great-uncle whose models were incredible to learn from. My father was an engineer and his interest in miniatures helped to foster mine. I have always liked to see things in miniature. Not only boats... In fact, my first love, in model making, was with airplanes. There is something about being able to hold something in your hand that looks exactly like something very large. Perhaps it's some type of power trip. I don't know, but I have always loved miniatures of all types, from doll-house furniture to working model engines. We shared a table with a gentleman named Fred Lagnos recently during a book-signing. I know that he knows what I'm talking about. What he does is to take model train setups and with his great knowledge of light and photography he creates photos of them that look absolutely real. You might want to check out his book "Changes: A Model Railroad Comes To Life" http://www.amazon.com/Changes-Model-Railroad-Comes-Life/dp/057807818X

Let's start our new Blog...

Permit us to introduce ourselves... We are Model Boats by John Into & Nancy Price.
We may be new to the idea of blogging, but we are not new to making model boats. I have been doing it for 50 years. Nancy for 18. We've made well over 300 models of all kinds. We've also written a serious book about how to make models entitled "Fundamentals of Model Boat Building". You can see photos of our models and information about our book at http://intothings.com/

It's an unusual way to make a living and it's given us opportunities to meet and work with all sorts of people of a variety of backgrounds. We've also had opportunities to see and make models of some very interesting boats.

We would like to hear from anyone that is interested in boats, models, things in miniature, or anything else that might come to mind...

You can also find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/model.boats?sk=wall

A trip to sail the Deer Isle Koster aka, "KDI"

The Deer Isle Koster is a new kit that will hit the market by November. We are very excited about

this addition to the catalog. I finally had a chance to sail with the designer, Bruce Elfstrom, at his summer camp on Deer Isle in Maine. Bruce designed these boats for his daughters to sail. It is always wonderful to visit the provenance of a great design and to sail with the designer!

I was most struck by how high the KDI pointed sailing upwind. The foils and jib headed lug rig are very effective. I was also struck by how nicely the helm balanced and, overall, how easily she sailed. I was most satisfied about this last point because this little boat will make a great boat for introducing children to sailing small boats.

Both well over 6' and 200 pounds (I will not go into specifics!), Bruce and I had plenty of room in the cockpit with room for kids and under deck places to stow snacks and other gear.

We are currently finishing the 3D model work which will be used to make the 2D parts that are cut on a CNC routing machine and become the basis for the complete kits. To learn a ton more about how this works please read a PDF about boat kitting.

Also feel free to visit the WoodenBoat Forum thread on the KDI.

New Stitch and Glue Dinghy

Congrats to Barbara Simon, the new owner of the Willard Beach Dory (WBD), a new stitch-and-glue dory skiff drawn by Roger Long who has retired and is off cruising. Roger left behind a few gorgeous designs for me to 'kit' and market as new boats, the (WBD) being one of them. The others are the YawlDory and a 16' Herreshoff-like double paddle canoe, which is a thing of beauty and may be the only paddle boat I end up putting in the catalog.

The WBD is out of 6mm plywood and will be rowed in and around Casco Bay. She'd be an ideal tender being light, maneuverable and a good load carrier. The oars are our custom spoon blade oars with high quality 14" leathers by Swanson Boat Company.

Stitch and Glue is a quick way to get a boat, but this project was a reminder that this type of construction can take longer than one thinks if you try to get a yachty finish: hiding the fiberglass tape and fillets takes some fairing. With lapstrake, there is a clean plank line to follow. However, the S and G structure is light and strong and relatively inexpensive as kits go.

What other S and G designs do people like that are not available as kits and should be?

Small Reach Regatta Finishes in Drake Rowboat

This sail is right off a Shellback dinghy, but a new more efficient downwind rig is in the works when we aren't making other peoples' rigs!

(photos by Christophe Matson in his Goat Island Skiff)

My wife, Ellie Chase, and I finished up a fabulous 3 days of rowing and sailing in Drake along with almost 40 other boats ranging from 12 foot dinghies to 15 sail and oar boats, to 22 foot daysailers. Drake often got to the lunch stops first because we were able to row upwind and sail downwind. It turned out that most of the time we rowed in tandem.

We love this mode of boating for getting around but you have to like to row and be in a good rowboat. And there is no need to ruin the lines of a rowboat by making it be able to sail, as long as you stick to sailing off the wind. We can sail easily on a beam reach down to a run. In the above we maintained 3.5-4kts in maybe 5-10kts total true wind.

See more at http://www.facebook.com/groups/104933556820/

Sail rigs delivered, launched, and being shaped

Drop in Sail rig, ready to go with custom canvas sailbag.

Yawldory Elyssa just launched. We built the masts and spars.

Caledonia Yawl birdsmouth-hollow mast designed by Clint (giving the 'evil eye' above) and built in-house by Steven Bauer and the CY owner.

One of our favorite projects is making birdsmouth-hollow masts and spars, but even more rewarding is working with great sailmakers who specialize in small boat sails. We work with them to have the sails made to fit the spars and lace them, make the lines, attach blocks and hardware so that someone can get a complete, drop-in rig from us and go sailing. It is very rewarding. Just delivered was a complete sail rig in a custom canvas sail bag by Mobile Marine Canvas. Just launched was a wicked-light set of masts and spars for the Yawldory Elyssa by Roger Long. The first sea trial was very successful. The masts are spruce made with the birdsmouth construction. Being finished right now in the shop is a new design for a hollow mast for the Caledonia Yawl. We have modified the original mast drawn by Iain Oughtred to be lighter and stronger for Birdsmouth construction. The tolerances involved are a little finer than working with solid masts, because the stiffness and strength of the mast will be a function of overall diameter, wall thickness, and wood type. All these factors, including the on-water use of the mast/spar, are considered when we design and build a mast. The important thing is that the load in the boat is what will exert the stresses on the mast. This load comes primarily from the weight, heeling moment, and crew of a small boat, more so than the wind strength.

Next Year's Family Boatbuilding Project?

A lot of people ask for a skiff that can take a motor.

http://www.francois.vivier.info/albumsfr/sorine/sorine_moteur/index_fr.html

http://www.francois.vivier.info/albumsfr/sorine/sorine_aviron/index_fr.html

She is a rowing/sailing/motoring skiff by Francois Vivier.

What do you think?

Family & Corporate Boatbuilding

Some new photos up at my Flickr site for the two past corporate and family boatbuilding events at Mystic Seaport.

One thing we love is that all our participants launch every boat on the third day and they always look great, the people and the boats!

It is interesting that 29 boats were built at Family Boatbuilding and even out of the biggest group of 18 canoe builders led by "man with PA system", none of these canoes were launched and paddled on Sunday.

However, we were out there rowing for a solid hour in our Echo Bay Dory Skiffs. Yeah, kit builders!

Family Boatbuilding at Wooden Boat Show

We (myself, Christophe Matson, Eric Risch the designer of the EBDS, and Steven Bauer) had a wonderful time guiding three wonderful families through the construction of 3 beautiful Echo Bay Dory Skiffs this past Friday through Sunday. The skiffs were all made from precut kits, allowing for the quick, efficient construction.

Day 1 was assembling hull sides.

Day 2 was attaching chine logs, gunwales and bottoms.

Day 3 was installing seats and outerkeel as well as doing some shaping and sanding.

Then all 3 familes launched their creations. In fact, out of nearly 30 boats built at the Show, we were the only 3 that launched!

Not one boat leaked. One family rowed across the river to their home and the others loaded on the cartops to drive home to New Jersey and Colorado. They will receive sailing kits to complete their boats.

Big thanks to Wooden Boat's support of Family Boatbuilding, to Eric Risch for giving us the design rights to use this boat, and to Christophe Matson for his patient skilled help with the families. Finally, thanks to the families for signing up with us. It was a blast, especially seeing you all rowing on Sunday.

Rowing & Sailing in France & Finland: Part 1

I recently returned from a wonderful 2 week business trip in Europe. The 'business' in France was to sail and better get to know Francois Vivier and his designs. I felt it was a good idea as his sole US and Canada kit agent and boatbuilder to better understand the cultural backdrop to his boats. I had also hoped to get on many of the that I carry in my catalog but have not had the occassion to sail on to date. The plan was to sail in Pen-Hir to Semaine Du Gulfe Morbihan (photo left at sea), one of the premier boating festivals in the world with 100s of Vivier boats in attendance as well. The trip met and exceeded all expectations. Not only are Vivier's small boats well represented but there were numerous large vessels of his design sailing in the Gulfe. I was able to get onto all the boats and gain a good feeling for how they row and sail.

While hove to in the 250-boat voile-aviron fleet (sail & oar), I was able to sail with Nicolas Vivier in his Morbic 12 and transfer to a kit built Ilur afterwards. It was a fantastic morning with this sort of activity, bouncing

from boat to boat and seeing so many Vivier boats in one place. It was like a

"live" floating advertisement for his boats!

The pictures don't do justice to just how many boats there were in the sail & oar fleet, one of 7 fleet

s in the Festival which took place over the whole Gulf and rotated night to night through the different p

orts. Other boat in the fleet were: Le Seil, Minhouet, B

eg-Meil, Ebihen 15, Ebihen 18, Aber, and Francois first sail & oar boat, Aven.

I was more taken with Aber than I had thought: she is beautiful, fast, and seaworthy.

If you speak French or even if you do not, it is worth watching a video about Francois and his work shot at the Morbihan week on board Pen-Hir and aboard Francois's motorboat design, Koulmig, pictured in the background.

Back to business: boat kits and complete boats

First off, I am now in 100% complete control of my Gmail account again. Someone in Egypt hacked in because I was not careful enough about protecting my password. Upgrade passwords and never have it on email anywhere! Learn from my mistakes. My email, boatkits@gmail.com, is completely safe, now.

Pictured is a recent boat kit heading out of the shop...CNC (computer numerically control) precut plywood kit and a timber kit. The pieces of mailing tubes over the ends of the long parts protect the precut scarf joints while the kit is shipped (this one a kit to Durango, CO).

Back to business and to pick up from the last few posts, I want to share a PDF and link to my webpage about how my kits are produced, why it makes more sense to built boats out of my catalog from kits or full size patterns, and the general idea regarding the 'economics of boat kits' (i.e., why the extra cost of a boat kit is smaller than many think) will come next time.

http://www.clintchaseboatbuilder.com/CNC.html

My pitch for building from boat kits PDF (Google Docs)

In a nutshell, boats designed in the computer are actually drawn full size already to a higher degree of precision (thousandths of an inch) than on the lofting full size by hand (1/16th's of an inch). The difference is that a planks can be precut in advance, glued together with a precut scarf, and bent around bulkheads, hitting every mark on the spot. Interior components and the building jig itself are drawn into the computer model to exactly fit the boat. Therefore, to take a computer aided drafted (CAD) boat and loft it by hand introduces natural errors that were carefully avoided in the CAD process.

Because the parts can all be predetermined off the computer model, they can be nested onto fewer sheets of plywood than a manually (scratch-built) boat can be done. Also, it avoids cutting mistakes which often requires buying extra wood. This offsets the extra cost of a kit and wastes less wood.

The time it takes to manually cut parts to a boat, if you look at it in a hourly rate kind of way, would also offset any remaining difference in cost between building from scratch versus building from precut parts in a kit.

Goat Island Skiffs Rule

We have a new Facebook and Twitter presence!!!

Like us on Facebook

www.facebook.com/clintchaseboats

Lots of updates direct from boat show thanks to Chris Freeman and his social media prowess.

Our Twitter is

www.twitter.com/clintchaseboats

The Show is over. It was a great time and people loved the Goat Island Skiff. The message was clear: the GIS is about as much boat as you can get for the money/effort/time, etc.

The first builder of the Yawl version, John Goodman and family, has a great video that really shows the skiff's stuff.

Maine BoatBuilders Show

Here is a boat moving in for the Show....it is that time of year again. The Maine Boatbuilders Show started Fri and tomorrow is day 3 already. This year has been a good show so far and tomorrow should bring even more interest. People are really intrigued by what I have to offer, a couple dozen truly unique boat kit designs most of which are available only through CCBB!

This is the first time a Goat Island Skiff has been displayed at a US boat show as far as I can tell and people are loving the boat. My boat is still unpainted, but there are always a few boats at this show that are in progress, which makes it a lower key boat show. The philosophy behind this show is that it is a boatbuilders show. People talk to the boatbuilders not reps and, in the case of an unfinished boat, get a rare glimpse into the workings of a boatbuilder, work that is normally inside a shop until it is all painted.

Lastly, we are live on FACEBOOK and TWITTER. Like us on Facebook

www.facebook.com/clintchaseboats

www.twitter.com/clintchaseboats

Economics of Kit Building

I receive a lot of questions and comments regarding the true cost of building a boat from scratch, full size patterns, and kits. Since I track time and materials closely, I have found that building from kits makes a lot of sense from an economic stand point. I took some discussions with customers/potential customers and put together this PDF on the 'economics of kits'.

In a nutshell, the cost of building from a kit is not as much more than building a boat from scratch as people think because of the extra plywood required to build from scratch not to mention the time savings.

In the meantime, we are making progress on the first professionally built Goat Island Skiff (yawl version) which will be at the Maine Boatbuilder's Show in Portland on March 18-20th. Please stop by. We'll be in building 2 near the stairs up to food court.

When I post next, I'll have a PDF link that goes into more detail about how the designs/kits are produced in CAD and CNC cutting.

New Blog by Francois Vivier

Francois Vivier, famous boat designer of France, has started a new blog. If you are using Google Chrome you can very successfully translate the page to English and read the text with little difficulty.

Vivier has many designs that are not evident on his english website, mainly because he must translate all plans and building instruction to english, a huge effort.

But he will make the effort with an order or strong inquiries. I am his US agent, so if any of these designs are of interest, please let me know.

A number of new boats are emerging, such as the skiff 'Sorin' above, aimed at "budget" oriented home projects. The first of these was a dory and he also has a couple skiffs.

The site is http://blog.vivier.info/