1/87 Fishing Trawler

[DaKra]

Here's something in HO scale I built for a contest entry.   I would have added some crates of fish and other clutter to the dock, but the rules basically prohibited that.  I got away with the boat because I was allowed "up to three vehicles."    By the time I was done scratch building it, I was too pressed for time and too chicken to heavily weather it. 

It represents an Eastern Rig Dragger, a picturesque type of fishing vessel that was once common around New England, now all but gone.    I had a very difficult time finding prototype information, hence the simplified rigging.  I mainly worked from a photo I found in Life's photo archive online.    The hull began as a wooden, reject 1/96 scale Model Shipways tugboat hull.

Does anyone have any good reference material for this type of boat?  I'd like to build a better one. 



Dave




 
   

[finescalerr]

More photos! MORE! -- Russ

[DaKra]

haha ok 

[Frederic Testard]

He put a 's' at the end of photo...

[finescalerr]

Yeah. PhotoS. Don't be stingy. -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Really only needs a bit of boat weathering and some clutter. A nice cleanly built model!

[DaKra]

Thanks Chuck.      After all the work I put into scratch building the boat, and not having a lot of experience with weathering at that time, I was very hesitant to attack it with the chalks and washes, especially since I was working on a deadline for the contest and had no time margin for error.  So I just scuffed it here and there.   

Maybe you're the same way; once I call a model finished, I lose interest in it and focus on the next one.  So it will just stay as it is.  But I do enjoy looking at it and seeing the progress I've made since then.     




   

[JohnP]

Good lighting on the last photo. That's just a nice, pleasant, interesting model scene to enjoy. I like it without the huge amounts of clutter, massive barnacles on the posts, the usual wooden-legged old sailor sitting on a crate etc.

Just plain nice.

John

[k27rgs]

the last photo makes it all come alive.  Nice model.

[marc_reusser]

The boat is sweet, and I really like the overall scene, simple, elegant and plausible.

The stepped cornice detail on the building is also very interesting....quite unique, adds interest and yet is very real-world likely. I basically also like that all the roof lines are simple......something that so many weterfront models seem to ignore when they go with all sorts of fanciful, erratic and charicaturish rooflines.


Marc

[DaKra]

Thanks     Although I would have liked to add a little bit of clutter to the dock, I'm not a fan of that dense clutter that seems to be de rigueur in RR dioramas.    I want the finished product to be something pleasant to look at, not an eyesore.  I have enough clutter in my 1/1 world.   

The structure was built from a kit, for a contest to promote that particular kit. 

http://www.railroadkits.com/images/Reaghan_Feed_Mill1.jpg

Rules prohibited adding much material, or changing the basic footprint of the structure, so I was limited in what I could do.  Basically I corrected most of what  I thought was atypical about the design.   That meant raising the top storey (which made room for the company name)  adding the simple trim to the cornice,  repositioning the first floor windows upwards, adding a foundation, changing the doors, re-orienting the annex, shortening the awnings etc.   On both the structure and the dock, to be within the contest rules, I used only materials that came in the box, including the box itself.    The pier pilings are carved from the kit's interior bracing stripwood.  A nice side effect was having somewhat irregular pilings, not perfect dowels as usually seen on models.  The substitute bracing was made from folded box cardboard.   But most of the my labor went to making the boat.   I bought a Seaport Modelworks resin fishing boat kit but I was disappointed with it, so I scratch built one.  I got first prize for the dio, was happy.

Thanks again for the feedback. 

Dave

[DaKra]

One more photo.  The siding repair scene on the roof was because I needed that siding to raise the 3rd floor from the kit configuration,  and was limited to what came in the box, so I had to "steal" it from there, and replace with paper and stripwood.    Under the dock, there's an oil barrel floating in the water, leaking a trail of oil.  Its hard to see but its a nice detail I will use again someday. 

[chester]

Nice structure and vessel Dave. I too like that water level shot. Here's a line drawing of a small N.E. trawler you might find helpful. You will find that the Artitec shrimp cutter is a great model that is a super casting and nice details. I have some photos of it if interested.

[DaKra]

Thanks Chester.   I have seen the Artitech models and they are beautiful.  Unfortunately they are Euro prototypes and my diorama is meant to be an East Coast setting.    Up till the late 60s or so, fishing boats had very clear regional characteristics, part of what makes them so interesting and picturesque.   

Speaking of cluttered eyesores, here is an example.   Its not realistic, not based on any prototype, and its all junked up with clutter.  Its not proportional,  and I don't think I'd give it a pass as a cartoon either.  I don't understand the fascination with this grotesque style of model building.   

Click here: http://fsmkits.homestead.com/files/emporiumSeafood_290.jpg

[finescalerr]

That style goes back to John Allen. He is now an icon so everything he did gets copied and embellished. Then the copies get copied and embellished. And then you end up with all the "me, too" laser kits and the Australian modelers' scratchbuilt clones (as well done as they may be) and all the rest of it. When modelers copy other modelers the result is an artistic abortion.

It happens in music, too. Can you say "rip off movie themes" or "Charlie Parker wannabes"?

Russ