The Model Boatyard - Jolly Boat

View larger imageThis kit from Artinsania Latrina purports to be a model of the Bounty's jolly boat. Not even close. Still, it makes a pretty little model that's fun to build.

My goal in building this kit was to learn how to plank. Up to this point, I'd only built two Midwest kits, which use a simplified method of planking, and was in the middle of Smuggler, which is a solid-hull model. One of the best available books on planking is "Planking the Built-up Ship Model" by Jim Roberts, which is available from Model Expo - Item #MSB113. It teaches planking the way it was done in the real world. The planking instructions provided by AL are ridiculous and totally wrong!

View larger imageThe process of planking this hull was a lot of fun. Reading the books on planking left me more confused than educated, but once I actually got into doing it, the light came on in my brain and everything I'd read made sense at last. That's not to say that I did a perfect job of planking, but at least I understood the process.

View larger imageOther than planking, I built this kit pretty much as provided. I used the pre-sewn sails, the brass-ring mast hoops, and even the cast boom jaws (why cast boom jaws?!?!). I'd accomplished what I'd wanted to learn once I built the hull, so the rest was just a quick job of finishing up the kit rather than bashing it to make it look halfway decent. I did add a small anchor and some belaying pins. There was nothing in the kit or instuctions that told you how or where to belay all the lines and no belaying pins provided.