For my Father

[Bob S]

Thank you Lee. I wish now that I would have thought to photograph Dad's puzzle and include it with this post, so you could see where my inspiration came from.

[lgriffin]

That's fantastic, Bob! I really like it - well done.

Lee G.

[Bob S]

Thank you Bill! Those wood boats were kinda fun, more of a wood-bending project than anything else.

[Bill L2]

Excellent job Bob.

[Bob S]

Hey Ron - Do you think it is worthy to go to Richmond?  If you think so, I'll bring it this Sunday to our meeting for you to carry up there - but I'm also going to be bringing you two tubs of cars to carry, so this would make a total of (3) tubs that are 16" x 24" x 6"... Got enough room for all of that?.. and more important - do you mind that carrying that much stuff?

[Ronv]

Very cool! I once helped an older brother build a 20 ft cedar strip canoe and you cannot tell your models from the real ones. Are these going to Richmond for the wooden boat category?
RonV

[Bob S]

Thank you Ryan -- this is way outside of our plastic medium - I hope you'll indulge me.

[Ryan K]

A work of art.

[Bob S]

After my father had his stroke, part of his physical therapy was building jigsaw puzzles, and I wanted to re-create a scene from a puzzle he made for my birthday one year.

These are Midwest Products balsa model kits of the Indian Girl canoe, and the Whitehall Tender row boat. I started by building the jigs provided in the kits, and used ammonia & water to soak the wood strips so they were soft enough to bend to the shape of the jigs without breaking. Loctite super glue gel and mini clamps were used to hold each strip in place to dry.

For the canoe, I stained the ribs (pardon my nautical terms) with Minwax Mahogany, and the side strips with Golden Oak. The outside was sanded, primed and painted with Tamiya Acrylic bottle paint Flat Red applied with a soft, wide brush. Wicker material for the seats was provided in this very nice kit. Oars were assembled with a round dowel and two strips of balsa glued together and shaped with a Dremel tool.

For the row boat, the entire inside is stained with Walnut finish - two coats for the ribs, and the outside was sanded, primed and painted with Tamiya XF-23 Light Blue. Same steps with the oars for this one too. Bumper strips on both boats are Mahogany, and the natural wood on both got 3 coats of Minwax Satin Clear finish.

For the vignette, I started with a 1/8" plywood base, and glued 1/2" square dowels for the borders.  Sanded & painted all of that with a neutral gray. The shore was built up with plaster and covered with sand, sticks and grass while still slightly wet. Beyond the shore, I painted the base dark brown, and allowed the paint to dry. Then I painted on a fairly thick coat of Elmer's Glue, and added silt and gravel from my driveway. The next day I added Woodland Scenics Water Effects, and set the boats in place while water was still wet.

This is for you Dad! - I love you and I miss you.