Nautical Research Journal
Decked sailing canoes similar to this are still being built and raced, although the 16 x 30 class disappeared in the 1930s and was replaced with other, similar, classes. Modern boats look surprisingly like this 1895 design and can have many of the same features: sliding hiking seats (the forerunners of modern-day trapezes), unusual tiller arrangements, and huge sail plans. T ey can be exciting to sail. A sailor from a hundred or more years ago, transported to today, would instantly recognize these modern boats, one of which is shown in Figure 2.
T e model
Like all my models, I scratch built it to 1:12-scale, or one inch to the foot, and so it is sixteen inches long. To show off its best characteristics, mounting it required extra care, so that needed to be determined before construction began. T e major visual point of the boat is the sail plan so I decided I would have to mount it heeled over, with both the mainsail and jib set and drawing. So that this made sense, and to highlight how that sliding seat and the tiller arrangement worked, the display would need a skipper sailing the boat; he would also point up the scale of the result, showing just how big (or small) things were, and he would give an indication of how lines might be handled, too.
T e problem was fi nding a fi gure that would do the model justice. T ere were two options: use a very well done, exact scale fi gure or fi nd or make a good representation of a human. Quite a number of years ago I was able to buy three 1:12-scale (common for dollhouse miniatures) fi gures for a series of models I was building. T ey had porcelain heads, hands, and feet and were fully posable, being constructed on wire armatures. T ey were extremely well done, but hideously expensive, and had clothing that was glued on, not sewn, which eliminated bulky seams and gave them a much more realistic look. (Figure 3) A miniature this good would have been perfect but the lady who supplied me no longer made them. I spent a lot of time looking at miniature sites on the web but
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3. A 1:12-scale miniature fi gure I used on another model. Figures this good, unfortunately, are no longer available. All photographs by the author unless otherwise indicated.
none of the fi gures I was able to fi nd even came close to those I had. Some actually looked pretty cheesy and none of them would do at all.
I then looked at Plan B, a representation. My fi rst thought was to buy (or make) a posable wire-form armature that would give the impression of a fi gure. I was not able to fi nd a suitable item and making something more than just a wire stick fi gure seemed to be beyond my skill set. T en I thought of folding up a fi gure from cardboard but rejected that idea as I thought it might be too fl at. What I fi nally chose was one of those wooden, posable mannequins that artists use. T ey look like humans, but clearly are not, and I thought that one could be just right for what I needed. T ese come in a number of sizes (the smallest I found was four inches high) and are amazingly well done. My web searches turned up a mannequin standing 5-1/2 inches tall, which equates to 5 feet 6 inches in my scale—just perfect. (Figure 4) It comprises twenty-nine individual wood parts, all fi nely turned and sanded hardwood, plus a number of screws and internal springs. T e best thing is that it cost the princely sum of $2.58 on eBay and shipping
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