I've started work on a 1/4 scale model of Graeme King's Kingfisher rowing shell, in anticipation of building a full-size version. I am working from the articles and plans in Wooden Boat issues 61, 62 and 63. My first obstacle to overcome is sizing the forms on which the hull is constructed. Even after enlarging the table of form dimensions, I still can't quite read several. Can anyone provide me with the correct dimensions? The worst four, and my best guesses:

2C = 3 + 3/8 ? 3 + 5/8 ? 3C = 6 + 3/32 ? 6 + 5/32 ? 5C = 7 + 3/32 ? 7 + 5/32 ? 7 + 17/32 ? 7C = 4 + 3/16 ? 4 + 5/16 ?

Also, I noticed that if one were to cut this boat just fore and aft of the cockpit, an unwieldly 23 foot boat becomes three very manageable 8 foot pieces which could easily be carried on a car's roof rack. One reason for building a scale model is to work out how to make the modification without compromising the structural soundness of the boat.

Thanks for your help.

-- Joseph Kendall (kendalljoe@netzero.com), February 01, 2004

Answers

Hi Joseph From the full scale plans 2C=3+5/8,3C=6+3/32,5C=7+17/32,7C=4+11/16.

I havent seen the woodenboat articles but the full plans (4shts) are very detailed and probably well worth the $$. There would be a lot of leverage on those joints (long skinny shallow boat) Good luck Wayne, Fremantle West Australia

-- Wayne Poulsen (poulsenwm@hotmail.com), February 04, 2004.

Wayne,

Thanks for the information. It's amazing that a person can ask a question about some tiny detail and get an answer in a few days from someone halfway around the world! Here in Buffalo, NY, USA it's the dead of winter, so we have to amuse ourselves by building boats rather than rowing them. We are quite envious of your summer weather right now!

It sounds as if you purchased the plans for the Kingfisher. Did you also build it? The Wooden Boat series shows sheets 1, 3 and 4 of the plans. Yes, they are quite detailed, and you can imagine the difficulty in trying to read them shrunken down enough to fit in a magazine. When I build the full-size version of the boat I'll most likely buy the plans to make construction easier, but it seemed a bit much for just building a model.

I agree that the joints will be subject to some large forces. I have access to a machine shop, so they will likely involve some aluminum or stainless steel. I think the tricky part will not be the engineering for strength, but rather devising a mechanism which will be easy to assemble and disassemble within the narrow confines of the hull.

-- Joseph Kendall (kendalljoe@netzero.com), February 07, 2004.

Hi Joseph I have had the Kingfisher on the "to build" list for several years. My wife became friends with a work colleague who tuned out to a contempory of mine from school, when I met her husband I found he had built a Kingfisher some years earlier. It happened that the guy he sold it too was now offering it for sale. I grabbed it. Both owners had been happy with it and its well made. It is gorgeous. As to cutting it up, I think a light strong joint will be a challenge. It is whippy, pick up an end and the boat bends under its own weight.What must be rigid joints will interupt this and it would be very easy to build in "stress risers". I may be over concerned and I think rowing "eights" are sometimes "broken down" for transport. Regards Wayne Poulsen

-- Wayne Poulsen (poulsenwm@hotmail.com), February 08, 2004.