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From Robert L. of MT, a detailed account of his kit-bashing experience.......
"I was pleased with the overall quality and completeness of the basic BlueJacket Maine Lobster Boat Model Kit K207. However, I wanted to add some more realism to the Lobster Boat (I have a summer home on Cliff Island, ME, a Lobster Community) so I took some time planning what I wanted to include and researched the availability of the various parts and accessories I wanted.
First, I wanted to have more realistic lobster traps. I spend a huge amount of time planning, designing and building prototype lobster traps. After several prototypes and settling on a design I kept copious notes and took pictures of each stage of the build for each trap. Over the course of several weeks (a couple hours every day or so) I finally had a repeatable design that I then developed into a 23-page build specifications document.
I then created lobster pot buoys. These took a little work but were fun to create. I used parts from a “fort model” I purchased from Hobby Lobby. The pointed tips of the logs were ideal for making the pot buoys. I would put a log in my Ryobi drill and sand it into shape for the pot buoy. I would then cut it to length, drill a 1/64” hole in the end for the line eye and a 1/16” hole at the top of the buoy for the spindle. They were then painted to the desired buoy color(s).
I planned for several accessories and found a number of model companies that could deliver what I wanted to add. The accessories included a radar dome, GPS receiver (I fabricated the GPS antenna), radar console, life vests, life ring, fire extinguisher, VHF radio, binoculars, foghorn, fenders, anchor, winch, chain, rope, light accessories (cabin lights, cuddy cabin lights, halogen lights, port/starboard running lights, spotlight, masthead light, etc.). I procured these from various model vendors including Bluejacket, Harbor Models, Cornwall Models (UK), Horizon Models and direct from Cap Marquette (France). I spent several hundred dollars buying all of these things – enough for 3 lobster boats (I am making 2 more – one for each of my sons).
I spent a considerable amount of time planning the electrical and lighting system - first deciding what I wanted to include. Initially I had to decide where to install the central system and I decided on the cuddy cabin. The two major pieces are the battery pack (Amazon: Lampvpath 4 AA) and a RF receiver (Amazon: Zabll 3.7v 433Mhz Remote switch) so I can remotely turn the lights on/off with a dongle). I then cut a large opening on the cuddy cabin top and trimmed it out with a hatch. This also took some finesse because I had to remove the top brace from LF3, soak the cuddy cabin top and cutout so that I could form them into the right shape (fit the top of the cuddy cabin with the slight curve of the top). This allowed me to bury the bulb electrical wiring, battery pack and RF receiver.
I made the bait barrel and lobster live well out of 1/16” basswood. I soaked them first and then rolled them into shape and secured with rubber bands to hold their shapes. I let them dry and then glued the inside seams with 1/32” x 3/32” basswood strips. I then put a shelf in each and painted them. I ordered the tiny molded fish from Esty (came from Europe) – I also ordered small realistic crabs from Esty. I painted them silver, gray and a little black and then glued them in place near the top of the bait barrel. I bought several lobsters (1:20) from Bluejacket and then painted them to look like live lobsters (NOT red like cooked lobsters). I sealed the shelf of the live well with epoxy and over several days added a 1/8” layer of “realistic resin water” – this I bought from Hobby Lobby – it is incredibly realistic but not cheap. One bottle (8 oz.) was enough to completely fill the three live wells. After several “fillings” I added the lobsters and then topped them off with 2-3 more layers of 1/8” realistic resin water to fill the live well.
I designed an Instrument Console – this was another “labor-of-love”. I must have built 15 + console models of various shapes and design with different gauge layouts and accessories. I finally arrived at a final design including a switch panel (I used straight pins for circuit breakers), 5 gauges with different color lights behind each and finally with the handset for the VHF radio. For the cable from the handset to the VHF radio I used 24-gauge wire that I wrapped around a large needle. This took a little finesse but I finally got it figured out and made several 5” coiled cables. Finally, I cut out an opening at the middle/top of F4 for the console lighting. I built a panel with 4 lights and fit it into this opening over which the finished console was glued.
I then laid out and installed Rub Rails all around perimeter of hull (stern to pilot house) and all around the cockpit. For this I uses polystyrene square 1/8” tubes. This also required a lot of patience and finesse. I had to use a hobby knife to carefully cut out one side of the tube. I then fabricated a stainless-steel rub rail out of 16-gauge wire to fit into the tube but first had to put a 1/32” piece of basswood into the tube so the wire (rub rail) would raise above the tube edge creating a rail for the lobster traps to slide on. Again, there were two sets of these, one around the perimeter edge of the boat and another around the cockpit. I also install a set of 5 of these on the transom for the lobster traps to sit on.
I then built a lobster trap guard plate for the starboard side hull to protect the hull from lobster traps scrapping on the side when being hauled. I used 1/32” basswood wrapped in aluminum foil (glued) and then painted teak. I glued these alternatively with the 16-guage wire to build the guard plate. This was then trimmed with silver painted basswood and glued to the starboard side of the hull.
I purchased the Danforth anchors from BlueJacket and then had to create the winch (out of a larger plastic winch from Harbor Models). I used a ¼” polystyrene and the chain/rope guide between the anchor and the winch.
In the end I was pleased with the overall build. I hope you enjoy reading this and getting a few ideas about how to create as realistic Lobster Boat as you can from BlueJacket."
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