PAPIER-MACHÉ BOATS.
In a preceding article, I alluded to boats as being good subjects for papier-maché, and remembering how much pleasure every boy takes in constructing a boat, I will give a few more explicit directions for the benefit of those of my readers who have ponds and brooks within easy access of their homes.
Having cut from soft wood a good model for the hull, smear it well over with sweet-oil or lard, and rub it well into the wood; then cut your paper into strips an inch or so wide, and paste them longitudinally around the model from stem to stern, in very much the same manner that the boards are put on a real boat, but not so evenly, as the arrangement will not show when the boat is completed. Continue this process until the coating of paper is as thick as very heavy pasteboard, and let it remain until perfectly dry; then with a sharp knife cut off the edge evenly at the top, and sand-paper the whole surface till it is smooth and hard.
Cover both inside and out with two good coats of oil paint, making sure that every point is protected by this medium from the invasion of the water, which would soon ruin it if allowed to reach the paper surface.
Now cut two supports or braces out of 7/8-inch board, which will just fit into the body of the boat, across it from side to side. These are to give proper strength and, at the same time, form supports for the masts; while into a post at the stern two small iron sockets can be driven from the outside through the paper, for holding the rudder in place. The others are placed, one fore and the other aft, in the position the masts are finally to occupy.
As these boats are necessarily very light, some ballast or a keel is indispensable for their sailing well. If a ballast is used, it must be fastened in place by wires on the inside; but as a keel is most satisfactory in the end, I should strongly advise its use. As it is molded from lead, you will be obliged to construct your own mold, which can be done by digging out a piece of wood in the proper shape, or, what is easier, by nailing on a flat piece of board two narrow strips at a suitable distance from each other, and closing the form by nailing other and shorter strips across the ends of the first. A little trough, as you will see, will be the result, and if after passing into this your melted lead you place two sharp nails with their heads imbedded in the mass, at the same distance from each other, and in the same relative positions as your wooden supports, your keel will, when hard, require only a few blows with the hammer to fix it in place. Care must be taken to place the nails so that they will enter the supports after passing through the paper bottom; as the keel would not otherwise hold in place. Next cut from the cigar-box wood a deck for your craft; this is easiest done by simply laying the model upon the wood bottom upward, and marking around the edge with a sharp-pointed lead-pencil. This deck must necessarily fit in your boat if your lines are followed in the cutting. Mark upon the deck the positions of the supports, and bore holes through it and into them, for the accommodation of the masts, which should be two in number for a schooner, or three for a full-rigged ship; fasten a bowsprit in its place, and arrange your sails and stays to suit the style of your boat.
After the keel, deck, and bowsprit are in place, it would be well to give her another good coat of paint, and when that is perfectly dry, to varnish her thoroughly with the shellac spoken of before in this book.
This boat is a great improvement on the ordinary dug-out hulls most boys are in the habit of making; for aside from taking less time in making, and sailing more rapidly, it has the advantage of being duplicated; that is, of having a dozen if you wish, made just like it on the same model, while it would be almost impossible to make two alike by the old, laborious method. In forming your model be careful to make it largest at the top, so that it can be removed without trouble from its papier-maché covering.
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