Cardboard Mock Up

[Clinton B Chase]

Any advice for me...I would like to build a full scale cardboard mock up of a Shellback Dinghy to see if i can fit it out of my basement and front door. Any thoughts? Source of large pieces of cardboard?

Cheers,
Clint Chase
Portland, ME

[ 11-05-2005, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Clinton B Chase ]

[Dave Fleming]

You don't need a piece of cardboard.
Got to the 'big box' store and get a sheet or two of door skins. Rip into strips suitable for your purpose and using hot melt glue gun make up a skeleton of the size of the boat.
If you don't have a hot melt glue gun you can use plasters nails to join sections. Just clench 'em over.

[StevenBauer]

Hey Clint - Come over later and help me flip my skiff over for the winter and I'll give you a sheet of 1/4" luan. You could mock up some molds and tack some battens on the chines and Bob's your uncle.

Steven

[JimConlin]

In my case, i only need to worry about one turn, so a mockup of the side view of the boat is all that's needed to test the object against the birth canal.

[Bob Smalser]

You don't even need a mockup....just the center mold and a piece of lath equal to the LOA.

You're gonna move the boat on it's side, so tack the lath centered to the sheer side of the mold and run strings from the end of the lath to the mold and see if it fits thru your passageways.

If it clears but appears tight, you can get fancier and butt and tack more lath fore and aft to represent the transom bottoms to fix the string to.

[Paul Scheuer]

When faced with the same problem, I built a scale boat amd a scale door/hall. A lot easier, and I still have the model boat.

[Graham Knight]

I recently read an article online, from Australian Amateur Boatbuilder magazine, about a guy building an Acorn Skiff, who used a 3-D computer program to calculate whether he could get the completed boat out of his basement.
Being a bit of a duffer when it comes to computing I wouldn't have a clue how to do this (my wife could probably do it in seconds!), but it might be quicker to learn than to build a full-size mockup or even a model.

[Gary E]

If it's that tight a fit, I would go for the scale model of your door etc and the intended boat. Both can be made from old cardboard box's and ducktape.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Good Lord Man!! This is your boat project.. You can always knock out the front door frame with a sledge... ;) :D

[John B]

find a commercial cabinetmaker/ kitchen maker/office furniture and go there and ask for cover sheets/ packing sheets. On this side of the world its pot luck with sheets that vary from 3 mm through 30 mm thickness ( 2400x1200, 8x4)but they accumulate and its great to move em on.....

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Cardboard: Go to a big appliance dealer. All you can take away.

[guillemot]

I built my dory in a basement that had a tight turn and a flight of stairs. Before beginning I went to the grocery store and got a bunch of cardboard boxes, taped them together, then cut out a full scale 2D model of the boat (overhead view). We tacked a long stiffening batten to the model so we could carry it, turned it on its side, and maneuvered it around the corner and out the door. It had 1" clearance. Turns out that that was enough.

If the situation is questionable, I'd reccommend this method over what Bob suggests. We needed to know how the whole boat was going to fit, not just the center station. As you tilt the hull to get it up the stairs, the stern drops and the bow lifts up and out the door. That brings the center station up to the ceiling before it gets to the door. You need to know the overall shape of the boat to test the fit.

The mock-up took about 2 hrs to build and test- way faster than computer programming or building a scale model of your basement.

[Clinton B Chase]

Tx for alll the ideas I think the last response supports what I've been thinking of which is to make a 2D view of the boat...a full breadth view at the widest part, the sheer. Then I can make a profile piece the represents the full depth of the boat and perhaps connect that to the CL of the "full breadth" view and carry it up the stairs and out...i'll get the LOA, the max beam, and the full depth of the boat. Wish me luck. I like what one person said...it is my boat and I will make it fit and the house can go if that is what it takes! Thanks.

Cheers,
Clint Chase
Portland, ME

[ssor]

As an answer to your original question; large appliance boxes will work. Sometimes around here they have a cardboard boat building competition, duct tape and big pieces of corrugated cardboard and a short race course. Everyone gets wet of course.

[Paul Scheuer]

Ah Yes. Cardboard Boats - What a HOOT !
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/p6809b9c0c273ddbbbb43954d314e7b61/f18aed49.jpg

A smaller boat would have made the "Most Enthusiastic Crew" Trophy look bigger.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/p17399095f3713fcb21b68a1a91822a08/f18af336.jpg

[Clinton B Chase]

Steven and I decided with great deliberation not to go the 3D modeling route or the build a scale model of the house route or the just build it and move the house route. We've got some lauan molds and fir battens ready to go into a scale mock up of a Shellback. Tomorrow may be the maiden voyage through the house and out the door. If we are really happy we'll take her out for a row with a couple beers, Stay tuned for this exciting voyage!

Cheers,
Clint Chase
Portland, Me

[StevenBauer]

OK, we've made the mock-up and she fit out of the basement. Barely. Here she is:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/pe479ada10a8521baee84c00e61dcbce9/f18420e1.jpg

Clint took her for a paddle:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/pd1fb92daf45d3c654c5a9236dfac19f1/f1842086.jpg

Here she is in the living room:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/pbc7b8d23a305c885431d1706dba55c98/f1842043.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid193/pe85be5d8aa0fce330122b2192ad400fe/f1842018.jpg

Now he can get started building the real thing. :D

Steven

[ssor]

I am pretty sure that it will leak. Those planks are too far apart to be corked successfully. :D ;)

[ 11-10-2005, 07:54 AM: Message edited by: ssor ]