The Little Chief canoe is very similar to the Trailcraft kit canoe, one of which I built many years ago.
Just a couple of comments (based on that, and other, experience with wood canoes) -- if you go with canvas, it is readily stretched over the upside down frame by tacking or stapling at one end to the keel, stretching by hand lengthwise and then tacking down at the other end, and then working alternately stretching from side to side, starting in the middle. No strain, no pain, no need for heat.
Canvas rot is not really an issue. Treated canvas is available from a number of suppliers – see Rollin Thurlow’s site for Northwoods Canoes <
https://www.wooden-canoes.com/ > or Jerry Stelomok’s site for Island Falls Canoes
<
http://www.islandfallscanoe.comhttp://www.islandfallscanoe.com >. Other suppliers can be found in the builder/suppliers directory on the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association website <
http://www.wcha.org/ >.
When I built my Trailcraft, I simply applied a couple of coats of house paint, as per their instructions. Not elegant, but it kept the water out. Modern materials can work well, but they are not always an improvement in all regards. Dacron would be a bit lighter, but canvas that is painted without being filled is not a whole lot heavier, and while in some ways Dacron is stronger, in one significant way it is not – it rips more easily than canvas. Another modern material, nylon, can be much stronger, but it tends to sag when wet.
If I were to build a Little Chief, I would add seats, rather than sitting on the floor of the canoe. The photo at the beginning of the Little Chief plan article shows a fellow using a traditional single blade canoe paddle sitting on the floor of the canoe with his legs stretched out in front of him, and he looks awkward and uncomfortable. That seating position calls for a double-bladed paddle; using a single blade paddle with the gunwales of the canoe up under your armpits is not only uncomfortable, but also terribly inefficient.
I think there is no need to add to the depth of the Little Chief -- the 12” center depth that the plans provide should be more than adequate for installation of a seat or seats. 2” of additional depth is just not needed, and well may cause problems. Where have you added your 2” – just at the sheer, or at the turn of the bilges, or somewhere in between? If at the sheer, the extra tumblehome will mean reaching out further sideways when paddling; if at the turn of the bilge, you will either have to reach out further sideways, or sit well off-center when paddling. The Little Chief is quite a beamy little boat, especially for a fifteen footer – 38” – and I would be very concerned that making it deeper will not only make it ungainly, but will make it awkward and very inefficient to paddle and control. A naval architect designed the boat – why not trust his judgment?
As a point of comparison, my 15’ Old Town 50 Pound model from 1931 has a beam of 34 ½” and a depth of 11” – it paddles quite nicely from its seats, is very stable, and it readily carries two people and an amount of gear appropriate for a 15’ canoe.
You might try visiting the forums at the WCHA website <
http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php > -- lots of information about SOF canoes.