Product Description
This kit is an exact one-eighth scale model of the Northeaster Dory, a clinker-style boat inspired by traditional fishing dories that rows and sails well and can safely carry a large payload in rough waters.
Constructing the model boat is good practice for building a full-size Northeaster Dory, or any of our larger stitch-and-glue kits, because the construction process is very similar. The main difference is that the model is assembled without epoxy or fibreglass.
The video below shows every step of construction for the model. The kit also comes with a comprehensive assembly manual with more than 230 illustrations.
The laser-cut hull panels are stitched together with copper wire (just like the real boat) and glued together with fast-drying CA glue. The model can be constructed in a week of evenings, requiring about 10 hours in total. Spars and sailcloth are included for the sloop rig, along with a pair of oars.
If you're considering building a Northeaster Dory, this model will be a great introduction to the process. If you already have a Northeaster Dory, you'll love having one on the mantelpiece to admire when it's too cold to go sailing!
Many have asked if this 25½″ model can be fitted with servos and a radio and sailed by remote control. Answer: No, it's too small. Tiny wind ripples on a pond scale to six-foot waves in the full-sized version, leading quickly to a fatal swamping unless the boat were decked in. Along with a full-length deck the model would need a deep fin keel with a bulb of lead ballast. Instead, this is intended as a display model. It looks dashing on the mantelpiece while your full-sized Northeaster Dory waits out the winter in the garage.
The model kit includes:
- Laser-cut plywood parts in 0.8 mm, 1.5 mm and 3 mm thicknesses, with pre-cut joints and tie holes
- Laser-cut rudder and daggerboard
- Solid wood for rails, mast and boom
- Copper ties
- Sailcloth
- Oars
- Display cradle
- Extensive construction manual
- Blueprints with full-size templates for the sails and other components
You will also need some CA (cyanoacrylate) glue to assemble the kit.
PDF study manual
The construction manual for the boat is also available as a PDF download. After credit card authorisation a download link will be sent to the email address put on the order form.
This is intended for pre-build study or to help with the decision to purchase. It describes all of the techniques that will be used during the building and also a step by step guide to construction. The PDF manual is in colour (the copy that comes with the kit is printed in black-and-white).
This does not contain the plans of the panels for fabricating parts, so it is not possible to build the model from scratch using only this.
- Length
- 648 mm (25½″)
