Pictish Currach

[Mitch K]

I'm planning something a bit more complicated for my next build, and I fancy a Pictish currach.

I've given quite a bit of thought to how to build the hull. I can see three ways:

1  I can carve the thing out of wood or foam, but I think I'd struggle to get the hull thickness anything like in scale;

2  I can build frames from plastic, metal or wood and cover them with plastic card or cartridge paper (much like how the real things would have been made), but I suspect this would be both long-winded and seriously flimsy.

3  I can make a solid wood form for the hull and plunge mould it out of 80 thou styrene sheet, then add framing.

I'm leading towards method 3, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Anyone out there have any other approaches to offer, or any pitfalls to look out for on method 3?

Thanks in advance,

M

[Westfalia Chris]

Do you have a picture of the specific design you want to build? I've seen a variety of curragh/coracle reconstructions, and those all seem to require differing techniques, and if we knew what it is exactly that you wish to reproduce, it might be easier to come up with a solution.

[Mitch K]

Chris, broadly, I'm basing it on the one illustrated in Osprey Warrior #50 (Pictish Warrior). I've made up a set of drawings that give me the length / breadth, hull flare, thwart positions etc. It's not a close copy, more derived than copied.

Based on a bit of wider reading, I'm going to base the structure on how an umiak is/was built.

Any ideas?

[Major Weenie]

How about a variation on #3 ?

Sculpt, pummel, shape a mound out of oil base clay.  Then 'paint' the mound with something like fiber glass resin, or fiber glass resin thickened up a bit with 'Bondo' (Bondo = a ceramic/resin auto body putty)

Then when the 'shell' sets up, you take it outside, and pour boiling water on the clay, and the clay runs out (all over your garden.)

That leaves you with a ruined garden, and an empty shell that, if you're lucky, is shaped like your currach.

Regards,
MW