BYYB Forums

Has anyone seen a source for trailboard scrollwork?  I'm ready to carve the trailboards, but I'm not the greatest artist in the world, so a pattern to go by would be great!  I've done a couple of net searches, but the pickings are slim.  I may have to summon my inner Picasso if I don't get som help!  Thanks

Dave

Hellooooo...... Happy daze I'm a signman and glad to send you a pattern for your weekender. Let me know just what you might like on it and we will give it a go. I can send you a proof to look and then make the patterns. No Charge. Warren aka Zignman

There are many motifs for trailboards.  Some of them very elaboarate.  Not many patterns exist since it is such a limited interest type of thing.  Some of the wood carving magazines have had some interesting ideas, but no patterns.  
A google photo search for trailboards will bring up quite a few interesting photos, but some are far too elaborate for a small boat.   Generally said, the simpler the better and more effective.   A common traditional design is a simple scrolling vine with a few leaves.   Gold leaf applied to the carved areas.  (or gold paint) with a painted flat bacground.   Most of these are quite simple to lay out. sit down with a piece of paper and play with some simple curved  scrolling lines and where you feel that a leaf or perhaps a star might be nice add it.
Keep it simple, it is usually much more effective and a lot easier to carve or rout out with a Dremel and a veining bit.  Practice on a couple pieces of scrap wood.  Clear Western Red Cedar is a great wood for carving and it finishes out beautifully.  Most hardwoods are more difficult to carve by hand and can splinter easily.  Although much more easily managed with a router or Dremel tool.    They can be very effective and they are a lot of fun to create.
Another approach is to go to your local Big Box store and look at the wooden appliques.  There are some nice scrolled line types that can be painted, gold leaf covered and then applied to the trailboards.  Keep them simple.
One of the most elegant and simple trailboard designs I've seen locally on a small boat was a shooting star in gold leaf on a gloss white background.  They can be painted onto a back ground as well. One local Weekender has a dolphin carved on to the trailboards.  This one has the dolphin proud of the surface and the background carved away so that the dolphin looks as if it is coming up out of the water.  Simply painted and it looks great.  Doesn't need a lot of detail to make it work well and the builder simply carved away all the wood surrounding the dolphin then sanded the profile of the dolphin to give it smoother profile.  

Below is a link to the trailboards on Spiritwind, my Weekender.
http://byyb.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=7&pos=96  

Warren:  Thanks for the offer.  I'm looking for something simple line a twining vine with a few leaves on it.  The trailboard for the Weekender is 31-1/2" long by 3-1/2 to 4-1/2" wide.  BTW: Are you building a boat yourself, or just wainting for the bug to bite?

Dave

I created a nice stylized lettering template on my computer, then enlarged it, printed in banner format. I taped it over my trailing boards with carbon paper between. I then free handed the lettering with my router very carefully. Painted the letters black, and it turned out just fine.



Greg

Greetings,

I plan on carving eyes into mine ...



You can do Google Image searches for [trailboards] or [figureheads] and you will get interesting examples ...

I especially like this ...



and then these weren't bad either ...






































Cheers,
Tom

Greetings,

And you might want to look at this ...

http://www.flipkart.com/shipcarver-handb...reviewbook

Then click on the Look inside this book link just under the little picture of the book ...


and start reading.  There is a chapter on Trailboards.

Or you can buy the book ... http://www.woodenboatstore.com/The-Shipc...325%2D080/

Cheers,
Tom

Well that was overwhelming! Let me know if you still want that drawing. Warren.