Old Town Dinghy Model

[Benson Gray]

The Old Town dinghy model shown below was to be the focus of a third diorama in the factory store at the Old Town Canoe Company. It is canvas covered and was just finished / restored by Rollin Thurlow. The links at the end show the two dioramas that were finished.

Benson

https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/52493/

https://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?attachments/52492/

 

[MGC]

Mystery solved. In February I posted an image from Rollins shopcam that showed a tiny boat sitting on top of the war canoe they are working on. This is it. As I recall, there was also a small display stand. I must have pasted a link to the image instead actually saving the image and inserting it since it's no longer attached to the thread. http://forums.wcha.org/index.php?threads/war-canoes.18597/page-2
What dat, dat is dis...... pretty cool.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The Old Town dinghy model shown below was to be the focus of a third diorama

Maybe I'm picking up on unintentional grammar, but by using the conditional past tense are you saying that the original intent was for the dingy to be part of a diorama but that it is no longer is so intended?

The links at the end show the two dioramas that were finished.

These two links show miniature representations of a canvasing and a form? It's hard for me to judge scale from the pictures.

 

[samb]

These two links show miniature representations of a canvasing and a form? It's hard for me to judge scale from the pictures.

Take a look at the key hole in the bottom right corner of the first one.

Sam

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

These two links show miniature representations of a canvasing and a form? It's hard for me to judge scale from the pictures.

Take a look at the key hole in the bottom right corner of the first one.

The word "diorama" connoted a miniature exhibit to me but I wasn't completely positive. I could see the glass in the first link but I thought there was a small possibility that it could be a full size exhibit behind glass. Thanks for pointing out the key hole, Sam; I missed that.

 

[MGC]

There were two displays in the "lobby" of the Old Town factory. To say that they were cool would be a major understatement. I have a vivid recollection of when these appeared in the "spiffed up" factory entrance.
These images are from those displays. What Benson appears to suggest is that his brother (?) planned to create a third display that included this cute little boat. Perhaps Benson will share some details about the dingy that Rollin recently restored.
Here is a previous related thread and if I am not mistaken, there was another earlier one.

Canvas before varnish?

I am wondering if I should varnish the inside of the canoe or put the canvas on before I varnish?

forums.wcha.org

 

[Benson Gray]

MGC is correct. The two finished dioramas were built by my brother and contain 42 inch long canoes. These were displayed at the factory store for many years. He had started building this 18 inch dinghy on an old form to be featured in a third diorama. Rollin kindly agreed to complete the dinghy a few years ago and finished it last week. Some progress photos are shown below. Let me know if this doesn't answer the question.

Benson

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

this 18 inch dinghy

Wow, didn't realize it was that small. Are the two other dioramas still displayed at the Old Town factory somewhere?

 

[Benson Gray]

Are the two other dioramas still displayed at the Old Town factory somewhere?

These are not currently on display. They had been shown in the factory store most recently. That closed during the pandemic and may never reopen. The Penobscot Marine Museum has formally offered to put them on display along with a variety of other items from the factory including the original build record collection. The museum also has Burt Libby's model canoe construction display and a nice eight foot Old Town model as shown in the link below. No decision has been made yet about the dioramas or anything else yet as far as I know. The factory is currently going through a change in leadership so this probably isn't a high priority at the moment.

Benson

https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/45317/