Hi Jim,
I was talking with the seller about this one. I've got a Nutting too, but this one is nice enough that made me consider it. It's particularly nice for having its tag and for having the extended gunwale tips intact. I'm glad it went to a fellow WCHA member.
As for paint scheme underneath, this one is an excellent candidate because it looks like it may have its original canvas. Just wet sand through the outer layers of paint until you get down to the original. I like to start with something very fine, like 400 grit, and then possibly move up to 200 or so if the going is too slow. Just don't want to start off cutting too fast until I see how the paint comes off. Photos below show "B-B", an unusual Charles River torpedo canoe uf unknown maker. B-B appears to have been painted a light brown, then the main body painted over in dark brown, after which the gold striping and name were applied and then edged in black. This border design is regularly seen on some Charles River-area canoes.
The green canoe was sanded to reveal its very narrow (about 3/16" wide) gold stripe; this is a Brodbeck. Simple yet elegant; elegance is a hallmark of Brodbeck canoes all arround.
It's fun to see what kinds of paint schemes were used by different makers. On my Nutting and some other short-deck Nuttings I've seen, there is a simple stripe (about 5/8" wide if I remember correctly) that follows the sheer of the canoe right up to the stems; no turned-down ends following the curve of the stems. It will be interesting to see if yours has this same design or something more complex, akin to the fancier designs often seen on long-decked Charles River-area canoes.
You may recall that Ken Kelly also wrote a few years ago in Wooden Canoe about his experiences wet sanding overcoats of paint off of canoes in order to reveal designs underneath.
Michael
