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Picking Boom

T

he very first model I began to create at the start of the project, back in Autumn 2018, was the bow mast of the F/V Scully. This was created using very little detailed reference; mostly from photographs (much like the rest of my work in the project).

Since then, I have come a long way in my modelling skills and decided to take on creating one of the last large pieces of gear attached to the bow mast. The picking boom. This acts like a giant winch that hoists up crab pots onto the deck. After the coiling block has brought up a pot from the sea floor to the surface, the picking boom then transfers it onboard onto the pot launcher.


Jason Bartlett ©

Above is the complete picking boom attached to the bow mast. I quite enjoyed working out the location of the mounting points to join the two like that onboard the fishing vessels seen on the television show Deadliest Catch.



Jason Bartlett ©

To create all the rigging, I used bezier curves and extruded highlighted cylinder faces along them. While creating all the rope, I made sure to keep an eye on the poly count (as it can build up substantially) and always check the subdivisions axis before extruding.



Jason Bartlett ©


Some creative licence is required where I cannot find exact references. Such as the small pulleys above and the hydraulic winches below.


Jason Bartlett ©

As usual, it took some research to find out the type of hydraulic winches that are used on the boats. This time around I was successful! I managed to find out the name of manufacturer that supplied the winches onboard several of the boats seen on Deadliest Catch and then found the pdf manuals online with detailed blueprints!



Jason Bartlett ©

The picking hook is both a really useful piece of gear and a highly dangerous one!


Thanks for reading :)

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