Splashing the 'ORCA'

Everyone has their own reasons as why they’re here, posting on this forum, their love of boats, being on the water, their life’s journey.

Mine is my Uncle, he stepped in when my father ran off. My Uncle was both a boat builder and a fisherman and the single biggest influence as to what I do today.

My earliest memory of him was the movie JAWS. he loved that movie and travelled 50 miles to see it as often as he could when it first came out.

And of course his favourite boat the Novi Lobster Boat ‘ORCA’ formally ‘Warlock’

Unfortunately, of the both boats that were built for the movie not much remains and from my research some boat-builders had a habit of burning the blue prints after.

Even if you look at model plans today, that some people spent 2 + years on you’ll see subtle inaccuracies and no-one can seem to agree on the size.

If you look at models, model makers and those building replicas today no size, bow shape or stern shape is the same, so I have decided to do my own.

First off sort out the LOD. Most say it’s between 37’ and 40’.

Take a look at the photo below. I take it, it was from a wide angle lens because you could see the uprights on the pulpit and the windows on the starboard side are juxtaposed.

The only size reference I have is Richard Dreyfuss.

Robert Shaw (Quint) is hunched over and running, Roy Scheider (Chief Brody) is in the cabin, but Richard Dreyfuss (Hooper) is on the helm and standing upright.

“Google is my friend here” and tells me that Richard Dreyfuss is 1.65 m tall and according to this rough up the ‘ORCA’ is about 7.8 Richard Dreyfusses long, therefore:


1.65m x 7.8 = 12.87m

12.87m ÷ .305m = 42’

I’m not asking any questions here, just sharing,

If you want to contribute please do.

Say “Google is my friend here” or “Google it!” and you’ll end up in a chum bucket!

 

I use that method with pictures and 2D CAD quite often. Get the picture sized in CAD to be 1:1 and trace over the top.

Interesting article about the 'stunt double' boat Orca II:

The Bizarre Tale of the <em>Orca II</em>, the Stunt Boat from <em>Jaws</em> https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/589579/story-of-orca-ii-jaws-movie-stunt-boat

 

This is awesome. You might consider checking your estimates by several methods. I remember a scene from overhead of the robotic shark, Bruce, crossing under the boat. That shark's dimensions are published. Dreyfus was short and many flying bridge pilot seats had a step up in front of the captain's chair. Are there shots that show the controls to the deck?

The barrels on the foredeck would also be of a standard industry size, I imagine.

Exact accuracy isn't so important as the lack of inconsistencies.

 

Excellent article Tops thank you! Maybe Google isn't such a good friend after all as I searched the boat may times and I have never seen that one, but it does confirm my size estimate for the boat. It's 'ORCA II' the fibreglass stunt-double, where most model makers get their bow shape from, but unfortunately it is wrong. 'Warlock' the original 'Orca' had a rounded bow as pictured:

 

Cheers Will I did think of that. If the barrel was a industry standard I would have used it but I couldn't identify the type or size. Good idea about comparing Bruce to the overheads!

 

Mark, what is the end goal? Line drawings? CAD model? Model boat?
Looking at a picture side by side you can see some difference in the portlights, etc. between original and double.

 

With wide angle lenses, in fact with any lens, the image near the edges has a foreshortening due to the change in angle and distance from the eye or lens. The wider the angle, the shorter lengths will get. You can get a good estimate of the differences by laying out an estimated diagram of the overhead viewing angle. If it looks like the camera lens is x distance from the subject and y length is within the picture from center, the angle can be translated to a perpendicular to the lens. A closer idea of the real length can be estimated by measuring the projection of the angled length.

I'm in a car on vacation in Austria now, so I can't diagram it out, but it shouldn't be that difficult to sketch.

-Will

 

Lines Drawing and Construction Drawing for now I think. I'd love to build a 1:1 replica. I know Louis Sauzedde (Tips From A Shipwright) is building a traditional one using 8" x 8" timbers etc. something I could never get my hands on here. Besides I have so many other boat builds on my cards at the moment. This is just a hobby/moonlighting project for me.

 

That was just for the LOD. I think for the stem, sheer and stern angle I'll be using this one:
and for the lines and keel this:

It has the most similar hull shape with not much of a flair and a tumblehome and a reverse transom.

 

Lifting the Sheer, Stem & Stern lines off of the original 'Warlock'

 

The look that you give when your table of offsets is 1/8th of an inch out:

 

Working on the Sheer and body plan, with a human (the same height as myself) and movie sized shark thrown in for size comparison.
"That's a twenty footer!"
"Twenty-five, three tons on him"

 

Looking good Mark.
One of the forum members, @pafurijaz, has some nice 40-ish foot lobster boat models out on GrabCAD.
You may want to have a look.
Pa Furijaz | CAD Models | GrabCAD https://grabcad.com/pa.furijaz-1/models

 

Hi thanks for the mention, I am currently stationary with the models to upload to the server , but there are already drawings of this hull here "Orca" Model Boat From JAWS ~ My Hobby Pages http://myhobbypages.blogspot.com/2014/05/orca-model-boat-from-jaws.html

I have other hulls more closer, this one
39' 8" Concordia Nova Scotia Motor Cruiser
Culler, Robert D.

 

Thanks Tops as always! @panfurijaz thanks for the link but I know and have studied this model and it is full of the inaccuracies I was talking about, The stem is too rounded, It's hard chined not round bilge, it has a perpendicular transom as opposed to reversed and it has no keel! Even the font for the transom is incorrect. What gives? Had I bought these plans and built this boat, I'd be very pissed off! I think this one was just designed for RC but even then it's too way wide of the mark for me if I was into that kind of thing.