Bluenose II by Heronguy - Billing Boats Nr. 600 - Scale 1:100 - First build

[Heronguy]

This is my 1st attempt at a build log and my 1st real attempt at building a model.

 

The Bluenose and the Bluenose II are part of my culture - something I've been aware of for most of my life.  The kit seems suitable for a first build - not too expensive,  lots of modellers around who have built some version of the boat, simpler rigging and so on.  This particular kit differs from most of the kits I've seen in that the hull is built in 2 halves which are planked before the halves are glues together.  I expect that will simplify the planking process though I suppose it will introduce some challenge itself.  

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

The kit box and contents

 

 

 

Plastic fitting (I guess it keeps the cost down)

 

The 2 halves of the keel piece

 

 

All the bulkheads are port and starboard pieces separately

 

[Heronguy]

Construction begins

 

Easy to assemble the bulkheads on keel

 

 

Glueing in process

 

[maturin52]

Interesting kit, Heronguy. I built a Billing Bluenose years ago; it was my first wooden model effort to. I lived in Halifax for many years, have been on Bluenose II many times, and have recently stripped down and restored my Bluenose. I'm now working on an Artesania Latina BOUNTY. Log on this site. I look forward to following your bulid. Good luck, and above all, have fun!

[Heronguy]

Hello maturin52.  Nice to meet you (virtually).  All my sailing was on inland lakes.  It must have been a fun experience to be onboard the real Bluenose II! I'll follow your log with interest as that was a kit I thought would be something for my future once I have some experience under my belt.

 

Its my second day of building and I believed all was going well.  While I had time for glue to set I thought I'd see what lay ahead.  Now I have more questions than I expected.  The instructions are sparse (I kinda knew that was the case) but there some obvious little errors in the notes as well.

 

I'm off to the forums to find tutorials and advice on how to mark the deck so it looks like it was planked, how to do the planking on this boat, and even when to deal with paints and finishes on some of the fittings before they're installed.

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

The decking in this model is not “lined” to appear like a plank deck.  Figure 3 in the instructions implies that the planks are simulated by pencil scribes. 

 

My 1st try on scribing was not really very satisfactory.  Sanded off the marks and tried again.

 

Purchased some minwax wood finish - red mahogany instead of BB36 mahogany stain - did a test colouring for deck. It pretty well obliterated the pencil scribes. So I stained decks and then rescribed the plank lines in pencil.  ? Should I have coated the decks before mounting?

 

Mounted decks on the hull halves.  A couple of the bulkheads were not fully seated after glueing.  There will be quite a bit of “fairing” required before planking.

I reviewed Chuck Passaro video and notes on lining the hull before planking and on bending planks for installation. I'm going to try out his method (before I learn how to do it wrong).  See:

Chuck's planking videos...

in

Building, Framing, Planking and plating a ships hull and deck

 

 

[Frankberge]

Hi! I recently did this kit myself it was my first ship build aswell.

Could not figure out how to draw the lines and i didnt like the idea that the deck would be just drawn on the deck, so i just went ahead to my local shop and bought some mahogny strips for the deck. It worked out ok. Im very interested too see how your build will be. I did allot of mistakes and used allot of filling everywhere but it turned out ok after all. Atleast i learned allot about ship modeling

But i do wish to redo this model after i have finished some other ships and get more experienced. Cant wait too see your results! Good luck and i will be following this one

[Heronguy]

Thanks Frankberge.  I'll be happy to hear your suggestions as I get along with this project.  I'm getting close to finishing the planking and looking forward to joining the two halves of the hull so that the ship is whole!

 

I am treating this project as a learning tool - both how to do the ship building part and how to be more workmanlike in my approach.  I tend to push ahead and then have to correct the consequences of poor planning - I was supposed to have learned that as a programmer - the time in design is more than compensated by reduced debugging and rework!

 

I just purchased a older Artesania Latina Bluenose II kit.  I thought that it would be my follow-on project where I could use the experience gained on this model directly on the next.  Similar to your idea of redoing your model in the future.

 

Doug

 

By the way:  what are you tackling now?

Edited December 9, 2016 by Heronguy

[JPAM]

one of the prettiest schooners and rightly a Canadian treasure. i just got back from Vancouver and was very impressed by the R. C. M. Police St. Roch in the Vancouver Maritime Museum.  I've been trying to find a model of it to put in the queue. i will follow your progress. we LOVED Canada. I miss Poutine! (i can't find cheese curds around here..  )

JP. 
 

[Heronguy]

I've never been to the museum.  I'll add it to the itinerary for the next trip out to the West Coast.

 

Regarding cheese curds - my wife makes cheese and it's easy to stop at the curd stage - homemade curds could solve your poutine withdrawal!

[Heronguy]

I faired the bulkheads. It was a surprisingly pleasing task.

 

However agonizing over the planking plan was less enjoyable.  I examined a few buildlogs of various Bluenose II builds to get a sense of how others had approached the keel and hull shape of the boat.  I also tried to get a sense from images of the actual refit of the Bluenose II.  To apply Chuck Passaro’s methods I needed to decide how to run strakes so that I could avoid the drop planks and the stealers that I saw in other builds.  

 

Since this is such a small scale model I decided to just divide the hull into 2 bands.  I chose this line 1) because it looked reasonable to me, and 2) it was the same distance down each bulkhead.  That should mean all the the planks are the same width ( at least for the top half of the hull).  In fact, it seems that all the planks in the bottom half will be as well.

 

It was time to mount some planks.  Following Chuck’s video I wanted to bend each plank to fit the curve of the hull.  This was bending laterally or edgewise rather than creating the curve by spiling.  I tried using various heat sources for this bending operation and ended up using a steam iron.  by way of example I found that I could create a 2-1/2mm curve by clamping the wood strip with a 5mm curve then ironing. (the strips in this kit are pine nominally 1mmx3mmx450mm

 

I only use 1 multiple bend on each side of the hull.

 

[maturin52]

MY attempt at planking the Bluenose (also my first build, some years ago) resulted in sanding down a lot of filler putty and painting the whole thing. It worked out well. JPAM, as a Canadian exPatriot living in the US, I too had Poutine withdrawal. In the St Louis area, there's a local cheese called Provel that substitutes very nicely, and large curd cottage cheese works well, too. Bon Apetit!

[Heronguy]

Nearing the bottom of the hull (planks 14 and 15 from the rail) I had to twist the wood strip to get it to lie flat along the false keel while still following the bulkhead.  Used the panvise to hold the strip and a clamp to push on to create the twist.  Paint brush to wet the small section to help soften the fibres.

 

As i get to the last 5 or 6 planks It seemed worthwhile to slightly narrow the planks near the front of the false keel so that I could avoid stealers at the stern.  I tried to eyeball it but didn't manage to taper them enough.  So one stealer (and some wood filler to come).

 

1st half of of my 1st hull!

  
 

[Frankberge]

Looks good! Clever way to twist them. I just started planking directly from the top and pinned the planks down with thin needles. I was wondering if i should put some filler in between the bulwards at the stern as the planks splintered at the end when pushing the needle thru. I think it would be easier and better structure with some filling where the twist happens. It could be better ways to do it out there but thats what is in my head right now with the little knowledge i got. I would also soak the planks in water like you do because i splintered allot of wood

Also look at the part #0a* as i remembered this part not being mentioned in the instructions. I noticed this part when i was done painting the ship so i left that part out. I did not figure out how in the world this part would fit the stern anyway. Maybe you can figure that out:)

 

I am building the black pearl ship, Unfortunately this ship is from a chinese manufacturer that is black listed here. I knew this when i bought it, but the black pearl has always been a ship i wanted to make and it seems like they are the only ones that makes it. After this i have the san felipe from panart i will try to make

Edited December 12, 2016 by Frankberge

[Heronguy]

I believe #0a just cover the stern transom so that the plank ends are covered and a finished piece hides the split pieces #0.

 

I used cyanoacrylate (CA) glue to tack the plank to each bulkhead.  No pins as the glue cures in 30-60 seconds.  I just glue at 3 or 4 bulkheads and hold the plank in place with finger pressure.  Got to be careful though to avoid glueing my finger to the hull!

 

Your projects are way beyond my dreams at the moment!  As I mentioned I've got the Artesania Latina Bluenose II ready form my followon project.  I also bought an older Billing Boats kit - the Krabbenkutter - I thought it was a very different style of hull and ship so will hopefully teach me some skills that I can then apply to a more advanced build!

 

Got any photos of your Bluenose II on this site?

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

The planking of the 2 halves of the hull is complete.

 

 

Glued the 2 halves together with various clamps and rubber bands.

 

 

Now it look  more like a ship's hull.

 

[Heronguy]

I'm least happy with the bow. 

 

 

I presume I can used filler to try to fix this.  Any suggestions?

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

I’ve been debating with myself if the hull were ready to painting.  I didn’t want to sand and fill to fibreglass  smoothness but since I have’t done this before I wasn’t sure how much to work on it.  

 

 

In the meantime I did some experiments with paint. A trip to the local hobby shop brought me some Tamiya and some Vallejo acrylic paints.  I’ve picked up a 3" board of 1/16” basswood, marked it into bands, and put  one to four coats of paint in a band to see how it will look. Forum posts on painting suggested Tamiya Fine White primer in a spray was worth the cost so I laid down a coat of primer 1st.

 

I’ve started on the railings.  Tomorrow I’ll start the painting then back to the railings.  It’s new ground to get to work on the smaller bits of the kit!

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

So much for time management estimates.  I did some work on the railing but couldn’t quite finish as the kit was missing the 1mmx2mm strip called for the in the instructions. It seemed sensible to just “manufacture” the missing strip.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a decent way to hold the 5mm strip that I wanted to slice lengthwise.  I’ll have to make some sort of jig to help with this.  The alternative is just to plane down a strip I suppose.  That was the approach taken.  It wasn't so difficult using the mini block plane (Veritas).  I love that tool!

 

The stern didn’t look right so I added a piece to the top of the transom to try to correct the appearance.

 

It is almost cruel how bad things look in the photos - I decided I needed some more filling and a 2nd coat of primer.

 

I struggled briefly to figure out how to determine waterline.  I could measure from a scale drawing or eyeball the position amidship then try to use the waterline jig.  The problem there is holding the hull level and steady!  Given this is my 1st model and a “test bed” for construction I eventually settled on the eyeballing approach.  I scribed the waterline but discovered the two lines didn’t meet at the bow.  I used dividers to adjust the lines.

 

Masked the waterline ready to start painting.

Edited December 23, 2016 by Heronguy

[Heronguy]

Baby steps - always baby steps!

The hull is painted, the deck rails are installed according to instructions, and I mounted the rudder.  Now the ship has some chance of going where it is told - I think I need my own rudder installed too!  

 

Someone wrote that wooden ship modelling was more like problem solving than kit assembly. I'm beginning to understand the truth of that.  Patience.

 

Doug

 

 

[Heronguy]

Some of the little plastic bits in this kit are small and I had to find a way to steady them while glueing! Third hand helped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[micheld1984]

Great work on that painted hull Doug. How did you get the white line the same width from front to back. Ahhm Bow to stern isnt it

Did you use masking tape?

 

Michel

[Heronguy]

Thanks Michel,

 

Regular painter's masking tape was useless but in one of the forums people spoke highly of Tamiya masking tape. I bought a roll of the 6mm tape. It has a couple of nice characteristics. 1-it seals the paint out really well 2-it can be lifted and repositioned several times without compromising the adhesive or the surface underneath and 3- it can take a slight lateral Ben to follow a slight curvature.

 

I took a long piece - almost as long as the hull -- and placed it parallel to my waterline pencil mark starting from the bow. When I got to the curvy part at the stern I use 2 short sections of tape to follow the curve. Just eyeballed the placement to look like a smooth curve.

 

I painted above the waterline tape in black, removed the tape, taped waterline from above (I.e. On the black), then painted white not worrying about width. Finally when white was cured I put another layer of tape over then tape and eyeballed the stripe width as I proceeded to place the tape. Thebtamiya tape is translucent enough to judge that. Painted the lower hull red and voila, I was satisfied.

 

Others on this site have suggested purchasing automobile detailing stripes and using them instead of paint. I'll probably try that sometime.

 

Doug

[Heronguy]

Started installing the "deck furniture". Kinda fun to paint these little things.  I discovered how easy it is to make little problems by not planning ahead.  For instance, having installed the cabin I discovered I'd omitted the railing and had to drill holes for the railing supports.  

 

Unfortunately while doing that I snapped off the plastic boom crutch further up-deck.  

 

Not surprisingly, there is no chance that gluing such a narrow neck together will hold.  Fortunately wood is pretty easy to work with so I fashioned a new one from a scrap.  

 

Now if only I could find the brass wire for the railing in my mess of a shipyard!

 

Doug

 

[Worldway]

Your deck looks nicely weathered.  How did you achieve that?

[Heronguy]

Achieved?  More like it happened! In this kit the deck is a simple plywood cutout.  Based on things I read on here on MSW I decided to "plank" it by pencil.  The 1st attempt wasn't very good so I erased by sanding and tried again.  Wasn't too bad so I stained the deck with Minwax mahogany.  That pretty well obscured the pencil lines so I relined it again on top of the stain.  And that's all.  The mottled look I think came from the state of the deck board when I stained it.

 

I'm planking my 2nd Bluenose II more "traditionally". We'll see how that one turns out soon!

 

Doug

[Worldway]

It's looking good and you're making great progress. Keep up the good work.

[Heronguy]

Thanks Derek. I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to rigging (I think).

[Heronguy]

Finished the deck furniture.  Onward to the rigging!

 

 

 

 

[Heronguy]

Perhaps the masts are going to annoy me!  The foremast is a 5mm dowel that is tapered to 3mm at the top.  I decided to try the "dowel in the drill" for sanding.  Worked ok except that tightening the chuck jaws pretty well crushes the end of the dowel.

 

In this 1:100 scale the fore topmast is a 3mm dowel tapered to 2mm.   Too small for the drill but it fits perfectly in the 1/8"collet of my dremel.  1st try - when I hit the speed switch it sent dowel across the room - except for the 10mm in the collet.  Try 2 was going much better.  I carefully supported the middle of the dowel and used a lower speed.  All was well until this dowel snapped at the collet as well - no obvious reason.

 

Off to the store for more dowels I guess.  Hand sanding may not be as fast but maybe I'll end up with a mast eventually.  

 

Any other tips??

 

Doug