maddog33

Next the stern blocks. An area of difficulty for me as my carving skills are abysmal. The plans do not give a good account of the stern. There are several exemplar drawings which are only orthogonal. Some dimensions and a guide for the angle of the counter would be helpful. As it is, it's pretty much up to the old eyeball. A tiny piece of angled keel is all there is to go by for the angle. The plans show small inserts in the stern blocks for the counter timbers, but they are not sufficient to hold these pieces and the angle is not shown.
 
This turned out be be an iterative process. I created some rough blocks that fit against the last bulkhead which did not give the proper tapered shape and provided an uneven curve.
 

 

 
The counter was built up and shaped with multiple passes of wood filler and sanding until the side pieces and timbers could be set.

 
Then lots more wood filler and sanding to shape until it was sufficiently accurate to plank inside and out.
 

 
Still pretty crude, but getting there. Good enough to plank at this point. Still some shaping to go.

While waiting for the kit to arrive there were lists of small parts and tools to acquire as part of upping the skill level. A craftsman needs the right tools to do a good job. No more hacking away with the wrong tool! After all, my wife is always telling me I shouldn't be so tight. The build logs and forums on MSW were very helpful with sources and suggestions.
 
After reading the tools and tips forum I decided to go with PVA glue. Ordinary Elmers Glue-All works well. It's strong and has a convenient working time. I experimented with using both PVA and CA. CA had been frustrating to use on my Cutty Sark. I had inconsistent working times. I also find the CA tends be absorbed quickly in wood and causes problems with discoloration.
 
The kit arrived after a week. I spent some time organizing parts and separating and marking wood.
 
The plans are generally nice. There are multiple views and lots of detail drawings. Some of the detail drawings are not to the same scale. Some are general representations. Be careful! One thing I did not like about the plans is details are not always organized with construction steps they apply to. That led to a lot of flipping sheets back and forth. Overall I'm happy.
 
The manual is, as noted in MSW blogs, rather lacking in detail. I was able to supplement the manual with how-tos and info in forums. It does have key steps outlined.
 
I ordered the paint set recommended for Bluenose from Model Expo. I later read a post complaining about the airbrush compatibility of Model Expo paints. That was only in one blog. Hopefully my experience will not be the same.
 
I looked into getting a practicum. After reading the MSW forums I decided against getting one. There appears to be enough info and build logs that it would not be that useful. I've bookmarked key topics for quick reference.
 
I think I will purchase at least some of the deadeyes from Syren as recommended in many build logs. In particular the heart shaped upper deadeyes for Bluenose are not provided as discrete parts. They are laser cutouts in basswood that need to be drilled and will not match the rest of the pulleys and deadeyes.
 
There are lots of small parts and brass wire and strip. The winch machinery near the bow is provided in cast metal. These are somewhat crude and will need quite a bit of finishing. I see that some bloggers here have made their own metal parts and done a beautiful job. That requires a lath and milling machine. I think I will try salvaging the provided ones before investing in those tools.
 
As pointed out elsewhere, the provide flag is not correct for the era of Bluenose. Also there are no decals for the lettering or decorations. I'm open to suggestions here. I've not seen an ideal solution in the build logs yet.
 
 

A lot of similar work on main mast.  Only one bail component at top of lower main mast.  Couple changes in brasswork at trestle.  And kept the standard rest for the goosneck.  Two metal wraps on the mast for both the gaff and the boom.

Getting back to the log.  Finally finished planking. Almost good enough to single plank but I like the walnut look so going double.  Lots of sanding/shaping on first plank layer.  Decide I am going to place the keel before the second layer (or at least lay as I go.  I like the look of the second plank layer slightly overlapping the keel.  Gives a more finished look without the gaps.  I also took an idea from someone elses log and am heat setting the second layer as I lay each plank.  Don't need to buy anything special though.  Just an old wood burner with a shading tip and then an extention cord with a pigtail/dimmer to reduce the wood burner to just enough heat without burning.  It's working real well to get the last little bend/curve at the bow.
 

Deck stained.  Adding bulwark.  One side is glued and nailed.  Other side naturally bending the wrong direction so letting it sit a while in clamps so less stress when gluing.

Stern decked.  Moving on to the bow.

Keep going.  Set the deck plate on fore and aft and furing the stations.  As with most, this kit is off on stantions 10 and 11 and it creates a dip.  Many people seem to try building up with shims.  I found it a lot easier to just putty the dip because I could carefully sand the right curvature into the cured putty and it will have a solid surface to glue to.  I've also setup my jig for the water ways once the walnut fries to shape it should lay well on the deck.  I think I am going to overhangs the deck edge just a tiny bit to avoid a gap between the bulwark and the waterway. Well see how that works.  Easier to sand down the edge than fill a gap.

Warpage came back next day but it's just one section and the overall structure is fine so continuing forward.
 

On my last build, I eyeballed my bulkheads.  Went together pretty well by I did have some slight twist on a few bulkheads and the deck didn't end up exactly centered.  Everything worked out just fine on that build but this time I'm going to see how it goes being extra detailed.  I carefully measured the bulkheads and the ran a centerline on the deck pieces and lined out each bulkhead one the deck.  Then drilled a couple centered pilot holes so that I can try to set the decks/bulkheads exact when I glue.  May not show well in the picks but we'll see how this goes and whether the extra attention makes a difference.

Hull planking complete!!  Just needs a little more sanding and potentially a little wood filler in a couple of spots.  Overall, turned out pretty good for my first complete hull.  I spent some time thinking about how I would clamp the planks while the glue dried on the last belt.  I decided to use tape threaded through the hull and wrapped around the planks to hold them tight.  In hindsight, I probably could have used this method earlier for belts "A" and "B".  It did a good job holding the planks and did not damage them like the clamps I had used earlier.  So glad to have that done...on to the decking...
Tim
 

Belt "B" complete!!  Steadily improving my planking as I get further along, but still plenty of practice needed.  I started with the starboard side.  I have read that you should plank evenly on both sides, replicating the planks as you go, but I made some errors on the first side that would have been duplicated had I done that.  Happy with the result and looking forward to finishing the planking!!  
 
Tim
 

I have started on the planking.  I shaped and installed the garboard strake on both sides.   I this marked the first belt, based on the plans and marked out the plank widths at the stern and each of the bulkheads, along with the end point along the keel, where the planks taper into the keel.   That was the easy part!  
 
I had planned to work evenly on both sides as I installed the planking, but after installing the first plank on each side, I kept going up the port side.  What you see in the 2nd picture below is the second attempt.  I was up to 3 rows of planking above the garboard and didn't like how it was turning out.  So, I took all that off and started over.  Having only done the NRG half hull before this, I am still learning, so lots of trial and error.  Slow going , but in no rush...


Tim

Completed assembling the main rail.  Needs a little more sanding, but trying to be careful not to over do it.

Added all of the fake stanchions to the fore deck and shaped to the hull.  I tried to cut them all to the same length with a kerf saw and mitre box, but there was some minor variation.  So, I sanded across the tops to make sure everything was even so the main rail will sit flush.
 

r
Tim

Decided to wait on the nibbing strakes until later and worked on the hawse timbers, knights head per the instruction sequence.  I constructed the hawse timbers per the instructions as they were on the real ship.   First I cut 1/8 square pieces for each side to the proper angle and just a bit longer than the plan and glued together along a straight edge as a guide.  I then cut the fake stanchion and triangle piece and glued them in place.  Lastly, I made the knights head and glued in place.  Once the glue had dried, I measured and drew a line across the top of the finished piece to the match the plans and then cut along the line to get everything even across the top.  Last step was to bevel the knights head.

I built the whole piece as one to keep everything lined up appropriately and then cut out middle stanchion section and glued the two pieces in place

After gluing in place I notice that the bulkhead "A" stanchions were short by almost 1/8 of an inch, so I added 1/8 square stock to extend them to the top of the hawse timbers.  I checked the rest of the stanchions on the fore deck and they were all short to varying degrees, so I added stock and sanded them all to the correct height.  Looks like the quarter deck stanchion are short as well, so I will deal with those before moving on to the main rail.

 
After gluing both sides in place I worked on the hawse holes.  using a small drill bit in a pin vise, I drilled several holes through the hawse timber at an angle around the inside of the oval I drew from the plans.  Once I was able to open up the hole, I used a round file to finish shaping it out to the edges of the line, trying to maintain the offset angle.  When that was complete, I added the chafe blocks and shaped them to match the hole.

Next, I moved to the stern and finished out the inside. 

I am going to work on the main rail next and have traced the pattern for the section between the bow and stern laser cut pieces.  I will likely cut this into 4 pieces per the instructions to keep each to about 6".

That's all for now!
Tim
 
 

As I mentioned earlier, the stern section broke off while working on the stern block.  I marked up the blocks and got them cut down a bit prior to gluing to the stern.  I had completed the rough shape of most of one side and "snap".  While I would not have purposely broken or cut the piece off, it certainly made it easier to work on.  
I finished the shaping of the stern blocks and then added the quarter and transom frame pieces. I made several attempts to get the side "steep tumble home" pieces cut out and shaped.  I really had to think through the process to cut and shape the complex curves and angles from a square block but, finally got the two pieces to what I think is the right shape and both sides pretty closely matched.
 

After completing, I reattached the stern section to the keel.  I added reinforcement braces and then installed the horn timbers.


Last think before moving on to the waterways, I drilled and cut out mast blocks to slide into the slots in the keel.

Hoping to get started on the waterways this weekend.
 
Tim

Wanted to make sure I was not missing something in the instructions or plan.  The plan and instructions show 2 pieces for the great beam and one for the deck beam at bulkhead H.  The single deck beam is on the same laser cut sheet as the keel.  On the other small laser cut sheet, it looks like there are two each of the great beam pieces.  Each piece measures to the plan dimensions. Are they just extra or am I just not seeing where they would be used?

Knowing when to stop
 
My tendency with all things creative is to keep doing "one more thing" until I've made a mess of it. The good news is, I'm going to break that habit with this model. I struggled a bit with the decision to not include the sail on this boat but after spending some time with and without my paper mock-up in place, I decided l much preferred the sail-free look. I may revisit that at some point in the future but for the moment, this build is officially done. Thanks to everyone who took the time to drop in, have a look, make encouraging comments and show interest in general. It's much appreciated.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

Great series of start up shots. The whale boat kit along with the build manual is a great choice. I am working on the same kit "anew" ... took three years off the build to work on two other hobbies. Shortly, I will begin to upload more log shots of work I've re-started over the last few weeks.
 
In any case, I can appreciate how well you are doing especially using the weathering style. Are you airbrushing?
 
Heads up. The laser cut cooperage wood is out of scale.
 
Mike

Thwart risers, some interior painting and ceiling planks:
 
I made one easily avoidable mistake here that careful reading of the plans and instruction book could have prevented. The thwart risers are intended to be slightly thicker than the ceiling planks that start under them but I failed to take note of this and used the same thickness of material. I’ve noticed this in several other builds so I can see that it’s an easy detail to miss. If I had realized this before installing the thwarts themselves I would have added a thin strip to fake the extra thickness. Oh well, another lesson learned. The ceiling planks went on mostly without a hitch other than having to improvise some hidden support here and there where a plank ended and the frame it was supposed to terminate on happened to be somewhere else. The great frame disaster strikes again! I added the first coat of paint before installing the ceiling planks but added some weathering later when I had a better feel for the overall color scheme. 
 

 
I decided to go with a dark blue/grey for the interior of the hull, thwarts and risers. These areas will be weathered to a lighter, sun-faded color eventually but my overall color scheme will be dark blue, black, various shades of grays, and white. Nobody seems to be able to pinpoint any particular combination of colors beyond the primer coats new boats were delivered with so I did my own thing. Given the jobs these boats were designed to do and the relatively short lives they were expected to do it in, I concluded that utility was probably much higher on the list than adventures on the color wheel. Distinguishing your boat from that of another ship seems to be a reasonable criteria when considering  how colors were chosen. 
 

 
I installed the first ceiling plank with the light gray paint I intended to use on those to get some sense of how the scheme would work. I knew everything would be toned down considerably with a little weathering so I settled on my choices. 
 

 
Before the ceiling planks could be installed in the bottom of the boat the centerboard case and mast step needed to be added. Painting these the dark blue rather than gray was probably something that would have been considered a waste of time in a real boat but I liked the contrast and the fact that they were installed before the ceiling on the real thing made it somewhat plausible. I didn't use fasteners on this build so I made a test of simulating nails with paint early on. I didn't think these looked overly convincing so I ended up scraping them away with a sharp blade and using a simple number 2 pencil instead. With a little weathering I thought the results were much better. 
 

 

 
With the ceiling complete and some subtle weathering applied (in my opinion) I was satisfied to move on to test-fitting the thwarts.
 

 
With the interior mostly complete and painted, all 5 thwarts were fitted in position as per the plans. According to Ronnberg's book, the bow and stern sheets weren't painted so I resisted making them light gray. As you can see, the forward-most thwart ended up with a misplaced frame right in the middle. It should have rested between two frames. I could have moved the thwart forward and maybe gotten away with it but I decided to stick to plans from this point forward no matter what. The great frame disaster strikes again! 
 

 
 
 
 
Fast-forward and a whole bunch of other interior details get done! All of this work took several months to complete. Carving the cheek pieces, bow chocks, loggerhead, oar locks, peak cleats and various other parts was time-consuming and educational. I thought carving was going to be my achilles heel but turned out to be something I rather enjoyed. If a particular step/activity seems intimidating, just give it a shot. You may discover you had nothing to be afraid of. 

Planking the jig:
 
This process went much smoother than I had anticipated and reassured me that modifications I made to the jig didn’t hurt and may have even helped set the stage for pain-free planking. If your jig matches the plans, your planking should go on without a hitch. I probably could have done a more precise job of beveling each plank to create nice tight joints up and down the hull but I had intended to paint the model from the start so a little filler here and there wasn’t the end of the world. The biggest area of concern for me was getting the planks to transition properly into stem and stern posts . This is something I’ve noticed about several builds I’ve seen of this boat on the internet. The planks appear to rest on top of the stem and stern posts creating a ledge rather than merging into them. With that in mind, I made sure to overkill the depth these rabbets while building up the laminated stem/stern posts and still allowing enough gluing surface to complete the laminations. As it turns out, my version of overkill still wasn’t enough! I needed to thin the planks quite a bit to get a somewhat smooth transition. It wasn’t the sharp/clean result I had envisioned but it wasn’t horrible either. Live, learn, move forward.
 

 
Starting the planking process with a little help from my friends at the Albany Distilling Company. 
 

 
So far, so good.
 

 
Mission accomplished.
 
Interior frames:
 
So my completed hull came off the planking jig as advertised with surprisingly little glue seepage inside. Joy to the world! On to the frames. These are made by laminating 2 thin strips together and conforming the lamination to the insides of the hull at regular intervals. The instructions recommend soaking the strips in water first for ease of bending but I used heat instead which did the trick nicely and saved me from having to sand a lot of unsightly “fuzz”.  
 
Bring on the first major mistake: 
 
For reasons I can’t really explain given how carefully I had measured things to that point, I pretty much eyeballed the placement of the frames as if I’d been building these things for years. I hadn’t and the results made that clear. Inaccurate frame placement isn't apparent at first, but trust me, it makes itself known later. Amazingly enough, the plans are far more accurate than my eyes and the issues this would cause turned up after the majority of the ceiling planks were glued in and tearing everything out just wasn’t in the cards. For 99 out of 100 people who might actually see this boat in person, the great frame disaster would hardly be noticeable. For me, however, it was very close to the moment I introduced the project to the wood stove. Instead, I put the kit aside for several weeks and went about formulating a plan to salvage things as best I could. While taking some time to reread the Ronnberg book I was heartened to discover that Delano himself had laid the frames for the 7 half-sized Lagoda boats for the New Bedford Whaling Museum inconsistently, even going as far as to have different numbers of frames from one boat to the next. If a guy who built the real thing for 50 years wasn’t fretting over frame consistency, I certainly had no business doing so. Vindicated! Feeling slightly less stupid (just slightly) for not taking simple/accurate measurements, I moved on to another issue with this kit I felt was worth fixing. If you look at builds of this kit you’ll notice that there are gaps along the insides of the frames and the planked hull. This is caused by both the battens between several of the planks and the overlap of planks in areas where there aren’t any battens. On the real boats, the frames were cut to conform to all the intricacies of the inner hull so those gaps are neatly filled. Given that I intended to paint the frames where they were visible above the ceiling planks as well as in the bow and stern, I decided to take the time to close these gaps with wood filler. If you’re planning a natural finish, this technique would probably be too noticeable to get away with. It’s a small detail in the grand scheme of things but I thought it was worth doing, especially at this scale. With the frames installed it was time to move on to thwart risers and ceiling planks.
 

 
Measure frame placements carefully. I didn't and lived to regret it. The gaps that I mentioned between the inside of the hull planking and frames are clearly visible here. I closed these with wood filler where they would be visible.  

Bugra, had a look through those files, just what i needed! 

You have two books that are excellent for her. As Nenad said, get George F. Campbell's plans from the museum gift shop. They'll ship them to you. They aren't very expensive. You get detailed drawings of just about everything you could possibly want to know about the ship's external features and much of her internal as well. POB construction means her internals will not really be very important to you anyway. Her rig, decorations, layout etc is all in those three precious peices of paper. There's a drawing by Max Millar I think of her showing from her stbd quarter somehwat above her with cutaway views into the hold. It's a pretty good drawing as well though not as much detail can be gleaned from it as from the Campbell drawings. Lou mentioned some drawings from out his way, I have yet to see them or order them. I intend on it though before I start another CS. (I think I'm sick, I only want to build CS....) Try to find a copy of Basil Lubbock's Log of the Cutty Sark. It's one of the best books out there about the ship. It is filled with all sorts of details about her construction and her time at sea during her career until she ended up as a training ship on the Thames at the nautical college. Of course the internet is good for research as well. Plus post here. We'll all do our best to answer any questions you may have about her.

Hi Everyone. Just a small update and question if anyone can help?  as you can see I have completed the bow deck and put the strengthens on the bulwarks. I now need to drill all the holes for the gunwale covers. this is where I am a little confused! Again the instructions are a little vague, it gives the measurements for the distance apart 19mm, but not how far in, and where do I start? I also found that the instructions say to use a 01.5 mill bitt, I found this far to big for the size of the wire, good job I didn't start drilling 😁 I am held up at the moment waiting for some new collets and twist drills for my small drill, so I am using the time to do some repairs to pieces I damaged on the gunwales while I was sanding and just tidying her up. Please forgive me but this is my first build. I should have started a little smaller but hey if you don't dive in you will never learn! Learned I certainly have, and still learning so once again please bear with me.
Hope your all fit and well. Martin.

Looks good Jens,I look forward to seeing the pictures of the frames and planking.  Bill
Welcome to the forum

Hi Nenad and Mark
Thanks for warme welcom .
i pose just fjue pic . becors i tomorov vil com op vit a new start on this site ,starting from the begining so it seems more lotigly 
 
il bee back.
Cheers
Jens