GrantGoodale

This will probably be some of my final updates, but wanted opinions on the mainsail. The kit depicts the main sail half-furled, and seen a couple of other completed models try it, I just don't see it as that natural looking with these particular sails, so I left the main fully down. I suppose some furl it to not left it hide deck details, but I feel you can see everything fine depending of your angle.
 

 

 

Continuing on, I have added some handrails along the superstructure mentioned in the reference stuff. Then the air defence bridge has been added, adding some voice pipes and dials. Finally to put it in perspective, it is parked on the ship whilst I do the radars.

Tamiya omit several doors at the rear of the structure and add an extra ladder which is not in the other reference material. I quite like replacing the doors as when painted it is easier to wash them and then drybrush them to bring out the fact there are doors (hatches) not lumps. Finally the front adding the first of the Tamiya individual stanchions and a ladder from spares. 
 
There are a multitude of range finders etc to be added yet but they will be painted off kit.

Hi, I have now started the planking to the decks and have started on some of the superstructures. As well. I have attached a photo of my progress with the superstructures but still work to do on them.

Hi all
I have managed to find a bit of time to start off my build log. I started the build about 6 weeks ago or so, I took a few pics of the model as it stands at the moment. Sorry about the quality, they were taken on my mobile in my garage. I have started on making some of the cabins etc and will update hopefully on a regular basis.

Nice build.
 
If you want an interesting look at Chinese ship construction and the amazing things that they did with their junk, read "1421 - The Year China Discovered the World" by Gavin Menzies. (https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_4?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=1421+the+year+china+discovered+the+world&sprefix=1421%2Caps%2C177)
 
I was a bit skeptical at first but this is not nutcase stuff.
 
Enjoy.

I don't have much time to work on my build at the moment and I hit some sort of "writer's block".
 
One of the problems I have to deal with is the ships eye...and I have to do it before I start with the mast and rigging.
Designing the eye took me countless tries the last few weeks, but I finally made one I'm happy with.
I cut out the design I made to see how it looks and where to position it.
And the template. I can use it on both sides.
Marked the lines with a fine waterproof marker pen.
 
I'll let it dry overnight before I start painting the eyes, so hopefully I can get this done tomorrow...and move on to the mast.
 
More soon,
 
Robin

ok, I managed to find some 0.28mm or 10Lb green fishing line and tried it again and using a 0.20 drill. the results are below. But when I show my wife she says she likes the larger one as it is rounder and looks more like rivets. But again, not accurate. The smaller one is better and almost perfect I would say, but when melting, the balls don't melt always in a perfect dome. And a bit of black ends on it.
  So when comparing them both, I will go with what people will see and recognize. The accurate small one cannot be seen as well with the naked eye, and from a distance, looks like a drilled hole. Which I am trying to avoid. But with the inaccurate large one, it is obvious from a distance that there is a dome thing and it resembles a rivet.
  As you will notice from my comments, I am going by site not accuracy. Its going to be sitting above my fire place where it can be admired by visitors, not a Museum. HA!
  It is easier to paint the green on before putting the fishing line. Plus I doubt if paint will stick to the fishing line.    

All spars now hanging from their halyards.....




 
Mixed emotions for me at finally achieving this major milestone.
As much as I am excited to be able to begin with her running rigging, I am admittedly intimidated by the aspect of going forward without a clear set of plans..... specifically, the belaying points.

I am plowing through all of Doris's final pics looking for any clues.  

We all know, she will eventually become fully rigged - one way or another.

Nils thanks.
 
Don I see that you jest, seriously though I am not at all confident that I could do that.
 
Now the soldering station seem substantial with a replacement element for the hot air gun and all looks good out of the box.
 

 
I stretched a piece of wire to do the obligatory test of coloring it with the hot air
 

 
 
The sound of the fire alarm right above my head just about caused me a heart attack,.... the cat shot out of the room like a rocket. The heating test was stopped whilst I found a chair to stand on to turn off the offending sound.
 
Decided to go out and put the top coat over this.....
 

 
I am going to have to get some filters, the primer coat looked brutal.
 
Now for your communal entertainment and afternoon chuckle.
 
I need some practice with the airbrush...it's been a while and I am definitely rusty with the right settings and thinness of the paint.
 
It was much too thin
 

 
and ran down
 

 
so I turned it upside down to dry, when it is dry I will remove all the paint and start over with the method that Ed described and after getting some filters with paint it again
 
Now I'm going to go and sit and think about all this while I have some lunch.
 
Michael
 

Thanks for all the positive comments and feedback.
 
I am now satisfied with the color and the lay of the wire to match the Bassett Lowke cables
 
This is the final lay up 
 

 
And how I achieved it first wind up the 4 sets of 3 in clockwise direction
 

 
next set the wound sets onto the hook
 

 
then wind up the set of 4 anti clockwise
 

 

 
These beginning lengths of 15 inches shrink down to 12 inches of usable cable for the funnels, after the ends are snipped off.
 

 
There are only 2 aft mast shrouds that need replacing, so I will need to make a couple of longer lengths for those.
 
Michael
 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words. I am my own worst critic. However, I know that the sails are far too heavy for this scale and their shapes could be much better, especially at the corners.
 
Here is another shot with the fisherman temporarily rigged. The model will be displayed with the starboard side out, so the jib, fisherman, and gaff topsail are rigged to port. This will allow the viewer to see the main and fore halyards.
 
Russ

For better or worse, I am getting into the final stages. Here is a look at the schooner with all sails but the fisherman set. This is all a dry fit to see what works and what does not. I have changed out the foresail sheet blocks and I will probably do the same with the forestaysail sheet blocks.
 
This is where I determine if the "look" is acceptable. In fact, there are many things about this model I do not like, but those are my fault and they will be filed under lessons learned for future reference. I apologize for the crude nature of this work.
 
Once everything seems okay, I will permanently set the masts, complete fore stays, the running rigging, and then the shrouds.
 
Russ

Hello Glennard - thanks for looking and your comments. Have been looking at all the Pegasus and Fly builds - I need all the help I can get.
 
 
Felt that I have taken a big step forward with painting below the waterline - which means I can get on with the fixtures and fittings.
Just finishing the stern windows - next update.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
The stern fascia was bent over a shaped bit of balsa wood and soaked with diluted PVA to get the required curve.
The metal carvings were broken in two places and stuck back together and filed away at centre area on the back - also to try and achieve a slight curve. 
 

 

 
 
Thanks for looking
 
Regards
 
Doug

Completed the long guns today. Talk about working in tight spaces. . .
 
Just noticed the lack of nails on the windlass brackets. I might add them, still not sure.
 

 

Thanks Carl, Ken and Denis.
 
Alan, thanks for those pics. You can learn from pictures like that even if they aren't exactly the same rig.
 
More progress on deck fittings. Drilled out dowels for the pump drums. Widened the bottom of the drums by gluing a wire around the bottom then filling it in and tapering it with several layers of CA glue. Clipped off pieces from a plastic spray tube from a WD-40 can to make the pump spouts. Made the center post and crossbar from the basswood provided in the kit. Made iron bands on the ends by wrapping with paper strips with CA glue.
 
Following the instructions I made the pump brackets by bending brass pieces, drilling a hole in the bottom and CA gluing pieces of 22 gauge wire I the holes. Painted the appropriate parts black and have them drying for assembly.
 
Jesse
 

The current level of completion has seen the figurehead and channels added.  The decorations have been largely completed and the figurehead was built up and refined by club member Geoff Martin (who also designed and built the bulwarks jig, and completed most of the hull construction) -  this figurehead is only just over 18 mm total.  Another member (Geoff Peters completed the copper plates and I have added the channels and about to embark on adding the remain deck and hull fittings.
 
I have also opened the holes for the Tube Scuttles which were a combination airing port and light port designed by Oliver Lang.
 
This brings us up to date with her current status.
 
cheers
 
Pat
 
 
 
     

This image from Vallejogallery shows an obvious change or repair. if you look at the shrouds you can see the new brighter wire.
 
I have been doing some further tests with the new brass wire.
 

 
the top and bottom cables are from the aft funnel the second cable from the bottom is as close as I have come yet to replicating the Bassett Lowke cables it is made from
a) 4 sets of 34 gauge non tarnishing brass colored wire
each set is 15 inches long twisted with 80 turns clockwise
c) the 4 sets are then combined and twisted with 50 turn anticlockwise 
 

 
The second cable from the top is made from 3 lengths of 28 gauge brass non tarnishing brass wire wound clockwise 80 turns and given a smear of brown Pebeo Vitrail stain for colored glass, I dipped the wire then immediately wiped it off once with a tissue it leaves an tinted aged look to the brass.
 
Michael

Hi forum
 
I will shortly be finishing the planking of my hull and need to start thinking of how best to proceed in term of coating everything with glassfibre cloth.
 
Can I call on some of your experiences on how best to proceed from here ? Some of the questions I have are as follows:
 
- will be sanding and filling the planks
- will I need a primer coat first, before putting on the glassfibre ?
- and if so, should that be 'any' primer or are there specific advantages to using 'car body primers' ?
 
- in terms of glass fibre cloth, I suppose I had best go for the finest woven cloth presumably ?
 
- regarding epoxy resins, does anyone have any experience with the West System product range ?
 
- what would be the recommended 'curing' time for a model of this size, bearing in mind that 
 
* I have never attempted this before and therefore will need sufficient time
* will be doing this in one continuous process, i.e. the entire hull with one piece of cloth
 
Thanks a million for any help you can provide, will be most obliged
 
E

No scrap that Idea, that they were locators only. The headless pins are for the lifeboats. The side sheet ones are small headed pins, it will still work though, I pushed a couple of pins in partially and the side wall will lean out.
 
So the deck will be glued first.
 
Michael

Rails are done...
Next nerve racking step is to drill the sweep port and the bow sprint hole. Is there a specific method or recommendation you would suggest?
 
Thanks.

A few postings ago I laid out four areas of upcoming work.  let's see how we are doing.
masts and spars   on going but major work done...now detail
color change   brown to grey...rough in done and in this post
out side graphics scroll etc ..almost done next posting
dory's.....well the first one is kindling. I am now on second attempt

 
on to the color  As I have hinted before the grey is coming..but what grey
 
 Here is my first attempt by using what I had on the rough cabin roof.  It was a great grey on a smaller older schooner but I don't like this here at all.
   Here you can see ... i feel it is just too loud.

 
 Here is a darker grey I used on Dancing feather.  I neighbor on mine looked and said it was much more Navy...not sure it matters but positive comments do help us decide.

 
Here again I have cropped a Nova Scotia archive photo to study tones.  This roof looks dark and the cabin trim is dark too. I know on the larger four masted schooners  this trim was often a natural finish but I don't believe it would have been on a fishing schooner.

 
 here is another cropped Nova Scotia Archive photo showing the hatches were dark.  They seem lighter than what must be a black box in the back ground around the fuel [ I believe] tank.  so I chose for the hatches and support curbs to copy the water ways, which as noted by Philip Eisnor where grey along with the cabin roof.

 
 So here I have taped off  where I will repaint the deck curbs and hatches above the deck.  
 
here is one coat on the cabin roof.  funny how it did not really cover.  I need to wait until I add all the other things before I continue here.  Not sure  I want it to look like brand new paint

 
 I show this view of one coat.  Note it does not really cover.  Since the under coat is leather brown I find it an interesting affect that shows a natural wear.  

 
here the water way is painted.  in this close up there is good and bad news.  Some of the brown coming though is OK but the issue  out of sequence repainting means I need to go back a few more times cleaning up the crispness of the white to gray corners.  ouch!  will it ever be right?

 
 here repainting the wheel I found it had natural handles .  behind the figure I have sanded and stained the handles leaving the end metal for the cap.  This scale means lots of extra work.  The dark inner panel and top curved board show up in both photos of the 1940 survey and a sailing view.   There are other pictures of the whole thing being white.That must have been during its earlier life.

 
here we see joy in large scale as I can actually install the mid height supports and take the eye bolts down through as they are in life.  This is unlikely for smaller scale.  the bad news is look at the touch up painting I need to do and the difficulty since I changes color so late. oops.

 
 Here we see the new color and spars sitting in place.

 
 Here we get the feeling of the new color combination.  better than brown but needs more clean up.

 
I talked about making hoops.  Here  i set them unfinished to see how they are doing.  In photos there are two colors.  Most are dull and the other blond. I assume blond means new replacements.  This is another thing to think about. 

 
 Finally I wanted to share the beauty of Sitka spruce and larger scale. I happen to like the natural finished boom and its visible taper. No mater how ugly I make the boat this boom will hold its place.

major lesson learned here by me.....make up your mind early on colors and then do not change your mind.  Oh well 
 
all for now
cheers 
 

With the exception of the swivel guns and the anchors, work on the hull is now complete. Those items will be done during or after the masting and rigging process to avoid damage.
 
At the aft end, I added the cabin port lids and the standing figures at the transom edge. At the bow, I did the foremost port covers and added the chesstrees and simulated sheaves for the fore tack.
 
The transom figures are the kit castings, but with their heavy bases cut off and the figures modified to fit the transom in a manner more closely reproducing the appearance shown in AOTS. The metal was painted to match wood in the same manner as previously done on the other castings.
 
All of the port lids and covers were made from boxwood strip and used the kit's PE brass hinges.The aft lids also had brass rings added. AOTS shows no rings on the forward covers.
 
The chesstrees are boxwood strip with simulated sheaves drilled and cut in. The fore tack sheaves were drilled and cut into the hull ahead of the chesstrees.
 
I am now beginning work on the masting and rigging.
 
Bob

TOPGALLANT MAST AND SHROUDS, YARDS
 
I installed the topgallant mast and worked on the upper shrouds. I used .018 black Syren rope for the shrouds, and .008 brown for the ratlines. I lashed the cherry staves as I did on the lower shrouds. I finished the starboard side and will finish the port side tonight.
 
​The plans call for a pendant in the shrouds near the hounds to run the topgallant yard lift through. I decided to use a 3/32 single block instead.
 
I also spent the day getting the yards ready.  I installed the stirrups, using fish hooks (great tip from this forum).  I then primed and painted them with flat black paint. I will be seizing blocks, jackstays and the foot ropes next.
 
My thoughts are that I will pin the yards to the Foremast before finally attaching it to the deck. I have finally decided to leave the yards in their lowered position hanging on their slings and lifts. I should be able to do all of this running rigging before attaching the mast.
 
Right now, I have a spaghetti factory hanging from my foremast. I have seized every line I can think of, including some of the brace lines. I hope I can keep them straight when I start attaching them to the right locations.

OK step one on building spars.
 
As on previous ventures, I choose to use Sitka Spruce to make major spars. In my reading I learned that for the larger schooners the Sitka was brought from Oregon to Maine [ and I assume mass, new hampshire so why not Nova Scotia] for masts in the late 19th early 20th century. Local wood was use for other spars. Many friendship sloops, classic yachts and older schooners since then also opted for the Sitka spruce. In fact my own 1941 Boothbay harbor one design 21 foot sailing boat mast is Sitka. I have a supply dating back to my first pond yachts.
here I laid out my supply and then figured the best combination of stock. The masts start at 3/4 inch and the main boom is 5/8 inch . Here I have ripped some 3/4 blanks and then using the small table saw to bevel them for turning. here is the end of one of the blanks before turning. I had to figure out how to better turn the masts. On previous builds I did it by hand and I was sure I could find a way to use my lathe and make the process easier and better. My lathe is a midi lathe good for blanks up to 17 inches. Here you can see the Rube Goldberg set up I made. I set my railroad rail anvil on top of the sander and clamped a 1 inch conduit. I grabbed one end of the mast blank in the lathe chuck and let the other end free wheel in the conduit. I used files and course grit sand paper for main shaping. It was really fast and so much easier than hand work. here you see one completed end of the mast Now how to finish them? First to study and then to decide. Most models paint the lower mast white and stain the upper section dark.
Here I have cropped a view from a Nova Scotia archive photo and show that the 1940 boat had white below the boom and dark above. Most interesting is the light color of the boom and gaff. Here is a photo I took of Bluenose ll. Note the light color natural mast below the boom and the dark stained [ replicating oiled] above the boom. Also note the natural tone boom and gaff. I like the Bluenose ll approach, although it would be easy later to change that to white since the masts come out. Not a serious sequencing issue. I choose not to go as red as they did in their stain color.
Here are three cut offs from Sitka masts. The left sample is one coat of clear varnish and the right is one coat of old maple Polyshade. Both are by minwax. here I added a forth sample. The varnish is now two coats and the right maple is two coats. That will be my combination. Now can I get dust free enough to varnish in the shop??