genericDave

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Ratlines, top mast shrouds, and running lights are done.
 
The ratlines went faster and easier than I was expecting.  I ended up making jig out of some strip wood to help keep the shrouds apart and the ratlines at the right intervals.  It is made of a couple strips that are glued together on one end then clamped over the shrouds.  A vertical piece has tick marks to help with ratline spacing.

I did my best to tie them all with clove hitches, or at least something resembling clove hitches.  Even though I tied 488 of them, I probably still couldn't tie a proper clove hitch under normal circumstances.  But tying a clove hitch-like knot for ratlines using tweezers?  No problem!
 

 
Once the ratlines were done on the lower masts and upper masts, I ran the top mast shrouds.  I had held off on these since they would be in the way while doing the ratlines.  These were run from the top of the top masts, through the spreader bars, and down to the chain plates.
 

The running lights were made with some strip wood and the cast metal pieces from the kit.   I wasn't a huge fan of the kit's castings, and considered trying to replace them, but decided it would take too much work and likely not look any better.
 
They were painted red and green.  I decided to paint the backs and the edges black - no idea if that is accurate or not - but I felt like it made the colored areas pop out a little more.

So, 590 days into the build, and I'm finished with all the rigging on the masts themselves.  Next I'll be starting to install the booms and gaffs.
 

Rigging continues.  I've realized that posting updates about the details of rigging is a little tedious...rigging is kind of repetitive and most of the details aren't that interesting.  (Once you've done one block, the rest are basically identical).  So, I'll just kind of 'sum things up' and get my build log up to date.
 
(If any Bluenose builders out there are really looking for details on every line I'm running, I'm putting all the boring details on my blog...link in signature...but not adding them here as they'd be a little redundant given the amount of great rigging tips/advice available here).
 
Anyway...the update...
 
I've installed the top masts, and run the spreader lifts, main top mast shrouds, pullback stay, main top mast stay, and balloon jib stay.  These were all pretty typical.  Lots of eye splices and a few lanyards.
 
I've also run the port and starboard flying backstays.  These were fun, as they required some blocks and such.
 

I still need to run the shrouds that go from the top masts, through the spreaders, and down to the deadeyes.  But I think once these are installed, it will be harder to tie all the ratlines.  So, I've gone ahead and added the sheer poles and started in on the ratlines.
 

This is my first time doing ratlines (my first build, the Phantom, didn't have any).  I've quickly become very familiar with clove hitches, or at least a fast way of tying clove hitches for these ratlines.  The plans indicate that the ratlines sometimes cover all four shrouds, but often only cover three.  I've gone with three shrouds simply because it means fewer knots to tie.
 
I'm about 60% done with one lower set, so I have a long way to go.

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!  
 
I got the remaining 10 chain plates re-made today, and hope to get them installed over the next few days.  I think I can finish this build before the end of the year, then on to whatever is next.  I was chatting with my wife the other day, and explained that I'd love to build the 18th Century Longboat next (kit already in the closet), followed by the Syren (which would be my first ship with guns), then maybe the Constitution (which she loved - an excuse for a trip to the east coast), then maybe the Victory (also something she loved, an excuse for a trip to the UK).  After that...probably scratch builds?
 
Is it bad that I'm only 2/3 done with my 2nd build and I've got the next 5-10 years of ship builds planned out?

Well, it has been a long time.  I wish I could say I've made tons of progress, but it has been a crazy few months.
 
Back in January, I was on a roll.  After finishing the winch assembly, I jumped right into chain plates.  The Bluenose has 20 chain plates, so I decided to prepare them all at once.  I cut strips of brass and made a jig to help my get the holes drilled on my little Proxxon drill press.  
 

This worked really well, and very quickly I had 20 brass strips with decent looking holes and filed tips.
 

 
These were then painted black, and I started the process of installing them.  This required drilling some holes in the main rail and creating a 'slot', being careful to make sure I stayed on the outside of the bulwarks.  I attached the deadeyes (after staining them) using wire.  I got through all 10 on the quarter deck.
 

This all happened within a few days of my last post.  Before starting in on the chain plates for the fore deck, I decided to take a week off.  Then disaster struck.
 
We have a service that comes and cleans every other week.  For years, they have cleaned around my work bench.  This time, they decided to actually clean my work bench.  The remaining 10 chain plates were lost.  I'm guessing they got 'wiped' onto the floor and vacuumed up.  This was incredibly demotivating, and I decided to take another week or two off.
 
Fast forward a few weeks, and we were starting a remodel of our house.  This included all new floors (I've wanted to replace the carpet in my office/ship-building-room for a while so I stop losing tiny pieces in the carpet).  Since they needed to replace all the floors, I had to pack up my entire workbench for over a month.  The ship was carefully wrapped up to protect it from dust (our entire house was covered in dust for weeks), and stored in one of the 2 rooms that wasn't being touched - a bathroom.  It was a little unnerving to have my ship sitting in a bathtub for weeks, but it survived.  I decided to hold off on starting the build back up until ALL the remodeling was done in order to avoid issues with dust.  The whole process took about 2 months.
 
So finally, today, I have everything set back up.  The workbench is unpacked.  Power tools (mill, drill press, scroll saw) are back in my make-shift shop (a walk in closet in my office).  I'm ready to dive back in and re-make those 10 chain plates.
 
During this break, I crossed the 1 year mark on my build.  I thought I'd be further along by now, but I've kept detailed notes on my progress and I see where the time went.  Since future builders of the Bluenose may stumble across this build log, here's how the last year went:
 
Build started April 1, 2016. Framing (keel, rabbet, bulkheads, fairing, stern blocks) - 16 days. Planking the lower hull (up to the deck) - 28 days. Planking the bulwarks, scrapers, transom - 11 days. Planking the deck - 24 days. Cleaning up the hull (hawse pipes, mooring chocks, etc) - 6 days. Painting the hull - 68 days. Rails (main rail, buffalo rail, monkey board) - 34 days. Hull details (rudder, name plates, scroll work) - 41 days. Deck structures (cabins, hatches, companionways, etc) - 28 days. Aft deck details - 4 days Fore deck details - 4 days Machinery (engine box, countershaft, windlass, hoisting, etc) - 31 days  
The first big stall came with painting, which took over 2 months, mostly driven by waiting a week or so between coats.  The second big stall has been my chain plate disaster/remodel.  
 
So, here I am, 1 year into this build, ready to dive back in.  I have just a few things to knock out (chain plates, anchors, dories) before I start building the masts, which obviously leads to rigging.  My best guess right now is that I have 8-12 months left.
 
I'm excited to finally be able to work on the ship again, and I look forward to being able to post an actual update with progress!
 

To finish up the standing rigging on the lower masts, I installed the spring stay, jib stay, and jumbo jib stay.  As with all my rigging, I've replaced the kit's rigging line with some from Syren Ship Model Company.
 
The spring stay is pretty straight forward.  It runs from the main mast cap to the fore mast cap with eye splices at either end.
 

The jib stay is also pretty simple.  It is attached to the fore mast cap using a shackle, and run to the bowsprit where it is seized onto one of the bands.
 

The jumbo jib stay required a bit more work.  It seems to have two parts to the line.  The first part is served and wraps around the fore mast right above the trestle tree, with eye splices in both ends.  Those are shackled to the second line, which runs down to the jumbo jib stay bail.  The bail is a custom piece that attaches to the deck and wraps over the bowsprit.
 
I started by getting the top of the line installed on the mast.
 

The jumbo jib stay bail was made from brass, in keeping with how all the other metal parts on my build have been done.  It is basically a large shackle, so I made it similarly to how I made the shackles.  Since it was larger, I fashioned the 'feet' that will hold the bolts separately instead of making it all one piece.  I'm also using a brass rod to form the top, which appears to be rounded on the plans.  I'll secure it to the deck using a couple small bolts running though some eyebolts.
 
The entire thing was prepped, soldered, and cleaned up.
 

The bail was installed on the deck over the bowsprit, and the jumbo jib stay was seized to it.
 

I *think* that finishes up the standing rigging for the lower masts.  I'll wait to do the ratlines until later (not really looking forward to those).  Next step will be to seat the top masts and get their standing rigging lines installed.
 

Jon, 
 
Thanks!  Rigging is probably my weakest skill right now.  It's completely specific to ship modeling, and this is just my second build.  I'm *trying* to take my time and do the best I can, which was part of the reason for the 3 month delay - I didn't want to force myself to work on it and end up rushing things.
 
 I was just looking at your recent posts earlier today - very jealous of your trip to the Bluenose II!

Nirvana,
 
I used some 3/32" thick basswood I had laying around.  I think the kit parts were basswood too.  I think the problem with the kit parts came from cutting them free (they were laser cut).  I didn't get a clean cut when I freed them, so as I was cleaning them up, the wood broke up.
 
My replacements weren't perfect, but once they got sanded, stained, and tied off they look fine.  I made several, even though I only needed two so that I could replace an entire set (and avoid having mis-matched ones next to each other).
 
Someday I'll start collecting some higher quality wood for making parts like this.  I can get basswood locally at my hobby shop, but I'd have to order anything fancier.
 

100+ days later...
 
Back in June, I finished 'construction,' leaving just the rigging.  I had all the rigging prepped on the main and fore masts, and I thought I'd be able to finish the build fairly soon.  When I sat down to start attaching shrouds, I just didn't feel like working on it that day.  I took the day off from the build.  I ended up taking all of July to install some home automation gear.  I took all of August off from modeling to focus on work.  All of September was spent helping my wife prepare for the opening of her first retail store.  But finally, after 3 months, I was ready to dive back in.
 
Over the last week I've got the first few pieces of standing rigging installed.
 

All the shrouds for the lower masts have been installed.  I used the 'wire jig' method that's described everywhere to keep the deadeyes even.  The Bluenose has 16 lower shrouds and 4 top mast shrouds.  So far I've only installed the lower masts, so those 4 top mast shrouds will get run a bit latter when top masts get installed.  The shrouds use tiny heart-shaped deadeyes at the top of the lanyard, and I found the ones in the kit to be a little fragile.  They are laser cut, and I had several simply fall apart.  I ended up making several of my own from some strip wood.
 
I also installed the spring stay, jib stay, and the fore mast spreader lifts.
 
Excited to back on the build!

Over the last couple of weeks, I've cleaned up some details and started in on rigging.
 
Barrels
 
I finally got around to staining and installing the wooden barrels on the deck.  I ordered some in different sizes from a few different places, and finally found some that I liked.  I stained them to match my color scheme and tied them down.
 

Shackle Pins
 
I also went back and replaced all of the temporary pins I had placed on the bowsprit with actual nuts and bolts.  These nuts and bolts are from Model Motorcars.  I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to screw the nuts onto the bolts since these things are tiny, but it wasn't too bad.
 

I'm really happy with how these bolts turned out.  They look better than I could do with brass wire or rod, and since they are actual, working bolts, no glue is required.  This means I can unscrew the nut at any time to adjust the rigging.
 
I also fixed the placement of the iron fids on the top mast as Bob pointed out
 
That left me with no excuses left...it was time to start rigging.
 
Rigging Prep
 
I'm trying to do all the rigging prep I can before the masts are installed on the ship.  So, I made labels for all the lines and a spreadsheet listing out every rigging line.  I started with the fore mast, then moved on to the main mast.  I've got all the standing rigging ready, and I've prepped lines for some of the lifts as well.  I'm also installing all the blocks on the masts for the running rigging while I'm at it.  I have the running blocks in place for the fore mast, and I hope to have the main mast's blocks installed this weekend.
 

Right now it seems like a horrible mess of lines, but I'm hoping this makes things easier once I get the masts installed.  (On my first build, I did all the rigging after the masts were mounted, and frequently struggled to work in tight spaces as more lines were installed.)
 
All the rigging lines are done with rope from Syren Ship Model Company (I'm replacing all the lines provided with the kit).  The blocks are also from Syren.  I've been very happy with the quality, and I'm very comforted by the fact that if I make mistakes and run out of line/blocks, I can always order more.
 
I've tried a few different methods for stroping the blocks, and haven't yet settled on one that I like.  Tomorrow I'm going to try a couple different methods I've read about.
 
Overall, rigging is going very quickly.  I think I can get all the remaining prep work done this weekend.  Next weekend will be a long weekend (I take a couple extra days off around the 4th of July for a little 'staycation' each year).  If I'm really lucky, and don't run into problems, I might have everything rigged in the next week and half.  Then I get to decide on sails...
 
It's both sad and exciting to think that I might be done with this build in the next month or two.

Dave
 
 
She is really looking good. Great idea to play with sails.   I am now foolishly making my second set of sails.  I tried the furling and am now thinking about fully rigged, the lower ones anyway.
 
cheers 
 
jon

Wow looking good.  Excellent work

Surprisingly, I was able make all three booms and both gaffs over the weekend.  I really expected these to take longer.
 
Main Boom
 
I started with the main boom.  The kit provides laser-cut jaws that were cut loose and cleaned up.  The boom itself was made from a tapered dowel.

All the various holes were drilled after the jaws were glued in, and brass wire was used to simulate bolts on the sides.  Everything was stained to match the masts and deck.

On the masts I used eyebolts to simulate fairleads, but here I decided to try and make them from scratch.  The main boom has a couple fairleads secured with rope.  I made them from brass tube that had a groove cut into the outside edge for the rope.  Unfortunately I had to use a little CA glue here to keep everything together, and I realized after I was done that I had put the knot on the top.  Oh well.  Once I get everything rigged it probably won't be noticable.
 
The assorted bands were also made as indicated on the plans, using brass strip, wire, and eye bolts.

The eyes for the lazy jack line were made from some rigging rope with eye splices, stapled into the sides of the boom.

The other end of the boom got a couple sheaves, done the same way I did the ones for the top mast.

Fore Boom
 
The fore boom was a bit simpler, as it doesn't have jaws or sheaves, and has fewer parts.  Instead of the jaws, it appears to have a 'cap' on the end with some hardware to attach to the gooseneck on the fore mast.  I made this by gluing on some 'U' shaped brass strip (drilled with holes), then using some brass tape around the end of the boom to finish out the 'cap'.
 
'
The other end just had a few typical brass bands.

Jumbo Jib Boom
 
The jumbo jib boom was also very simple, but does require another special end to be made.  This one connects to the traveller on the bowsprit.  From the plans, this appears to be a wide band with two  wires on the bottom, both bent into a squared-off 'U' shape.  I made the band from the thin brass sheeting that I acquired for the metal sheet on the mast.  Then I drilled four holes in the bottom and glued in wire.
 

Fore Gaff
 
Next I moved on to the two gaffs.  I started with the fore gaff.  By this point, it was getting pretty routine.

Main Gaff
 
Then on to the main gaff.  This one has a number of stops that need to be added.  These were made by gluing on 1/32" pieces of wood, then sanding them down to the right shape.

 
Then suddenly I realized I was done.  
 

Just for fun, I made some temporary rigging lines (just some thread with hooks on either end) and hung all the booms and gaffs.  I just wanted to see what everything looks like on the ship.
 

With these completed, I'm basically done with construction and ready to start rigging.  I really didn't expect to be ready to rig for a few more weeks, so I haven't done as much planning/prep as I need. I'm going to start by pulling the masts/booms/gaffs back off the ship (nothing was permanently installed).  Then I'm going to do a pass over the whole ship and look for anything that I want to correct or clean up.  I think this will be much easier before I get rigging in place.  I know I need to adjust the top mast iron fids as Bob pointed out, stain and tie down my barrels, glue the dories oars in place (they are loose right now), and remake the connector between the gooseneck and fore boom (with the boom attached, it doesn't sit right).  I'm sure I'll find other things to clean up while I'm at it.
 
During all that, I'll start researching the rigging that I haven't figured out yet.  I plan to do as much rigging as I can with the masts off the ship - at least the standing rigging.  I took a lot of shortcuts while rigging my first build (I just tied knots everywhere), so I'm looking forward to trying to do this one correctly.  We'll see if I'm able to use the right method of attaching lines/hooks/eyes to blocks in the right places
 
 

Very beautiful! She's come a long ways. Cheers and good Holidays!!!
 

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Rigging is progressing nicely.  I've got the main boom, fore boom, jumbo jib boom, main gaff and fore gaff all rigged.
 
I'm not 100% sure if I'll end up adding sails or not.  I want to try, but I've never done sails before so I'm not sure they will turn out well.  So, I decided to go ahead and rig the booms and gaffs.  None of the lines were glued - they were all tied off, allowing me to remove the various runs as I tackle the sails.
 


Over the next week or so I hope to try making a sail.  If that turns out OK, I'll de-rig the appropriate runs and install the sail.  If I fail miserably, I'll probably just continue on with the running rigging and get this thing finished up.
 
Even without the sails, the ship just hit the 'impresses the in-laws' point.  With the booms and gaffs installed, it looks 'done enough' that non-modelers who see the ship are impressed.  For a second build, I consider that a success.  We'll see how sewing sails goes...

Ratlines, top mast shrouds, and running lights are done.
 
The ratlines went faster and easier than I was expecting.  I ended up making jig out of some strip wood to help keep the shrouds apart and the ratlines at the right intervals.  It is made of a couple strips that are glued together on one end then clamped over the shrouds.  A vertical piece has tick marks to help with ratline spacing.

I did my best to tie them all with clove hitches, or at least something resembling clove hitches.  Even though I tied 488 of them, I probably still couldn't tie a proper clove hitch under normal circumstances.  But tying a clove hitch-like knot for ratlines using tweezers?  No problem!
 

 
Once the ratlines were done on the lower masts and upper masts, I ran the top mast shrouds.  I had held off on these since they would be in the way while doing the ratlines.  These were run from the top of the top masts, through the spreader bars, and down to the chain plates.
 

The running lights were made with some strip wood and the cast metal pieces from the kit.   I wasn't a huge fan of the kit's castings, and considered trying to replace them, but decided it would take too much work and likely not look any better.
 
They were painted red and green.  I decided to paint the backs and the edges black - no idea if that is accurate or not - but I felt like it made the colored areas pop out a little more.

So, 590 days into the build, and I'm finished with all the rigging on the masts themselves.  Next I'll be starting to install the booms and gaffs.
 

Ratlines, top mast shrouds, and running lights are done.
 
The ratlines went faster and easier than I was expecting.  I ended up making jig out of some strip wood to help keep the shrouds apart and the ratlines at the right intervals.  It is made of a couple strips that are glued together on one end then clamped over the shrouds.  A vertical piece has tick marks to help with ratline spacing.

I did my best to tie them all with clove hitches, or at least something resembling clove hitches.  Even though I tied 488 of them, I probably still couldn't tie a proper clove hitch under normal circumstances.  But tying a clove hitch-like knot for ratlines using tweezers?  No problem!
 

 
Once the ratlines were done on the lower masts and upper masts, I ran the top mast shrouds.  I had held off on these since they would be in the way while doing the ratlines.  These were run from the top of the top masts, through the spreader bars, and down to the chain plates.
 

The running lights were made with some strip wood and the cast metal pieces from the kit.   I wasn't a huge fan of the kit's castings, and considered trying to replace them, but decided it would take too much work and likely not look any better.
 
They were painted red and green.  I decided to paint the backs and the edges black - no idea if that is accurate or not - but I felt like it made the colored areas pop out a little more.

So, 590 days into the build, and I'm finished with all the rigging on the masts themselves.  Next I'll be starting to install the booms and gaffs.
 

Rigging continues.  I've realized that posting updates about the details of rigging is a little tedious...rigging is kind of repetitive and most of the details aren't that interesting.  (Once you've done one block, the rest are basically identical).  So, I'll just kind of 'sum things up' and get my build log up to date.
 
(If any Bluenose builders out there are really looking for details on every line I'm running, I'm putting all the boring details on my blog...link in signature...but not adding them here as they'd be a little redundant given the amount of great rigging tips/advice available here).
 
Anyway...the update...
 
I've installed the top masts, and run the spreader lifts, main top mast shrouds, pullback stay, main top mast stay, and balloon jib stay.  These were all pretty typical.  Lots of eye splices and a few lanyards.
 
I've also run the port and starboard flying backstays.  These were fun, as they required some blocks and such.
 

I still need to run the shrouds that go from the top masts, through the spreaders, and down to the deadeyes.  But I think once these are installed, it will be harder to tie all the ratlines.  So, I've gone ahead and added the sheer poles and started in on the ratlines.
 

This is my first time doing ratlines (my first build, the Phantom, didn't have any).  I've quickly become very familiar with clove hitches, or at least a fast way of tying clove hitches for these ratlines.  The plans indicate that the ratlines sometimes cover all four shrouds, but often only cover three.  I've gone with three shrouds simply because it means fewer knots to tie.
 
I'm about 60% done with one lower set, so I have a long way to go.

Looking good!
 
I agree that the stanchions from the bulkheads leave a bit to be desired.  I ran into the same thing.  They do stand out once you get the others in there.
 
If I remember correctly from my build, I left the stanchions from the bulkheads in place and added the bulwark planking.  Once that was secure, I added the 'false' stanchions.  Once those were all in place, I went back and cut the bulkhead's stanchions out and replaced them with 'fake' ones.  This way I was able to get the planking nice and straight thanks to the bulkhead's stanchions, but ended up with a uniform look since I cut them out later.  If you cut the bulkhead ones off first, I think it might take some work to keep everything aligned for the bulwark planking.

Looking good!
 
I agree that the stanchions from the bulkheads leave a bit to be desired.  I ran into the same thing.  They do stand out once you get the others in there.
 
If I remember correctly from my build, I left the stanchions from the bulkheads in place and added the bulwark planking.  Once that was secure, I added the 'false' stanchions.  Once those were all in place, I went back and cut the bulkhead's stanchions out and replaced them with 'fake' ones.  This way I was able to get the planking nice and straight thanks to the bulkhead's stanchions, but ended up with a uniform look since I cut them out later.  If you cut the bulkhead ones off first, I think it might take some work to keep everything aligned for the bulwark planking.

Rigging continues.  I've realized that posting updates about the details of rigging is a little tedious...rigging is kind of repetitive and most of the details aren't that interesting.  (Once you've done one block, the rest are basically identical).  So, I'll just kind of 'sum things up' and get my build log up to date.
 
(If any Bluenose builders out there are really looking for details on every line I'm running, I'm putting all the boring details on my blog...link in signature...but not adding them here as they'd be a little redundant given the amount of great rigging tips/advice available here).
 
Anyway...the update...
 
I've installed the top masts, and run the spreader lifts, main top mast shrouds, pullback stay, main top mast stay, and balloon jib stay.  These were all pretty typical.  Lots of eye splices and a few lanyards.
 
I've also run the port and starboard flying backstays.  These were fun, as they required some blocks and such.
 

I still need to run the shrouds that go from the top masts, through the spreaders, and down to the deadeyes.  But I think once these are installed, it will be harder to tie all the ratlines.  So, I've gone ahead and added the sheer poles and started in on the ratlines.
 

This is my first time doing ratlines (my first build, the Phantom, didn't have any).  I've quickly become very familiar with clove hitches, or at least a fast way of tying clove hitches for these ratlines.  The plans indicate that the ratlines sometimes cover all four shrouds, but often only cover three.  I've gone with three shrouds simply because it means fewer knots to tie.
 
I'm about 60% done with one lower set, so I have a long way to go.