etubino

This level of detail is really remarcable, whta a dedicated Passion are you puting is this Blunose. Please accept my most profound congratulatyion!

I think I made some progress!!!
 
     The hull structure is in a pretty good shape and I think I can actually move on. I faired the deck surface and then moved on to the bulkhead. There was a LOT OF GAP between the bottom of the bulkhead and the rabbit line. I added some filler wood and sanded them down using little dowels with sandpaper glued to them. They look pretty good now. Also, I carved (actually sanded) the filler block into position on the stern of the ship. As I stated before, the plans and parts don't quite match up, but a little extra work makes everything smooth. Hope you all are having fun!

Work continues on my dories.  I've got one completely finished, and the other three are built, but need their rails, splash rails, etc. installed.
 
As a diversion, I've been looking into sourcing some barrels.  I've seen some builds that build a structure to hold barrels (which looks amazing), I've seen some that add barrels tied to the cabin, and some that don't use wooden barrels at all.  I'm not really wanting to build a structure with barrels, but I'd like to tie a few to the cabin.
 
I bought a few different sized wooden barrels from Model Expo, and they arrived today.  I think the size looks OK, but I'm not happy with the finish.  They are pretty dark, and I'd like something a little more 'raw' that I can stain to better match the colors on the ship.
 
So...a few questions for those Bluenose experts out there...
 
Do these barrels look about the right size?  Am I horribly out of scale?
 
Does anyone have a good source for wooden barrels that are unfinished, ready to be stained?
 

Ok...a very productive weekend!  I feel like I'm back in business and making good progress.
 
I rebuilt the chain plates that were lost a couple months ago, and got them installed, then moved on to the anchors.  I made some notes back when I built the catheads about how the anchors were going to be hung from the side of the ship.  I found a great drawing on page 399 of Chapelle's The American Fishing Schooners 1825-1935.  Those notes ended up driving how I set everything up.  I might have made some choices that are not actually correct, but the layout I ended up with made sense to me, so I ran with it.  (Of course, I know nothing about how ships actually worked...never learned anything about ships until I started building models.)
 
As many do, I left the starboard anchor disassembled and on the deck.  I cleaned up the cast metal anchor pieces and painted them black.  I made the tapered wood 'bars' from some 3/32" square stock and stained them to match the other wood on my ship.  I saw in the plans that sometimes the anchors were attached to chain, other times attached to rope, so I went with rope.  I'm using some of the rope from Syren Ship Model Company that I ordered a while back (I ordered a full set of replacement line for all the stuff provided in the kit).  Even though this anchor will be left disassembled on the deck, I added a little black rope to the 'bar' so it wouldn't look quite so bland.  A little bit of extra rope was left coiled up.
 

The port side will have the anchor hung from the rail.  I started by using some chain to secure the end of the anchor to the anchor pad.
 

Next, I made a chain/rope combination like I saw in the drawing I found.  This has a hook one end of the chain, with the other end of the chain secured to some rope.  The hook will go into the cathead.  The chain will loop through the ring on the anchor, then swing back up so the rope can go through the sheave on the cathead.  The rope will then be tied off on the belaying pin next to the cathead.
 

This was hooked in place, the used to secure the anchor to the cathead.  
 


I'll add a rope coil to that belaying pin later when I'm adding final details.  Obviously these little catheads don't have actual sheaves, so I just ran the rope over the end of the cathead.  
 
I ran the anchor's rope through the hawse pipe, wrapped it around the winch, and left a little extra rope coiled on the deck.
 

While I was at it, I went ahead and installed the chain box, and filled with some left over chain.
 

So, I'm now done with chain plates and anchors.  All I have left before masts are the dories, which should be fun - kind of like little mini-builds in themselves.  I'm excited to back at it, and looking forward to getting those dories going during the upcoming three-day weekend!
 

 
 
 

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!
 

The winch machinery is complete, which finishes up all the stuff that is permanently mounted to the deck.
 
The jumbo jib boom crutch was built from the kit's laser cut parts and some wood strips.
 

 
I ended up having to add some CA glue to the joints at the top - they were flexing too much with just PVA glue alone and I was concerned they would break during painting.  Some wood filler was used to clean up the joints between the posts and the knees.
 
As I did with the windlass, I decided to break with historical accuracy a bit on the colors and finishes.  I'm making the mounting brackets and handles brass so they stand out a bit, and I'm going to paint the end caps on either end of the winch's main bar white to match the ones on the windlass.  I think all of these would have likely been black metal on the ship, but making them look a little different will make the details stand out more on the model.
 
The kit ships most of the parts for the winch already assembled on a metal rod.  I completely disassembled these so I could paint things separately.  
 

 
I started by gluing the mounting brackets in place.  I used a scrap piece of brass rod to ensure they were properly aligned during installation.
 

 
Then I installed the winch's bar.  I reattached one of the end caps, then slid the bar through one of the brackets.  Next I slid the larger and smaller gears on, then slid the bar through the other mounting bracket, trimmed it to the right length, and installed the other end cap.  Finally I glued on the clutch assembly below the main gear.  The winch's metal rod was left unpainted during installation since sliding on those pieces would have stripped the paint anyway.
 

 
With everything in place, I finished up painting and installed the pawls and control bar.  I kept the bar simple.  The plans show multiple pieces, but I made it out of one piece of brass rod that was bent around the rod.  The end caps were painted white except for their gears, which were painted black so they would stand out.  The mounting plates for the pawls were painted white simply because I felt they stood out too much when painted black like the pawls themselves.  The whole thing was then glued to the deck.
 

 
The control bar was added to the top of the engine box.  Again I used a brass rod so it would stand out.  I didn't plan ahead well enough, and there was nothing but empty space inside that hole on the engine box, so I didn't have anything to seat the bar into.  Instead I simply glued the bar to the side of the engine box hole.
 

 
The final step was to connect the winch to the counter shaft assembly.  The plans suggest doing this with some thread, but I wanted to use an actual chain.  My wife owns a jewelry business, so she was kind enough to give me a few inches of very tiny scrap chain.  I felt a little bad because the chain is actual silver and I immediately dunked it in black paint.  I'll consider it a sacrifice to the model ship building gods.
 
Installing the chain was a mess.  I'm not thrilled with the results.  If I had it to do over again, I would have built the chain back when I made the windlass, and glued the chain around the counter shaft's gear before it was mounted to the deck.  Trying to get the chain wrapped around that properly, and getting glue applied, was a real challenge once everything was fixed on the deck.
 
Overall, I'm content with this batch of work, but I don't think it turned out as well as some of the the other pieces on the deck.
 

 

 
This completes my 'machinery' phase, and finishes up the stuff that is permanently mounted to the deck.  I still need to do the anchors and dories, but since those are 'portable' on the actual ship I'm treating them as a separate project.
 
First I plan to make and install the chain plates since I think putting those in after the dories are installed will be trickier.

Despite the holidays being a surprisingly busy time, I've been able to get a good bit of work done.
 
As mentioned in my previous post, I made my own gears for the counter shaft assembly by milling down a 1/4" aluminum rod.  This was completely unnecessary, as I could have just drilled some holes through the kit-provided gears to overcome the broken piece, but I really wanted to play with the new mill.  In the end all my work won't really be visible, but it was fun to do.
 
With the gears made, I was able to assemble the counter shaft.  Since the holes in my gears were larger than those in the stands (I couldn't find a smaller bit that would drill into the aluminum), I mounted the gears onto a brass tube, then slide that tube over some thin brass rod that fits the holes in the stands.
 

 
With that out of the way, I finished up the chain box.  The plans don't show this on the deck, but there is a detailed drawing of the box included in the plans with a note that it goes 'just aft of the engine box.'  I went ahead and built it, but I'll wait to glue it down until I start running the chain later in the build.  The exact positioning of this will depend on how I lay the chain.
 

 
Now I come to the windlass.  When I first started looking at build logs for the Bluenose, even before I bought the kit, the windlass was intimidating.  It was actually pretty easy...it just has a lot of little pieces.
 
I started by cleaning up the cast metal barrel provided with the kit.  I painted the whole barrel black (I'll scrape off paint as necessary to glue things on).  I know that much of the windlass was actually wood, but I've never liked the look of wood-colored paint, so I'm just going with black.  
 
One end of the barrel got some brass strips glued on.  This whole end will be painted black.
 

 
The other end requires more work.  After staring at the plans for a while, and reviewing other build logs, I still wasn't sure exactly how this end was constructed.  Finally I found a photo on the Nova Scotia Archives website that had a good view of the windlass.  I based my approach off that, but a little simplified since I'm limited by what I can do at this scale.
 
I glued on some 3/32" square strips, and added some shaped pieces to make the whelps.
 

 
Then I filled in the spaces at either end with tiny pieces of wood.  This was a lot of trial-and-error.  I didn't try to get the pieces to fit perfectly flush - I'll sand everything down later.
 

 
Once all the wood was firmly in place, I added some wood filler in the joints and sanded everything down.  Then I stained the wood to match the other wood on my above-deck structures.
 

 
The stands were made from the provided laser-cut pieces and glued together.  This let me finish up the counter shaft assembly and get the gears positioned.
 

 
The brake beam was glued onto the bowsprit bits, and the two quadrants were glued onto the barrel.  With all this in place, I positioned the windlass and glued it onto the deck.
 

 
The pawl as installed, and I added the brass rods from the brake beam to the quadrants.  The counter shaft assembly was then glued in place.
 
Finally, I noticed the detailed drawings in the plans referenced a metal shield over the gears.  I shaped this from some brass strip and glued it in place over the gears.  Since I'm leaving lots of natural brass in other places on the ship, I decided to leave this piece unpainted.  I'm sure it was black on the ship, but I like the contrast that a bit of brass gives here.  I don't want all the machinery to look like a big blob of black painted stuff.
 

 
So I'm done with the windlass.  It only took about a day (aside from the counter shaft, which took a couple weeks due to the custom gears).  Next up will be the winch machinery.
 

 

Thanks Russ!
 
Over the last week or so, I've gotten the bowsprit bitts/samson post and the engine box completed.
 
The bowsprit bitts and samson post were pretty straight forward as the kit provides the key piece as a laser-cut item.  
 

 
The whole thing went together pretty quickly.
 

 

 
The engine box gave me a bit more trouble.  My first attempt was fine until I got it painted, then I notices a few too many imperfections in the wood.  I tried to fix them with some filler and repaint, but wasn't happy with the results.  The second attempt failed during assembly - I wasn't able to get it square enough.
 
My third attempt was successful.  This time I made a much more rigid internal frame for the box, then used 1/16" sheet material for the 'walls'.  The lift out door on the side was simulated by cutting one of the side panels halfway through (so it remained one piece, but looks like two).
 

 
The smaller part of the box was built similarly, but I left some open space on the inside frame since this piece has three holes in the walls.
 

 
The holes were made by drilling holes then using needle files to square them off.  They aren't perfect, but it is what I was able to do with the tools on hand.
 

 
The entire thing was primered and airbrushed white.
 
I decided to try and simulate the hinges on the top.  I used some thin brass strip I had on hand and some thin brass rod.  These were soldered together.
 

 
Once soldered, the three pieces were cut apart and each piece was cleaned up.  I filed away a lot of the solder (I always make a mess when soldering), and trimmed the brass strips to be shorter and tapered.  I touched them up a bit with some brass paint to make the color a little more consistent.  They were then glued on to the roof of the engine box.
 
I also simulated a small handle/latch using some thin brass wire that came with the kit.
 

 
I noticed after I glued it on the deck that despite all my attempt to double-check things, I managed to screw something up.  I glued the smaller portion of the engine box so it lined up with the outboard edge of the larger box.  It should have been even with the inboard edge.  I don't think anyone would notice this once the ship is done (except for me or another Bluenose builder).  So, rather than rip it off and risk damaging the deck, I'm going to leave it.
 
Fortunately when I was positioning it, I was using the inboard hole on the smaller box and the samson post as reference points, since the windlass/machinery touches both of those.  So really, the small box is in the right place and the larger box (which nothing else connects to) is just out of position by a small amount.
 

 

 
I don't think there is anything else I can work on to procrastinate - I've got to start in on the windlass and machinery.  It shouldn't be difficult, and it will be similar in process to a lot the work I did on some Model Airways WWI aircraft a few years ago (which use a lot of cast pieces to build up the engine).  My fear is that there is a lot of potential for detail with this stuff, and my ability to toss stuff and start over will be limited by the use of cast metal pieces.

Lots of random work over the last few days.  I've now got everything in on the deck except all the bowsprit stuff / windlass / machinery.  
 
The galley stack was pretty easy.  Just cleaned up the casting, removed the large 'pin' on the bottom and replaced with a thinner brass rod for mounting to the deck, painted it, and glued it in.
 

 
The 'jumbo jib sheet traveler horse' takes longer to say than it took to install.  Just some bent brass rod installed in front of the hole for the fore mast.
 

 
Then came the catheads.  I thought these would go quick, but they ended up taking a couple hours.  Part of the problem was that I couldn't find any good photos/information online that showed in detail how the anchor hangs from these, or how the ropes/chains are handled.  Lots of information about catheads in general, but nothing on the specific versions used on the Bluenose.  I did finally find a fantastic diagram on page 399 of Howard Chapell's 'The American Fishing Schooners 1825-1935'.  Once I understood how this would get hooked up, I decided to build them now but not glue them in.  I'll wait to secure them until I hang the anchors in case I need to make further alterations.
 
The cast metal pieces were cleaned up.  A hole was drilled in the fore side of each one, only halfway through the head, to hold the eyebolt that attaches to the bar.  Another hole was drilled all the way through the head from the top,  This second hole will be used to attach the chain.
 
The eyebolts that come with the kit are way too big for the catheads, so I made some simple ones out of some wire I had on hand and glued them in.
 

 
The plans show some sockets on the waterways that the base of the cathead sits in.  I decided to try and simulate these.  I cut a short length of a very small dowel rod and drilled a hole through it.  I rounded off the top, and used a razor saw to cut just a thin piece off the top.
 

 
This ended up making a fairly decent socket.  It doesn't have the detail shown in the plans, but I'm not yet at a point where I could pull off that detail on a piece so small.
 

 
The sockets were painted black and glued in after they dried, and while the paint was out the catheads themselves were also painted black.  Eyebolts were added to the rail for the bar, and the bar was fashioned from the thicker brass wire provided with the kit.  
 
Turned out pretty well.  These were fitted on the ship, then removed and put back in storage until later when I mount the anchors.
 

 

 
The anchor pads were cut from some 1/64" thick sheet wood I had handy.  These were pretty straightforward, just small and hard to sand.
 

 
One last step before starting in on the bowsprit bits / windlass / machinery is to get all the belaying pins and eyebolts installed.  I had originally planned to do this later, just before rigging, but I decided it would be easier to do now before the deck is completely full.
 
Installation of the pins and eyebolts was typical - mark locations, drill holes, glue in pieces.  I was very happy with the quality of the belaying pins in this kit.  39 belaying pins and 20 eyebolts.
 

 

 
Today I'm taking some time to touch up some paint on the bulwarks, and I'm pulling everything out of the workbench and doing a complete cleaning.  Hopefully I'll be diving into the deck stuff near the bow tomorrow!
 
 

Companionway
 
Not super-exciting, but the companionway for the fore deck is finished.  Kinda surprising something so small required so much work.
 

 

Unidentified Object and Cabins
 
It would be great if I never had to work and could spend all my time on the build as I've done over the holiday weekend!
 
I was able to knock out the 'unidentified object' and the two hatches pretty quickly.
 
From the plans and old photos, the 'unidentified object' called for on the plans appears to be some kind of bin or storage container with a lid.  I had a dowel rod on hand that was the right size, so I used that to make the object.  I cut a piece of the rod to 5mm and rounded off the top.
 
To create the seam for the lid, I used a small saw blade and cut into the piece as I rotated it.  I used a piece of wood to keep the saw blade at a consistent height.
 

 
I decided to build both hatches at once since they are identical except for their size.  I had some wood strips that were the exact height of the sides, so I cut those to the right lengths for the sides of each hatch.  I glued in some shorter pieces to create a ledge for the lids.
 

 
The plans show the lids as solid pieces, two per hatch.  Since I've been planking and staining the roofs of the deck structures, I decided I wanted to plank the lids as well.  My first attempt was simple - I just cut some planks and filled in the lid.  I wasn't happy with the results.  It looked like a single planked piece, rather than two halves of a removable lid.  
 
I re-build the lids with a thin frame around the outside of each section.  This took a few tries to get a process that worked well.  I ended up building the entire lid for each hatch as a single piece, then cutting it in half and adding the inside frame sections.
 

 
Everything was then sanded and painted.
 

 
They ended up looking pretty good when placed on the deck.  I haven't added any of the hardware yet - I'm going to add all the eyebolts/rings on the deck structures in one pass after I get them built (but before they are glued in place on the deck).
 

 

 

 

 

Wheel Box
 
Over the last few weeks I haven't had much time to work on the build, but I did manage to get the wheel box finished.  Part of the delay was that I ended up building it three times.  Since this was the first structure I built for the deck, I wanted to be sure I liked the look and construction method.
 
My first attempt was too big - I simply measured the plans wrong, and didn't realized it until I was finished.
 
The second attempt was perfectly fine, until I started looking at old photos of the Bluenose.  That led me to rebuild it a third time.
 
The final attempt is the one I'm keeping.  I ended up going with slightly wider coamings along the base.  I also rounded the roof a bit as seen in the photos I found of the Bluenose.  I've decided to use stain in place of the 'burnt umber' called for on the plans.  This isn't historically accurate, but I like the look.
 
The wheel itself was fun, and set me back a week or so.  While cleaning up the casting, I broke one of the handles off.  I ended up filing it down, drilling a hole into the wheel's rim, and gluing in a very short piece of brass rod to simulate a handle.  Once I got the wheel painted I can't tell which one was repaired.
 
Hopefully the other deck structures don't take this long, or I won't be done for a few years.
 

 

 

Ok, after getting home and doing a quick re-inventory of the metal kit parts, these have got to be the pieces listed on the parts list as 'mooring chocks'.  Everything else seems to be accounted for.  Horribly blurry photo - sorry...
 

 
It sounds like this would have been a spot where the mooring lines would have been passed through the bulwarks to be tied off on the quarter bitts.  Looking closer at these pieces, it looks they they are supposed to have a hole running through them, but the quality of the casting caused that to be filled in.  I'm thinking that if these were drilled out, they would fit into the slots indicated on the plans and form 'tubes' that would prevent the mooring lines from chafing on the wooden bulwarks.
 
The rectangular end 'cap' on these seems to be about the same size as the drawing on the plans, and the length of the 'tube' seems to be about the right size to pass through the bulwarks, assuming that I fill it in with a 1/8" filler block as indicated on plans.
 
So, my plan right now is to add the 1/8" filler block as indicated by the plans - above the scruppers and below the waist - then drill a hole that matches these pieces.  I'll drill out the center of these to create 'tubes' and insert them into the holes.
 
Edit: A photo showing how I imagine this metal piece fitting in...
 

Question for you Bluenose experts out there...
 
The plans call for mooring chocks to be installed near the stern.  They are mentioned only briefly in the instructions ("check the plans for their locations"), and not mentioned at all in the practicum.  I don't recall seeing them mentioned on any build logs that I've seen.  Cast metal pieces are provided in the kit for these, so it is definitely something I'd like to add.
 
From the plans, it looks like a space is cut out in the bulwarks, and a filler block is used to add some backing to mount the chock.  It looks like this ends up as a small recessed spot where the kit's metal mooring chock is attached.
 

 

 

 
Photos of the original Bluenose are scarce, but I think this one does show a small opening right about where these mooring chocks should be.  On the Bluenose II, I've seen photos of lines attached to that spot, but it isn't clear if the chock is recessed or surface mounted (and that detail could have changed between the Bluenose and Bluenose II).
 

 
It would seem like a small piece of the upper bulwark should be removed in that spot, a filler block should be added between the stanchions (but not full height, so it doesn't block the scruppers), and the mooring chock should be mounted into that block facing outward, but not extending beyond the outside of the hull.
 
Since I haven't noticed this detail on any build logs, I wanted to see if my interpretation of this detail seems correct before I start cutting out a spot for this.
 
Thoughts?

Deck Planking (Quarter Deck)
 
The quarter deck is planked!
 
I found the quarter deck to be a bit more challenging than the fore deck.  Both decks have nibbing, but the quarter deck requires that you taper most of the planks.  
 
I wanted to maintain the 'every 5' plank layout I used on the fore deck, but tapering complicates a bit.  In my build, the first 26 planks (13 each side of center) need to be tapered.  The practicum has a great tutorial on this, suggesting that you start the taper 6 inches from the stern.  Of course, this works best if you're using full-length strips, rather than scaled planks.  So, I decided to start will full strips, do the tapering, then cut the full strip into planks as needed.
 
This worked pretty well.  The ends at the stern varied in width a bit, so as I got close to the sides I had to start being really careful about the size I was tapering down to so that I ended up with the same number of planks on both sides.  Proportional dividers came in handy there.
 
The first few planks were a little 'special' and had to be carefully positioned and cut to create the right joints.
 

 
To help with cutting the taper (since I'd have to do that 26 times), I made a little jig to hold the plank and help mark the 6" spot for the taper to start.
 

 
(The odd shapes on the upper side of the jig aren't important - the piece of scrap wood I used to cut those had been used to cut out various pieces from my last build.  I was only interested in getting something glued down that would hold the plank in place.)
 
After a good bit of work, all the tapered planks were in place.  I had the same number of planks on each side (although they tapered to different widths).  
 

 
So, it was time to move on to the nibbed planks.  This was just like the fore deck, so it was very straight forward. I found this part to be much easier than the tapered planks.  There are also fewer nibbed planks than tapered planks, so it went pretty fast.
 
Right at the end, I found that I had a small gap.  It wasn't wide enough for a plank, but it was too wide to use filler.
 

 
I saw this before I glued in that last plank, so I had some options.  I decided to add some material to the plank to make it wider, then sand it down to fill the gap.
 

 
After some sanding and filing, I got a pretty good fit.
 

 
And then, I was done with the quarter deck!  I gave it a little sanding, and I'm pretty happy with the results.  It isn't perfect, but I don't think its too bad for first build with planked deck.
 
I will give it a good final sanding before I stain and seal the deck, which I'll probably do when I paint the hull, waterways and bulwarks.  But first I've got to deal with stanchions, hawse pipe holes, and the transom fashion piece...
 

 

 
 
 

Over the last few weeks I've worked on a few different things now that hull planking is finished.  I ended up going through the instructions and the entire practicum and listing out each step, then doing a pass on the plans to make sure I knew where each piece fit into the construction.  The instructions and practicum do many things differently, and in different orders, and I wanted to understand all the differences.  I ended up making my own plan of attack for the rest of the build.
 
Transom Framing
 
I started by framing out the transom at the stern.  The practicum takes a simpler approach, but I opted to frame it out per the instructions.  It wasn't hard or time consuming (aside from carving the transom tumble pieces), but I did end up getting glue everywhere.  At least this will all get planked over.
 

 
Knightheads and Hawse Timbers
 
Next I built out the knightheads and hawse timbers.  
 

Bulwark Planking and Scruppers
 
The next project was to finish up the planking by adding all the planks above the deck.  Before I did this, I spent some time cleaning up the bulkhead extensions above the deck that will form the stanchions.  I measured each one and sanded as necessary to get it squared up and to the right size.
 
Since my hull planking started at the deck line even with the waterway, I can add scruppers by cutting them into the bottom of the first plank above the deck.  I used a taller plank on the fore deck, and a narrower plank on the quarter deck so the tops of each scrupper plank line up.  The scrupper locations were measured and marked on the planks, then filed out using a needle file and a small jig to control the depth.
 
After these planks were installed, the thinner plank above the waist was added to complete the planking.
 

Transom Planking
 
Next up was planking the transom, both inside and outside.  (This photo is an 'in-progress' photo, the final trimmed and sanded transom looked much cleaner.)
 

 
With all that done, it was time to start planking the fore deck.
 
Deck Planking (Fore Deck)
 
I've seen some Bluenose builds that use full-length planks (each plank runs the length of the deck).  That's what the practicum seems to suggest.  Some rough math suggests those planks would be over 60' long.  I decided that I wanted to use shorter planks and experiment with planning a good layout for joints.  This is the first time I've planked a deck, so I want to get a little experience.
 
I read through the planking tutorial on the NRG site, and ended up spending an entire Saturday playing with different variations of 'every 5', ' every 4' and 'every 3' joint layouts.  The Bluenose has two wide planks at fixed locations near the bow  where the windlass sits.  I found that most deck planking layouts caused a joint to line up even with the joint required by one of these wide planks.  I ended up going with an 'every 5' layout.  This results in planks that are up to 45' feet long (which I think is way too long), but I felt it had the cleanest look of all the variations I tried and it avoided putting a plank joint right next to one of the wide planks.
 
This was also my first time nibbing.  That went pretty quick once I got the hang of it, although I did end up tossing a few planks and re-cutting them for a better fit.
 
The deck needs a little more sanding, and I'm going to hold off on any finishing (stain, poly, etc.) until I get the quarter deck done.
 

 
I'm fairly happy with the progress.  It's not perfect, but it is turning out better than my first ship!
 
 
 

It's been a little over a month, and I've made some progress.
 
Bulkhead Extensions
 
I trimmed the bulkhead extensions back to make them fit the size of the stanchions.  This went fairly quickly as I built a little jig to aid in cutting the extensions at the right depth.
 

 
The sternpost got installed pretty easily.
 
Bulkheads
 
Next up was gluing in the bulkheads.  This too went pretty easily with the aid of a variety of clamps, machinists squares, and angle braces to hold everything while the glue set.
 

 
I decided to go ahead and add support struts between the bulkheads.  Being my first POB build, I didn't trust myself to be delicate while fairing, so I wanted the extra support.  I had some 1" x 1/4" wood lying around, so I used that.  I measured the exact space between each bulkhead and cut individual pieces to fit each spot.  This took a couple days.   I made a bit of a mess with the glue, but all this will be hidden by hull and deck planking so I'm going to spend time cleaning it up. 
 
When I finished, I realized that my process (do one side first, then the other) had caused a problem.  I had introduced a bend into the keel because the first side I did was a little too snug, and the second side was cut later (so it locked in the bend).  If I had done both sides at once for each bulkhead, i could have avoided this.
 
Since all the supports were firmly glued in, I fixed the problem by cutting the supports between 2 bulkheads on each side.  Since cutting removes a bit of wood (due to the thickness of the blade), this gave me some squish room to relieve the pressure causing the bend.  I got the keel back in alignment, and re-glued the struts one side.   The other side (which now has struts with a gap in the middle) will just be filled in with wood putty so I don't have to keep looking at a reminder of my mistake.   It looked messy, but the keel is straight and the struts are solid.
 

 
Next up I faired the bulkheads.  I thought it went fine, but I later realized I didn't do a very good job.
 
Great Beam and Waterways
 
The practicum I'm loosely following suggests installing the outermost waterway to use as a guide for positioning the first plank.  This makes sense, but the practicum skips over installing the 'great beam' - it never installs it at all.  The deck planking (and waterways) would need to be on top of the 'ledge' created when you install the great beam.  So I deviated a little and installed the great beam, followed by the waterways.  I went ahead and installed all three waterway planks on the fore deck.  The quarter deck only has one waterway strip - between the stanchions - and I wasn't sure I'd get a smooth curve with all those little pieces.  So I went ahead and installed what will become the nibbling strake, then put in the actual waterway, matched to the curve of the nibbling strake.
 

 
Finally I moved on to planking.
 
Planking the Hull
 
One of the reasons I chose the Bluenose was that the plank layout is fairly simple and doesn't require some of the complex techniques required by other ships.  Also, the hull will be painted - so I can fix any mistakes with filler.
 
I started at the deck and worked my way about halfway down.  Then I put in the garboard strake and worked my way up from the keel.  I did both sides at the same time (install a strake on one side, then the matching strake on the other side) so that I could keep both sides uniform.  I also decided to use individually cut planks, per the instructions, rather than using full-length strips as the practicum suggests.  I did this only so I could get some practice with cutting and installing individual planks and maintaining a consistent pattern with the joints.
 

 
I'm satisfied with how it turned out, but I discovered my fairing was pretty poor.  There were some planks that didn't butt up nicely because the bevel on the bulkhead wasn't straight enough.  I had some trouble with the curves near the stern around the top of the sternpost.  Good thing this hull will be painted.  Filler to the rescue.
 
With both sides planked, I went through a few sanding rounds then generously applied wood filler as recommended in the practicum.  The practicum (and some build logs I've seen around the internet) show a LOT of filler being applied, then sanded away.  So, I did that.  Fortunately I only did one side of the hull (I wanted to see how it went before I did the other side).  I don't need anywhere near that much filler.  I ended up removing 95% of the filler.  It took days and I went through a TON of sandpaper.  On the other side, I'll use considerably less wood filler, which should make sanding it back down go a lot faster.
 
I've now got one side of the hull filled and sanded.  There are some touch-ups needed, but I'll come back and do those after I fill and sand the other side.
 

 
Next step is to fill and sand the other side and do another pass to clean up any remaining issues with the planking.
 
 
 

I've started my second build - the Bluenose.
 
I've had this kit for about six months, but didn't even open the box until I finished my Phantom a couple weeks ago.  The Phantom was my first build, to get me exposure to basic ship modeling and rigging.  I chose solid hull for that one so I wouldn't have to tackle hull planking.  
 
I chose the Bluenose for my second build because it still has relatively straight-forward rigging, and the hull planking doesn't require a lot of complex work.  It is also a little larger scale, which lets me focus more on detail.
 
I spent about a week 'preparing'.  I scanned in all the plans, inventoried and labeled parts, etc.  For this build, I've purchased Bob Hunt's practicum, which I'll be following only partly.  I got the practicum because sometimes I just want to sit and read how somebody tackled the build - even if I end up going my own way.
 
Knowing this was going to be my next build for some time, I've been following a number of Bluenose builds here on the forum.  Build logs from bhermann, darr, jrw1970, dborgens, mrjg, and popjack (among many others) have given me a ton of tips, a lot of inspiration, and a good deal of insecurity (you guys are soooo good at this....).
 
To get started...
 

 
All the parts were inventoried and labeled.  This is my fourth kit from Model Expo (two Model Airways planes, second Model Shipways ship), and this is the first time the wood has come labeled.  I had my caliper out ready to start measuring and sorting wood stock.  Maybe I was just unlucky the first three times.
 
Keel Assembly
 
The three pieces of the keel were cut out and assembled.  This took a few days, because it didn't go smoothly and I knew that messing this up would have repercussions.  Two major problems...first, the third piece simply wasn't the right size.  It wasn't an issue with the tab - the piece was physically taller (top and bottom) than part #2.  So, I drew on the reference lines from the plans (since I guess reference lines are there to refer to) and used those to decide how to line things up.  A little sanding, a little shimming, and I've got a keel.  It came out straight, so I'm happy.
 

 
The second problem with the keel was that while sanding off laser char on the top of section 2, I guess I went a little crazy.  Ended up with a beveled edge where it meets part #1.  I took too much off.  Solution?  Take more off!  I leveled it out, glued on some thing wood stock, and brought everything back into alignment.
 
So, the rabbet...
 
Rabbet
 
It looks days for me to get the nerve to make the first cut.  I've read everything I could about cutting the rabbet, but none of it gave me much confidence.  With my first POB build, something about carving away at the keel I just spent days aligning didn't make me very comfortable.  Most of the stuff I've read is either discussions on what the rabbet is (which was helpful), or it was build logs that mentioned how concerned they were about cutting the rabbet, but that it wasn't much of a big deal.  So I guess on the other side of this, I'll be fine...
 
I tried the 'cut out a copy of the plans and trace the lines' method, but I wasn't happy with the result.  I had little confidence that it was 100% accurate.  So, I measured the distance from the deck to bearding line at each bulkhead, and transferred that to the keel.  Then I measured the distance from that to the rabbet and marked that on the keel.  I ended up with a series of 'dots' at each bulkhead.  Then I used the cut out plans, aligned to these dots, to trace the lines.  Doubled checked against the plans, and I'm good to go.  Awesome!  I've managed to stall cutting the rabbet for a few more days!
 
Finally, I got up the nerve to cut.  Here's how I did it (which may be totally wrong, but it worked...)
 
Score both the rabbet line and bearding line with a #11 blade.  I started between bulkheads I and J, and I did one  bulkhead-space at a time. Take my chisel x-acto blade, and push it into the score on the rabbet line, matching the angle for the bottom of the plank.  I cut a small (1" long) piece of plank to help with the process.  This gives me a lower 'lip' on the rabbet at the right angle for the plank.  Repeat this for the length of the section. Take my chisel and carve down from the bearding line to the rabbet line, where I hit the deeper cut I previously made.  Big chunk of wood comes out. After I've 'roughed out' the section, drop the test plank in and slide it along the cut.  It should sit at the appropriate angle against the hull, and anywhere that it doesn't seam up with the rabbet line just right gets some touch-up work. Repeat for every section, on both sides.  Sand when done.
 
Everyone was right - it isn't hard, and doesn't take that long (maybe 2 hours total spread over 2 days).  Maybe there isn't much discussion on how to actually make the cut because after you've done it once, it's no big deal.
 
I added reinforcement blocks over the joints in the keel (just seems like a good idea, and all the cool kids are doing it).  Then I started dry-fitting the bulkheads.  I've lightly sanded each of the bulkheads - removing just enough laser char to keep me from smudging everything any time I touch the parts.  The rest of the laser char should get cleaned up when I fair the hull.  Like many others, my bulkheads came as plywood.  They seem stronger, but they are a little harder to work with (cut/sand).  Each one has been lightly adjusted, along with the slots in the keel so they don't fit too snug.
 

 
Next steps will be to install the sternpost and trim the tops of the bulkheads.  I know some people chop off the tops of the bulkheads and use fake stanchions, others follow the MS instructions and trim them back so the bulkhead tops become some of the stanchions.  I'm not 100% sure which way I'll go, but I figure if I trim them before they go on, I won't risk breaking anything, and if I cut them off later all I've lost is time.
 
After all that is done, I might be ready to start gluing in bulkheads...

Upper rigging complete 

3D printed search lights, scratch built search light controllers, masts painted and navigation lights added to the tops 

Starting to look like a ship! Funnels and bridge added, then a dry fit of the masts 

And the fit out begins, centre superstructures 

So many little things for the deck! 

Brass linoleum hold down strips, next a flat coat and washes ! 

Got a new light, I’m constantly looking for better illumination Base coat down!