hamilton

Missed your last question from your latest post....I use a scalpel blade to shave off thickness of the planks where they buckle out from one another and then sand them as smooth as possible. I also use (as many do) healthy doses of wood filler (actually I use acrylic modelling paste, which I find to be a very good product for this purpose) will help with any cracks or seams and then more sanding. Is this a double-planked hull? I can't recall from when I built it, but I thought it was only single planked.....In any case, on this model it isn't necessary to get a pristine planking job on the hull - unless you don't plan on painting it. Once you fill and sand the planks and paint them, you will not see any of the imperfections of the planking itself. hamilton

I built this kit over a decade ago so my memory is foggy, but the cutwater you refer to above is to be added along the keel edge forward - you need to leave a gap in the planking from the bottom of the keel (horizontal section) forward and then add the cutwater as a strip between the plank-ends once the planking is complete. I hope this helps with your first question. As for question 2, I'll be honest and say I haven't read the other members' responses, so I may be repeating here, but I believe this is just to ensure consistency in its width after you plank the hull. This part of the build was, I recall. confusing for me too as it wasn't clear whether I was supposed to plank over the keel all the way to its base or only to the bottom of the bulkhead frames. I believe I planked only to the bottom of the frames to maintain the width of the laser cut keel and not thicken its width by planking over it....I also hope this response is clear.... This was a fun build as I recall, and I think it's a good one for getting into the hobby as long as you keep in mind that the rig on this one is quite a bit simplified from the actual vessel (good for learning the basics) and that the small scale sometimes makes it a bit tricky. But if you approach it as a learning experience, then you can start to hone skills that will help with the next one. Have fun! hamilton

Looking great Greg! Nice work on the catheads and the fore deck looks nicely arranged! hamilton

Yes - the Santa Claus approach (making a list and checking it twice) is to be advised at this point - I definitely found that I'd missed a couple of things that it would have been better to add earlier at this stage - the rig is shaping up for you now, though John! Looks great - can't wait to see the next phase hamilton

Could be a generational thing, Chuck. The more younger members join - which is to be encouraged to keep the craft going for future generations - it's probably to be expected that some of the broader elements of digital culture are going to creep in.....MSW - like most web forums - is old school internet, where it takes human beings to set up and enforce community standards. This is how the whole thing was when I first went online as a teen in the mid-1980s, when the NSF was still running the show. But most folks (young and old) have gotten used to a world where "moderation" has largely been automated through SEO algorithms and algorithmic news feeds, so I don't think there is as clear an understanding of the human labour that goes into managing a site like this and keeping its quality as high as it is. But it doesn't help if users treat the forum as if it were Facebook or "Twitter", where these kinds of posts have literally 0 impact on the management of the platform itself. If I had more time between my young family and my work I'd love to chip in to help with moderation here - I'll reach out once I can afford to retire - in 2043!!!! Waaahhhh!!! hamilton

Thanks Nearshore - and for the planking tips. I will try to carve a "light" rabbet of about 1mm and then just thin down the planks aft for the first layer and then, as you say, carve a similar rabbet aft into the first layer of planking for the second layer....I find this kind of work very nervewracking, but I'll see if I can give this a go. This is definitely the most challenging model I've attempted so far! But it's also pretty fun...once I get past planking it will be a lot more enjoyable!! hamilton

Managed to resolve one of the issues noted above - fitting the main cabin bulkhead back under the poop deck. My results are not as clean as I'd like, but since this area will be pretty hard to see when all's said and done the clumsiness of it will likely fade a bit. There are three components to this bulkhead - a central section with the two doors, and two side panels. These are provided as photo-etched brass fittings, but as noted a couple of posts ago, the central part was too wide for the model as-built. I used the p-e parts for the side panels, and these worked fine. The pillars are also p-e brass, fitted atop .6mm x 3mm tanganyika strips so they stand a little proud of the panels. I decided to finish the pillars white to contrast with the yellow cabin bulkhead. The centre part I scratch-built using 1/64 birch plywood sheeting. I traced the shape of the central p-e part on some card paper and adjusted this until it fit in the appropriate space on the model, then used this as a template to cut a backing from the birch ply. To frame out the panels and cabin doors, I used a combination of 1mm x 2mm and 1mm x 1mm strips, finished yellow. As I say the results are far from perfect, but this area of the model will be barely visible on completion, so I won't mind it too much and have learned a thing or two in the process. I test fitted these with the sub-decks for the quarterdeck in place, and I will have to make some small adjustments to those subdecks when the time comes to install them so they slot in properly - the back edge will need to be slightly thinned to fit - not a problem I don't think. Enjoy the photos and bye for now hamilton

Wow! That is some impressive scale work! How do you do it?? Maybe I missed it but were you a jeweller or watchmaker in a former life? I cannot imagine getting those results...amazing. hamilton

Given the need to consider an approach to the elements noted above, I decided to spend a bit of time today planking the f'csl. I installed two waterway planks to port and starboard these were from 1mm x 2mm strips of Tanganyika. The central king plank is .6mm x 4mm while the deck planking is .6mm x 3mm. A very straightforward process. I also installed central sections of the garboard planking while considering how to proceed on the lower hull. I'll probably complete the lower hull planking forward as this is less mysterious than the planking aft, and then complete planking on the poop deck. Hopefully by that time I'll have a strategy for addressing the issues noted in my last post....until then - enjoy the photos and bye for now hamilton

Well - with the Bluenose being in a very nearly-completed state (and with me still fretting over how to approach the dorys...) I've decided to turn back to HMS Bellona, which has been languishing for the last year and more. Almost immediately on picking the model up again, I realised that I needed to re-acquaint myself with it - given that at the stage where I left it there were several threads I could pick up to move it forward - planking the f'csl and quarterdeck; working on the main cabin bulkhead beneath the poop deck; completing the lower hull planking....as I considered this I noticed two issues that I'm hoping I can get some advice on - I may post these as questions elsewhere, too - but if anyone's looking in and has advice on these I would appreciate it. 1. Lower hull planking at sternpost - I marked out the bearding and rabbet lined on the centre keel and had thought of cutting in a rabbet before installing the bulkhead frames, but the material is so soft and my hands so ungentle that I was worried about destroying this piece so I left it - now I'm face with a conundrum where I don't know how I can complete the hull planking aft while maintaining correct width of the sterpost...I could try cutting a rabbet along the aft part of the centre keel, even a shallow one, and then thinning the planks; or I could try feathering the planks along the bearding line (though this could be quite tricky especially at the transition points between the centre keel and the aft bulkhead frames.....I'll have to consider how to proceed, but any advice on these approaches would be helpful. 2. cabin bulkhead - these consist of 3 photo-etched brass parts, similar to the bulkhead under the f'csl that I installed earlier. The two p-e parts that fit on the port and starboard sides with nicely, though the starboard one might need to be trimmed at the bottom to allow the subdeck of the quarterdeck to slot in beneath them. The issue is the centre piece which does not fit at all - it is too wide to fit in the space on the model as-built....I followed the build order as laid out on the plans and installed the poop deck before adding these parts, which was probably dumb, as the space where they need to go, while not totally inaccessible, is tricky to get at. I will likely have to scratch-build this central part to fit and then use the p-e parts for the port and starboard side...fortunately, this area will be minimally visible on the completed model, so it is less of a concern than the other issue above....though installing the quarterdeck is a part of the build that I am not looking forward to..... Anyway, here are some photos to illustrate the issues.....any suggestions, tips or advice will be most welcome! Hopefully I've explained the issues clearly.... hamilton

Excellent work on the masts John - there's a lot to keep in your head with this part of the build in preparation for rigging - but it's nice to start building vertically! Really starts to come to life at this stage! hamilton

Well - now I feel like I've already presented the big reveal even before the model is actually done....but as noted before, I still have a few little things. This week I installed the fore boom crutch, the sheer poles on the lower shrouds (photo below shows sheer pole clamped to the fore & aft-most shrouds to facilitate lashing them to the central two - clips are then removed and other lashings added) and tonight I took an hour after dinner and completed the running lights, which I knocked together from some 1/8" dowel and 3/64" x 3/16" lime. I could not figure out how these would have been actually installed on the shrouds, so I ended up drilling a couple of holes in the back face of the lights and lashing them onto the shrouds. Pictures follow hamilton

I use artist acrylics on my models - there are many brands but I go with Golden. This brand is truly astonishing in terms of how long the pigment holds over time - I have bottles of this stuff that I use maybe once every two years and there is literally zero separation of the pigment, which is what you will normally find both with oils, as well as with cheaper acrylics. They're a bit more expensive, but if you want long-lasting paints and long-lasting results, a decent artist acrylic will be best. hamilton quick edit - the downside is that there tend to be less variety in tones and shades in artist acrylics as with modelling acrylics, since it's assumed that many artists will want to mix their own tones from base pigments. I have yet, for example, to find a good off the shelf yellow ochre or gun carriage red in the artist acrylic brand I use - obviously for many period ship modellers, these tones are not a matter of compromise.... h.

Very nice clean results!

Very neat and tidy work - with great results! At this point, I think you could fit the rail - I can't imagine that deck planking would cause any issues with the rail installed. You did a great job with the chainplate slots in the rails....I fudged this by filing out sections after the rails were installed and then covering them over with very thin stripwood that was then sanded to blend them in...yours will produce a much nicer and cleaner look hamilton

She;s looking really good! hamilton

Chief!! It's been over a year since you left this message, but I've not been working on Bellona so I haven't seen it until this minute! I'm sorry not have responded earlier - I hope you're in good health and doing well down there! All the best to you I'll be picking up Bellona again soon, since I'm very near completion on Bluenose, which took priority for a while since it will be a gift for a colleague who is retiring in the Spring. hamilton

Thanks Gregg - that means I've been successful at hiding my mistakes! I've had that kit for a while but have been a bit too intimidated to build it. I haven't done anything with it since I picked Bluenose back up i think back in January, but now I'll return to it with some gusto! hamilton

Thanks Gregg, Fubarelf and Paul - it's been a long and fun journey and still a little bit further to go - I have until April or May to finish it, really and considering how much making rope coils to hang off the belaying pins is dreary work (for me anyway), I'm happy to do 2-3 a week until then! With this stage of the Bluenose reached, I may turn my attention back to the HMS Bellona, which is currently at the stage of first planking. But given that Bluenose is the first model I've brought this close to completion since 2016 I'm pretty happy with the results so far! I think a bit of a hiatus from modelling has done me good and now I feel that old enthusiasm for it returning. hamilton

Hello there: So the sails and running rigging on the Bluenose are now complete, though the model itself needs a number of finishing touches, namely: 1. The fore boom crutch - some quirks of the model as built will require me to position this differently than the plans, which presumably means it will differ from things on the actual vessel....oh well! 2. Barrels - there is room on the rack I made forward of the cabin for 2 more and I think this will look better than the 4 I currently have.... 3. Sheer poles - on the lower shrouds - a pretty straightforward element 4. Running lights - I have to consider how to approach these - I had thought of doing what I did with the MS Phantom (my very first model) and banging something up that more or less suits the purpose, but after all the effort on Bluenose I feel like I need to try something more authentic.... 5. Dorys - I had a go at these this past Spring, but I found it very difficult to get the basic parts of these together using the jig design included on the plans - I've seen other Bluenose builds using these to good effect, so I do plan on having another concerted go, but I feel like I need enough time and leisure to really focus on it - this is not the kind of thing (for me anyway) that I can just nibble at with 30 mins here or 1 hour there.... 6. rope coils - I've never been to concerned with these in previous builds - though I did make an effort to add them to the Armed Virginia Sloop that I built was back in 2010 or something - one of the models of which I'm the proudest - and considering (once again) the effort put into Bluenose it seems appropriate to me to go a bit of extra distance with these details. Here are a few photos of the model as it stands. The first one shows the 1:64 Bluenose next to the (now pretty ratty) 1:100 scale Amati version I built back in 2012. Enjoy and happy modelling hamilton

Definitely! Since I haven't been building from the kit, I don't have any of the laser cut billets so had to make all these parts myself - the strategy described above was definitely helpful when making the boom rest for the foremast, as well, which also has belaying pins arrayed around it. hamilton

Great work on these details - with these delicate laser cut parts, I've learned to finish them while they're still attached to the billets and then add a light coat of varnish to strengthen them before subjecting them to any kind of mechanical agitation.....scratching these parts (not always a possibility for all modellers) allows you to trace the pattern and drill the holes out before cutting out the shape (which still must be done quite carefully, but reduces breakage as well, especially with more open-grained woods like basswood). Regardless, great progress Gregg! Looking nice! hamilton

Gregg - that envy goes both ways!! Yours is looking pretty fine hamilton

Very quick update - with minimal time to spend on modelling each day, I managed to fabricate and rig the jib sail - there was nothing trickier about this than the other sails, though I did work out a better way to add the brass rings that lace the sail onto the jibstay - with the jumbo jib, I rigged the sail on the model first and then added the rings - a big mistake as this ended up putting a lot of pressure on the rig and I accidentally pulled a couple of things out of alignment and had to re-do them, which (as many of you will know) gets harder to do the more the model gets built up and the more you have to navigate the spider's web....this time, I opened the rings, added them off the model, and made temporary lines at the halliard and the tack to steady the sail in place. I could then easily pry the rings closed one-by-one, then add the rigging features. This proved to be much easier to accomplish without risking damage to the model. In any case, here is a photo - I posted this already in the "state of the build" thread elsewhere on MSW, so if it looks familiar, that's why! Enjoy and bye for now hamilton

Is this the model shipways Flying Fish (tea clipper of 1851) or the Corel Flying Fish (schooner of 1860) - mast lengths will be different for each of these models, so letting us know which you're working on will net a useful answer - I can't speak to the Corel model, but I have the MS one and can certainly help with mast lengths if that's the model you're working on hamilton