hamilton
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Hello John It's taken me way too long (shamefully long) to look through your build log - just did that this evening and WOW - no short cuts for you, huh? Some incredible work here - the bow works (windlass, etc.) look great and the finish on the deck superstructures is really nice. Those dory jigs have confounded me for months now...I had a go at making one, but lacked the patience to work with that thing - seeing you go through it has now inspired me to have another go....wonderful work! hamilton
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Bluenose staysail halliard - confusion
hamilton replied to hamilton's topic in Masting, rigging and sails
thanks Wefalck - that is helpful! hamilton -
Your Bluenose is shaping up beautifully, Gregg - I love the idea of the furled sails - I feel like I read a tutorial on fabricating furled sails somewhere - either on here or in the article database of the Nautical Research Guild home page - I'll see if I can't locate this or something and pass it on. hamilton
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Furled sails seem a challenge - I know that they are fabricated differently than when they are displayed set, but I've never tried doing furled sails myself....I've always admired the way they look, and I think that as a display option they probably read as more authentic in the context of a static model ship - looking forward to seeing your experiments! hamilton
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Thanks Gregg - it's pretty incredible how the sails transform the model and give it what the marketers of shampoo call "body". I was considering this as a gift for a close colleague who is retiring at the end of the year, but now I worry that it's so big it'll be seen more as an imposition than a gift! But maybe I'm just looking for excuses to keep it for myself....... hamilton
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OK - I promise I actually do have a job and it is about to get very busy...but once again I seem to have found some time today to fabricate and rig the stay sail....I won't belabour things with long explanations - things went pretty smoothly - I did simplify the halliard rig, as this is one area where the plans (otherwise very clear and readable) are a bit confounding.....anyways, here are the pictures - I actually also fabricated the jumbo jib sail, but I think I need to adjust the pattern for the model as built - the one I've made is a smidge too big.....bye for now hamilton
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One more photo - in a burst of activity, knowing work's going to kick in seriously for a bit, I managed to fabricate and rig the fore topsail! Here's a last pick for the day. hamilton
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True, Gregg! But as I crest the middle of middle age the remembering is taking longer and longer! hamilton
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Hello there: Another quick update on Bluenose - the foresail is now rigged onto the model. This was a more or less straightforward process, and I learned from my rigging of the mainsail to fasten lines with relative tension rather than one at a time! It's been so long (2016) since I rigged any model that I feel like I'm learning things all over again.....anyway, here are the photos. Next it's on to the fore topsail.....but since I'm heading into a few weeks of very intense work I may not get to this for a bit.....enjoy the photos hamilton
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Hi there: I have some confusion about how the staysail halliard on the Bluenose would have been rigged. The plans provide two views of the halliard (see below) The upper and lower blocks seem obvious - one seized to the peak of the sail, the other seized to an eye on the main topmast. But in the image with the three blocks, the line just seems to circle between a standing end on a ring, through the block on the sail, up to the block on the mast, down to a third, hooked block - but where does this third block go? There is talk in the explanation to the right in the image of it being hooked to the sheer pole - ok....but then there is talk of the "running end" of the line, which doesn't seem to exist in that drawing.....has anyone come up with an interpretation of this element who can share it with me? Thanks a lot hamilton
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Looks great! hamilton
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Hello all: I found an opportunity yesterday to spend almost the entire day at the work bench - what could be finer or more relaxing than throwing on an audiobook and doing some rigging and sail making? I had a couple of small tasks to complete for rigging the mainsail - lacing the sail to the boom & gaff and tying on the mast hoops. This got done fairly quickly, so I decided to move on to the main topsail. I stitched the sail, and added eyelets and rigging elements, which is about as much as I could accomplish yesterday. This morning, I rigged the sail onto the model and then, in a fit of ambition, decided to start on the foresail. I traced the sail form onto the cloth and marked out the seams and reef bands and then stitched the entire sail before I realised I had done the whole thing backwards - I stiched on the port side of the sail, but the model is built for a starboard side display!! I managed to retrace it before my modelling time ran out, but completion will have to wait for another day - going to go play some mini golf with the family. To all the Canucks, happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy the long weekend and the photos hamilton
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Truly impressive! hamilton
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some one suggested this already, but an adjustable open top aquarium lamp might work - except they're designed to sit on the top edges of the aquarium sides - you can get ones that are dimmable and that (while quite bright) would not be so intrusive or offensive. They are, however, not cheap...and an enclosed case would require the addition on the top side edges of thin extensions on which the light could rest - here is an image of an aquarium I designed a couple of years ago that shows this. The broad spectrum REBs are high quality, but really designed for plant growth - so bright! But this photo is just to show how the lights fit on the aquarium...and to illustrate what you might need to do do fit something securely on your model case.... I'm on another forum for my aquarium/aquascaping hobby and one time someone there asked about putting a wooden ship model as a decorative element inside the aquarium! It's fun when there's crossover between these two worlds....good luck! hamilton
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Hello there: I've now started rigging the main sail - a lot of elements to juggle here! The first step was to lash the sail to the boom and gaff and the clew, toe, throat and peak - the eyelets I added to the mainsail helped here, though I wish I had blackened them first....an oversight (or overeagerness) on my part. Regardless, After trying to rig the throat and peak halliards with the boom and gaff "loose", I added small brass nails to the ends of these parts and drilled holes on the main mast so the spars could be anchored in place to ease the rigging. I also had to undo the tackles on the flying backstays since these were really getting in the way - I'll re-do these once the main sail and main topsail are finished. In any case, at this point I've put in the parrell ropes (but not added parrells or tied them off) and rigged the peak and throat halliards and tackles. There is still a lot to do here - including lacing the sails onto the gaff and boom, the sheets and boom crutch tackles, the topping lift and quarterlifts and the lazy jacks - I installed the flag halliard today, so that's taken care of at least - and of course I'll need to tie on the mast hoops and parrells.....sheesh! Then onto the topsail..... Bye for now and happy modelling hamilton
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Hi Gregg - go for it! It's "fun" to learn a new skill, though as soon as people start coming to me for drapes I might have to feign ignorance....Fortunately I have a couple of sewing wizzes in my life, so I got some decent tutorials, but unfortunately they were not willing to do this work for me! hamilton
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Managed to get in a couple of hours at the bench today and can report some progress on the sails. I made patterns a little while back for all the sails - you can see these arrayed in the first photo below - and transferred the pattern for the fore sail to some thin fabric I had lying around (nothing like ship modelling if you want to end up with a lot of random stuff just lying around...or maybe that's just life...) for experiments with the sewing machine. After a lot of work wrestling with that demonic device, I finally got into a rhythm where the threads weren't seizing up and doing all kinds of annoying things. Feeling daring, I transferred the patterns for the main sail and main topmast sail to the cloth and started stitching the main sail - just the reef bands and outside "hems" - not sure how generally to refer to these....I forgot how time consuming making sails is!! I imagine I'll be at this for a couple of weeks given the limited time I have these days....Anyways, here are some photos - the sail patterns and some shots of the main sale with a piece of ceramic Swiss cheese for scale comparison. Happy modelling and bye for now hamilton
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