hamilton

Hello again

The caprails are now complete - a little rough round the edges, but with a bit of detailing and clean-up they should look just fine. The little "bench" that sits beneath the stern caprail was a little tricky to get right and even now it's a little off kilter, but I'm more or less satisfied with it. The process of making and installing these pieces is identical to that described above, so I'll leave you with the photos and sign off! Enjoy!

hamilton

A little more progress on Bluenose to report. After fashioning the bow and transom main rail pieces, I examined the plans to break the caprail into three sections - the first two will feature the inboard extensions for the belaying pins and the final one aft will complete the rail up to the stern piece. 

The first sections forward were completed yesterday and today. I started with a 1/16" x 1/2" basswood strip and cut it to the length of the pieces needed. I then laid this strip along the top of the bulwarks and traced the shape of the forward taper of the hull onto it. After cutting this edge, I used a compass to mark the width of the cap rail and then used the same method to trace the pinrail extension.

These pieces were then cleaned up using needle files and sandpaper and a slight chamfer added to the outboard edge. As a final preparatory step, I marked out and drilled holes for the belaying pins - these are smaller than they eventually will be, but I wanted to get pilots in before installing the parts.

I also further cleaned up and finished the bow and stern main rail pieces - also adding pilot holes for future placement of belaying pins on those parts. The bow piece was then installed permanently and a final trimming of the outboard edge completed. I then refined (as much as my weak eyes and low-level modelling skills allowed) the scarf joints, finished the edges and bottom of the cap rail sections and installed them - adding a final finish to the top. 

Though the plans recommend finishing the rails black, I have done so in white, as I did on the 1:100 scale BN I built back in 2012. I like the way that the white rails contrast with the black hull and the black monkey rail to be added later. The photos below show the rails with two coats of titanium white, to which I'll add at least one more plus a final protective finish.

Enjoy and happy modelling to you all

hamilton

A few modelling sessions in a single week is a real rarity for me these days, but a welcome one! I managed to eke out some time last night and at lunch today to make the bow and stern sections of the caprail. I made templates of these parts from the plans, and rubber cemented them to a sheet of 1/16" basswood. A bit of work with the scroll saw, sanding blocks and files and I think they came out ok. You'll notice that the main sheet hole in the aft caprail section looks pretty squiffy on the template and on the tracing I took from it on the basswood sheet - this was corrected more or less during the refining process.

I hope to be able to spend time this weekend finishing the cap rails and adding some details on the inboard bulwarks, hull and rails - then I think it will be on to the rudder and mounting. Happy modelling all and enjoy the photos

hamilton

It really is hard to deny the beauty of old Bluenose.....thanks for coming by Grant and Mic!

hamilton

Thanks Steve!

hamilton

Well - this was a lot longer coming than I had hoped or anticipated....but finally I'm ready to post some progress on Bluenose. The deck planking is now complete - it took me a while to work my head around the tapered planking on the quarterdeck, but once in the rhythm of things it went more or less smoothly - not the neatest work, but seeing the framework sealed up is satisfaction enough for me. Now the real fun parts can begin!! 

I'm going to re-do the cabin, which I built over a year ago because it turned out a little bit asymmetrical, but before installing it for good I'll add some external hull and interior bulwark details and the caprails. In the meanwhile, enjoy the photos

hamilton

Do you mean "work"? "Work" is a 4-letter word on Sundays in my world

hamilton

That awful thing!! I remember spending quite some time looking at it and wondering what the heck to do about it....someone pointed out that the frieze on it is actually derived from HMS Victory - built 45 years after Greyhound.....

If you check out my build log for HMS Blandford (my Greyhound build) you can see my solution to the transom issue and the related quarter gallery issue...Feel free to crib from that if you're dissatisfied with those parts! It was pointed out to me in my log that my diamond shaped window frames were also out-of-place for the period, but I was so constrained in the materials available to me for this that I had to just not care....

Anyways.....if you can grab some 2mm thick basswood/lime sheeting you can work something up that will function much better than that metal part. You can use the metal part as a template for creating a thin wooden "foundation" for the transom and locating the stern lights and so on.

Keep at it!! The rewarding parts will come soon enough!!

hamilton

Nice looking so far - the wood stock supplied by Corel is, if memory serves, not great. A good soaking in warm water and pre-bending in a jig might help with the splitting. I didn't use the kit-supplied gunport frames but framed out the ports myself with spare wood strips, so I could run longer lengths of planking down the hull, which makes it a bit easier than trying to bend such short runs of planking. But I think a bit of knife work (a scalpel blade will shave off that little flare of wood and some filler ands sandpaper will do the rest) and a bit of filling and sanding will produce a good result.

hamilton

Are you willing to ship outside CON US......?

hamilton

This looks amazing Ron - maybe not perfect, but amazing!

hamilton

Looking great Yves!

hamilton

Lees was a great help in the rigging, but I found I had to produce an entirely unique set of rigging tables for this build based on his documentation of period practice - not only for accuracy, but just for planning out the build! This led further to having to re-do the numbering and labelling of all kit parts - this was an arduous and time-consuming effort, but it definitely paid off in the levels of sanity I was able to maintain through this build. 

hamilton

Aha!! My Greyhound had this exact same issue at this exact same location.

I did not have the tools and Corel does not supply the resources to make new bullkheads here, so I heavily veneered the outboard edges of these bulkheads during the fairing process to create decent hull lines - this is a MUCH cheaper and equally effective solution to the ones you propose above, and to keep your wife happy, I would strongly recommend it - happy wife, happy life!

The following is the post from my build log where I identify this same problem:

And here is the solution I came up with - using .6mm strips leftover from a previous build.

Hope these help - since I built Greyhound as HMS Blandford you can search for the log using that as a search term. I tried to make it quite detailed and it might be helpful as a reference.

hamilton

going to follow along as well

hamilton

Hi Jeff:

Just catching up on your progress here - this seems like a very challenging build even without the split hull option!

hamilton

Hello Srenner

This can be a frustrating kit - especially for a beginner, since the instructions are very sketchy and the plans inaccurate. This was my 12th model build and I was happy to go into it with some experience under my belt. Now for some practical advice.

The keel can be straightened in construction. Make a building board and run two long strips of wood as keel fasteners - if these strips are straight you can just wedge the keel part in there to keep it straight during construction. When you fit the bulkheads you can add some small support braces between them to make sure they are aligned perpendicular to the keel - once the bulkheads are squared, braced and glued to the keel, the keel will maintain its straightness through the interaction of all these parts.

You will undoubtedly encounter a lot of frustrations with this kit - I don't think any modeller on this forum who has built this has not encountered frustrations and challenges, regardless of their level of modelling experience. I would strap yourself in for some serious head scratching in the future - but between Collingwood, Harlequin, myself and others who have built this kit, hopefully we can provide some remote assistance!! She does build into quite a nice looking ship if you can get through the framework portion of the build! Once that's done, it's more or less "smooth sailing" (insert eye roll here....)

hamilton

Bob was someone whose work I was always excited to follow and admire - and he helped me a lot with my Blandford some years ago, and I'll always be grateful for that - I know his logs here will continue to be a source of inspiration and instruction for many here. Rest in Peace, Bob

hamilton

Hellooooo! 

From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. 

Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly

hamilton

Wow - so nice! You're making me want to build this model again! Love the look of the natural wood tones

hamilton

She's looking really nice Paul! Love the deck configuration

hamilton

Whoa - just finding this one as well - I think this kit came out at the same time as the Corel Greyhound - how does this one compare - I remember the instructions and plans of Greyhound being very sketchy....

hamilton

Looking really good, Yves!

hamilton

All the best to you Bob - I wish you a safe procedure and a speedy recovery!

hamilton

Haha - I'm always happy to coattail ride, Nearshore!! Takes the heat off! I'm only a little ways ahead of you in the build (about 1/2 way done the first layer of planking) and since planking is, let's say, not my favourite modelling task, it takes more to pull me back to the workbench! 

hamilton