hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Well it looks like what I thought was going to be a serious work crunch is not going to be as crunchy as I thought!! That's good news in itself, but it also means I've been able to keep at Bluenose over the last few days. I've now completed the cabin and made a start on the fife rail.
 
The last part of the cabin to complete was the skylight, which I had a previously constructed version of from my first go at the cabin - but this was do wretched that I knew I had to at least try to improve on it - I think the new one is a definite improvement, even if it isn't perfect. I am still waffling about adding brass rods to the skylights as shown on the plans, but I feel like this can be done at any time between now and the rigging so I'm going to give some thought to it.
 
I used 1/16" basswood sheeting to craft the triangular ends of the skylight, and connected these with 1/8 x 1/16" strip. These were glued up and another 1/8 x 1/16" strip was used at the peak. The lights themselves were made from 1/32" basswood sheeting, cut to measure and finished black. 1/16" x 1/32" strip wood was finished white and then installed around the edges of 1/32" sheeting for the skylight frames. Once these were added, I used small sanding blocks to refine the edges and added little bits of pinstrip tape to simulate hinges. The photos below show the process and the results, with the old skylight in one shot for comparison.
 
Happy modelling to all and enjoy the photos
hamilton

Well it looks like what I thought was going to be a serious work crunch is not going to be as crunchy as I thought!! That's good news in itself, but it also means I've been able to keep at Bluenose over the last few days. I've now completed the cabin and made a start on the fife rail.
 
The last part of the cabin to complete was the skylight, which I had a previously constructed version of from my first go at the cabin - but this was do wretched that I knew I had to at least try to improve on it - I think the new one is a definite improvement, even if it isn't perfect. I am still waffling about adding brass rods to the skylights as shown on the plans, but I feel like this can be done at any time between now and the rigging so I'm going to give some thought to it.
 
I used 1/16" basswood sheeting to craft the triangular ends of the skylight, and connected these with 1/8 x 1/16" strip. These were glued up and another 1/8 x 1/16" strip was used at the peak. The lights themselves were made from 1/32" basswood sheeting, cut to measure and finished black. 1/16" x 1/32" strip wood was finished white and then installed around the edges of 1/32" sheeting for the skylight frames. Once these were added, I used small sanding blocks to refine the edges and added little bits of pinstrip tape to simulate hinges. The photos below show the process and the results, with the old skylight in one shot for comparison.
 
Happy modelling to all and enjoy the photos
hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Well it looks like what I thought was going to be a serious work crunch is not going to be as crunchy as I thought!! That's good news in itself, but it also means I've been able to keep at Bluenose over the last few days. I've now completed the cabin and made a start on the fife rail.
 
The last part of the cabin to complete was the skylight, which I had a previously constructed version of from my first go at the cabin - but this was do wretched that I knew I had to at least try to improve on it - I think the new one is a definite improvement, even if it isn't perfect. I am still waffling about adding brass rods to the skylights as shown on the plans, but I feel like this can be done at any time between now and the rigging so I'm going to give some thought to it.
 
I used 1/16" basswood sheeting to craft the triangular ends of the skylight, and connected these with 1/8 x 1/16" strip. These were glued up and another 1/8 x 1/16" strip was used at the peak. The lights themselves were made from 1/32" basswood sheeting, cut to measure and finished black. 1/16" x 1/32" strip wood was finished white and then installed around the edges of 1/32" sheeting for the skylight frames. Once these were added, I used small sanding blocks to refine the edges and added little bits of pinstrip tape to simulate hinges. The photos below show the process and the results, with the old skylight in one shot for comparison.
 
Happy modelling to all and enjoy the photos
hamilton

Well it looks like what I thought was going to be a serious work crunch is not going to be as crunchy as I thought!! That's good news in itself, but it also means I've been able to keep at Bluenose over the last few days. I've now completed the cabin and made a start on the fife rail.
 
The last part of the cabin to complete was the skylight, which I had a previously constructed version of from my first go at the cabin - but this was do wretched that I knew I had to at least try to improve on it - I think the new one is a definite improvement, even if it isn't perfect. I am still waffling about adding brass rods to the skylights as shown on the plans, but I feel like this can be done at any time between now and the rigging so I'm going to give some thought to it.
 
I used 1/16" basswood sheeting to craft the triangular ends of the skylight, and connected these with 1/8 x 1/16" strip. These were glued up and another 1/8 x 1/16" strip was used at the peak. The lights themselves were made from 1/32" basswood sheeting, cut to measure and finished black. 1/16" x 1/32" strip wood was finished white and then installed around the edges of 1/32" sheeting for the skylight frames. Once these were added, I used small sanding blocks to refine the edges and added little bits of pinstrip tape to simulate hinges. The photos below show the process and the results, with the old skylight in one shot for comparison.
 
Happy modelling to all and enjoy the photos
hamilton

Hi Knocklouder - I think your work looks great! - mine was not up to that standard after only 2 years in the hobby - or even after 14!! I think that as long as we're learning (which is always), we should give ourselves some latitude in terms of both the aesthetic qualities of our results and their relative historical accuracy - but tbh I don't think you have anything to worry about on the aesthetic end. As for historical accuracy, if you're not being commissioned by a museum to represent this or that ship at this or that stage of her career, then you're really under no obligation other than what you decide for yourself. Then it's more about the (sometimes masochistic, as in ratlines) pleasures of the process and developing your craft.
hamilton

Thanks Jason! The model's progressing, yes! But this log can't seem to get off page 6!! Sorry if this is becoming an unwelcome obsession of mine....
hamilton

Glad to see you progressing again!

Hi Knocklouder - I think your work looks great! - mine was not up to that standard after only 2 years in the hobby - or even after 14!! I think that as long as we're learning (which is always), we should give ourselves some latitude in terms of both the aesthetic qualities of our results and their relative historical accuracy - but tbh I don't think you have anything to worry about on the aesthetic end. As for historical accuracy, if you're not being commissioned by a museum to represent this or that ship at this or that stage of her career, then you're really under no obligation other than what you decide for yourself. Then it's more about the (sometimes masochistic, as in ratlines) pleasures of the process and developing your craft.
hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Hi Knocklouder - I think your work looks great! - mine was not up to that standard after only 2 years in the hobby - or even after 14!! I think that as long as we're learning (which is always), we should give ourselves some latitude in terms of both the aesthetic qualities of our results and their relative historical accuracy - but tbh I don't think you have anything to worry about on the aesthetic end. As for historical accuracy, if you're not being commissioned by a museum to represent this or that ship at this or that stage of her career, then you're really under no obligation other than what you decide for yourself. Then it's more about the (sometimes masochistic, as in ratlines) pleasures of the process and developing your craft.
hamilton

Hi Knocklouder - I think your work looks great! - mine was not up to that standard after only 2 years in the hobby - or even after 14!! I think that as long as we're learning (which is always), we should give ourselves some latitude in terms of both the aesthetic qualities of our results and their relative historical accuracy - but tbh I don't think you have anything to worry about on the aesthetic end. As for historical accuracy, if you're not being commissioned by a museum to represent this or that ship at this or that stage of her career, then you're really under no obligation other than what you decide for yourself. Then it's more about the (sometimes masochistic, as in ratlines) pleasures of the process and developing your craft.
hamilton

Hi Knocklouder - I think your work looks great! - mine was not up to that standard after only 2 years in the hobby - or even after 14!! I think that as long as we're learning (which is always), we should give ourselves some latitude in terms of both the aesthetic qualities of our results and their relative historical accuracy - but tbh I don't think you have anything to worry about on the aesthetic end. As for historical accuracy, if you're not being commissioned by a museum to represent this or that ship at this or that stage of her career, then you're really under no obligation other than what you decide for yourself. Then it's more about the (sometimes masochistic, as in ratlines) pleasures of the process and developing your craft.
hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

One last update before the end of the weekend. I started working on remaking the main cabin. I managed to salvage some elements from the old one, but will need to remake the cabin itself, including the companionway.
 
I first took a tracing of the cabin dimensions from the plan and transferred this to a sheet of 1/16" basswood. After cutting this out and refining it a bit, I added some 1/16 square stock around the edges as a coaming. The outside edges of these were rounded over slightly and finished grey. The sides were built up out of 1/8 x 1/16" strips. The fore and aft sides were shaped according to the deck camber and all four sides were finished white. I added a couple of grommets, blackened, as portholes and then assembled these on top of the base with the coamings. In the photo that shows the cabin you'll see that the grommet is misaligned on the starboard side - it should be forward instead of aft - but these piece are dry fit only in that photo, so please be assured that the sides are installed correctly as of now.
 
The roof was made in a similar fashion as the base but I did not have time to do much more than  cut it out - and that was as far as got today. I'm going to take a short break from Bluenose for the next few weeks as things are stepping up at work and I will have very little time at the bench. So it's a brief farewell for now - hope to be back in April with more progress here.
 
In the meantime, enjoy!
hamilton
 

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Alright - this is turning into page 6...66!! I haven't done this much scrolling on a web page since 1997! Making me nostalgic for Ask Jeeves, AOL and Netscape Navigator!
 
In any case, though I mentioned taking a break I did manage to squeeze in a bit of time at the bench over the last couple of days to work on the cabin - specifically the roof. I had already cut a base for the roof out of a basswood sheet. I then added some 1/32" x 1/8" strips around the edge as a border (finished grey), before planking the interior surface with the same material, finished white. The cabin is already installed on deck, so once I installed the trim, I just added the roof and planked it in situ (learned a lot of Latin in the 90s, too, because I was thinking of my future, obviously!). I think it turned out pretty ok. Here are the photos. I'm going to actively try to stay away from the bench now for a bit! No promises, though....
 
Enjoy
hamilton

Looking good, Steve 
 
I have used Blacken-it, as Knocklouder recommends, but can I ask you, Knocklouder, can you get that in Manitoba? My local hobby store owner here in Vancouver said that it was no longer available for import to Canada - were they just blowing smoke?....clearly you have a line....I like this product way more than what I'm using now, and would love to get my hands on some....
hamilton

One last update before the end of the weekend. I started working on remaking the main cabin. I managed to salvage some elements from the old one, but will need to remake the cabin itself, including the companionway.
 
I first took a tracing of the cabin dimensions from the plan and transferred this to a sheet of 1/16" basswood. After cutting this out and refining it a bit, I added some 1/16 square stock around the edges as a coaming. The outside edges of these were rounded over slightly and finished grey. The sides were built up out of 1/8 x 1/16" strips. The fore and aft sides were shaped according to the deck camber and all four sides were finished white. I added a couple of grommets, blackened, as portholes and then assembled these on top of the base with the coamings. In the photo that shows the cabin you'll see that the grommet is misaligned on the starboard side - it should be forward instead of aft - but these piece are dry fit only in that photo, so please be assured that the sides are installed correctly as of now.
 
The roof was made in a similar fashion as the base but I did not have time to do much more than  cut it out - and that was as far as got today. I'm going to take a short break from Bluenose for the next few weeks as things are stepping up at work and I will have very little time at the bench. So it's a brief farewell for now - hope to be back in April with more progress here.
 
In the meantime, enjoy!
hamilton
 

Hi Gregg
 
Your Bluenose looks great!
 
I have a more labour intensive, but perhaps also more satisfying solution - at least if I understand your issue correctly. If you can access some 1/16" basswood sheets at a local hobby or craft store I would recommend grabbing one and using that to make the rails. You can make the forward and stern parts by making templates from the plans You can then modify these templates to suit the model as built and then use the modified template to cut out the parts from the basswood sheet.
 
The main parts of the rails can be made by laying the sheet along the bulwarks and tracing the hull curve onto it from below. Cut out this tracing and then use a protractor to mark out the width - don't forget mark out where the pin rail and cathead extensions are before cutting it out. I did this for my scratch Bluenose and it worked fine
hamilton

Looking good, Steve 
 
I have used Blacken-it, as Knocklouder recommends, but can I ask you, Knocklouder, can you get that in Manitoba? My local hobby store owner here in Vancouver said that it was no longer available for import to Canada - were they just blowing smoke?....clearly you have a line....I like this product way more than what I'm using now, and would love to get my hands on some....
hamilton

Back on track with the planking of this bulkhead completed. More cherry grating strips were ordered from Model Expo. I considered cutting them from scratch, but did not really want to get into this exploration on my table saw just yet. 
 
Up next: create new windows for this bulkhead and bulwarks. Then, I will detail this bulkhead before install and final shaping. Gratings will be completed before metal rings and eyebolts are added. 
 
Anyone use this stuff to blacken brass? Birchwood Casey Brass Black Metal Finish, 3-Ounce https://a.co/d/fJ63x1v
Steve

I found this stuff works good way cheaper