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

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

Congratulations on reaching another mile stone (or, if you prefer, 'milestone'). Looks like your shop vac will be w*rking soon!

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

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

Thanks everyone for your encouragement!  It is very appreciated.
 
I carry on.
 
Here are the two sets of bollard/hawse timbers spot glued to the stem.  As I previously wrote, the port set seem to be okay, and the starboard set was the trouble.   This set looked like it was going to work out--
 
 
However, after removing them, and doing some more rough shaping, I discovered that the second hawse timber out was not okay.   I unglued it, and cut a new one, very oversized, to replace it--



 
I spot glued this one in place, and rough shaped the assembly--


 
Though these are FAR from perfect, and still require plenty of fairing, I pray that they are sufficient; though I will not be surprised to find out farther down the line that they have problems! 

They will not be permanently glued into place until I have more of the forward framing done. 
 
Ron 

Hello there:
 
Work on Bluenose has slowed as I've had to reduce my modelling hours to Saturday mornings - October-December is a very busy time at work and home so I'm feeling like a very dull boy indeed with all work and no play....
 
In spite of this I've managed over the last couple of weeks to plank the main deck. The joggling of the deck planks adds a significant amount of time to the process, and I'm not sure about the results - from a distance they're adequate and (judging by the photos below) my camera lens is extremely forgiving. But like everything in modelling it's about practice and getting a better feel for things with each attempt. And once all the deck furniture and fittings are added later things will blend in.
 
The quarterdeck planking is not laid parallel to the centre line like the main deck planking - it curves more or less in line with the tapering of the deck towards the stern. This will no doubt take longer even than the main deck, but I won't have a chance to start on this until next weekend, unless by some chance I can carve out some modelling time tomorrow. In any case, slow and steady.....
 
Enjoy
hamilton
 

Bob was an amazing member of this community and one of my favorite people here.  I’m so sorry he’s gone.  Rest In Peace, Bob.

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

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

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

Looking great Yves!
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

Looking great Yves!
hamilton

Looking great Yves!
hamilton

Looking great Yves!
hamilton

I am now working on the top of the Poop deck. But before doing that, I have to flip the hull to access in a more comfortable position the ceiling of the rear balcony. That delicate operation is done with the help of a friend. The hull is now close to 20 pounds in weight and all the protruding guns are very fragile: 
 

 

 
The Copper tape has been doing great after a few months and is gaining that reddish golden color that makes it so attractive. Most likely, this is the last time I will have to do this kind of acrobatic stunts. Of course, having the Poop deck bulwarks, full and re-unforced, allows to flip the heavy hull without any damages.
 
After working and finishing the ceiling, the top of the Poop deck can now be completed: 
 

 
The kit does not provide chicken coops and other cages for animals and birds to be installed on the Poop deck.
 
Poop deck Railing...
 

 
Ladders.... These are too short from the kit. I had to modify them and add an extra step on the top.
 

 
 
 

 
The veranda to provide light into the main cabins.... and the bitts for the mizzen mast: 
 

 

 
Overall view of the Quarterdeck and Poop deck: 
 

 
I think it is time to move to the middle of the ship and mostly to the bow.....
 

 
Yves

I spent the day assembling the building jig. Just a few observations and cautions. In step 12 of the instructions, do NOT glue A and B onto baseboard. It will make it impossible to assemble the jig. It is just to make sure the stem and stern post are oriented correctly. I am not too sure about step 13 as there shouldn't be any ribs/frames assembled yet. After steps 14, 15 and 16 make sure the assembled keel still fits. I didn't and it took me quite a while to sand and adjust the slots to get it to fit. I couldn't figure out how to get the keel into the jig. Parts C13 and C14 have dashed lines laser cut into them. The stem goes underneath C14 to lock it into place. When the ribs/frames are installed the only way to get the hull out of the jig is to cut along the dashed lines. This will allow the entire hull to be lifted out. Assembling steps 17 - 19 may take a bit of fitting. Although the pieces are very close to matching, assembly tolerances will require some fine tuning to get the pieces together. The assembly of the jig stretched my patience, but it is finally together.