Adrift

I am still building my first ship model, so I still have no experience with wood and acrylic. but have done miniatures, plastics and other crafts. I have to second the wet palette. By far the best way to use acylics. I use Vallejo paints and they work well with this method. Flow Aid helps thin out and makes washes Retarder Medium will help slow the drying time to help with blending and making fades. Great topic to have all in one place. 👍 cheers Berto

Finished first layer planking. after a bit of deciding which way to run it, I ended up just going straight across. I think the second layer I will curve the bottom half up. didn't need to use much wood filler which surprised me. Here is pretty much everything I used to plank. I went with the tick paper and Planking Fan. For the final plank I used the scotch tape to trace the slot and transfer to the final plank. Obviously all the great Bluenose builds on this forum were referenced at some point. Simple Hull Planking Techniques For Beginners was also used specifically pages 29 to 31, the beveling of the planks. which I believe is the main reason the planks actually came out so tight, close together. Planking The Build-Up Ship Model by Jim Roberts was also very useful. And of course Mr John H. Earls Guide to his beautiful Bluenose II build. which is my main reference and what I will likely be following for the remainder of my build. All the tools used to plank. First layer complete. Now taking a look at building the bulwarks per Mr Earls guide. Thanks for this great community. If it wasn't for all the knowledge on here, I don't think I would have made it this far. Berto

Thank you for the kind words, sincerely. So i am torn between painting or double planking and leaving the walnut exposed. The keel is next. It is the AL but i believe it is a second version from them. There are some differences from the older AL builds I've seen on here. I am also in the “learning mode” and want to just keep going. But then i keep remembering the go slow and think ahead advise. 😆 Hey Russ thanks for the kind words. I tried to keep it low, keeping in mind the whole planks should not be narrower than half at the thinest point. So i hope i can fit the rest in. Thank again I really do appreciate the kind words. Berto

So let me beck up a step and say. I have never been into ships growing up. this is ALL new to me. grow up on the coast have done some fishing and have been on friends modern fishing boats and have my boaters license. so the extent of my knowledge was port, starboard, aft. bow and grab me a beer. 😂 As I'm building, I am learning so much. as I'm researching other build logs on any ship here I am learning even more. once agin I just want to thank everyone on this forum for all their knowledge that they are sharing. that being said, back to the log. I am a tad stuck but hope to soon move forward. I am currently doing the first layer of planking and am almost done. but getting to the garboard strake (think that's correct) I'm questioning myself to much. I have it set but now the planks going up from there towards the top I keep seeing two ways that people are planking. one is curved up towards the upper planks and others are straight following the keel running parallel to the top planks. is this a preference thing or is one better that the other? I plan on just curving up and following the manuals way of doing it. but I may change my mind. any ways here a few updated pics. thanks all for looking. questions and comments, good or bad are always welcome. Berto

Update. Going slow but thus is the nature of the beast. Finished fairing and started first layer planking. Its a definate learning process but enjoyable. I had attempted to contact AL to see if they would replace the keel just to see and that has turned into a weird fiasco. So i just decided to move forward.

Very nice jaybees. Im currently building this same ship. It is my first wood ship ever so going slow for me. I do have to say that your post came at the perfect time and your pictures have been a great help in helping me move forward. I was really questioning if i sanded the bow down enough and thought i would have to start over. So thanks Jaybees for sharing.

welcome aboard Philip, I also am new and since joining have started a build log. I am not far along and have already received help and advise shortly after posting. So I would absolutely suggest starting a log. Berto

Welcome aboard berto

Welcome aboard berto

absolutely incredible. very nice work looking great. can wait to follow along.

I am new to this hobby and the forums. It is threads like this that inspire and motivate myself and im sure many others. This is just amazing. The history lesson at the start and throughout. the detail being put in makes this just a phenominal work of art. I hope to one day be able to have the knowledge to achieve such a level of craftmanship. I look forward to what lies ahead. Thank You sir G.L. for this lovely build that i am thrilled to follow all the best Berto

todays update finished up planking rear deck. started testing the wood putty to fill in any gaps. didn't have many but figured I would fill in. hope to start forward deck planking tomorrow. then the hull planking after that which I am dreading and intimidated by. going to need to get a syringe for this glue though. tough getting a fine line with the little bottle I'm using. live and learn 😂 thanks all whom have visited and have liked 😁

Just caught up on this thread and it is amazing. Great work! OC all the best to you and your wife. I truly hope everything is working out. Berto

Hof thanks again. I actually had printed out the first three parts of Mr. Earls guide prior to even having the model. i actually even still have all the build logs open on my computer, including yours. i spend my time bouncing between attempting a step and reading as much as i can prior to doing the next step. sometimes i just need to talk it over with someone to actually get it 😝 i have had MANY hobbies in the past, but i must admit, this is by far one of the most challenging and involved. But in a good way. its amazing how little i am completing each day but at the end of the day how satisfied i feel. waiting on waterways (think that's what they are) to shape up so i can possibly start planking the deck. take care Berto

@hof00 first I really want to thank you for your advise, tips, and expertise. this is my first build ever and it is daunting. I never thought of dry attaching and if I did happen to read it somewhere, I completely forgot it. I did soak and press and it seemed to help a bit but after going through some other threads on here it would seem I should have soaked longer and pressed for a few days. but I did what you suggested and it absolutely helped. when I look from the stern down to the bow its seems level now. there is a twist to the keel right at the end where the last frame piece goes that completes the stern. its a bit hard to tell in photo but I may be able to get away with some sanding and filling to get this corrected. I think I will continue forward, not rushing, but taking this all as a learning experience. Thanks again so much for the help now I need to message someone about a local club 😁 all the best Berto

HAPPY NEW YEAR Thanks Harry, I think I needed that reminder. at times I just want to get things going. I literally went backwards already lol by having to tear it all back down. keel soaked and pressed and still askew a bit. I ran to store and pick up some odds and ends and jerry rigged a slip of sorts. I did just order some basswood to attempt to trace and cut out a new keel if needed. I also emailed Artesania Latina to see if they would replace, considering the website says two year guaranteed parts. *** question to anyone that may be able to answer. if the keel is still slightly warped and I decide to build as much as I can in this jig that I put together. will it hold its shape once I remove it? I assume I would have to at the very least do the first layer of planking, prior to removing from jig/slip. *** or should I hold out and wait until I can make a better keel? Happy Building Berto yes my area is currently messy. was moving things around, yeah that's it was organizing 🤣

Well here goes and wish me luck. My first wood kit build ever. by looking through all the Bluenose 2 builds there's a 30% chance I will finish it. 😂 Anyways, off to a rough start. I opened the box and even after all the research I did prior to purchasing, I was extremely overwhelmed. This was way smaller and more detailed than I could have imagined. There seemed to be a slight bend on the keel when I first looked at it. I hoped it would correct once the bulkheads and false deck where added, I was wrong. looking closer at the keel and after more reading. It looks like it has a small twist as well, which is really scaring me. I had the bulkheads and false deck on and then realized all this. So I ended up disassembling everything. the keel is now soaked and resting between two sheets of glass and a stack of books. I truly hope that it will flatten out, since I don't think ill be able to replicate a new keel out of plywood. I guess if worse comes to worse I will have to attempt it, or attempt building it with a twist. considering its my first wood model I guess I could just use it as a learning experience. So there you can see the bend and possible twist. did some reading and it seems that the bend may be able to get worked out, but the twist may not. fingers crossed. keels current resting place for the night. hopefully tomorrow night at some point ill remove the books and take a look. Thanks all who look and comment. hope to get some opinions on how this may or may not work. you all on here do amazing work and are an ocean of knowledge. off I go to look through more topics on here 😜👍 Berto

Thank you and I actually I hope I do also

My kids are luckily old enough to not mess with my projects lol so thankfully its still intact. So here is the mock up I made using balsa and not knowing a thing about wood ships when I started. And then the finished gingerbread entry.

Greetings all first and foremost I would like to say that so far the people on here are extremely talented and seem to be ver y helpful. the completed and in progress builds I have browsed through are incredible. absolute works of art. I have been in and out of modeling for about 30 years. started with cars and then moved onto military vehicles for a bit. stopped for a few years then started miniature military figures, landscapes, and then fantasy figures. I have always loved all forms of arts or crafts of any kind and have dabbled in so many hobbies that my true friends think I am a bit mentally unstable and that there is not a hobby I have not tried. now the story will get a bit interesting. so I have never really been into ship. I love the look of them and the detail in most of the historical tall ships of past. And of corse who couldn't love Pirates of The Caribbean. my family has been having a annual gingerbread house friendly competition for the past four years (told you it would get weird). this years them was Disney. anything Disney created, related, whatever. I chose Pirates of the Caribbean, specifically the Black Pearl. Now how in the world am I going to make a gingerbread Black Pearl you may ask. Well I asked myself that also. after attempting cardboard stacked and cut and a few other things I began to order model ship making books. Ship modeling Simplified, Ship Modeling from Stem to Stem and a few others. Yes I went this far to bake a gingerbread house/ship. I then found some Black Pearl plans online and proceeded to the local hobby store to buy some balsa wood. So it began. I cut out the keel and the bulkhead frames and away I went lacing and glueing. I felt that in order the make the baked ship I had to make a model ship mock up. well after all was said and done I now want to dive in and attempt one of these miniature works of art. I am still in the process of deciding which kit to start with but this site is absolutely assisting with that. I apologize for the long winded post but wanted to get all that out there sooner than later. I really appreciate this site and all the wealth of knowledge that is to be found here. Happy Building to all Best Regards Roberto