Yes, another Bluenose, and yes another new guy to MSW. I have been lurking for awhile and I am at the point of starting my second build, thus the starting of this log. I have a lot of experience with plastic models and have also completed a wood ship (Artesania Latina's Virginia 1819). The ship was an introduction to wood ship building and I have since collected a number future kits as well starting to developing more detailed drawings for future scratch build projects. Like everything I see this as a progression of skill building and challenges so that once I get to stage where I am ready to do a scratch built POF / skeletonized ship, I will be ready for it. Thus why I am staring Bluenose II.
The kit (Bluenose II No 600 from Billings Boats) itself is fairly straight forward, mixing laser cut ply and strip wood with plastic, brass and copper. Instruction are very brief at 1 page of description and 11 of diagrams. The kit also has a double side slightly larger than A1 sheet with 1:100 diagrams for rigging, plan and side view. Billings shows this as an advanced beginner and I would agree. You need to have some experience and spend some time looking at other builds and instructions such as those from Shipways to help formulate an approach to building the ship. In general, I will build this using the material provided with a few key exceptions.
First, Billing has you build the as 2 separate halves; framing, and planking followed by glueing the 2 halves together once done. The main concern I have for this that the keel ends up being 4mm thick if the planking stops short and just under 8mm if it continues making the scale keel the equivalent of 400mm - 800mm (15" - 31"). Hard to be a fast ship with something that fat under the ship. So the solution is to use one false keel versus the 2 pieces. In addition I will add rabbets and shape the planking so that it blends into the plywood keel. The result should be closer to 200mm (8"). I am not total sure the keel width and so hopeful someone can fill me in on this so I can adjust. The whole thing will be painted so I am really looking for a smooth surface to work with.
Second, pictures of the actual ship show a pronounced keel at the bow and all the way to the stern with a deep keel midship. Planking per Billings would have the planks terminate at the edge of the keel. To address this I will add additional strips to the false keel to make it more pronounced and visually look closer to actual ship. While this may not be dimensionally accurate, visual accuracy is my goal here.
Third, The above points will have an impact on the deck width. Also problematic is the printed lines for the planks onto the plywood deck as they are out of scale and inconsistent. The solution is to sand the outer edges of the deck. This will lose about 2mm or the equivalent 200mm (4") from the breadth. The alternative is to fir out the frames 1mm on either side. Interested to know what others think of these options.
Finally, Wherever possible, I will add missing details, replace plastic parts with wood and rig the ship closer to the real ship.
I like the challenge presented in working at the smaller scale and seeing if I can bring the same level of detail that I have on my plastic work to that of wood. It might be said, Why not invest in plans or a better ship kit to gain the accuracy and this makes sense however this is effort that I am saving for future projects so the goal here is to build and replace in areas that are relatively straight forward while not expending unnecessary effort on what is essential a project ship.
I appreciate any feedback and thoughts on this project. Don't hesitate to call like it is, I have thick skin and as said above, this is not necessarily about making the perfect display ship, but about learning new skills and getting better at the craft.
Bluenose II by gmctaggart - Billing Boats - 1:100
in - Kit build logs for subjects built from 1901 - Present Day
Posted
Yes, another Bluenose, and yes another new guy to MSW. I have been lurking for awhile and I am at the point of starting my second build, thus the starting of this log. I have a lot of experience with plastic models and have also completed a wood ship (Artesania Latina's Virginia 1819). The ship was an introduction to wood ship building and I have since collected a number future kits as well starting to developing more detailed drawings for future scratch build projects. Like everything I see this as a progression of skill building and challenges so that once I get to stage where I am ready to do a scratch built POF / skeletonized ship, I will be ready for it. Thus why I am staring Bluenose II.
The kit (Bluenose II No 600 from Billings Boats) itself is fairly straight forward, mixing laser cut ply and strip wood with plastic, brass and copper. Instruction are very brief at 1 page of description and 11 of diagrams. The kit also has a double side slightly larger than A1 sheet with 1:100 diagrams for rigging, plan and side view. Billings shows this as an advanced beginner and I would agree. You need to have some experience and spend some time looking at other builds and instructions such as those from Shipways to help formulate an approach to building the ship. In general, I will build this using the material provided with a few key exceptions.
First, Billing has you build the as 2 separate halves; framing, and planking followed by glueing the 2 halves together once done. The main concern I have for this that the keel ends up being 4mm thick if the planking stops short and just under 8mm if it continues making the scale keel the equivalent of 400mm - 800mm (15" - 31"). Hard to be a fast ship with something that fat under the ship. So the solution is to use one false keel versus the 2 pieces. In addition I will add rabbets and shape the planking so that it blends into the plywood keel. The result should be closer to 200mm (8"). I am not total sure the keel width and so hopeful someone can fill me in on this so I can adjust. The whole thing will be painted so I am really looking for a smooth surface to work with.
Second, pictures of the actual ship show a pronounced keel at the bow and all the way to the stern with a deep keel midship. Planking per Billings would have the planks terminate at the edge of the keel. To address this I will add additional strips to the false keel to make it more pronounced and visually look closer to actual ship. While this may not be dimensionally accurate, visual accuracy is my goal here.
Third, The above points will have an impact on the deck width. Also problematic is the printed lines for the planks onto the plywood deck as they are out of scale and inconsistent. The solution is to sand the outer edges of the deck. This will lose about 2mm or the equivalent 200mm (4") from the breadth. The alternative is to fir out the frames 1mm on either side. Interested to know what others think of these options.
Finally, Wherever possible, I will add missing details, replace plastic parts with wood and rig the ship closer to the real ship.
I like the challenge presented in working at the smaller scale and seeing if I can bring the same level of detail that I have on my plastic work to that of wood. It might be said, Why not invest in plans or a better ship kit to gain the accuracy and this makes sense however this is effort that I am saving for future projects so the goal here is to build and replace in areas that are relatively straight forward while not expending unnecessary effort on what is essential a project ship.
I appreciate any feedback and thoughts on this project. Don't hesitate to call like it is, I have thick skin and as said above, this is not necessarily about making the perfect display ship, but about learning new skills and getting better at the craft.
Sincerely,
Gord