GGibson

Another update! I have been working on the placement of each of the bulkheads along the former (thanks, Mustafa, for the proper vocabulary lesson!) and placement of the kit-provided battens or support reinforcements that are secured between each bulkhead. As I began through this build process and reviewed through the 90+ page pictorial Guide to Manual booklet (or at least the initial section pertaining to the bulkheads), several of the pages seemed out of place for me to follow. So... I reorganized the first few pages to make it easier for me. Pavel's instructions do say that on some of the pictures, you can see details from later steps of construction, but it was easier for my mind to process it all with at least these first few pages reorganized. My sorted page list is now... 1-4, 25, 5-9, 12, 10-11, 14-15, 26, 16-17, 27, 18, 28, 19-24, 29-30, 13, 31-33. With that said, on to my construction notes... First off, I sanded each of the bulkheads and their corresponding bulwarks as marked to the fairing lines indicated. This worked really well using the Dremel (outside!) and then smoothing with sandpaper. Each of the bulwark pieces are then glued to their respective bulkheads. I was impressed with the fit between each of the matching pieces, as they all fit snuggly with a nice thin glaze of Titebond. In addition to the bulwark attachments, bulkheads 2 & 3 on the fore end and bulwarks 11-16 on the aft end have little knees or supports glued in position to support decks that will be above them. Again, the fit on these were impressive. Kudos (so far) to the precision laser cutting. Bulkheads 1-3 were able to be assembled off-ship, with the kit-supplied battens or reinforcements placed and secured between bulkheads. The three assembled bulkheads were then able to be slid down into place onto the former. Nice fit, and the batten spacers seem to be helping quite a bit in solidifying the bulkheads in place. I, then, proceeded to move down the line, placing each bulkhead in its rightful spot and inserting the batten spacers between each bulkhead for support. After every two or three, I would spread some Titebond using a toothpickand use a mini-clamp to secure for a period of time. In the second picture below, you can see how each of the batten spacers are shaped with the tabs, two on one side, one on the other, that were inserted into the existing square holes. For each placement (especially for the second placement between the R & L sides) it was difficult to spread the bulkheads out away from each other enough for the tabs to pop into place. My routine was to insert the two-sided tab on the fore end and then spread the bulkheads enough for the single tab to pop in (I used small pliers to hold while positioning). And more on that in a second... I did fine on all of the inserts until one of the last bulkheads, and on bulkhead 16 I was attempting to spread wide enough to insert the support piece and... snap! The wood cracked on the left side of bulkhead 16. I forgot to take a picture of the "post-snap, pre-repair" bulkhead, but I took a couple small pieces of scrap from an empty sheet, glued on each side of the break and squeezed until the repair dried, and... I think that will work. My next concern that I ran into is one that I'm totally unclear why it appears this way, but think I know a resolution in order to move forward. Bulkhead 17 is one of the final bulkheads that will be placed on the ship and is different than its neighbor bulkhead 16. There is a batten spacer similar to the other spacers that needs to be placed in between. However, it appears to me (and I have positioned all of the affected parts in multiple positions, right-side up, upside down, pivoted 180 degrees, etc.) that the single tab on the #46 batten support (it's the same concern on both left and right sides) is in the wrong place for it to be inserted into the square hole on bulkhead 17. The double tabs will be placed in the two holes on bulkhead 16 (all marked with the blue X's). But, as the two bulkheads are placed in their proper positions on the former, bulkhead 17's square hole is to the inside of the inside hole on bulkhead 16! And, as it hopefully depicts in the picture, its tab on the 46R batten support is roughly in the middle of the two tabs on the fore side of the support. They ain't gonna fit! Does this explanation make sense? My resolution to this at this time is to simply cut off the single tab and, with some type of small strip of wood, glue a knee of shelf underneath where each of the 46R and 46L pieces should sit, and glue it all securely... and move on. Other than that latest little hiccup, it is all coming together well so far. Pavel's Santa Maria continues to be a ship that I look forward to getting more involved in and excited about as I continue forward. I think this has been a good selection for my 5th build, although as I said before, a bit different than the previous four builds. As always, thanks for the reads, the follows, the likes, the comments and the criticisms.

Chris & Jon - Relieved to hear that both of you are safe, albeit a ton of cleanup and repair is ahead for your communities.

Thanks, Ronald! Yes, very interesting! Should be a unique, fun build. Appreciate you looking in.

Thanks, Mustafa! And thanks for helping me with the terminology! I have heard of the false keel term, but had not heard the bulkhead former term. If anyone that I am following in their own builds knows all of the various terms, I figured it would be you or Jon! 😁👍

Hey Neil! Glad to connect with you here. Appreciate the follow. 👍

This ad popped up on my FaceBook page. I normally delete ads faster than lightning, but this one caught my eye.. A micro reciprocating sander. Has anyone purchased this and happy? My Dremel works well for things like sanding char and other small sanding purposes, but sometimes I can't pass up a cool new tool... 🤷‍♀️🤣 DSPIAE Electric Reciprocating Sander – HobbyistHaven

The damage, destruction, and loss of life we are seeing reported on the news is horrifying and so sad to see. Comforting to hear that you and your family are safe, Jon.

Congrats on completing this stage, Mustafa! Those beams are so sharp-looking. I am impressed with their consistency from fore to aft. Great detail!

Well, after finishing my Bluenose, it's time to begin another build! And I am going to work on the Pavel Nikitin Santa Maria that I purchased earlier this year. Will work on this iconic ship, and then will build the Constitution. At least that is the plan... for now! While there are quite a few Santa Maria build logs here on MSW of differing scales and manufacturers, there really aren't any (yet) from the Pavel Nikitin group. There are a couple current logs on the Ships of Scale site that I will use for research and reference, as well as some YouTube videos of build logs. So, hopefully I will have plenty of references if I have questions. I mentioned back in January when I opened this build log as a "placeholder" for when I began the actual build that the box the materials come in was heavy! As I unpacked everything and began sorting, there are multiple packs of laser-cut sheets. The five (5) sheets of plans are huge! Got them hung up on the wall for now for reference. Began working on the keel, of course, as a first step. Each of the sheets are about 3.5mm thick and they are doubled up to form the full keel piece, so it makes for a nice, solid keel of a bit over 7mm in thickness. Always fun to bring out the clamps when gluing these big pieces! Then worked on the bottom piece of the keel (sorry, is there a formal name for this?) that will be exposed after the hull planking is completed. Again, two pieces glued together, with small square pegs inserted for additional strength and placement. Got to pull out the mini-clamps again, too! This Pavel Nikitin kit also came with a slipway to assist in the building process. Looks nice and I've seen other build logs using it, so I thought I would build it. Have to admit that it was challenging and frustrating. Was having difficulty sliding pieces into other pieces and getting things to fit well, so... I put it all back in the box and pulled out my "Keel Klamper" swivel vise. This should do just fine... Popped out all of the bulkheads from the laser-cut sheets and placed them on the keel to test-fit. All of them slid down into place pretty well, some are actually pretty loose. There are actually some kit-provided reinforcements that will connect between each bulkhead, so they should get better fits as we progress through the final placements of each bulkhead. Those will be shown in a future build log update. So, not a whole lot to start this build log, but wanted to get an initial "build" post on the record. As others have mentioned in their logs, this kit is definitely different than others I have worked on. It appears so much of the cutting and shaping has been done for us in this kit, as opposed to other kits that simply provide straight wood strips and you have to shape and cut them as needed. That analysis may change as I progress in this build. But, the Santa Maria should be an enjoyable build. Time now for some sanding and fairing! Appreciate the follows, likes, comments and criticisms, as always!

Hey SkiBee! Great to catch up with you once again! I'll be following along! 👍🏆

Excellent work, John! 👍🏆

Thank you, Mustafa! Yes, I am already beginning the Santa Maria. I will hopefully see you on that build log! Appreciate your words of encouragement.

Thank you, Jim! Yes, was hoping I could get the flags to hang at rest better, but the Canadian Red Ensign looks good on the Bluenose!

Thank you, Eric! Appreciate your comment and your follow throughout this build.

Great work on your Rattlesnake, Ed! Very impressive!

Thank you, Bob! Appreciate the kind words, but there are certainly other Bluenose builds that have done much better. But... mine was a fun build, indeed. Before I get to the Constitution, which I am anticipating will take years to complete based on what others have done, I want to work on the Pavel Nikitin Santa Maria. It appears to be a much different type of build than what I've been used to, and I am thinking that it won't take quite as long as the Constitution, so... I have that one already on the table. No rest!

Thank you, Ryland!

Thank you, Ronald! Thank you, Chris!

Welcome back, Mustafa! Antalya sounds magnificent! And I looked at some information online, beautiful beaches and scenery, lots of outdoors stuff to do, an aquarium, and some remarkable history. So glad you enjoyed your time with your children and grandchildren. I fully understand and appreciate those times with mine, as well. Makes us full again, doesn't it? OK, now... GET TO WORK!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Looking forward to seeing your next Constitution project. 👍

Thank you, Bob!

Thanks, John! You helped me SO much through this build process, words cannot express my appreciation, sir. You are appreciated!

Thank you, hamilton! Thank you, Jacques!

Funny how you don't see things necessarily with the naked eye, but after you post some zoomed pictures, you're like "How'd I miss that?!?" 🤷‍♂️ Did find that I missed placing a few rope hanks on belay pins on the foremast pin saddle and on the main mast fife rail, so added those. I am sure there are more misses, but I'm going to call this Bluenose finished. Started this Bluenose in November 2022 (well, technically, it began some 18 years ago, but that's a story I told in one of my first posts...), so it's been almost two years of solid shipmodeling. This is now my 4th completed model and no question it has been my most challenging and most enjoyable. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be? A million thanks to those who have followed along with me, to those that I have admired in their own build logs and have learned from during that time, those who continue to inspire me to do better. I have tried to do much less "settling for ok" with this Bluenose than in the prior three builds, but still have done some things that I have been disappointed in my results. But... I am learning and enjoying this retirement hobby too much to walk away. I am just committed to doing better with each new build. So... on to the next one! Again, thanks to all for your follows, likes, comments and criticisms. You are ALL appreciated. Here are a few final pictures.

Well, let's see if we can complete this Bluenose! What's left? Flags and rope hanks on the belay pins. FLAGS As almost everyone else who has built this Model Shipways' version of the Bluenose, they included the wrong Canadian flag in the kit. So, I found a good copy of the Canadian Red Ensign on the internet and worked on getting some good prints (both regular and inverted or mirrored) simply using the Paint program on my laptop. Still not sure if it is "historically accurate", but I wanted to have a 2nd flag on the foremast, along with the Canadian Red Ensign on the higher main mast. So, I chose the Nova Scotia Provincial flag for the foremast. I should also note that the Canadian Maple Leaf flag that was included in the kit measured approx. 82mm x 41mm. This size seemed a little too large as I held it up at the main mast. So, when designing the size for the Canadian Red Ensign, I decreased it a bit and printed it at 70mm x 35mm. I then made the Nova Scotia Provincial flag at a slightly smaller dimension of 62mm x 31mm. In reading on other MSW build logs about how others printed their flags on heat transfer paper, I recall that many of them were printed on inkjet printers. Although I have an inkjet printer, I also have a laser printer that has better quality print, so when I was preparing to do these flags a few months ago, I opted to purchase the laser printer heat transfer paper. Well, in my pure stupidity and loss of thought, when it came time to print these flags this week, I still thought I needed to print them on my inkjet printer. To make things even worse, I thought I would try printing these flags using the silkspan, as I thought they might hang better than using regular sail-type fabric. Well... ...it didn't turn out so well! Ha! The print wasn't adhering to the paper well and it got way too hot under the iron. Oops. Long story short (too late for that), I eventually realized that a) I needed to print to the laser transfer paper on a laser printer, and b) regular sail cloth was working much better than either of the silkspan thicknesses that I had. Once I successfully printed both flags on both sides of the cloth fabric, it was time to shape the flags. Since my Bluenose was completed without sails, I wanted the flags to appear as much "at rest" as I could get them. Using a series of dowels and clamps, I worked on shaping them, keeping them in these contraptions for days at a time. I would also spend a lot of time rolling them between my fingers to try and "soften up" the fibers in the fabric. (One note there - wear nitrile gloves to prevent any possible fingerprint smudges on your flags!) I also clipped some weight to the bottom fly end of the flags to help shape the flags. I should note also that, in one of my attempts to shape the Nova Scotia Provincial flag, I tried some spray starch on the flag which caused the colors to run, so I scratched that and didn't use starch anymore. This is how much I was able to curl/shape the flags. Using a 5/64" drill bit as a size guide, I wrapped 0.51mm wire around the sleeve grommets for the rope to pass through. After tying each flag to the mast tops, I was pretty pleased with how they looked. Whether it is accurate or not, I tied the Canadian Red Ensign flag halliard to the main mast's starboard sheer pole and the Nova Scotia Provincial flag halliard to the foremast's port sheer pole. ROPE HANKS There are many tutorials available (whether on individual build logs, separate topic discussions, or YouTube videos) on how folks have made their rope hanks to hang on belay pins. I made a little jig to create the ones I would hang on the Bluenose. If I were to do it over again, and I will do it on the "next ship", I would hang the loop over the edge like some others have shown. After saturating the rope loops with glue and drying, some of my loops also got a bit stiff and didn't bend and hang as perfectly as I wanted. But they look good to the casual observer, so I am moving on. I will do one more final walk-through on my Bluenose, but I think we are pretty close to finished. As always, appreciate the reads, likes, comments and criticisms. Thanks...

Thanks, Peter! Appreciate you following this build and thanks for the very kind words! I feel like I started out my build log with as... much... detail... as I could write, but as it got closer to the end, especially with the rigging, and without the sails detail, it was more of a "let's get this moving" attitude. I will hopefully get to my own Constitution build soon enough! <shrug> 🤷‍♀️🤣