cammer

I dry fit the bulkheads on the keel last night before assembling the 3 keel sections. I was surprised how easily each of the bulkheads fit. Many of the build logs I have read mentioned they were very tight and needed sanding. Most went in very easily with no sanding needed at all (which also means I have laser residue EVERYWHERE). Only 2 bulkheads needed to be sanded a little bit to fit them up. The keel was also dead straight, so I didn't need to work out any warping or anything which was nice. Next up will be marking and cutting the rabbet and then reinforcing the joints between the 3 sections of the keel....I may or may not have had a small incident that required some extra gluing to fix. Will definitely be reinforcing the keel joints.

I received my Bluenose kit today. This is my first ship build project. I spent lots of time looking at some of the other excellent build logs on here before settling on the Bluenose. The bluenose kit checked all the boxes for what I was looking for in my first model. I was looking for something with a Canadian connection (nothing more iconic then the Bluenose). I also wanted something that wasn't overly complicated and had lots of resources to help me through it. So I settled on the Bluenose. Today I spent some time inventorying the contents of the kit and reading over the instructions/plans. With only a couple exceptions I was impressed with the quality of all the parts. I do seem to be missing a few split rings as well, so I'll see if I can get a few more of those. I was fully aware that this kit came with the Maple Leaf Canadian flag but, as many other builders have pointed out, the Bluenose would have never sailed with the Maple Leaf as this didn't become the National Flag until about 20 years after she sank. So I'll be purchasing a Canadian Blue Ensign which is what would have flown on ships during this period. I'm also not completely sold on the laser cut deadeyes, I may end up replacing these with walnut deadeyes. It seems strange that they included laser cut oval deadeyes, but walnut circular deadeyes. Overall very happy with the quality of the kit. Looking forward to getting started!