Arthur Goulart

Chuck,

I've been silently admiring your work over the last few months. I'd really like to build one of your kits, but I can't really justify it atm. See, I live in Brazil, currency conversion makes costs pretty proibitive, add to that 60% import tax (I mean... That's insane). That, and I'm fiddeling myself through building a MSW Bluenose, but it's more of a scratch build project at this point, because the kit is really that poor, anyways, that's a tangent. The point is, I'd definetely buy that small boat if you were to sell it as a regular project. It looks like it will be a quick, well put together, relatively inexpensive kit, and I'm all for it.

Cheers!

Alex,

Needless to say, outstanding job!

What wood are you making the carvings out of? It looks darker than boxwood to my eyes. Is it pear?

Cheers!

I found Endymion on the RMG website, gents: https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-81924. As per described by the Science Museum,

built in 1779, 44 gunner. 

Funny, my untrained eyes wouldn't think such a beautiful ship came from those plans.

On 8/21/2022 at 5:42 PM, Retired guy said:

Hi Arthur how's the Bluenose coming along, and yes you are correct this is Mrs Victory have had since 2004 but been working on and off for the last couple of years.

Too slowly, Richard 😆. I'm really struggling to find the time to work on her, but so far, I'm happy with how it's coming along. I'm modifying the the kit pieces so they are more accurate to plans, and I'm improving on its construction method, for instance, I'm making the keel/stem as separate pieces, to be fitted down the line, once the planking is already finished. I'll be posting it all on my thread, but none of it is yet finished, so...

Modelling noob here, but looking forward to seeing what you will come up with!

You love to see it, Retired guy's Bluenose update.

I take it the other ship you're distracted with is the chomky fella there on the background, Mrs. Victory?

On 4/16/2022 at 5:44 PM, Retired guy said:

Hi Arthur did write a reply to your question on my Bluenose hope you saw it and here are some more tips.

 

I read the instruction manual and went with the stages, they are very clear and I had no issues.

 

Make sure you add the reference line to the Keel pieces also the bearding line,  and then add reference line to all the bulkheads ( this will help to see if you need to adjust any height issues) and at the same time trace and mark all bulkheads with side bevel on both sides and then sand these before installing this really does help down the road.

 

 

These are all the tracings I did

 

You can see the reference lines in this picture

 

Hope this helps and have fun 

 

Regards

Richard

Thanks for the tips, Richard, on both threads!

Good that you mentioned beveling the bulkheads before  installing them. I was planning on marking the bevel lines, but only sanding after installing all the bulkheads, is there any disadvantage to this approach?

On 4/15/2022 at 4:40 PM, Retired guy said:

 

Hi Arthur thanks very much for your kind comment hope what I have posted helps all Modelshipways Bluenose 

Regarding the keel pieces they do not fit one another and it is the middle piece, lay the keel pieces on the drawing and line up the top if you have to adjust the keyways between all pieces do so then you will be adding some wood to the bottom of the middle keel piece.

 

From the picture you will see how much was added and also the left keyway you can see I added little stipes as well

 

8

Hope that helps.

 

Regards

Richard

It definetely helps, Richard, thank you!

Yeah... I think I'll have to adjust most of the keyways. On all three pieces one of the keyways aligns up perfectly, another one or two are similar enough to the plans - I think I can get away with just widening those a little -, and the rest of them diverge quite significantly. Also, like the middle piece, the forward one is thinner than it should be. Maybe I'm too picky, i don't know. I expected these laser cut parts to be more precise. If some error was inevitable, they could, at least, have thrown it to the overdimensioned side. Easier to remove material than to add.

By the way, happy easter, Richard!!

On 4/15/2022 at 8:08 AM, wool132 said:

If you haven't already found it, the build log by GenericDave is an excellent reference. The complete version is on his external website, SuburbanShipModeler.

 

As you stumble along, remember the inspiring words of Homer Simpson: "Trying is the first step towards failure".

 

Jonathan

 

Oh yes, I've found it! It's a very well written and well illustrated series of articles. Gary Brinker's youtube videos are also a great resource, I just wish they were higher resolution. I appreciate the tip and the wise Homer Simpson words! 🤣

13 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Arthur, wishing you the best on your first steps into the world of wooden ship modeling. Building model ships is a lot like bird photography, it requires a tremendous amount of patience and never giving up. 

I love that comparison, hopefully them birds have taught be something. Come to think about, it is probably no coincidente that I'm interested in both these fields.

Hello good sirs,

20 year old law student from Brazil who spends his internship money on ships, that describes it. But really, I love the craftsmanship, the preciseness, the small little parts about scale modelling.

My first attempt at it was actually plastic modelling, but I didn't have the proper tools, parts got broken, parts got not neat enough, I got frustrated by how my model was coming along. And well, one can't really replace complex plastic parts, I'm a make 4 version of the same thing untill it's good kinda guy, and plastic didn't give me that oppotunity.  Also, plastic modelling is mostly about painting I feel like, layers and layers of weathering, complex masking, varnish, decals, more varnish, more weathering. I came to the conclusion that I like the building part of it, not so much the painting, and, let's be honest, wooden ship models are much more elegant.

So, here I am, my first wooden model arrived last month, and I'm figuring it out slowly, reading a lot, watching a lot of tutorials, and planning a lot. It's build thread is up by the way, help me out: 

Photography is the other hobby of mine, and throrought 8 years, even a little more, I've gone to some amazing places and seen incredible creatures persuing those great clicks. In case you are interested: Arthur Goulart (@arthurmgoulart). It's South America wildlife. Just a word of caution, I'm a lazy editor and an even lazier instagrammer.

Anyways, happy to be part of this amazing community. I've been following the forum for a while, it was about time I got in.

On 4/14/2022 at 1:21 AM, Nirvana said:

Arthur, first of all - A Warm Welcome to MSW!
I am glad you got the Bluenose as a starter.

Yes the dowels for the mast and booms are a disaster in the kit.

Mine was badly warped as well - and today again - I went to my hardware store and got some straight dowels. This to start all over again with the masts.

 

As for the Bluenose herself, I would suggest to get going with her before attacking the dories.

This will give you the skills to handle the smaller and more delicate items in the kit.

 

However I am looking forward to see your progress, and if you have questions - don't hesitate to ask! 

Thank you for the welcoming Dr. Per! 

I'm pretty excited to be here, builds as yours and Retired Guy's will be of huge help to my own. Not to mention the various tecniques, products, research, crazy well built models displayed here. I've been following Model Ship World for a while, I found the forum through Chuck's work, and well, it's a great community, by what I've seen, very helpful and willing to share, it was about time I joined.

I've actually started the Bluenose itself today. I got the keel pieces off the sheet, checked with the plans, and... They don't match up. Some of the bulkhead slots are offset. The keel pieces actually don't even match up with eachother, the back piece doesn't fit properly with the middle piece, the fit is loose and the back piece is wider. So, I've got some figuring out to do. 

I'll keep you updated of my progress, and questions, ohhhh, I'll be asking many of those. 😄

Richard, do I love your build, omg. Clean, that defines it. Best Bluenose build I've seen.

I started my Bluenose today, got them keel pieces off the sheet, checked with the plans, and... They don't match up. Some of the bulkhead slots are offset. The keel pieces actually don't even match up with eachother, the back piece doesn't fit properly with the middle piece, the fit is loose and the back piece is wider. Did you have these same issues? If so, how did you fix them? Did you manage to get the keel perfect to the plans?

Anyways, I'll be definetely following your build along, and checking it every once in a while as reference for mine. Keep it up!

Cheers from Brazil.

Alright, time for ya'll to follow my struggle.

The Modelshipways Bluenose will be my first ship model, I got the kit pretty cheap - $90,00ish - on the "Help us Move" sales Modelexpo just had. Huge model for a begginer, but since I live in Brazil, and it takes around two months for anything, really, to get here, I figured that I would get the big ship and double up on research time.

So the kit arrived and, naturally, I have some noob questions that I'd like to ask you gentlemen.

Dowels, regarding those.

None of them are perfectly straight but then there is this one:

Would it work to heat it up and straighten it, as you do with planking? Or would the wood eventually warp on me again, and thus I should contact Modelexpo for a replacement?

Also, my kit came with two different types of wood for masts and yards - basswood and green vietnamese stuff-, which I'm not too fond of, I'd like to keep it consistent. The basswood, as I understand, isn't the best for masts and yards, due to its softness. So I might be looking into getting some nicer wood for that. 

As for the green vietnamese stuff. What is it? It feels light, it's fairly small grained, it's pretty consistent, it's kinda green, and it's "from vietnam" labeled:

Last question: I have some Mr. Hobby lacquer paints at hand, are there any cons to using those on wood instead of acrylics? Lacquers seem to be often used as clear coats over wood, but better ask, they're much more agressive than acrylics.

Afraid to screw up the big expensive ship, I decided to get my first taste of wood modelling with the dories. Overall, I'm pretty happy on how it's been going, even though the by the manual method of building them is hopeless. The jig Modelshipways provides is too fiddly, and there is no way, no way, the thin wood frames would hold the boat to it's proper shape, as per suggested. I won't elaborate further, getting you to propper understand the problems with the kit's dories would take a lot of text and some images, and I don't think you guys are interested in that. Rather, I'll show you what I'm currently doing about it:

These are the leftover of the laser cut pieces for the jig that should be used to get the dories to their correct shape. I've cut off the jig's "footprint" from the waste portion of the laser cut sheet provided by the kit, if that makes sense". Now I'm converting those "footprint" pieces into a small POB model, I'm making my own keel and bulkheads. Then, i'll add some filler blocks, make the boat a solid piece of wood, and use it as a template for constructing the dories. I'm currently aligning evrything up and shaping the boat's top.

That's it for now.

I look forward to learning a lot from you!

Cheers!