Jerry

Good evening, Elijah.. Thanks for the birthday wishes and the compliment. Nice to hear from you again. Happy to say we're moving along nicely. Hope you are having a good evening. Best, Jerry

Good morning Lawrence.. Many thanks for your birthday wishes and for all the nice things you have said regarding the Bluenose build. I am enjoying building this model and look forward to completing the deck "stuff" so I can get going on the mast structures, etc. In the meantime here are a couple more photos of the cabin assembly temporarily placed on deck. A few more aft pieces and then I will begin shaping the masts. I hope you have a wonderful day and my best regards to your admiral. Best, Jerry

Hello.. A few more pictures of the cabin top stuff.. Best, Jerry

Hello Everybody.. It's Labor Day weekend and here's some pictures of a little more progress. Forming the cabin was tricky for two ,main reasons: the strip wood is of very small dimensions and getting the correct angle which was accomplished by laying wax paper over the plans and gluing the pieces together while in position. The roof is a bit small but I'll fix that with some extension later on. So far, so good..Now some pics... Jerry

Hello Dave, I'm so glad that i got to see your log tonight. You are doing such a nice job. I particularly like the idea that you improvise when you need to. This kit as you darn well know leaves a lot to be desired but you look to have it under control and your workmanship is terrific. It's good to have another build to learn from. Take care, Jerry

Thanks, Mike.. As I mentioned above I did see some of it in Chapter 8 but I didn't think it was complete. But I believe I'll be able to do okay with what's available. have a nice day, Jerry

Hello Mike, Thanks for the visit. As a matter of fact there is something I need some help with. Bob's practicum is really working out well but every once in awhile I either miss something or can't find it. I'm having trouble locating the construction of the aft railing system. I see it in the photographs but can't seem to see it in the instructions. I'm specifically referring to the railing on the transom and around each side to where it angles down to the cap railing. I have read ahead through the next several chapters but all I could find was a little reference near the end of Chapter 8 which I just started. Any help will be much appreciated. Best, Jerry

Good evening Lawrence. I'm very sorry to learn about the bug your computer picked up' you'll have to stop watching porno because that's where most of the viruses come from. JUST KIDDING! But i'm happy to know that you were able to recapture most of your data. Yeah, Bernie mentioned the stained glass project and that you were going to help her. You're a good sailor for keeping the admiral happy. So, I look forward to seeing your completion of the Bounty; it is one beautiful piece of work. Take care, Best, Jerry

Hi Popeye.. Thanks for your remark about the pictures. At the end of a work session I look forward to posting the latest pictures as sort of my curtain call for the day. Good to hear from you again. Best, Jerry

Thanks again, John.. Thanks for the additional photos. All the ships I have built so far are sail-less. I thought I'd try sails on this model but now you have me wondering. The decision will actually be the admiral's; I'll go either way. Have a great evening. Best, Jerry P.S. I also have built a model of the Bounty

Good afternoon, John and many thanks for the wonderful photo of the Bluenose. I'm sorry that I didn't get to visit the Waterfron Restaurant when we were in Halifax a couple of summers ago. OMG, it looks like I have a lot of sail work to do one of these days. This picture really illustrates how much sail area this ship had.. Many thanks for your kind words regarding the build and I am pleased to submit a few more pictures as to where the build stands today. Have a very nice evening and please visit again. Best, Jerry

Hi Dave. You are too nice. The more I examine my model the more faults I find. I appreciate your remark about the waterline but the truth is I'll exhibit this model from the port side as the waterline on the starboard side is wavier than an American flag in a windstorm. The admiral has been very kind; she is very subtle when finding my modelling faults so I have to use my lousy eyesight as an excuse to keep her happy. I hope to see your finished model one day and I encourage you to keep working. Best, Jerry

Hello Popeye.. Thanks for another compliment. The truth is that the more I look at my model the more faults I find. I keep asking myself how I could be so careless. That in itself is bad enough but boy am I catching it from the admiral. Anyway thanks again for taking time to visit. Best, Jerry

Elijah.. Many coats of varnish with sanding in between. Best, Jerry

Hello Popeye, Olive Oil has had an open kit sitting on her desk since early spring; it's not the Santa Maria but it is the La Nina by Artesania Latina. I learned a long time ago to say nothing that will make her feel pressured so I've been waiting to see if and when sh'd begin the build. About a week ago she slipped into the office (where we both work) and started messing around with her kit. As agreed upon, I said nothing until she asked me to check to see if she was missing some parts. I found the parts and said nothing else waiting to see what would progress. I was busy working on Bluenose so about 30 minutes later I realized she left the office and I didn't see her for about another hour or so when I went into another room to watch TV. Honestly, to this day not another word has been said about her build. I have a feeling though, that she's getting closer to working on her kit but I'm not saying a thing. Things have been peaceful around here for a long time and I'd like to keep it that way, if you know what I mean. LOL Now to the Bluenose... I've made some more progress. The deck furniture is beginning to grow. It's tedious work due to its minute size but we all now that we wouldn't be following this hobby (participating in it) if we didn't have patience. That's always the first statement I hear when someone is looking at my finished models..."I would never have the patience to do what you do." So it's one deck piece at a time and that's where I'm at. Here are some additional photos to bring my progress up to date. Take care, Best, Jerry

Good morning, Popeye.. I hope you are well. Things are still progressing despite the medical interruptions, but at this point it's more laziness than doctor visits that has slowed me down. I have begun to fabricate the "deck furniture" but I'm waiting for the admiral to help me paint the cap rails as she has expressed interest to do that. She needs the practice anyway. When playing around with the "hatch," I took a couple of photos. This piece is not attached to the deck yet but I wanted to see what it looked like. All of the deck pieces not painted black will be colored white and "hull umbre" as this one is. Olive Oil sends her regards and wants to know what you have been up to lately. Best, Jerry

Good morning, Lawrence. I'm very sorry that you have had all that trouble with the bottle of glue. I can just imagine what it was like because that has happened to me at least twice that I can recall. First your skin gets very warm, almost hot and then....YUK!, everything goes sticky. Yeah, I'm sorry to have missed you yesterday so I look forward to seeing you and hopefully Bernadette too, this afternoon. I have some work to do on the railing of the Bluenose before I can begin attaching the deck "furniture" but before all that I need to do some more touch-up work. Apparently my eyesight isn't good enough to notice all the skips so Charlene asked me to wait until Saturday when she's off from work for her to do some more of the touch-ups. I still want to apply at least two coats of a Miniwax satin clear polycrylic. So in the meanwhile I think I'll start making the deck pieces to have them ready when all the touch-up work is finished. Your Bounty looks beautiful. It's so nice to have the talent you do in order to build from scratch. I guess I don't have that talent nor do I have some of the tools necessary. I have regular size power tools but am missing one very important mini power tool and that's the mini tables saw..I guess you're already thinking about the next project. LOL. I'm hoping my sight holds out so that Bluenose will not be my last endeavor with ship modelling. Have a great day and hopefully I'll see you guys later. Best, Jerry

Thanks for the visit, Grant and your appreciated remark. Jerry

Good morning everyone... Today will be a day of touching up. I am pleased with the results of the red and black hull painting, although I didn't do it with the tools I originally thought I would. The Preval Spray System didn't work as I hoped it would. The paint was apparently too thick and needed thinning but that would have affected the tone of the color. When purchasing the product I was told no thinning was necessary, so I returned everything with no trouble and bought a can of Rust-Oleum satin Black and satin Colonial Red which worked. But as usual there are places that were under sprayed or completely missed due to inaccessibility. I plan to spray the color I want to use on a piece of paper to create a puddle from which I will brush on the touch-ups. Incidentally, the masking of the hull was a real time eater. The whole idea was to mask the hull in a way that when the black painting was finished the white stripe at the waterline would be created. This required laying the first tape right on the edge of the red color and then laying a second tape 1/16th" beyond the edge of the first tape. The second tape was scotch tape so I could see the 1/16th" overlay. So here are some pictures as to where I stand and after the touch-ups, I'll show the final results. Have a great day. Best, Jerry

Good evening everybody.. I finally was able to find the paints I wanted for Bluenose today. My plan was to spray two coats of white enamel primer on the hull, sanding with #400 paper between coats. Fortunately I ran into a great sales person at the local Home Depot who was kind enough to spend a lot of time with me and helped me pick my colors. I settled in on Rust- Oleum's Flat White Primer which seems to have come out perfectly and hopefully will provide a good looking white stripe between the two hull colors. The practicum recommends a Kilz spray paint which was purchased at WalMart. I tried the WalMart Super Store which is actually very close to me but they didn't carry that brand. I looked at Rust-Oleum's choice of colors but just couldn't find the shade of Red I wanted for the bottom of the hull. The Home Depot sales Lady was terrific. They carry the Behr Brand and together we picked a color I liked. This in itself is a joke because not only am I almost completely blind in my left eye but I'm color blind as well. I can see colors but I really can't say what some of them are. You know, red-green, blue-purple But there is a tremendous advantage I have that the normal color seeing eye doesn't have. I can see through camouflage and I can see more shades of any color than the normal eye can. But I have trouble telling the difference between blue and purple, brown and maroon, red and green, some oranges and reds.. Anyway, at Home Depot they will make any color you want. When ready to use just pour the paint into a little jar of the tiny spraying device. (see picture) One can replace the air cartridge when necessary and since the materials are water based, clean up is a snap and the sprayer can be used for different colors.They cost me $4.97 each. So now I'm ready to mask the waterline which I will do tomorrow, using the eyeball method of course. I wish you all a very happy evening. Best, Jerry P.S. The two little dots on the bottom of the keel are small holes that will hold the mounting wire...

Hello Popeye.. You are much too generous with your compliments...But thank you for I certainly do appreciate them.I have strayed from the practicum a few times already: the way I constructed the transom. I used some strip wood to make a block *this is called for in the practicum but I also used some balsa wood to carve the most aft portion of the transom. Of course, you already know about the cap rail joints...I also constructed the opening in the bow for the bowsprit differently then the practicum suggest. I did not insert a basswood block in the nose of BlueNOSE and drill out the 1/4" hole. This would have required removing the top two gunwale pieces and making new ones later on. I was able to make the hole in the bow as it stood. So far I see no problems having done this. I'm sure I will do more things differently in the future. So have a great day and take care my friend. It was good to hear from you again. Best, Jerry

Hi Dr. Per.. Your good words are always welcome. Thank you for that. Now...get going on your Bluenose Best, Jerry

Good morning, Lawrence... Thanks for helping to start my day off in good fashion. Your good words are always welcome. After a morning eye doctor appointment it's back to the Bluenose hull for final filler and more sanding. Painting should begin during the weekend. Charlene thanks you for her shout out. Have a great day,Best, Jerry

Good evening everyone... Well, I finally installed the gunwale cap rails on the Bluenose and with a little more filler and sanding I believe will be ready to paint the hull. I do have a confession to make: I did not use scarf joints as Bob Hart's Practicum and the kit's manual calls for. The Model Shipways kit was void of the right size strip wood for the cap rails but I was very lucky to find some strip wood left over from the HMS Victory build which was exactly the right size. So, I must admit, I took the easy way out and used regular butt joints instead of the scarfs. Everything looks okay. No one will know the difference since the cap rails will be painted black and the joints will be hidden.. So after the additional preparations for the finish it looks like I'm going to spray paint and not use a brush. I like the looks of the hull shown in the practicum and it was painted with spray cans. Here are some pictures of the cap rails and the hull which is almost ready to be painted. Best, Jerry

Good morning, Lawrence... I sincerely appreciate your remarks regarding my Bluenose. Yes, I certainly agree with you that this rig has beautiful lines. If I can only do it justice as I move forward I'll be a happy guy. I'm now contending with the gunwale cap rails and trying to figure out how to match the scarf joints that originate at the bow and stern cap rails. Like everything else a little patience will go a long way as I contemplate this step. My best to you and to the admiral. Jerry