bhermann

Derek I am at the point of doing the sails in my build (sure, I've been at that point for a few years, but who's counting?). I recall the kit material being too heavy, and using the heavier cloth you picked up would not be an improvement. I have a quilter friend who provided me with some really light weight cloth that I am planning on using, although the silkspan that AON mentioned is rather intriguing. The kit-supplied cloth is too far out of scale for my taste. About the dories, I agree that the kit supplied material and jig is pretty chintzy. I gave up on them early on after attempting to build one. Now that I am retired and have more time, I may revisit that whole thing. Or I may just say that I am representing Bluenose for racing and leave them off entirely. Bob

As promised, here is the finished work, matted and framed. I fixed the forestay to my liking so that it passes in front of all the square sails. No other adjustments were needed. It is now hanging in my office with my larger astrophotographs and models. Hope you like it, and another tip of the cap to Caroline for sending my down this path. Bob

She is a beauty and belongs where she is, proudly displayed as the center of attention. Looking forward to your next journey with America! Bob

Bradley I have enjoyed reading through your log to date and will be following along when you are able to get back to her. This is some really fine and well thought out work you have been doing! Bob

I used Minwax pre-stain for the dowels. I had a Minwax stain picked out for the color so using the same brand for the pre-stain made sense to me. I have been using Minwax stains for projects around the house for many years. I heard about pre-stain on this forum, I had never used it before for anything, it did a nice job! Bob

Hi, George. I just read through the entire log to this point as the MS Flying Fish kit is sitting on my cabinet waiting for me to finish my Bluenose build. Your observations and insights have been very helpful and I appreciate your time in keeping such a detailed log. Great work thus far! When it comes to staining, I don't know if you are using a pre-stain on the basswood before applying stain. I found it very helpful in reducing blotchiness when staining the birch dowels I used for the Bluenose masts. Maybe it is something that could help you going forward. I will be signing up to follow your build, I am looking forward to seeing your continued progress on the FF - she is a beauty! Bob

For years I have been amazed at Caroline's Agamemnon cross-stitch effort. I even went as far as to get a copy of the pattern she created and pestered my wife, who is an avid cross-stitcher, to do it up for me. After that just didn't fly, I decided to give cross-stitch a go myself. Since warships aren't my favorite subject I went looking for something different and came across a kit of what appears to be a Russian ship under full sail. There are some oddities in the mast heights and other details, but I thought I'd give it a go. Before starting this I practiced on one of the many Christmas ornament kits my wife has in the drawer and got it done to her satisfaction. Three years ago shortly after Christmas I started working on the ship and hit a major milestone last week. As of now all of the cross-stitching is done and I just have to put in the "rigging" of the ship. Here is where it stands at the moment. There are some oddities in the rigging as well that I will try to address along the way. The most prominent is one of the forestays passing behind the square sails on the foremast! This phase should go much quicker and I will post a version of the finished and framed work when it is complete. Bob

Those are some great ideas for future builds. I did their Titanic (might have posted it here, or on the old site) and recall the difficulty getting the hull to line up properly with no twists. I also recall that after completing the deck assembly and seeing the instruction on attaching it to the hull, I thought to myself "you've got to be kidding!". I had a second run at it a couple of years later and the second version turned out much better. Bob

A very nice job, Johnny. I love the pluses you added along the way. I have done a bunch of these Metal Earth models over time, mostly famous buildings and spacecraft. I love the detail they are able to build into the designs. You have given me some good ideas for doing curved pieces that I can add to future efforts. Thanks for sharing! Bob

Nice save on the bowsprit, John. It looks very nice installed and painted up! Bob

Very nice model! I like the contrast the veneer makes below the waterline. Thanks for sharing the build. Bob

Looks like you are making some good progress. The sheaves on the main boom look exceptional! Bob

Hi, Eric. My Bluenose still waits patiently for some attention. Several home projects have taken priority over the Winter. Thanks for stopping by, I hope some of this was useful to you! Bob

It is surprising how much the deck detail pops after finishing. I think you are being a bit hard on yourself and that your nibbing job looks very nice. The two sides definitely line up better than mine. Stern hawse pipe? I don't think I have included that detail. Like Per, my kit didn't include a part for it. It may be too late for me. Bob

Yes, Ron, Legos work very well as squaring blocks. When my granddaughter grew out of her Duplos and got into the "adult-sized" bricks, I snagged a bunch of them for the workshop! Bob