bhermann

19 hours ago, gak1965 said:

Just to show you my lack of knowledge, I've never even heard of pre-stain. Do you have a recommended brand(s)? 

 

Getting the dowels to take stain has always been a problem. If that would help it would be great.

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

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

John, I used Minwax Wipe-on Poly to seal the deck about 10 years ago.  It has maintained the wood color since then.  If that is the look you are going for, I can recommend it.

Interesting choice on not darkening the edges of the nibbing planks - if I'd been thinking clearly at the time I might have done the same.

Bob

Looking good, Per.  I lean toward the blackened pins as well.  Interesting, in my vintage of the kit, the provided pins were the white metal variety, and I just stuck them in the rail as is.  I didn't go back through your entire log to see if the brass pins were supplied or aftermarket, but I did notice a difference in our box art.  Mine is old enough to be labeled "Canadian Fishing Schooner" while yours is "Bluenose".

Bob

That is a very nice looking hull - time with the airbrush is sure paying off!

Bob

Nice job on this assembly.  I recall gluing a piece of paper to the underside to help it hold together.  As it was all being painted, it is hardly noticeable.  Thanks for detailing your experience so well!

Bob

12 hours ago, Ron B said:

anyone know why I get these large blank spaces under posts?

For me, I am not seeing the photos in your posts, just a big blank space.  This started with this latest group of posts.

Bob

18 hours ago, JohnU said:

I decided to do some experimentation in the daylight today. I wanted to settle my mind about the cove. The cove shows up nicely close up.

 

Then I took another from a viewing distance of about two feet;

 

The scuppers show nicely - that was worth doing. The cove is almost invisible. The yellow paint line will stand out much more than the actual cove. My conclusion is painting the thin yellow line is better. It's a lot of extra work to make and to maintain the cove during finishing when the it will not be noticeable at viewing distance.

The cove looks pretty evident to me in the longer range photo, John.  I agree that keeping it nice and crisp during finishing will be challenging.  But then I wimped out and just painted a yellow stripe!

Bob

7 hours ago, JohnU said:

 

 

It's a painted model so I can use filler. Sadly the rough planking means lots of sanding. Interestingly, Model Shipways supplies walnut in a thickness for doing a double plank job; even though they don't say that in the ads.

 

John

John - like you, Bluenose was my first planking job and the filler was needed to hide my mess .  About the walnut veneer - I found other uses for it, mostly in covering the roof of deck structures, and also as a filler for a couple of the bulkheads that were just a tad too thin on their own.

Bob

Very nice start, John.  That will give you a great basis to work from.  I used decals for the Bluenose name at the head, still haven't figured a way to do the stern lettering yet.  I did the scrollwork by hand.  You can find the details in the summary log I posted (link in my signature).  Looking forward to watching your build develop.

Bob

Nice finish to a beautiful model, David.  I like that you rigged the gaffs in the lowered position, consistent with no sails bent on them.  Very nice details all around.

Bob

Per - do you really Moon us???   Nice image.  On the bars, did you consider trying to file slots in the underside of the frame?  I know they would be tiny, but if it could be done, that might provide a little more purchase to hold the bars in place.

BTW, I am no expert on the skylight windows - all I did was paint some black squares on the solid white box to simulate windows, pretty cheesy.

Bob

Welcome to the Bluenose crew, Ed.  It looks like you are off to a solid start and making sensible choices as you get into it.  Ah, that aft end of the former - I snapped it off and repaired it at least twice.  It is just a finicky thing to deal with.

I am looking forward to watching your progress on a beautiful ship!

Bob

14 hours ago, azpictures said:

I’m still not sure why you had to thin the bulkheads. Could you provide some further explanation? I have not seen that done on other model builds of this ship. Getting ready to start this build myself so just want to understand the why.

 

John

Per, if I may.  I suspect John is referring to the tops of the bulkheads that become some of the deck stanchions.  My recollection is that the kit-provided bulkheads were thicker than the stanchion dimension, and that is the reason for thinning the top of the bulkhead above where the decking is laid, to make those tops the same thickness as the stanchions.

For my build (many years back) I simply cut off all the bulkhead extensions and installed new stanchions above the deck from end to end.

If I'm wrong, John will post a reference to the post he is talking about, and we'll move on from there

Bob

I am just catching up on this build and enjoying very much.  I will be following along.  Thanks for the link to the Gene Bodnar practicum, I had seen it a few years ago, but lost track of it over time as I have been away from my Bluenose build for a few years.  Great start and I am looking forward to following your progress!

Bob

That is a fine looking eagle, Ron!  Very nicely done, with a deft touch.  And nice shots of the hawk (red tail?).  We have a few of them hanging around the neighborhood here durning the day, and owls at night!

Bob

Nice to see them all marching into place, Per.  Now what spell did you use to get them to do that? 

The finish looks very good too!

Bob