bhermann

Back to the masts:
 
The fore topmast is shaped--  

 
The main topmast will be identical--

 
I have made a few more pairs of carronade tackle blocks.  I'm more than half done now, and getting a little better/faster at it, but I still don't enjoy it!
 
Ron

Since the plans called for these straps to be galvanized steel, I decided to make them out of aluminum instead of brass.
Started with 2 pieces of 1/8 inch thick plywood

Glued (CA) a piece .016 thick aluminum between the pieces of plywood and clamped until set up


Then cut .05 wide strips on the Burns saw, needed 4 but cut a few extras

After soaking the cut pieces in acetone to release them I marked where I needed to drill holes for the bolts. The far left mark is the cut off. Then drilled holes with a #77 bit


After shaping the 4 halves I mounted the gooseneck to the bands and the bands to the foremast with .05mm bolts and nuts. Touched the bolts with CA to hold them in place then added a coat of amber shellac. Dropped both the foremast and mainmast into the model, but did not glue in place yet.



Now it’s onto the foremast boom….

Well, ratlines are continuing apace. Starboard side is now most of the way up the main mast (just a little work on the topgallant to go), and I'll be starting on the mizzen, so the finish line is in sight. 
 
However, the real step is the first of the yards is basically ready to go. The photos below show it in position, but it's not glued and I still have to set the chain sling up. 
 

 
The upper end of the chains that are the course sheets are taped to the the mast so I can estimate how long to make them as there is no clew up there to attach the end to. The live end is held with yellow tape you can see in the photo. The next step is to fabricate a hook somewhere above where the tape is and then hook that to the tackles that you can sort of see around the base of the mast. At the moment the running lifts are just taped to the side of the hull, I want to move some of the sheet tackles out of the way (i.e. attach them to the sheet chains before I try to run them down into the mass of line down there. You can (may?) see the blocks for the clew and the reef tackle. On my Niagara I hooked the reef tackle to the clew on the course (above the course the clew was always attached to the sheet). I also mounted the bunt and leech blocks; I'm going to tie a knot in the end of each and leave them sitting up on the blocks. It gives the yard a bit of interest. 
 
Another view, with all of the lines strewn around the deck - as I imagine it was as she was being initially rigged.
 

 
And a quick overview of the whole ship:
 

 
As always, thanks for looking in!
 
Regards,
George K.
 
 

Oars. Who would think such a simple object would be so time consuming. The problem is they're so tiny. The shaft is 0.9 mm(scaled from the plan) and the handle on the end is only half to three-quarter of that. I looked around at hobby supplies online for oars. While there were plenty of options none were quite right for Bluenose dories. Had to make my own.
 
My vision isn't what it used to be and I'm shakier now. I broke a few of these, especially the handles, during construction. I decided to make the oars as two pieces. The shaft and blade separately.
 
First blanks for the blades were cut from 1.5 mm stock lumber. These were clamped in the drill press and a 5 mm deep x 1 mm hole drilled centered on the end. This is tricky because the hole must be centered and drilled perpendicular to both sides of the piece. If the hole is angled the oar shaft will be at an angle.

I used the smallest toothpick I could find. This makes a sturdy shaft as toothpicks are hardwood. Because I don't have a horizontal lath I created a vertical one using a small piece of brass with a .75 mm hole clamped in the vise for a support. The hole was carefully centered under the spindle of the drill press. Using moderate speed and a strip of 220 grit sandpaper the toothpick was reduced to .9 mm diameter. Broke a couple before I got the pressure right.

A gauge was used to mark the shaft for length and for the handle on the end. It looks like this when it comes out of the chuck.

Note the gauge and marks for cutting. After cutting to length, the shaft was reinserted into the chuck upside down. An Exacto knife was used to carve the handle while it spun in the drill press. This was touchy work. The piece is now so thin that only extremely light pressure can be used. A firm hand is needed.

Next the two pieces are mated using PVA. The bond is about as strong as the wood itself.

Ready to sand the blade shape into the block. I used a small sanding block and lots of patience. Delicate work. Notice I broke one of the handles. Fortunately I had made a couple extra.

After that, the oars were shellacked, given their final shape and sanded. Painting very light objects with an airbrush is tricky. The air stream simply blows small objects away at even very light air pressures. I opted to use a thin strip of double-sided tape to hold them down. This meant painting one side at a time and waiting for it to dry before painting the other side.

Here's the final result. Not sure the handles were worth the trouble. You really don't see them at viewing distance after painting;

Finishing the hull…
 
Cutting in the Hause Holes and Bowsprit…



Main Rail…

Stern and Bow Railings are laser cut pieces. The remaining railing all has to be cut from wood strips. 

I created a template of each section with tracing paper. 

I then laid each template on to the strip wood with rubber cement. 

Using a belt sander, trimmed away the edge of the strip wood up to the template. 

Main Rail completed…

Back to the paint booth…

Hull finished and ready for details…

First coat of paint on the Main Rail. 
 
Cheers 🍻 
 

The next step was to make the vertical rod on which the gooseneck rides.
I began by taking a piece of 1/32 inch brass round stock and flattening one end with a pin driver and hammer. Then slid the gooseneck on the round end before flattening that end with the pin driver.
In order to drill the holes in the flat ends without the drill bit wandering, I glued (CA) a .05mm washer on each end to act as a guide for the drill bit. Then hand drilled the holes with a pin vice. After words I used acetone to remove the washers.



Now to build the bands that attaches the gooseneck assembly to the foremast.

Hello all. My last entry was on the order of 3 weeks ago, not because of massive progress, but rather because of a bunch of other things prevented work. They ranged from the Cherry Blossom 10 mile running race here in DC to visiting my (eek) now 25 year old daughter in Boise where we (double eek) met her boyfriend's parents. I don't quite know why this has me so freaked out (this isn't the first set of parents we've met) but it feels radically more likely to be permanent.
 
Anyway, since returning I have managed to get some time in the shipyard and some progress is being made. First the ratlines on the foremast are done, and I'm starting on the main.
 

 

 
I also attached the sheet blocks and painted the masts. Next step is to touch them up and attach the foot ropes. They are all in the photo below but kinda distributed while they dry. Once the ratlines on the main are done, I'm going to start mounting the fore yards. My assessment is that I don't want my elbows to whack one of the yards trying to tie the ratline knots, so, nothing until I'm working on the mizzen. Once I'm on the mizzen it will be time to start making the remaining 4 main yards (the course was finished in the first batch).
 
I am curious about some that that is going to come up soon. If you look at the section of the plans that are shown below, you will see the tackle that attaches the course, top, and topgallant sheet chains to the deck. The other end of the sheets are generally attached to the clew for the yard above (i.e. the other end of the course sheet is connected to the top clew line) when the sails are off the ship. According to the rigging plan, the live ends of the tackle are belayed to pins on the port or starboard pinrails. That (sorta) makes sense for the topgallant (the outer of the three) where the live end is coming down to the deck from a single block where it is attached to the chains. But the other two make no sense to me at all. The live end exits a double block on the deck and then appears to go straight to the pinrail for belaying. 
 

 
Am I missing something here? This seems like it would leave a set of two lines at each mast, port and starboard that runs from the deck to about 4 feet off the ground. What a colossal pain in the posterior that would be. And I keep hearing the bosun's mates telling me to watch lines on the deck. I know that it isn't impossible, the lines that control the tiller on the Niagara are equally in the way, but geez, these ships carried passengers as well, and I dunno there has to be a better way. I looked for signs of deck blocks near the pins that would at least keep the lines near the deck (easier to step over) but the plans show blocks for other lines, but not these.
 
So, am I mad? Missing something? Or is this just the way these ships were rigged? Any help appreciated.
 
As always, thanks for looking in and the likes,
 
George K.

Hi Ed,
 
Let me try this:

Thanks, JJ.
 
After a couple of tests with different numbers of threads, I was able to make a cable of the right size for Oneida's larger anchors--

 

 

 

 
The anchors won't be attached until near the end, but I wanted to get the cable on board before getting heavy into the rigging, and access to the deck becomes more difficult.
 
Ron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Time to put the frames into the rest of the dories!

I chose to use .5 mm strip for the gunwales. This makes the total thickness 1 mm which is the thickness scaled from the plans. Looking at the photos of the original this seems correct.

I did depart from the plan by making the height of the gunwale 3 mm as the scale  size would have been .5 mm and very difficult to work. Actually looks pretty nice.

Because the interior of the lower boats in the stack will not be visible, I'm only doing the center frame (for structural support) and the gunwales. Only the top two boats will be fully constructed. Making the frames was very difficult. Of the eight frames, there wasn't one that didn't break in some way. Trying to cut 1 mm basswood requires a delicate touch. The real scale frames would be .5 mm thick.
TIP: use boxwood or some other sturdy material.

Eventually all the frames were installed, trimmed and glued in place. Along with all the seats, cleats and braces. Again, for practicality, the frames are a bit larger than scale.

Now the usual painting procedure. Sand, primer, fill, sand and top coat. I painted the exterior medium gray as that's what seems likely in the photos and the interior light grey for contrast and to bring out the detail.

I drilled the holes for the lifting ropes and experimented with installing them. Due to the small scale the rope does not lay naturally. I'll have to do a little research on how to get a natural effect. Suggestions are very welcome. Finished top dories:

After looking at the photos of prototype I noticed the ropes on the dories are quite stiff and stand up on their own. That means the ropes on my dories DO look accurate. I went ahead and added the lifting ropes to all the dories.

Here they are in their cradles on the ship. I chose not to glue them down at this point as that would make rigging more difficult. I'll put them on permanently after rigging. I did drill the tie-down holes at this time.

It felt good to complete some bit of the project.
 

In over 15 years, I may never have made a post with only one photo.  Here it is, the current state of the mast work--

 
The hounds/bibs have been shaped and glued onto the masts.  The trestle/cross trees are not glued.  Chamfers and tenons have been cut into the mast tops.  The small loose pieces are the bolsters which will be glued to the trestle trees, and the two pieces at the top are the topmast blanks.
 
I have neglected the carronade tackle blocks, and will have to buckle down and put some time in to get caught up to my one set a day goal.

After looking into what other people have done for the dory frames, I didn't find anything satisfactory. I really only need one sturdy frame. The others can be made from basswod. Only the middle frame has any real force on it. I also took into consideration that only the top two dories need all the frames. They nest so tightly that no inside detail can be seen on the lower ones.
 
After considering various materials I settled on steel. Hardwood will break along grain lines when made so thin. I didn't have any suitable thickness of brass bar in my shop. There will be a lot of waste in cutting these out and brass is expensive. Copper is too soft and would bend. Same for plastic. What I did have in my shop were some large steel washers. They were nickle plated and too shiny to mark with a pencil. I didn't have any machinists blueing around so I used Birchwood Casey Brass Black. That way I could scribe an accurate layout on them.

After layout I used a bench disc sander to grind the sides to the layout lines.
TIP: Use pliers or vise-grips. They get HOT!

The sander was fast and did a great job of getting straight lines with a nice finish(240 Grit). Obviously this won't work for the inside cuts. The blanks were clamped in a machinists vise along each straight side in turn. The vise was aligned with the direction of travel of the X/Y table. This simplified cutting straight lines on the inside. First, a drill was used to remove bulk material. Then an end mill was used to create a nice finish for the inside edges.

The ends were left attached during the drill/mill process to facilitate clamping while working the metal. A jewelers saw was used to cut the finished frame from the blank.

Trial fit is good!

A tick strip was used to transfer the frame location from the plan to the dory. Epoxy(for strength) was applied to the frame which was then clamped into the dory. The cross brace is removed at this point to allow the sides of the dory to conform to the frame.  Much work but the results were excellent.

Thanks Joe!
 
More unanticipated issues!  I had to redo the trestle trees.  If you look at this photo from my previous post, notice the location of the aft cross tree.

 
There is a slight gap between it and the aft opening of the floor, whereas the forward cross tree is just about even with the forward opening of the floor.  Look also at this photo of my previous post--

 
This is exactly how Petrejus shows it.  However as I began test fitting the bolsters on the trestle trees, and blanks for the topmasts, I began to realize that it wasn't going to work.  There simply wasn't enough room between the cross trees for the mast and topmast to fit correctly, and the bolster to be in the right position on the mainmast.  I thought at first this might be due to the substantial rake of the mast.  But Petrejus' Irene is raked also.  Ahhh, I realized my error.  I had scaled the top down, based on Chapelle's drawing, and the photos of the Jefferson model, whose tops, though I don't have measurements, looked by eye to be slightly on the smaller side.  My mistake was in also scaling down the cross tree spacing.  I had previously been puzzled that the Petrejus' trestle trees seemed too close together for the mast to fit through, and I had adjusted them for my masts.  This should have tipped me off, but I didn't change the cross tree spacing at that time.  Fortunately, the trestle trees were easy to remake, and I could reuse the cross trees.  Here is the new arrangement--
 
 
Testing this with the mast, bolsters and topmasts, I think this will work.   I could now move on to the hounds/bibs.  Blanks are cut and the joints cut.  These need to be thinner than the trestle trees, but I used the same stock, as I don't have any thinner at the moment.   Rather than sand it thinner now (actually it also needs a slight taper), I'm going to assemble them, and then do the final sanding to thickness--


 
Petrejus says that all tops should be parallel with the load water line, though, curiously, Chapelle's drawing shows the tops not at all parallel to the waterline, and not quite perpendicular to the mast--somewhere oddly in between.  I cut the hounds parallel to the waterline and did some rough shaping, testing it against the mast.  Here it is clothes pinned to the mast, and supporting the trestle trees and top, with my template for the rake--

 
The top looks very slightly pitched back, but I think it's actually due to my camera not being exactly level.  That also makes the rake look just a bit more than it really is-


 
Satisfied, I now have a pattern to roughly shape the other pieces.  The rake of the fore mast is less, so that top angle on the hounds will be different--

 
The others will be roughly shaped, tested, and then the contours finalized, along with sanding them to the correct thickness.
 
Ron 
 
 
 

Thanks Dan, and thanks for looking in.
 
With the tops basically formed, I set about making the cross trees and trestle trees.  After the complexity of the tops, they were pretty straightforward.  The main and fore set do need to be slightly different, as the dimensions of the fore mast are very slightly less than the main mast.  Here the main mast trestle and cross trees are temporarily assembled.  There will need to be some adjustments to the length of the pieces--
 
The main top assembly was then checked on the main mast to make sure the trestle tree spacing fit the mast.  The mast top was measured before the notches were cut into the cross trees--


 
The foretop assembly will be checked as well.  You may notice that I worked on the top cleats.  The break of the slope is better when the cleats leave the rim.
 
I am working backwards from the tops, to the trestle/cross trees, to the mast.  The bibs will be made and shaped soon.  All is still in progress.  The shroud futtock plate holes need to be mortised into the tops, as well as some other rigging preparations.  Bolsters need to be added to the trestle trees, and refinements need to be made to the masthead above the top.  
 
On most ships there is a railing on the aft end of the top.  I am omitting it, based on the US Brig Jefferson model by Glenn Greico, which is a similar Great Lakes ship from the same time period.  
 
Ron

I determined that I needed to redo eight of the cleats.   If I were a perfectionist, I would have had to do more (strike that, if I were a perfectionist, I would have to redo them all--for reasons to be noted later).  There were a few that were barely passable, to my standards.  So eight is enough--

 
The eight were made with an extended 'big' end.  After gluing these in place, work was begun infilling the rim with chocks.  Time consuming little pieces--a different angle at each end, and the front ones had to be filed with a curve on the inside, with the outside to be sanded down after all the chocks are glued in.
The top on the right has had all chocks installed, the one on the left is in progress.  And here are the tools used for them (actually there were a couple additional files, and a disc sander used to fine tune the angles)--

 
After gluing in all the chocks, the sides and back were sanded to even out the projecting cleats, and the front sanded to finalize the curve.  Then the top was sanded flat to even out and reduce the height of the rim.   Something to note: the three chocks on each side of the top are wider, to accommodate the shroud futtock plates that will be mortised through them.  They actually overhang a tiny bit on the inside of the rim beneath (which is how Petrejus shows it)--

 
And now the reason all the cleats should be redone:  the break from the flat top of the cleat (embedded in the chocks) to the slope should start where it leaves the chock.  Only a few here and there actually ended up breaking at the right spot.  AND the break should have led to a more gradual reduction in thickness.  I will do some cutting and filing to address the break points, but the slope still won't be quite right. Oh well, I'm pleased with the outcome (though they're not finished yet!)--

 
Seventy some pieces of wood in each of these.
 
Ron
 
 

Finally got around to making the other half of the gooseneck for the foremast. Its been a while coming, LOL
 
I began with a .125 square brass bar and milled it down to .085

Then used a #66 bit to drill a hole for the through bolt that would hold the two halves together

Then drilled another hole into the face of the bar and two more holes into the side of the bar


Then, using a file, joined the two holes to form a slot

Checked the fit of the two halves

Then drilled a hole straight down into the bar to accommodate a piece of brass rod that will be used to attach the gooseneck to the boom

I attached the two halves with a .8 mm bolt and nut and trimmed off the excess


Then used a jeweler’s saw to cut the gooseneck from the bar

Used CA to glue the brass rod into the back side of the gooseneck

This is a picture of the finished gooseneck mounted (simulated) on a brass rod with a piece of dowel for the boom. The boom can swivel port to starboard, slide up and down the brass rod and the gooseneck will allow the boom to lift after the downhaul is set

The deck cradles are simple but need carefully shaped chocks. My first idea was this:

I laid it out on some scrap and cut out a sample piece. This didn't work out very well.

I realized I needed a compound angle for the inside of the chock. To get better dimensions I drew outlines on one of the dories and took my measurements from that.


This time the fit was very good. Only a little sanding and adjustment was needed.

The end that attaches to the main beam has little blocks to locate it. These would be fussy to glue in place individually. Slots were cut in a piece of board which was marked with the correct dimensions. After the glue set I trimmed them to size.

Then it was shellac, sand and paint. A dark grey was used(Model Expo Cannon Black). This was close to the appearance in photos of the prototype. Though it's hard to tell about color in B/W photos.

I've been busy for a couple weeks, Dr. appointments, volunteering with AARP taxaide, projects my wife wanted and some other R&R. Got back to the Bluenose this week. I decided to do something different for a while. I've been thinking about all those dories. They will add a lot to the model even though they'll be a pain.
 
They're interesting historically as well. In the 20s, fishing schooners sailed to the Grand Banks and put out small boats(dories) with two or three man crews who fished from them, returning to the schooner with their catch. Thus the dories add a touch of realism as well as detail to Bluenose. Late Edit; This type of fishing is well described in a classic book "Captains Courageous". Check it out.
 
I built the jig per the instructions. This is a Model Shipways specific item. I don't know how other kits do the dories. If you have another kit brand, I'd like to hear how your kit handles them.
 
The assembly jig is included with the laser cut parts. The dory parts are also laser cut, but from much thinner and more flexible wood. It also appears to be a different type of wood. Somewhat harder and stronger than basswood. The instructions, as usual, are brief, consisting of one diagram and three paragraphs on page 24 of the manual. The details on Sheet 4 of the plans are more helpful. Be aware that the drawings of different parts are at different scales and not marked as to the scale.
 
The layout of the jig is not obvious from looking at it. Pay particular attention to the drawing of the jig with a dory shown in the 3-D drawing on sheet 4. The bow of the dory is the curved end not the straight end. Here's what it should look like:

I did add some spacers and reinforcements. Particularly in the middle where I used a pin to hold the dory bottom in place. This is made of thin basswod and repeated pinning will quickly destroy it. Also, while sufficiently strong for the job, the provided basswood hooks for clamping are easily broken.
 
The wood used for the dories is very tough and springy. There's a lot of pressure required to hold the dory sides against the jig. I found through experimentation that only the two middle clamps were needed. In fact, if all the clamps were used the sides of the dory would not fit together properly. Because of the springy sides a temporary cross brace is need to hold the shape when the dory is removed from the jig.
 
This springy action presents a serious problem. The thin material of the inner frames will collapse when the brace is removed - and it must be removed to stack the dories. I'd like to hear from anyone who has solved this problem and how they did it.
 
TIP: if doing this again I would steam and pre-bend the sides like the hull planks of the ship.
 
Getting the transom aligned is a bit fussy. I used a clamp at the bow to put enough pressure to close the top. PVA was used as the gluing medium. I spread a thin bead using a hypodermic filled with PVA and a medium needle(big enough to really hurt if stuck with). After the PVA set, I removed the dory and applied another bead to the outside for strength. The beads were thin enough they dried completely flat and are essentially invisible. Don't forget the brace!

Technique established. Mass production!

There's still quite a bit of work on these. The frames and transoms and rail caps. lifting ropes and their reinforcements. Accessories; oars, seats, etc. And, of course, paint.
 
 
 
 

Waterline…

Progress…  more sanding and touch up before a semi gloss clear coat.  
 
Cheers 🍻 

Thanks, and you're welcome, JohnLea.  I hope that what I have here is useful for others.
 
With that in mind, more progress on the tops.
 
I had a very slight warp in one of the tops.  The front part curled upwards maybe a millimeter, or a bit less.   I've been keeping it under a weight most of the time, but that hasn't helped.  Getting the idea from Blue Ensign's log on HMS Indefatigable, I tried a heat gun on the piece.  I wasn't sure I used enough heat, I was a bit nervous about it.  But it seems to have worked, and it is flat now--

 
I cut a bunch of blanks for the radial cleats--

 
And glued them together with the barest bit of glue at each end, so they can be uniformly shaped--

 
They first needed to be sanded flat on one side, and the aligned ends squared-- 
 
Then, with knife, chisel, and file, I made a shallow notch on one end.  A good mill would have done this well, and though I sometimes use my rotary tool in the stand as a mill, I felt it was going to be too difficult to be as precise as I needed to be here.  The pieces are so lightly glued that they didn't stay together, and now I have four groups.  You can see how the notch fits over the rim of the top--
 
 
As I began to shape the tops of the cleats, one broke off, and I shaped this one individually, as a master to guide the rest--

 
My procedure ended up being to file the rounded part at the 'big' end first, and then chisel and file down the flatter part.  It's not exactly flat, it does have a slight taper to the end--

 
A few more groups broke apart, but here they are shaped and lined back up--

 
Into the bath of isopropyl alcohol--

 
I'm very impatient with this alcohol business.  I've never been able to wait until pieces just fall apart.  After a couple hours the glue was weakened enough that I could pry them apart with my fingers, without worrying about breaking them--
  
 
Out of the bath they dried quickly and they were test fit to the tops--

 
I did not anticipate that the severely skewed pieces along the back of the top, especially the corner ones, would need to be different, with the 'big' end lengthened (and/or the notch underneath cut farther back).   I'll see if these are salvageable, but I may have to remake a few cleats.
 
The big ends are just a bit taller than they will be when finished.  There are chocks that will need to be fit between each cleat, on top of the rim, and then when all is glued up, the rim will be finally sanded flat to the correct height.
 
Ron
 
 
 

Hi Gregg
 
Your Bluenose looks great!
 
I have a more labour intensive, but perhaps also more satisfying solution - at least if I understand your issue correctly. If you can access some 1/16" basswood sheets at a local hobby or craft store I would recommend grabbing one and using that to make the rails. You can make the forward and stern parts by making templates from the plans You can then modify these templates to suit the model as built and then use the modified template to cut out the parts from the basswood sheet.
 
The main parts of the rails can be made by laying the sheet along the bulwarks and tracing the hull curve onto it from below. Cut out this tracing and then use a protractor to mark out the width - don't forget mark out where the pin rail and cathead extensions are before cutting it out. I did this for my scratch Bluenose and it worked fine
hamilton

The front border of top #1 was shaped, and the same procedure followed for top #2.  I did reduce the number of sections in the curve-
  
 
The light pencil line was traced from the BOTTOM side of the top, just as a check to make sure the pieces would fill in the curve correctly.  Next, it was glued to the floor along just the curved edge.  While that was weighted and drying, a paper template was placed on the floor within the rim of top #1, and the locations of the radial cleats was marked--

 
Here the front edge of top #2 has been sanded--
  
 
The line of the back edge has been drawn by eye in pencil, and the piece is scored lightly with a knife, repeated a few times, but not cut all the way through--
 
 
The waste is cut away with a chisel because I felt I had more control and didn't want to cut into the floor below, as I knew there would need to be some refinement of the shape.  There is no glue under the waste area, so once the chisel cuts through, the pieces detach easily--

 
The width was checked with a caliper, and further shaped where needed with sanding on the outside edge, or the knife and chisel on the inside edge.
 
Here is the current state of the two tops (one upside down)--

 
Oh, and I did today's pair of carronade tackle blocks.
 
Ron
 

Well, it's been several weeks since I posted an update, and I'm at a bit of a major transition point, so thought I would write out an update...
 
HULL SANDING - I left off in late January where I had finished the hull planking and it was time to sand... so sand I did... and fill... and some more sanding.  Got the hull looking about as good as I think it could, with some more improvements possible after working on the bulwarks and decking, but before priming/painting. 
 
     
 
      
 

 
DECK PLANKING - So, next up was planking the deck!  As was instructed in the plans, I first placed the waterway planks between the bulkhead stanchions.  Then, working from the center keel out, laid the planks, alternating between port and starboard sides.  In staggering the planking butts, I used a 5-3-1-4-2 planking sequence.  As I was planking the fore deck, I forgot to color the edges to simulate the tar caulking! Oops!  Other than that, the fore deck planking was pretty straight-forward without a lot of tapering required.
 
The quarter deck, however, was a different story, as I needed to taper every plank beginning at about Bulkhead K-L out to Bulkhead O and the transom area.  The Acco clips were useful in the deck planking (as they were also with the hull planking) to press the planks against one another to avoid gaps, and I also used some new binders from Excel (the blue clamps in a couple of the pictures) that were helpful where I could not use the Acco clips.
 
All in all, though, I'm pleased with the look of the decking, despite the difference in the caulking appearance.  I have not yet applied anything to the wood, as I will do all that in the painting process.
 
      
 
           
 
        
 
BULWARKS & STANCHIONS (ROUND 1) - Time to work on the bulwark strakes and associated pieces above the deck!  Thought I would first work on the knighthead and hawse timbers.  The plans called for placing two pieces of hawse timbers on either side of Bulkhead A with the knighthead in front of it.  I decided to make this all one piece, and removed the Bulkhead A stanchion.  I then made a small chafe block for the anchor, and will drill the holes at a later stage.  
 
     
 
Next thing to work on were the fake stanchions.  Placed the waist strake in its place and marked where the existing bulkhead stanchions were.  Then measured an equal 1/3 and 1/3 distance between the bulkhead stanchions to determine where the two fake stanchions would be placed.  Used my new The Chopper cutting tool to measure and cut a whole bunch of fake stanchions.  After I had placed all of the new fake stanchions, I noticed (like almost every other build log I had reviewed previously) that the existing bulkhead stanchions looked horrible next to the nice fake ones, so... they had to go!
 
Once I got done, though, with the stanchions and the planks with scuppers (used a file to create those) and the waist, I was not pleased with how it all looked.  I had done a poor job in setting the bulwark planks and waist and decided the best thing to do was.... do it over!
 
      
 
      
 

 
BULWARKS & STANCHIONS (ROUND 2) - So, after removing what I had previously done, I was left this time with no bulkhead stanchions to use as guides for where the planks would rest against, so first thing I decided I needed to do was to "replace" those bulkhead stanchion locations.  Once those were relocated, I followed the same procedure I had done previously in marking where the remaining stanchions would be placed evenly on each side, and... it went much more smoothly.  The scuppers all looked much better, and the bulwark plank and waist set well against each stanchion.  After that was done, I sanded the tops of fake stanchions that peeked over the tops of the waist planks, in order to ensure that the mail rail (when it comes time to placing it) would set firmly on top of the waist and stanchions with no gaps.
 
        
 

 
TRANSOM - I have struggled with the transom work on the Bluenose.  Still not sure if I've done it the best way.  Was having a difficult time with the kit-supplied quarter frames and braces that go above the stern block.  After a couple of different options, I used a 1/8" wide filler piece on each side extending from Bulkhead O to the stern, and formed two 1/16" x 1/2" pieces for the stern transom.  In keeping it at the same extended angle as the stern block, however, I have some concerns on how the main rail will set, and how far back it may be sitting, especially with the main sheet boom buffer and its buffer platform legs under the main rail.
 
        
 
             
 
I will take some additional pictures to better depict my concerns.  I "think" it will all come out ok, but... I'm still a newbie on these matters!
 
WHAT'S NEXT? - Well, after I settle on how the transom will be completed and how the main rail will sit, it's about time to begin some painting!  In my three previous builds, I simply did the old-school brush painting on everything, but have decided to learn how to airbrush for this Bluenose, primarily just for the hull painting and the inner bulwarks and stanchions, although other airbrush painting applications may arise on this build as I become more comfortable in using it.  Plenty of practice sessions before doing anything on the ship, though!!
 
Appreciate all comments and critiques!  
 
 

I purchased Chuck's ropewalk a couple years ago.  I put it together at that time, but was too intimidated to use it (and I didn't have a pressing need for any line).  With my fresh shipbuilding vigor, I decided now is the time to take the plunge--
 
 
I figured I would have many failed attempts before I got the hang of it, but it worked out great!  Maybe beginner's luck, but on the first try I actually ended up with a decent rope--

 
I think it could have been a little tighter, and it's not any particular circumference or diameter that I need, but I'm confident now that I can make what I will need for Oneida's rigging.
 
 On to the top(s).  I cut and glued up the floor for the second top, and started on the piece that overhangs the edges.  No problem on the straight pieces, but the curved front is a challenge.  I don't have an easy way to make a piece large enough, at the thinness required (about 1" scale) to make it in one piece, so I thought I'd do it this way--

 
Very tedious, but I think this will work, if it doesn't disintegrate when I shave it down to match the curve of the top.  This (and the straight pieces) need to overhang the floor halfway--
 
 
I also completed another pair of carronade tackle blocks.  My goal is to do one pair a day.  If I can do that, they'll be done in another couple weeks!
 
Ron

Thanks, Ed, for the encouragement.  I can't predict when the urge to work takes me, but it's on for the moment!
 
I continued on with the top.  Both the main and fore top will be the same.  I ended up using a very small chisel to pare down the glued up sections of the top, so they would interlock as Petrejus described--


 
The photo below shows that I have some more work to do before the overlap sits flush--

 
Once I was satisfied, I glued the pieces together--

 
After the floor of the top was one piece and the straight areas trimmed, I rubber cemented the pattern to it, to sand down the curved areas--

 
After sanding the curved area--

 
This is about 1mm thick--

 
Just a note on the color of these pear wood strips.  For the first time, I've cut my own strip wood.  The darker streaks are burn marks from the saw blade.  Another learning curve to master.  The tops are going to be stained black in the end, so it's okay.  In fact, once it's stained I don't think you'll be able to see that there are 20 individual pieces making up this floor.  Petrejus says there are 65 pieces in the finished top. 
 
I didn't make any more carronade tackle blocks!
 
Ron