bhermann

Well, it turns out that once you get started, the ratlines go faster than you originally thought. I was hoping for 3 weeks on the rest of the port side, and finished in 2, so, not too bad. Some photos of the ship overall and separate masts, although, I find it doesn't look all that different with and without the ratlines, at least at a macro level.
 

 

 

 

 
I'm about to make the first of the yards, seeing as I should only be few weeks away from finishing the ratlines. Step 1 was just to build out a table with the actual dimensions of the yards, the yardarms, and the diameter at center and iron bands and their corresponding scale size. I pulled the values off the plans, but they are also in the article from the Boston Daily Atlas that Lars Bruzelius transcribed (http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/News/BDA/BDA(1851-11-04).html). For me, given that there are 15, all different yards, this is way easier than doing the calculations one at a time from the plans. I will note that in the section marked 'Scale (in) - frac', I selected the nearest measurement that I could realistically build to.
 

 
A couple of observations/questions. First, the plans suggest that all of the spars used 3/4 inch iron rod as a jackstay. Was it common to use the same size jackstay on all the yards? I mean the mizzen skysail was only 6.5" at the center and 4.25" at that iron band that demarcates the beginning of the yardarm, that seems, I dunno, kind of overbuilt for the size of the spar. Given the physical properties of the materials, an iron jackstay with a spar attached if you will.
 
Second, the kit has a really weird set of Britannia fittings. There are 4 (nominally 3), identically sized "upper yard trusses" and that is it. Given that there are 9 yards secured with trusses, and six yards that use (hopefully correct term here) truss cranes to attach the yard to the halyards, so, I'd need 15 of these, not 4 or 3. Given that they are all different sizes, and the kit has 1/32 thick brass, I guess I'll just scratch build them (although I see that bluejacket has 3 sizes of trusses - so if the scratch ones are a disaster, I can default back to those).
 
Third, was the use of a deadeye on a shroud or backstay as a truck for fairleads a McKay thing? Usually I see this as a board attached across multiple shrouds. Just curious - another one of those repeat tasks, a bit of a nuisance (I think I need 34 of them total). 
 
Finally, the instructions say to leave out the course clew and reefing tackle if you aren't going to install sails. Is that common? When I rigged the Niagara the instructions suggested (and I followed) including the clew and reefing tackle, and attaching the clew garnet to the reefing tackle. Was this just the difference between 1813 and 1851 or just two ways that one can handle the situation? Above the course, I need the clew to have something to attach the sail end of the sheet so they will be there - it just feels a little asymmetrical, but if they were really removed I'll probably leave them off.
 
As always, thanks for looking in!
 
Regards,
George K.
 

The mainsheet horse was made from flat brass strip and blackened. Epoxy was used to cement it in place as there will be some strain on it.

Tie down loops were installed on the cabin.

The fife rail and forward boom buffer were installed.

The britania metal bilge pumps were so-so. A lot of filing, sanding and paint took them to "just" acceptable. They are at least consistent with the level of detail of the rest of the model. I decided to make and attach the pump handles because the pumps just look like odd black lumps without the handles. I realize that on the actual ship these would have been stowed unless needed. It adds an interesting detail to the model. The hinge ears for the handles were barely there and mostly solid. A jewelers saw was used to open them up. I didn't have thin enough material for the handles. Two strips of walnut veneer were glued together to get the correct thickness and then split and shaped to make the handles.

After painting with flat sealer the handles were epoxied to to the pumps which were painted flat black to match the other ironwork. The supplied metal pieces have a small button on the bottom. An appropriate hole was drilled in the deck and PVA was used to cement them in place. They actually turned out pretty nice. Of course I'll probably break them a couple times while rigging😄.

The quarter bits will have a some strain on them. They were mounted by drilling a hole in the bottom and cementing a short length of pin in them. This was glued into matching holes in the deck.

Time to assemble the parts! Portholes went in, companionway cover, compass cover, skylight and pipe. I then did a quick spray of the metal parts with clear, flat paint to protect them and dull the finish a bit. This turned out to be a problem for the blackened pipe. The port holes were OK. The pipe had some sort of reaction between the blackening (Brass Black) and the finish. Small problem though. Just had to sand the pipe and re-blacken.
 
I used cyno for fastening the portholes and insert a pin in the pipe which was PVA'd into a locating hole drilled in the decking. The companionway cover, skylight and compass cover were simply glued on with PVA. The ships wheel was pressed into it's hole on the steering gear cover. The porthole windows(which came with the portholes) were pressed into place. Parts are ready for mounting on the model!

I'm not really pleased with the way the cabin turned out. As I mentioned earlier I built it according to the supplied plans and didn't consult the historical photos before I built it. The original "as built" cabin is different in height and shape and trim. In fact, it would have been simpler to build. I'll see how this one looks on the model and think about it for awhile.

The ships wheel supplied in Britania metal was, surprisingly, a pretty good casting. This was an older kit. I understand from blogs the newer ones have worse metal parts. There was just one handle that was bit small. I'll position that at the bottom where it's not so noticeable. There was the usual fileing to remove mold seams but it cleaned up nicely. Even the shaft was not bad. I then used a light buff paint for the handles. These were a little bright so I went over them with some Tamaiya Smoke paint that is a very light grey and transparent. This dulled them just right and shifted the tint to more of an aged wood appearance. The photo below is before the Smoke was applied. Flat black matches the rest of the iron work on Bluenose.

Next was the accent paint on the steering gear box. This was an exercise in masking. I've been having some trouble getting the tape to adhere properly. I've had to do quite a bit of touch up from paint that leaks under the tape. Usually I have good results from taping. Perhaps my tape is getting old. In the end it turned out nice.

I sealed everything with shellac as many recommend. Then sanded and filled as needed. This does a great job of getting rid of the fuzzies. Then it's time to get the painting tools set up. I find that with an airbrush and using acrylic paints there is little over spray or odor. I used a cardboard box as a makeshift spray booth. I just throw it out and get another when it gets too gunky. There's no fan or filter but the airbrush uses minimal paint and little over spray. Primer went pretty well. It only took a couple rounds of filling-sanding-paint. However, I mixed the last of my flat white incorrectly and will have to visit the hobby shop before continuing. I need some other things anyway and I like to browse there.

In the end, I decided to do simple bars for the skylight. After assembly I painted the interior flat black. To conceal the decking under the skylight I found a piece of black cardboard which, of course would be too thick under the skylight. To fix this I simply peeled the thin paper layer from the cardboard and glued that to the bottom of the skylight. Next the windows were masked preparatory to airbrushing.
While trial fitting the cabin I noticed it would not lie flat along the axis of the ship when put in it's normal position. Testing with a ruler showed a slight dip in the decking at about the middle of the cabin. To fix this I pried the coaming from the cabin sides and installed a wider coaming in it's place. I then sanded a curve in the bottom of the coaming to get a good fit in the bowed area.
It's now time to tackle the steering gear housing. I approached this with some trepidation as there are odd angles involved. The plans show a complicated cabin top with coving and and a flat roof. Given my experience with the cabin, I first checked photos of the prototype. I found two from different eras. They were the same except for the paint scheme. The housing in the plans was quite different. The prototype had a companionway like cover. That actually makes a lot of sense as it would be necessary to access the steering gear frequently for service. There's also a dark colored box behind housing in the later photo that continues the slope of the top. That's not on the plans at all. I'm guessing it was some kind of toolbox. The earlier photo doesn't have the box. I believe I will go with the earlier photo for the construction and the later photo for the paint. The color will add interesting detail to the model

After debating how to construct the steering box, I decided it would be best to follow the same procedure as the cabin. I started with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood veneered on three sides. This was cut to height and squared off. I did test cuts on scrap to find the proper angle(F.Y.I 25 degrees) and cut the slope into the bottom of the housing. The housing is basically a solid rectangle with the bottom cut at an angle. To make the cutout for the wheel I simply cut the veneer appropriately. To create the hole for the wheel shaft I used the waste block from the angle cut secured with double-sided tape. this allows the block to be clamped square. That produced a nice square hole for the wheel shaft. The top was made from a plank of the correct thickness and sanded to the required shape.

The deck fittings made so far were placed on the deck for a test fitting prior to filling, sealing, finish sanding and paint.

 
 
 

Well, just shy of two weeks since the last update, and progress has been made, even if it is slow. As I mentioned I am in the delightful stage known as tying ratlines, and these are simple overhand knots using pretty vanilla black cotton sewing thread. So, I've completed the port side mizzen mast (lower, topmast, and topgallant shrouds), and the lower shrouds on the port side main mast. First, the mizzen:
 

 
And the lower main:
 

 
For the main, I tied as per the plans, across 5 of the 6th shrouds, except every sixth line at which point I went across all 6 shrouds. A few photos of multiple masts with with (where relevant) the templates for the next batch of shrouds. You will note that I clamped the lower shrouds to keep them from spreading, but didn't do this anywhere else, principally because the topmast shrouds aren't in a line; if I had clamped them it would have stretched the shrouds in a way I didn't want to happen.
 

 

 
Finally,  here is a shot of (most) of the ship as it stands today. 
 

 
I'm hoping about 3 weeks to get the port side finished, and another 5 (ish) to do the starboard side. My recollection is that I got a lot faster toward the end of Niagara so, we'll see. It would be nice to finish this chore before the end of March, but that seems to be the schedule. My intention was to work on the yards once I made progress on the ratlines, and I think that this constitutes 'progress', so, hopefully some pics of yards when the next update comes along.
 
Thanks for looking in!
 
George K.

Fore deck planking is complete.  I started by planking down the center, which was all uniform width planks.   I took this out to the point where the wider planks sit for the windlass.  Per the plans, I used 4 planks of 3/32 planking under the bowsprit, from where the windlass will sit to the point of the bow.
 

I cut out the nibbing strake from the plans, used a glue stick to attach to a plank and tried to carefully cut them out.
 

Installed both.

I had to make some minor adjustments to the nibbing strake toward the back of the foredeck to get everything to line up and fit nicely.

Finished up with a first sanding before moving on to the aft deck.

 
Tim
 
 
 
 

A quick update on my Bluenose progress... I have completed the hull planking!  There are certainly some gaps and undulations in the planking, but all-in-all I seem fairly pleased with how it came out.  Will now work diligently on sanding, filling, sanding, filling... starting at 80 grit sandpaper and working my way up in grits to where the hull is as smooth as I can get it.
 
     
 
        
 
As you can see from the pictures, I still need to trim and clean up the planking at the stern/transom area.  And then, after I'm done sanding the hull, I'll go "topside" and finish the transom framing, knightheads, hawse timbers, fake stanchions, etc, etc, etc.  
 
Appreciate the follows, likes, comments and critiques!  

Worked on the skylight and stove pipe today. The skylight is a finicky delicate piece. It took some experimentation to come up with a method. Using a solid block would not work as space is needed behind the windows to look right and accommodate the bars. I came up with this solution.
Note the t-bar across the top. That's to get the height correct for the window thickness.
To ensure matching openings I used double sided tape to hold the windows down and laid them out together.

Fastening the bars to the window is problematic. I didn't want to use epoxy because the heat generated in cutting the wire would degrade the epoxy. There's not a lot of room under the window.
The pipe was cut from brass tubing. Note the wall thickness of the tubing was larger than scale so I counter drilled the end to approximate the scale wall thickness. The two pieces were silver soldered together using a ceramic pin jig.
The jig worked much better than trying to use clamps.
Almost all the pieces are done. Just have to get the windows figured out.
 
 

For a change of pace to something simple, I did the mysterious "unknown object". For lack of a lath I chucked a piece of dowel in my drill. This works OK on small, uncomplicated pieces but is awkward as I have to hold the drill trigger and my cutting tool at the same time. First the end was rounded with a sanding block. A hooked scalpel cut a grove to represent the lid.
I finished by cutting the piece off with a fine tooth saw. This looks the best so far! 
 
It's always fascinating to me how tiny these objects are and how much detail can be put into them.  The compass housing is 6mm x 12mm x 8mm with a 1mm lip on each side. The "unknown object" is made from a 7/16" dowel. They are both smaller than a penny!

It's been quite a while so I thought I would offer a brief update on the progress of my Bluenose.  I can say that progress has been very slow however I have not abandoned the project nor do I plan to.  I keep getting sidetracked but always seem to gravitate back to the shop, and I can say that my interest in ships and ship history hasn't diminished.  I have projects in mind that I would like to do in the future but am determined to finish the ones I have started and abandoned.  I have 3 other ships in the drydock that I would like to finish first before I tackle anything new.
 
At one point I thought about finishing the Bluenose without the sails but quickly decided that the sails are one of the recognizing features of the Bluenose.  I was fortunate enough to have a friend give me his patterns for the sails so should make that task a little easier.  
 
I have pretty much finished the deck complete with the 8 dories normally carried when she was used as a fishing vessel.  I've yet to lash them down.  The main mast is almost complete.  It's not permanently mounted yet but it's close.  I plan to start on the foremast shortly.  As previously reported, the dories and the crates/barrels are 3D printed.  Although not authentic, I think the crates/barrels add a little to the deck.  


 

 
 
I will still add to this build log as I progress.  I hope that I will post more often in the future and hopefully have the Bluenose complete in a timely manner.

I had ordered some really nice scale portholes and couldn't wait to try them. I drilled the proper hole and inserted one just to see how it looked. Of course it will have to come out to allow the rest of the finishing process. These are the last thing to go in. Very nice effect!

I have started the deck furniture. This was a dreaded part of the job. So many structures with tiny, finicky details. It's really not any worse than any other part of the job. I'm just procrastinating. I decided to start with the most complicated structure. The deck cabin. I've also switched to using metric measurements. So much easier to scale.
The problem of how to build the basic structure was the first step. Rather than try to build tiny framing, I used a couple pieces of scrap of appropriate thickness to make a solid core. This greatly speeds the construction and is very a very sturdy base to work from. The first step is to laminate the two pieces of scrap:
The dimensions were then scaled from the drawing and laid out on the block of scrap. Allowance was made for the siding thickness:
The basic shape was cut with a saw. The sides slope inward at a 6 degree angle. I calculated the size shim I would need under the block and used a bench sander to create the taper. The shim was attached with double sided tape. Note; it needs to be parallel to the tapered sides - not square with the ends:

This is a bottom view. The voids are due to one piece of scrap having cutouts. These will be filled with wood filler. Turned out very nice:Of course this is flat block Because the deck has a slight crown, it needs bending. It's a laminate and is very resistant to bending. I cut feather slots in the bottom sufficient to allow the right curvature in the bottom layer of the block. Now there is only a single layer to bend:The block was soaked for a few minutes in water and a hot iron applied. This was repeated until the wood fibers lost their strength. Next the block was strapped tightly to a large bucket to get a gentle radius and allowed to dry overnight:

Continuing to move "slowly but Shirley" on the Bluenose hull planking.  Have finished with the "Belt B" sections and they didn't seem to require quite as much tapering as the previous ones.  Will now start on the "Belt D" section, which is the part of the hull planking closest to the garboard strake.  Looks like a few of those might require a bit of twisting as the strakes transition from the bulkheads back to the sternpost.  We shall see how it goes!  But, seems like it's coming together decently. I'll then work in the "Belt C" strakes. 
 
        
 
Thanks for your peeks and critiques...

Thanks for asking, Rob.  The model is at Mystic Seaport.
 
Ed

Well, "one week" of effort appears to have been more like 17 days, but the mizzen is mounted and rigged. This is the end of the standing rigging (except the ratlines), and actually, there are 12 clew tackles installed, so I guess the running rigging has been started. The mizzen is relatively clear since there are no fife rails, and rather than have the lines in place cluttering things, I haven't installed them there yet.

 

 
Now for the ratlines. I intend to make the yards and supporting hardware (e.g. trucks, gin blocks) while tying the ratlines. That way if I do 5-10 lines (20 - 50 knots) per day, I should be done with them in a month or so. At 1:96, 15" is 5/32 inch, so I made a sheet of lines with that spacing in PowerPoint and printed it out to use as a guide:
 

 
I attach that at the top (I'm working on the lower port mizzen shrouds, now) using clamps and two pieces of scrap wood. The similar feature toward the deadeyes is to try to keep the shrouds from compressing in - I'll move up as I move up the shroud.
 

 
The above photo makes it look like they aren't very straight, but as can be seen below they aren't bad at all, if I do say so myself.
 

 
The knots are simple overhand, stabilized with a bit of glue. I find that anything larger (a) starts to get very big and out of scale, (b) puts more strain on the outer shrouds, contributing to the squeezing in, and (c) is radically more difficult to set up with the proper distance between the knots. 
 
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good year, and thanks for looking in.
 
George K
 

More sanding and another coat…

She is coming along rather nicely, sure is a lot of sanding and painting. It’s getting there. Another sanding and we should be ready for the color coat. 😎
 
Cheers 🍻

Before getting started on the decking, I decided to work on all of the deck structures.  I needed a break from any kind of planking and I wanted to get at least the main cabin and the hatches completed, I plan to have the installed on the bulkheads with a 1/16 groove to fit the decking under and around the structures. 
 
I started by laying out the plan cutouts to show where additional support was needed for attaching the deck planks.  

I really only needed to add support around the hatches and the main cabin, as the remaining structures will be installed on top of the finished deck planks, but I got carried away.
 

I started with the hatches.
 

Next, I built the skylight and companionway.   I wasn't sure what to do to create the airports for the skylight (and later for the main cabin).  
 

I had seen on one of the model ship sites that there were air port fitting available, but I decided to come up with my own.  It looked like the rings provided in the kit were the perfect size.  I just happened to have leather hole punch that was the same size as the rings, so I punch out disks of aluminum foil, glued on to the rings.  I drilled holes about the sam size in the sky light and then glued the ring and foil into the hole.
 

 
As I was building up the main cabin, I forgot to take pictures as I was working, so I only have shots of the later stages.  I shaped and installed the base moulding onto the bulk heads and extra support.  Next, I installed corner pieces and cut and fit the walls.  Since the upper moulding had rounded corner, as opposed to mitered corned like the lower moulding, I shaped one long piece  and then soaked it so I could bend as one piece around the cabin.  I built the roof by creating an outer frame and the installed decking planks, tapering each to account for the trapezoid shape of the roof.  I cut out the hatchway and installed the side pieces extending back for the hatchway rails.  
 


 
I carved doors and added door handles, using filed down nail heads.  I finished up by installing the doors and adding the hatch.  
 
I built the sky light and compass housing earlier.  Not sure I am happy with the skylight and may redo that later.
 

 
Last piece was the wheel housing.  
 

 

 
Looking forward to starting on the decking...
 
Tim
 
 

Hi Gregg
 
I just came across your Bluenose log.  She is coming along quite nicely so far.  I have the same kit with the "Canadian Fishing Schooner" graphic across the front.  I am looking forward to see where you take this.
 
Bob

Filling Primer…
 

Ready for another coat of paint and more sanding…
 
Cheers 🍻

Due to the holidays, travel, and other real-life distractions, I have been absent from the shipyard for periods of time the past couple of months and haven't kept pace.  I have, however, just finished the first "Belt A" section of the Bluenose (along with the garboard strake) on both the port and starboard sides of the ship.
 
   
 
Seems like the planking is going well, albeit slowly.  Was already planning on needing to do a bit of sanding/filling/sanding, so I'm satisfied with how the planks are looking so far.  I thought I had read in some other Bluenose build logs that the planks needed little to no tapering, but (if I've done my calculations correctly) I needed to taper especially the aft ends of the eight "Belt A" planks (from Bulkheads M, N, O & past the stern blocks) a decent amount.  Hope I've done them right!
 
On to more planking! Oh, joy! 

Decking completed…

…and Finished. 

Sanding the hull…

Using an Acrylic Auto Body glazing and spot filler. 

The glazing worked well, you will want to keep it thin. It does sand easily…

Ready for the paint booth with some Filling Primer. 
 
Cheers 🍻 
 

Well, it's the end of the year, so here is the Fish as of the end of 2022. The mizzen is mounted, and the lower mast rigging (shrouds and forestay) are in place. I need to make two more gin blocks before fitting the topmast and topgallant shrouds and stays, but shouldn't take more than a week to get to the point where the standing rigging is done except for ratlines, at which point I'll start making the yards while getting them done.
 

 

 
Have a safe and happy New Year.
 
George K