bhermann

Just a bit of an update. I've started constructing the after deck house. Rather than building it separately and mounting it on the coaming, I'm going to build the house in situ. There are two reasons for this. First, the house (and hence the coaming) is not straight, but rather narrows toward the stern in a curve that I bent into the coamings - so, putting it together separately would be difficult. The second issue is dealing with the overhang that I've mentioned before. So, build on site it is.
 
Step 1 is to install the main deck coaming and then to install a set of, for lack of a better term, stanchions that define the boundaries of the coaming and hence the house. 
 
In addition, I added 4 uprights between the main deck and the poop to provide a place to mount the planks that will define the bulkheads that run only from the main deck coaming to the poop deck. Two are mounted directly against the bulwarks, and two are just amidship of each fo the poop deck coamings, as the higher segment matches up with the coaming on the poop (photo of the uprights and then a segment of the plans that describe what I mean).
 


 
So, the planks were pre-painted white and then installed as below:
 

 
Now, the main part of the deckhouse (the part that will be mounted on the other uprights) is relatively low, and has a set of 6 windows with bars on the port and starboard sides:
 

 
This is about 3  1/16 planks wide, so I made a set 3 wide, and then overlaid them on the plans, marking them for the vertical details and the location of the windows:
 

 
Now mask away:
 

 
And paint blue where the windows will sit. I then used 1/32 square planking (pre-painted white) to make a window frame, and then embedded brass wire to make the window bars. Here's the first one:
 

 
 
And now three:
 
Once finished, I will mount on the coaming, add the vertical details, and then slice off any remaining upright with a dremel cutting blade. Then the deckhouse will be topped off with a 1/16 square plank that will be flush with the vertical detail planks, and we can move to the central section that runs from the main deck. 
 
In order to make it look right, I think I'm going to have to add another coaming section on the main deck so that the bulkhead planks have something to land on (there is no room going straight down, but that should not be a huge problem.
 
Thanks again for looking in and the likes!
 
Regards,
George K
 
 
 
 

Getting close to finishing the deck furniture.  The hoisting engine box is almost completed.  I just have to add the clutch cover box. I will build this bit out of a solid piece of wood.  I've glued up some wood and am waiting for it to dry prior to completing that part.
 

 

 
I glued up the arms of the jumbo boom crutch.  
 

 
Finally this afternoon I completed the samson post, bowsprit bits and platform
 

 
I'm hoping to be in position next week to break out the air brush.  I want to paint the deck furniture and the main rail.  Hopefully after that I will be in a position to finish the monkey rail and permanently install the deck furniture.

Adding rails.  You can also see how I fixed the poop deck with some basswood.  Hawse pipes attached with the embelishments.

Deckworks update.  Working on the windlass.  Haven't glued the axel yet as I'm thinking of adding a section between the right drum and the windlass housing to be a drum for the chain haul (to be more accurate?) In photos, looks like it's two drums, housing, main drum, housing, final drum.  AL left out the double drum setup on the port side 
 
Skylights ate built and painted. Both cabins are read for finish.  At the helm, I added a short tub behind the helm so it would stand off the steering gear cabinet a bit.
 
I have two challenges now.  First, the poop deck from AL is a poor fit.  Try to decide if I should modify or rebuild from scratch.
 
I also made my first big goof.  When I started building the skylight panels, I grabbed the wrong wood. Grabbed some walnut of similar size instead of the sapely.  Oops.  Fortunately, I plan on painting the rails anyways so I can use any wood as long as it's the right size. 

George K In case you can't see the additional close ups of the painting I described, here's a section and edited to focus on the Rear House. It appears that there's not two but one single door with two arched windows on either side, separated by ornate panelling. In addition there appears to be some gingerbread work that surrounds the entire lower level of the upper roofline. There's a wealth of modeling information. For instance, you can also see there's some neat panelling along the upper level of the bulwarks too. 

Just a brief update (it's been a crazy couple of weeks without much time to build). Rudder removed, shaped, sanded and coppered:
 

 
5 hinges made and rudder attached to hull:
 

 
The gap between the rudder and the hull is a bit more than I would prefer, but it was a tradeoff between having some detail in the hinges and having the rudder closer (I can't seem to make hinges that are much less thick). So, yes on the detail, let the chips fall where they may. 
 
Thanks for looking in!
 
Regards,
George K

I just finished the skylight and started to work on the companionway.  Again, I figure this would be easier to build if I started with a solid piece of wood.  I found some scraps and glued them together to get the desired width I needed.
 

 
Once completed I will still have to fabricate the Hoisting Engine Box and the Clutch Cover Box.  I think after that things will get a little tricky with the Jumbo Boom Crutch and Hoisting Machinery Support and the Windlass.  The Britannia fittings that come in the kit aren't the best but I'll have to work with them.  I did order some Pewter Black from Blue Jacket Shipcrafters.  It does a good job at blackening the Britannia fittings.
 
Once I finish up with the deck furniture and gear I will then paint everything.  I haven't decided on colours or how much I will paint.  I'm not too interested in staying true to the original Bluenose colours and colour detail.  That would mean more detail than I care to get into.  I will hopefully find a compromise that will still be appealing to look at and will be somewhat close to original.
 
Meeting with Alan and taking into consideration what Bob mentioned above, I've ordered some silkspan and will experiment with it over the next few months to see if I can produce decent looking sails.  If not, I'll revert back to the material that came with the kit.  As far as the heavier material I bought recently, perhaps I can make a shop apron or something similar from it.  It's definitely too heavy to be used as sails.
 
As you can now see, things have progressed nicely the last little while.  She's starting to take shape. 
 


 
 
 

Stantions placed, suppers cut.  I think sand and paint bulwark is next.  But first I need to deal with bowsprite.  The bulwark has come loose from the keel at the bow where I need to drill for the bowsprite.  I original tried wood glue and then a little ca in the inside after clamping just to get a little extra hold.  Didn't work.  So little wood to wood contact here.  U think I will create a small wedge to sit behind the keel post and flush with the top of the bulwark where it will be under the rail piece and monkey rail when I eventually add those.  At least it will give something I can glue to and pin (I think the model shipways version does something similar).  I'll send pics when I figure it out.

Second plank is on.  Time for finish sanding on the hull.  The wood burner on lowered heat work quite well to set the planks without clamps or mess.  Working on the bulkhead stantions as well.  Set the keel as I was planking.  I followed on other by drilling a couple spots in the two primary/larger keel pieces so can insert a brass rod through the keel and into the false keel for extra strength.  Feels ready for the keel clamp.
 

Getting back to the log.  Finally finished planking. Almost good enough to single plank but I like the walnut look so going double.  Lots of sanding/shaping on first plank layer.  Decide I am going to place the keel before the second layer (or at least lay as I go.  I like the look of the second plank layer slightly overlapping the keel.  Gives a more finished look without the gaps.  I also took an idea from someone elses log and am heat setting the second layer as I lay each plank.  Don't need to buy anything special though.  Just an old wood burner with a shading tip and then an extention cord with a pigtail/dimmer to reduce the wood burner to just enough heat without burning.  It's working real well to get the last little bend/curve at the bow.
 

More update photos as promised. These show the gaff rigging and some of the topmast rigging. As mentioned earlier, these are Bluejacket blocks and Syren line. 
 

Well, bit of a long overdue update.
 
I've been super busy at work, spending time outside over the summer, then I had Covid. So even though I've worked on the model a fair amount I haven't posted anything in quite awhile. Here we go.
 
I've completed nearly all of the rigging on the Latham. One thing I wanted to touch on first was the baggywrinkle. I puzzled long and hard over how to make this neatly and in scale. I am a fly fisherman/fly tier and it eventually hit me to use peacock herl, which is used for certain fly bodies. I used my serving machine to wrap it around the rigging line, and then subsequently painted with tan paint. Really happy with the way it came out. I'll have more updates over the coming days. 
 
 

I spent part of the day working on a platform with which to set the Bluenose on.  I will use it for the rest of the build but may elect to build something more suitable for the finished model.  If I do decide to keep it, it will need a lot more finish work.
 

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

Coppering is complete. These first two photos show how I used the tape on the gore line to define the point where to stop the copper so that the next row above the gore line will sit neatly.
 
And here is a view from above showing the starboard side mostly completed and the port side approaching the gore line.
 

 
Once the second band of plates was begun, I put another line of tape on the ship with the tape centered over the load water line. It was there so I could copper up to the tape, have decent overlap, and still have a small amount of the black paint showing when I put the cap row into place.
 

 
Finally, two views of the coppered hull, port and starboard.
 

 
I used the kit supplied tape to cover the keel, figuring that the extra width wasn't a major issue, and used narrower (3/16"), black backed Venture tape that I got from a stained glass supply store for everything else as it was much closer to scale. The Venture tape is much better tape than the kit supplied tape. If I do another MSW kit, I'm throwing out the kit supplied tape as soon as I open it up.
 
Next steps will be the rudder (so I can be done with copper), and the coamings that support the after deck house on the main deck (the only ones that I didn't install prior to planking). 
 
As always, thanks for looking in and the likes! Special thanks to Rob for his method which I adjusted to fit my needs.
 
George K.
 
 

I started today by marking the waterline with a home made jig I put together.  It wasn't the best in the world but it did the trick.  I simply drilled a hole into a piece of scrap and used a square to make sure I was vertical.  I got the height measurement from the drawing using the bottom of the keel as a reference.  I measured the distance from the keel to the water line closest to the rudder and added the distance the ship was sitting off the surface in the jig.
 

 
Once I had it marked I masked off the area then proceeded to spray paint the red lower portion.  I will try painting the black upper section tomorrow.  Because of the white base coat, I will use that to incorporate the stripe in the hull.  I'm not sure what I will do for the yellow stripe yet.  I may use vinyl strip as David has mentioned above.  It may be the easiest.
 
It seems that my problems with the bow cap rail actually revert back to the stern.  Because I needed to extend the distance at the bow, I realized that the stern was sitting back a little too far.  Not that it overhung too far off the back.  Somewhere, I made something not completely correctly or built something to a slightly wrong dimension which resulted in a small misalignment.  The main sheet boom buffer wouldn't fit under the bench so I had to slightly extend it by about 1/8".  Shown below are before and after pics.
 

Alan, I thought I could simply remove and rearrange the pieces but they didn't look the best once I got everything unstuck and simply figured I would start over again.  As said earlier, I decided this time to go with a solid piece.  I ended up cutting the glue up shown previously incorrectly so I tried for number 3.
 
Three times lucky I guess.
 



 
I was discouraged, Hamilton, with the fit of the cap rail but even surprised myself with the look of the results.  Thanks for the kind words.

I found that the cap rail at the bow didn't fit properly.  It was too wide and not long enough.  I tried adding some filler pieces but I ended up with quite a mess. 
 

 
After applying some wood filler and a bit of sanding later it started to take shape
 

 
I still have some more work to do but, once complete, I'm hoping a coat or two of paint will hide any defects.
 
And now, for the $64,000 question.  Can someone tell me what's wrong with the steering box I assembled?
 

 
I built it backwards, it is supposed to tilt away from the wheel, not towards it.  I am in the process of redoing it but thought I would use a solid bit of material this time.  I glued up 3 pieces to get the desired thickness.
 

 
I also spent a part of the day sanding the hull and adding two coats of white paint.  Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'm hoping to add the red and black paint to the hull.
 
 

Thanks for the words of thought Alan. I think what got me discouraged in the first place was trying for perfection and realizing I could never achieve it.  I even figured that all I needed was better tools and equipment.  That really didn't work however,,,,, well there really is nothing bad or negative to say about that. 
 
Thanks also David for the information.  It will definitely be helpful.  I am putting off painting for a while as I want to sand and fill the hull more plus I want to install the rudder. 
 
I am working on the cap rail.  I haven't included any progress pictures of that yet.  I have started the rough work and hope to be sanding shortly.  I will post progress pictures soon.  My idea above didn't work with the precision I had hoped so I'm in the process of waiting for copious amounts of wood filler to harden.
 
In the meantime I've been working on all the deck furniture.  Once completed these will all either get painted or have a coat or two of Polyurethane applied.
 
The main cabin was roughly completed.  I will do some finish sanding before painting.
 

 
I plan to add a base molding but will do that after installation to hide the natural curve of the deck.
 
For the bitts, I used a bit of thick metal wire I had on hand.
 

 
For the hatch, I cut the shape from some scrap wood I had laying around.  The thickness was correct and it gave a textured appearance.  I wrapped the edges for a finished look and sanded it all smooth.  I once debated the merits of keeping off cuts and bits and pieces of leftover wood but I can honestly say for the deck furniture I haven't had to use my kit wood very much.
 

 
There is also a piece on the drawings that refer to an "unidentified object".  Although not true to scale as it should be 1/2" diameter, I had a length of 3/8" dowel in my shop which I used.  I simply cut it to length.  I will paint it to suit later.
 
For the base of the boom crutch I used the same technique I used to cut in the scuppers.  I had a 1/8" wide file which I used to remove the material.
 

 
I see I need to change my depth of field on my camera.  I am in the process of setting up lighting and my DSLR in my shop in order to take better pictures of my progress.  In the meantime I have been using my cell phone.
 
I've started to work on the wheel box and have completed the base.  I've also started on the fife rail.
 
 

While waiting for the cap rail repairs to set up I decided to work on some of the deck furniture.
 

 
I was giving thought as to how detailed I wanted to make the Bluenose.  I figured at this point in my ship building career I would keep things relatively basic.  I've seen some work by true artists on this forum and I will never try to be like them, but I figure I can build up to greater detail as my skills improve.  I need to keep my work within my means.
 
 
 
 

Well, a brief note. We were at Mystic Seaport and the Charles W. Morgan was out of the water on blocks getting some restoration work, including, it appears, its copper. Here are a couple of pictures of the ship on blocks and her copper. 
 
First, the whole ship.
 

 
Her copper, fore and aft. I note that in contrast to the way it was described in the Fish instructions, the lower layers seem to overlay the upper belts.
 

 
I also note that the copper is cut around the gudgeon, rather than being mounted on top of the copper. This makes sense, but I hadn't thought about it looking at models.
 
Other observations. The foremast chain plates have backing links, the main and mizzenmast do not. The mizzen is smaller, so that makes sense, but why is the fore different? Extra strain from the jibs? The man at the museum didn't know.
 


 
If you want to look at the Morgan's spars, now us the time. They are out for all to examine in forensic detail.
 

 
And, I got a copy of this book!
 

 
George K

Dealing with the bow cap rail, I had to lengthen it and narrow it.  I cut it in half and sanded each half.  I also made filler pieces to lengthen the cap rail.
 

 
I've done the one side and clamped it.  Once dried, I will do the other side.  Then it's off to sanding
 

Finished the skipper, ok figure painting skills still needs some work on my part, however you only get there by making the effort

Completed the bow .50 Cal plus some ammo boxes , work is getting there slow but steady

Have not posted for a while as most of the work has been on the repetitive side. Update: the105 boat is 99% complete. All the major work is complete, has been for about a month.  the remaining work being added is dependent on the on finishing the water on the base. The base is very much a work in progress, many hours to go. The palm trees, have one fully completed mainly to make sure my technique would yield the look I wanted, if I did them one at a time its 5 days start to finish, building in bulk steps I have completed the trunks for 19 trees, the palm fronds , made from feathers takes the most time. 10 days to finish the water, 1 day drying time between coats, and maybe a month to finish the background. So much work ahead, but it’s getting there