bhermann

Worked on the stays and topmast hardware.
 
At least the stays are only served at either end, unlike full length on the shrouds; still a lot of serving. Made shackles from brass wire as well as the topmast crane. Bails for the stay and figure 8 links for the topmast stays are also made from brass wire. The small gray circles in a few of the pictures are Grandt line bolts/washers, used to simulate anywhere a bolt head would be. They add a lot in this scale. You can see them painted in a few of the other photos, especially on the mast cheeks. The Model Shipways plans are very good with this detail. 

Shrouds are installed as well as all of the bowsprit rigging. All of the shrouds (masts and bowsprit) are served over their entire length. It seems to take forever and gets a bit tedious, but it does add a lot going to the effort to do it. The pin racks have also been installed between the deadeyes and seized. 

First time model builder here. Technically I've built some gundam models in the past but I don't really count those in the same category as what I'm beginning on here. I'm an avid sailboat racer and for my birthday I was gifted a J/24 made by BlueJacket. I sail on J/22s much more often but think the J/24 is still a fine looking boat and will be excited to have this on my self once it's complete.
 
Opening the box was a little intimidating but after reading through the instructions most of it seems to be shaping the wood which doesn't worry me then rigging it like an actual sailboat which I have a lot of experience with. The one part that I'm a little worried about is the painting but figured I could put that off till the end (turns out I was wrong about this). After getting things organized on my table I started in with getting the included stand set up by sanding off the laser cut burnt edges which was much messier than I thought it would be (probably need to go back and stain this to give it a nice finished look). The next step was working on getting the cockpit area fleshed out, I didn't make it far as the parts need to be primed before assembly since they would be hard to access after the fact. Here was where I had to stop for the day as I don't have any paint brushes and don't fully understand how to use all the paints provided with the kit. Guess I'm going to be researching how to paint and running to the hobby store tomorrow before anything else gets done.
 
Overall an enthusiastic but not super productive start to the model.
 
 
 
 

 

It was finicky working with such small parts. Need a magnifier and tweezers these days. Age takes it's toll.
The kit has an amazing number of small parts for the mechanical apparatus. But there are inexplicable parts left off. The gear side of the clutch is provided, but not the lever side or the lever. This is true in general for this kit. overall it's nice. They leave odd bits out. Usually chain is supplied but this kit doesn't have any. Things like that.
 
Anyway, I made the lever assembly from the flat brass wire provide with the kit. This was a little tricky as there are three pieces, two of which wrap around the missing clutch cylinder. To simplify I wrapped them around the hub of the clutch gear. It's not a working assembly and it looks correct. I used CA glue to assemble the parts. Here's the result:

 
Needs some touch up. The Britannia metal parts are a bit crude when looked at close up. The camera reveals details and textures that I don't see with my naked eye. It looks good from normal viewing distance.
 
Note: the sanding sealer and sanding before assembly completely got rid of the fuzzies. However, using a brush doesn't provide uniform  coverage as airbrushing would.

While waiting for paint to dry on the hull, I started the Jumbo boom crutch with it's gears. The Britannia metal was previously cleaned and trimmed. As usual they are not of the best quality.
 
Following my experience with the main mast pin rail The parts were prepared for painting -before- assembly. Quick work was made of sizing the two posts using my handy-dandy upside down mini plane. Wonderful tool! The knees were glued to the posts then all parts sanded with 400 grit. A temporary block was glued between the crutch legs for strength during assembly. This will be removed when the part is glued to the deck. Shellac was applied as a sanding sealer. Then Sanded again with 400 grit. I used Tamiya flat white applied with a brush. Three thin coats were applied to get coverage and keep the paint thin. Much better result than the pin rail.
 
The next challenge was the axle for the gears. The port bearing bracket and the large gear were supplied as separate items and the winch drums, clutch gear and Starboard bearing bracket were molded onto the axle. That left no way to put the port bracket and large gear on the shaft. 

 
Some experimentation on waste Britannia metal yielded the fact that it melts at soldering temperatures. Heating the shaft gently with a soldering iron softened the metal enough to slide the winch drum off the shaft; allowing the big gear and bearing bracket to be installed. The winch drum was drilled through to allow adjusting the fit.
 

Well, finally got Doc's keel jig done...fun project 

Thanks for your kind words, Mike!  I could have easily used the wooden anchor masters instead of casting one-off metal copies.  It was a great learning exercise, though; and I prefer the metal copies.
 
Work continues to finish the anchors.
 
All four of the shipped anchors on Oneida are different sizes.  Here the wooden stock of the #1500 anchor is treenailed.  The two halves of the stock are temporarily glued together--

 
 
Here the treenails have been sanded flush, the halves have been separated with isopropyl alcohol, and the interior gap has been shaped--

 
 
After chiseling out the interior location for the anchor shank, The halves are glued together again, captivating the anchor shank--

 
 
I pondered a while concerning how to do the iron bands.  I decided that I could tape the bands, and then use those as patterns for the metal pieces.  The beginnings of the Anchor rings are also shown here--

 
 
The anchor rings are here, and I slid off the masking tape patterns for the bands.  Two different sets for the different weight anchors--

 
 
Unfolding the bands, I was able to cut lengths for them--
 
 
The the next step will be to blacken the rings and bands,  and attach them to the anchors.

The mainmast pin rail/boom crutch is painted. Still not as nice a finish as I'd like. Suggestions for getting a smooth finish would be welcome! This was my first attempt at airbrush. It took some practice, especially getting the paint thinned correctly. That seems a critical step. I purchased the Model Expo Bluenose paint set before I had read the tips and techniques forum about airbrush paints. There seem to be a lot of negative comments about Model Expo paint. The primer didn't work very well, but the white paint sprayed OK. Of course I'm a newbie at thinning which might have something to do with it.
 
In the tips and techniques forum I had seen a lot of discussion about blackening brass. There were lots of complex procedures and noxious potions. Some science and some alchemy. Not something I was looking forward to. I saw a product for blackening on Model Expo's site which looked simple. Turned out this was the "right stuff". I simply dumped the brass parts directly from their packages into Alcohol to degrease, dried and dunked them in the blackening solution agitate for a couple minutes, rinse with water and dry. The hardest part was separating all those tiny parts afterward.
The parts were a uniform, flat black. They are easily burnished is you want a little sheen. The finish seems durable.

 
 

Most of the work is caught up,  now awaiting  materials to proceed   so I have posted the Jack while  docked  
Wishing all  a hearty thank for all your help & advise ,
Please have a Merry Xmas & Happy New Year, hopefully we will see calm seas ahead.

Well she finally has an official designation , the jack will soon be flying  on the fore deck

Forward & Aft gun carriages

Hello All!
 
It's been a while, about 6 months, since I've done any work on Oneida.  I felt I botched some work, and it sapped my motivation completely.  It's only in the last few days that I've felt ready to start (yet) again.
 
Back in June, after finishing the eagle carving, I made preparations to paint the ship's name on the transom.  I wanted to actually paint the letters, not use a decal, or transfer letters.  I knew I was going to have to turn the hull upside down to do this, so I wanted to do it now, before finishing anything else.
 
I experimented printing the name is some different fonts, and different sizes to arrive at something that looked about right.
 
Here is the printed name, taped to the transom with a small piece of white transfer paper underneath--

 
 
At this point, I nervously turned the hull upside down, hoping I wouldn't break or lose anything.  I left the ship's boat lashed down, and removed anything that could be taken off easily.  This photo is after I then "colored" the lettering with a sharp pencil, which transferred the letters onto the planking.  You can barely see it there on the transom--

 
 
Here's a close-up.  Not too pretty.  But enough to give me a reasonable guide for painting--

 
I used some artist oil paint, and the finest brush I have, and did the best I could.  It was not very good.  I didn't even take a photo.  For some reason, this completely deflated me.  And, unfortunately, I gave up the ship.  I turned it right side up, and left it alone.
 
Fast forward: I'm working from home due to Covid, don't get out much except to grocery shop, and when it was warmer, do some walking/hiking on the weekends.  I finally got bored enough to look at the ship (actually I have looked at it often enough, but without any desire to do anything), and see if I could make some improvements to that attempt at painting the name.
 
I turned the hull upside down again-

 
 
And I set about with a knife to trim and scrape at the edges of the painted letters, trying to clean up the serifs, and the uneven thicknesses of the strokes.  In this photo, all of the letters have already been given some work.  It was worse before--

 
 
All the letters needed some surgery, but the ones that needed the most work were the "O", the "N", and the "D".
 
After cleaning this up, it looked better.  Not as good as I would have liked, but enough better to accept.  I also had to glue a transom molding that had become detached at one end, and I glued the eagle-

 
 
You can see a nasty gap in the transom planking.  It was the first planking I had done on the whole ship, and it looks it.  I think I can fill it with some darkened sawdust and glue.
 
Here she is back right side up--

 
 
I've also continued working on the anchors.   Here the wood anchor stock pieces are shaped, treenailed (for appearance only, for they should have been drilled through the companion piece also; but that would require a precision in which I have not the confidence), and carved out for the shank.  I've cut a thin sliver of brass sheet for the iron bands that help hold it together-

 
 
All for now--Happy Holidays and Joyous New Year, if I don't post before then.
 
Ron
 
 

Took a break from the hull. Wanted to do some detail work for a while and try out my airbrush. I assembled the pin rail and boom crutch for the main mast. The laser cut parts are very delicate. Several blogs mentioned the horseshoe shaped piece as being particularly fragile. Most builders have simply made a new one from sturdier stuff. Being bad at carving, I decided to follow the advice of one builder who cemented cardboard to the piece to increase strength.
 
This worked out well. After I attached the cardboard I left the center uncut until sanding was done. This provided something to hold on to while sanding. Sure enough, after I cut the center out and tried to sand the inner edge it broke.😞 Fortunately the cardboard held it together and I was able to simply apply glue to the break and it was good as new. Stronger probably.
 
The Britannia metal legs are of the usual quality. Takes a bit of filing and fussing. I would have made new ones from wood if I had a mini-lathe.
 
The supplied brass belaying pins are excellent. They will just need cleaning and blacking. The brass looks nice but is not authentic. They may be a little bigger than scale too. That's not noticeable from viewing distance.
 
Ready for finish prep and paint;
 

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

I had a few springy planks where the edge glue missed. This is a problem as they can never be sanded smooth with adjacent planks. The springiness means the pressure of the sanding block is less on them and they always end up just slightly above adjacent boards. To fix this I spread a layer of PVA glue on the inside of the hull where the boards are springy and rubbed it in. After the glue set the planks were solid enough to be sanded even with the adjacent planks.

The hawse holes were created yesterday. It was a little tricky getting the position and shape right. Takes a bit of filing. I used the supplied Britannia metal hawse rings to get the shape. Getting the right angle and position is a little tricky. The hole was made by starting with a small drill and working up to the full 1/8 inch gradually. The basswood is soft and the drill bits tend to grab. The final hole size was done chucking an 1/8" drill in a pin vise and drilling carefully by hand. Still needs some cleanup after the hawse ring is mounted and the first pass of paint. Next is to cover up all the ugliness with filler and fine sanding.

The best advice I ever got for this kind of work is to treat each piece as a project in its own right, its own milestone. The second best piece of advice to getting through a big build was to walk away when you are getting frustrated.
 
Though I recall a great wit observing on this very forum that we build for accuracy and for pleasure, and when our output isn't sufficiently accurate, we have the pleasure of doing it all again. While I was kind to myself in this build, there were definitely occasions in which I tore things out and did them again, because there is being forgiving, and then there's just enabling bad habits.
 
I think that this kind of modelling is a lot more contemplative and process oriented than the plastic and resin kits I used to build and while building something like this absolutely has an overall goal, what really matters is the journey rather than the getting there. And that's the part I am really going to miss--as the first big build for me, each big milestone seemed extra big by virtue of having never gotten that far before. 

Work continues on the Bluenose. I was not happy with how the Red Ensign looked in terms of its shape, and reactivated the thin coat of glue it had been given with alcohol and shaped it again, using clamps to help hold it in shape while the glue set up again.
 

 
The same was done to the Nova Scotian flag as well.
 

 
Subsequent to this, I went about installing the shrouds. I found this one of the less enjoyable parts of the build because of how repetitive it was.
 

 
But it wasn't long before the sheer poles were ready to go in.
 

 
From here, the final bits of rigging were up at the bowsprit.
 

 
And then I set the model aside for a few days to give it an editing pass to correct a few small things, or add details that I missed. So it came to pass that a build that started on 12 April 2018 concluded on 5 December 2020 and my table has been cleared for another project that has just begun. This was the first large scale wooden ship model I have ever completed and I did the best I could with the skills, tools and knowledge I had at the time. For this reason I am very proud of what I have done and what I have learned, and I will carry those lessons forward. I am looking forward to getting her display case completed to keep her safe and dust free.
 
I will miss working on Bluenose, because this project was a huge labour of love, a symbol of a home that I had to move away from but never left. It's also been a welcome distraction and means of self-care that has been a huge support in some difficult and stressful times. But I will also apply what I learned here on the next build, and so it goes.

Got back to Blogging today. Some progress has happened. I was not looking forward to the hull sanding. It actually went very well. A pleasant surprise! The weather was warm enough to sit outside so the whole house didn't get dusty.
The planking was pretty uneven and had various bumps and dips.
 
After some experimentation I used a foam sanding block and a small solid block. For the tight curves I used an appropriate diameter auto hose wrapped with sandpaper. I started with 100 grit to remove the high spots. Then used a generic, water based, natural color, wood filler from Ace to fill the dips an cracks.

 
As you can see, there's a lot of dips and cracks. I also experimented with using model airplane dope mixed with micro-balloons. That's the white stuff in the picture. I found the dope mixture dried quite hard and was difficult to sand. It did fill small cracks well.
This was done twice and then a pass with 220 grit. The hull now looks pretty good. There are still a imperfections and slight dips to fill. One more pass should do it.


 
The next step was installing the waist. The supplied wood was not long enough to run the entire length. I split it at the mooring chocks at the stern and the knighthead at the stem. Then trimming the stanchions which were deliberately cut a bit long. I used this neat little 1" sanding disk with a Dremel. Just have to be careful with the angle of the cut and not nicking the waist.
 

 
Here's the overview:
 

I finished the studding boom brackets and made the studding booms. The studding sail booms are just temporarily dry fit for now as I need to move them out of the way when I do the chainplates. At this point I'm declaring all the hull details as complete. Everything left to do (besides boats) is masting and rigging. I've never rigged a ship model though, and I'm not sure that I want this one to be the first so we'll see. I may do a couple of smaller ships first.
 

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

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.

Did more work on the stern yesterday. Due to my lack of carving skill this is an iterative process. It's a fill, sand, check, fill job. Each iteration gets closer. To get the proper shape of the main rail at the stern I shimmed key points and slopped wood filler on, then placed wax paper, wax side to the filler, over the filler and pressed it into shape using scrap clamped into place to create the correct shape.
 

 
It turned out pretty close. Still some filling and shaping to do.
 

 
While I waited for the filler to harden I started on the main boom buffer. The brittania metal buffer is not so nice as "Retired Guys". He created an actual working boom buffer in scale. Be sure to check out his build log.
The supplied one cleans up pretty well and is mostly hidden but lacks some detail. The supplied plans have great detail on this piece for those with a mini-lath.
 
 

Today, I gave some thought to the cove below the waist. Looking at pictures of the prototype it adds a nice detail to the ship. It would be even more pronounced in color(yellow) against the black of the hull. I didn't see much about it in most build logs.
I made a simple tool to create the cove and experimented. The tool is a block with the backside of an old scalpel blade. The idea is to press the shape into the basswood rather than cut or scrape. The thickness of the blade(could be any rounded piece of metal) determines the width of the cove and the thickness of the shims on the block determine the offset from the edge of the plank. The depth can be controlled by how far the blade extends beyond the block. In practice the depth is easily controlled by hand pressure and the setting of the blade was not too important.
 

 
Below is a picture of the result:
 

 
This does a pretty nice job but requires a steady hand. With parts this small it's easy to slip. It wouldn't be too hard to make a jig that you push the plank through for a more controlled impression.
In the end, I decided it wasn't worth the difficulty. It still has to be masked and painted. When the ship is finished the detail would probably not be noticeable at a normal viewing distance. The grove necessitates a constant  cleaning out to keep it visible when filling and painting. It will be there but I'm not going to make a great deal of effort to keep it cleaned out. I suppose it'll serve as a nice guide for masking during painting.

Hi Bob, I've been using some it it for shims as well. I like the idea of doing the roofs with it. They should look very nice when finished.