bhermann

Had time this morning for another plank to be attached.
Current score, which puts Port in lead is 5 to 4 (referring the number of planks attached.) 

For what it's worth, here is an image of my Bluenose bowsprit with the jib stops rigged.  The knots that keep them in place can be seen in this photo.  Hope this helps
 

 
Bob

For what it's worth, here is an image of my Bluenose bowsprit with the jib stops rigged.  The knots that keep them in place can be seen in this photo.  Hope this helps
 

 
Bob

Planking is on the way.
The provided material is not long enough, which is stated in practicum and instruction manual.
There-fore we have to use another strip to create the remaining length of the strake.
 
Instead of using a straight cut of the plank where the bulkhead is located I chamfered the connecting planks for more contact surface.
After sanding it's hard to tell where the joint is located.


 

Model Masters is still around. Our local Hobby Town has the line. You may have to go to an online retailer, but here are several you can start with.
https://www.megahobby.com/categories/paint-store/model-master.html
http://store.spruebrothers.com/category_s/1982.htm
http://www.rollmodels.net/search/newsrch.php

Maybe so - I did my painting a few years ago and haven't gone looking for any since then.  Who knows what happened to Model Masters since then.  I'll keep my bottles sealed as tight as I can - I'd hate to have to match colors at this stage of the build!
 
Bob

Model Masters makes a primer in white... that's what I used.
 
Bob

Surprisingly, I was able make all three booms and both gaffs over the weekend.  I really expected these to take longer.
 
Main Boom
 
I started with the main boom.  The kit provides laser-cut jaws that were cut loose and cleaned up.  The boom itself was made from a tapered dowel.

All the various holes were drilled after the jaws were glued in, and brass wire was used to simulate bolts on the sides.  Everything was stained to match the masts and deck.

On the masts I used eyebolts to simulate fairleads, but here I decided to try and make them from scratch.  The main boom has a couple fairleads secured with rope.  I made them from brass tube that had a groove cut into the outside edge for the rope.  Unfortunately I had to use a little CA glue here to keep everything together, and I realized after I was done that I had put the knot on the top.  Oh well.  Once I get everything rigged it probably won't be noticable.
 
The assorted bands were also made as indicated on the plans, using brass strip, wire, and eye bolts.

The eyes for the lazy jack line were made from some rigging rope with eye splices, stapled into the sides of the boom.

The other end of the boom got a couple sheaves, done the same way I did the ones for the top mast.

Fore Boom
 
The fore boom was a bit simpler, as it doesn't have jaws or sheaves, and has fewer parts.  Instead of the jaws, it appears to have a 'cap' on the end with some hardware to attach to the gooseneck on the fore mast.  I made this by gluing on some 'U' shaped brass strip (drilled with holes), then using some brass tape around the end of the boom to finish out the 'cap'.
 
'
The other end just had a few typical brass bands.

Jumbo Jib Boom
 
The jumbo jib boom was also very simple, but does require another special end to be made.  This one connects to the traveller on the bowsprit.  From the plans, this appears to be a wide band with two  wires on the bottom, both bent into a squared-off 'U' shape.  I made the band from the thin brass sheeting that I acquired for the metal sheet on the mast.  Then I drilled four holes in the bottom and glued in wire.
 

Fore Gaff
 
Next I moved on to the two gaffs.  I started with the fore gaff.  By this point, it was getting pretty routine.

Main Gaff
 
Then on to the main gaff.  This one has a number of stops that need to be added.  These were made by gluing on 1/32" pieces of wood, then sanding them down to the right shape.

 
Then suddenly I realized I was done.  
 

Just for fun, I made some temporary rigging lines (just some thread with hooks on either end) and hung all the booms and gaffs.  I just wanted to see what everything looks like on the ship.
 

With these completed, I'm basically done with construction and ready to start rigging.  I really didn't expect to be ready to rig for a few more weeks, so I haven't done as much planning/prep as I need. I'm going to start by pulling the masts/booms/gaffs back off the ship (nothing was permanently installed).  Then I'm going to do a pass over the whole ship and look for anything that I want to correct or clean up.  I think this will be much easier before I get rigging in place.  I know I need to adjust the top mast iron fids as Bob pointed out, stain and tie down my barrels, glue the dories oars in place (they are loose right now), and remake the connector between the gooseneck and fore boom (with the boom attached, it doesn't sit right).  I'm sure I'll find other things to clean up while I'm at it.
 
During all that, I'll start researching the rigging that I haven't figured out yet.  I plan to do as much rigging as I can with the masts off the ship - at least the standing rigging.  I took a lot of shortcuts while rigging my first build (I just tied knots everywhere), so I'm looking forward to trying to do this one correctly.  We'll see if I'm able to use the right method of attaching lines/hooks/eyes to blocks in the right places
 
 

Hi Per - I have Chucks rope ready to go.  As of now only the bowsprit is rigged.  I made up my own turnbuckles for this from the kit supplied brass strip and wire.  I used speaker wire for the footropes as I couldn't see how to get thread to drape properly.,  I did use thread for the stirrups.  Other than that, it's all standard stuff.
 
I'll be getting back to Bluenose at some point - ATM I am working out some bothersome details on my astrophotography setup and am not spending any time in the shipyard.
 
Bob

Things go badly when model rigging line is too tight. Certainly standing rigging shouldn't droop MUCH, But it should not be made as tight as it's possible to tighten it. Also, what you will discover as you rig is that tension set into one part of the rig at the beginning of the work is going to trouble you later over on another part of the rig.It's best to get ALL the stays and backstays on the completed masts BEFORE you set up all the tension. You are going to have to tune the rig at the end to get all the masts in line and not leaning one way and another, and you won't be able to make any adjustments if you cement every rope end in place as you work your way up. Tie the stays and backstays with knots you can untie and adjust at the final stage of rigging. THEN make them permanent only after you have sighted down the centerline of the model AND gauged the rake of all the masts. This advice will seam overblown as you are working on the lower rigging. But as you go higher the thinner spars are very flexible and they WILL bend in ways you do not want them to so keep all your tensioning options open until the last minute.

You don't say what scale you are working in. In general, kit-supplied rigging thread is not very suitable. I would look into making/getting a rope-walk to make your own rigging material. At smaller scales the very fly-tying yarn you use for your bottle-ships would be a good starting point. For other materials, there are a lot of suggestions here in the forum.
 
Coming back to your actual question: in real life, the standing rigging would not look like drawn with a ruler, but would be sagging under its own weight, forming some sort of shallow catena. This is not so easy to reproduce in a model, it can turn out looking like sloppy workmanship. In general, the standing rigging shouldn't be used to pull masts etc. into position. The masts have to aligned properly all along. Prototype practice of course is different and the standing rigging may have been used to 'trim' the masts. On a model changing temperature and humidity may throw your mast and rigging out of 'trim' or worse, can even break a mast, if set too tight. They are not strings on a guitar. So, I would set the rigging just tight enough to look neat, nothing more.

We sell plenty of internally strapped blocks at syren should you choose to go that route.   Syrenshipmodelcompany.com
 
Chuckj
 

There has been recently many methods shown to make strops around small blocks. When rigging the guns for my Le Cerf I needed a big number of small 3 mm double blocks. For making strops around these  I made this simple fixture, which fullfilled it`s task quite reasonably.
 
First a simple construction was made of a piece of scrap wood and 2 mm plywood.  Small pieces of 1 mm and 0,6 mm iron wire were glued into the bottom of the jig, and grooves were sawn with jeweler`s saw into the plywood walls:

 
 
Pieces of 0,15 mm thread were put into the first grooves, and blocks were positioned to the jig so that the 0,6 mm wire was put through one hole of the block:
 
 
Then small pieces of 0,6 mm rigging thread were placed into the second grooves:

 
 
And then it was rotated around the block and then around the 1 mm iron wire:

 
And now it remained only to make a small knot between the block and the 1 mm loop using the thinner thread, and attach small blops of diluted PVA glue into both ends of the block. After the glue had dried, ends of threads were cut as near as possible of the block.....

 
..... and blocks were ready......

 
......and used for rigging the guns:

 
 

On the top of the blocks I used scanned part from the plans to get the port and starboard shape.

So in order to get the right shape (hopefully) of the stern blocks,
I cut out the piece from the plywood sheet that held the false keel part and using it  for the shaping.

This way I will have some of the axis correct for final shaping.

So, there was only one winner of the daily quiz.......
and that was my Bluenose.
The bananas were the new waterway made out of 3/32" basswood plank.
The plank was necessary to get the right width.
Since I had a plank with the right thickness I made a single plank of 6/32", this to match the original Bluenose.
It was tricky to get it right but now they are down and glued into place. And it looks amazing. Hope this can be inspiring to others.
I will leave this to rest over the night.

 
 

Waterways out! And nothing damaged!

Bob, 
Thank you.
As for the installation of the great beams, it's mentioned to late in the instructions and in Hunts practicum almost forgotten this because he didn't use the laser cut parts.
He used leftovers to create his beams.
One more work day and then back to the yard and the the "lady".
 
I should had beveled the waterway before bending the pieces.
 

Some of today's effort: assembling some of the Syren Ship Model Company's internally iron stropped blocks.  
 
In the first picture you'll find, on the left, how the mini-kits arrive.  
 
In the center/top are blocks glued together using medium CA and toothpicks (per the online instructions).  
 
At the right are the sheave pin 'wire' and the incredibly fine strip stock used for the strops in the remaining bags.
 
In the center you'll see blocks snipped off the frames and also blocks which have had the sprue and laser burn sanded off.  I found using a no. 11 blade wasn't the best way to separate the blocks from the frame - it is easy for the sprue to snap off at part and remove a small chunk of the block. The shears shown worked quite well at separating the block without the damage to the block.
 
The second picture is a close up of the blocks.
 
I tried inserting the fine strip stock into the laser cut slots - they worked perfectly on the couple I tried.
 
I will have to wait a short while before I can tumble them to smooth the edges.
 
Elia

While I putter along with things here is an in-process picture of the masts and spars and their associated ironwork.  I still have some to do on the topmasts.  And there are a few fittings which I'll fret saw and file from thicker brass sheet.  I'll solder the soft or load bearing joints shortly.
 
Elia

So .... here are some initial 'casting my dories' images (taken with my cell phone).
 
The first two are my dory, puttied, sanded, and primed.
 
The next is of my mold box constructed of Lego blocks.
 
Following that is my mold box with clay, the blank, and vented tubes placed.
 
I purchased a starter kit from MicroMark - showing the mold two part materials.
 
Then there is slowly mixing up the silicone mold batter.
 
And lastly the mold filled.  
 
I have taken the blank out out of the mold and the first half looks pretty good - though I don't have a picture of it here...
 
Elia

I'm not dead yet!  I'm not making any progress on Bluenose at the moment, but she is still sitting next to me waiting for some attention.  In part I am doing my over-analyzing thing about how to do the sails, and freezing in place while that goes on.  I am also rekindling my life-long dream of doing astrophotography (if you think wooden ship modelling is a money sucker, try AP sometime) and am at a point there that requires a lot of energy to get better.
 
I still stop in to MSW on an almost daily basis and am keeping an eye on you all.  EdT's Young America continues to amaze, and I am enjoying watching Chuck build up Syren Ship Modelling, and many of the other activities here. When I get off the dime and decide to move forward with old Blue, I will start posting in the log again.
 
Bob

While responding to a PM, I visited the Nova Scotia archive web page to check on a couple of things... and found that it had moved.  It has been a great resource for me when working the little details, so I thought I'd put the new link in here:
 
https://novascotia.ca/archives/bluenose/
 
I know it has been a long time since I've done anything on this build, but life (and other hobbies) have been taking up much of my time over the last few years.  On the plus side, I am wrapping up three years as chair of the Board of Deacons at my church at the end of May, and am hoping that will give me some time to get this going again in earnest.  Of course there is always the granddaughter to spoil, astrophotography to work on, etc., etc., etc.
 
Thanks for your patience with me, and for sharing all your experiences in this hobby - MSW is s a great place to help keep the interest alive!
 
Bob

Thanks, Dimitris.  I do hope to get back to work on her in the new year!
 
Bob

Julian -
 
Thanks for the kind words.  I am glad that sharing my trials and processes is useful to others.  I will be happy to send along a copy of the spreadsheet and I have PMed you concerning that.
 
Thanks,
Bob