jre8655

I began the rigging process yesterday.  I began by lashing the Main and Fore Sails to their respective booms and gaffs.  The instructions and plans show the Main and Fore Sails lashed to the gaffs, but are secured to the booms only at the corners.  Looking at the photos of the actual Bluenose it shows that these sails were lashed along the entire boom.
 

 
I decided to lash my sails to the booms and gaffs, but opted for a running stitch.  Using a Tapestry Needle gave me enough of an eye in the needle to use 0.25mm rigging line.  The running stitch also allowed me to adjust the tension on the lashing for a uniform appearance.
 

 
I used the same running stitch for the Fore Sail.
 

 
Because I already had the Mast Hoops in place I used a method described by Dave Borgens back in August.  His method uses a simple cow hitch to secure the line on the Mast Hoop then running these lines through the sail to secure it to the Mast Hoop.
 

 
Couldn’t wait to see how the Main Sail looked on the model.
 

 
Now it’s just a matter of securing the appropriate rigging lines to the other sails.
 

Our San Diego vacation has produced what I can only hope is a future ship modeler:
 

The Holidays, with all the family activities, do not lend themselves to model ship building.  Throw in a week-long trip to San Diego, a birthday for our granddaughter, and things very rapidly come to a halt.  I’m not complaining.  It’s been wonderful having all the family over for the various celebrations and I’ve been able to get in an hour or two of building every couple of days.
 
As stated in a previous post, after the seams were sewn in, I painted the hems with a 50% solution of white glue and water.
 

 
The result was that the sail cloth took on the texture of light construction paper.  I used a dental spatula to score the hem fold lines.  This made for a very nice, sharp crease in the cloth.
 

 
The crease made it fairly easy to hold the hem fold while sewing and the result was a very nice hem line.
 
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When I finished the hems I laid out all the sails and discovered that the Main and Main Topsail didn’t match up where they will be secured to the Main Mast Gaff.
 

 
I had to recalculate the two sail patterns then completely remake these two sails.  They now align where they should.
 

 

Sewing progresses very slowly.  I’m still learning how to handle the sewing machine.  You would think this would be fairly simple, but no!  I’m finding that the most difficult part of sewing the seams in the sails is starting a line to stitching.
 

 
If you don’t control the top and bottom threads, keeping them taught with a finger as you begin the stitch, the bottom thread will sometimes snag the top thread and pull it under the cloth.  This causes it to be tangled into the stitching.  Of course you don’t discover this until after you’ve finished the entire line of stitching.  Sometimes I can very carefully pull the thread out and tighten the stitching.  Sometimes I can’t and then it requires taking out the entire line of stitching and doing it over again.  I’m learning!
 
Once I have the seams sewn into the sail pattern it leaves “Irish Pennants” along the hem line.  Using a regular sewing needle I bring the top thread back through the cloth and tie it to the bottom thread with a square knot.
 


 
Once all the seams are sewn in I dampened the sail cloth and ironed all the wrinkles out.  Now it’s time to start cutting out the patterns.
 

 
I’ve used Fray Check along all the sail pattern outlines to prevent the cloth from unraveling after it’s cut.  I also painted a thin solution of white glue to all the outside areas that will be folded to form the hems.  I’m hoping this will add just enough stiffness to allow for a nice crisp fold.
 
As I said; slow progress, but, “softly, softly, catchee monkey.”
 

I’ve been going back over the information I have on sail making and have found it somewhat lacking when it comes to washing and treating the cloth.  My first mistake was to hand-wash the cloth then fully dry it before ironing.  This just produced wrinkles that would not iron out.
 
Fortunately I have a female friend that, among other things, is a seamstress and artist.  She sent me the following information on handling linen (it also applies to muslin):
 
“When hand-washing linen for the first time, you need to soak it briefly in lukewarm water before washing.  When washing, use natural soap and cold water.  Linen will shrink anywhere from 4 - 6%.
 
As you now know, linen wrinkles readily.  Linen fabrics also soften with age.  Bast/plant based fibers such as linen require a little more care when laundering (i.e., bleach will weaken natural fibers and it yellows linen).
 
You need to dry wet linen on a flat surface, using towels underneath; unless you have access to new printmaking felts, which would be the very best choice for water absorption.  I suspect you may have gently hand twisted the fabric to remove excess water and also used a dryer.  Either one would have added to the fabric wrinkling.
 
You can avoid wrinkling by placing the wet linen flat, smoothing it with your hands if needed, on a layer of cotton bath towels.  You may need to pick up the linen by the corners and transfer it to a new stack of towels or roll it inside a layer of towels to wick the moisture from the fabric.
 
Back to the fabric drying…while the linen is still damp, not dry in any areas, this is the time to get out that friendly iron and iron the cloth while it is still damp with an iron setting of medium or high heat.  Begin with medium heat, moving to high is my suggestion.
 
Preparing the linen fabric before cutting the shapes is the better way to go.  You can store the remainder of the linen fabric by rolling it over a 100% cotton towel with a smooth surface and it will be ready for your next ship sail project.”
 
I applied her information to the muslin I have for the Bluenose Sails.  Using a Quilter’s Marking Pencil I transferred the sail patterns to the muslin and added the seam lines.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice, man, practice!
 
How do you make ship model sails?  Practice, swear, remake, practice, swear, etc!
 
I’m relieved that I didn’t attempt the Bluenose sails first.  My practice sail construction is to replace the original sails on a toy boat we purchased in Dunoon, Scotland, in 1981.  Time and water have damaged the sails and it makes an excellent subject for simple sails.
 
I hand washed the sail cloth, dried, and ironed it.  Traced the pattern onto the cloth, using a Quilter’s Marking Pencil, then used Fray Check along all the outlines.  Once I had that done I lightly penciled in the seams on the main sail.  Sewing the seams seemed fairly easy and I was able to keep the seam lines straight.
 
I used a small spatula to crease the hem folds then ironed and pinned the hems.  I only burned my fingers four or five times.  I used the instructions posted by DBorgens in his Lessons Learned Sewing Sails, posted 19 April 2013.  His method provides for a 1/8 inch hem when finished.
 
Now came the fun part!  I set up and began sewing the hems.  It’s not as easy to sew along a hem fold as it would appear.  I drifted off the hem line several times and when I tried to rip out the stitches it looked horrible.  Fortunately I had enough practice material to remake the sails a couple of times.  I hand finished the corners and sewed in the grommets.
 
Hopefully the Bluenose sails will go a little better and the end product will be much straighter.

It’s taken me 4 days to complete the paper patterns for the sails.  I started with the Main Sail and it took me 5 tries to get it right.  The Main Top Sail was next and it took 4 attempts before it was right.  Pretty much, it took me at least 2 tries on each one to get the dimensions correct.
 
Now comes the fun part!  I’m going to go to a fabric shop and purchase some of the lightest muslin I can find.  That seems to be the preferred fabric in all the reading I’ve done on sail making.  I plan on spending a couple of days playing with it to practice using the sewing machine.  I do have a toy sail boat that needs a new set of sail and I thought I would use that as practice before attempting the sails for the Bluenose.
 

Progress has been very slow.  I finally have all the Booms and Gaffs tapered, fitted with jaws, and rigged with their pulleys.  Additionally I have the Shrouds seized at the mastheads and ready to be rigged with the Deadeyes.
 
I acquired a Loom-a-line some time ago and have always scratched my head trying to figure out how to use the thing.  None of the holes really corresponded to the actual measurements of the model.  I did use it as a jig to hold my shrouds in place while seizing them for placement over the mastheads.  It gave me some very consistent spacing and held everything nicely while winding the seizing.
 
After completing the blocks, I noticed that on the plans the rigging for the Booms and Gaffs shows some of the pulleys in a “Gun Tackle” arrangement.  The instructions do not mention this and all the blocks are only single hole.  I selected some of the blocks that were originally drilled a little off center and drilled a second hole.  These will go in the locations needed for the Gun Tackle rigging.
 
I’m going to make a jig to hold the Deadeyes in place while securing the Shrouds.  I want to make sure that all the Shrouds are of the same length with the Deadeyes in place so the Channels are as close to the same as possible.  Once I have the Shrouds finished, I can start on the Ratlines.
 
Now my question is, when should I consider making and installing the sails?  I was thinking that once the Ratlines are in, the sails should be attached to the Booms and Gaffs then rig all of them in place.  Any suggestions?
 

Finished the display stand this afternoon.  It does have the desired look I wanted.
 
When the Admiral saw it she remarked, “It looks like what we saw in San Diego where they’re building that ship.”  She was referring to the San Salvador that the San Diego Maritime Museum is building.  So even she thinks it looks like a dry dock.  That’s praise enough for me.
 
What I discovered in building this was that I managed to get both sides of the hull very close in contour.  All the support pieces on the stand are identical Port and Starboard.  That pleased me.

Elia,
 
Thank you for the kind remarks.  This is actually my first wood ship model build, but I've had some experience building wood model airplanes when I was a kid.  I'm finding that a great deal of the woodworking techniques used for the airplanes translates very nicely with the wood model ship.  One thing I caught onto very quickly is don't hurry.  When you get tired, put it down, walk away, then come back later.
 
Prime example; I had to suspend my build for a couple of weeks here because of some family health issues.  All is much better now and I’m actually somewhat refreshed with the build.
 
I found a scrap piece of oak one evening while at the community woodshop and decided that it would be good building material for a display stand for the Bluenose.  Using a band saw I striped it into 5/16” square rods and came up with a base resembling a pseudo dry dock bed.
 
The next step is to bend some strips to fit along the contour of the hull that will form a buttress for support beams.
 
Now I have to get back to seizing blocks.
 

I was away from this build for a little while.  I’m trying to plan ahead and thought that ultimately I would need to build a display case for the Bluenose.  We have a fantastic woodshop in our community so I spent the last two weekends over there getting to know some of the woodshop members and familiarizing myself with all the machinery.  They have everything you could want.
 
Found one of the members builds what he calls “toys.”  They are more like scale models rather than toys.  I’ve already been told by some of the other members that I’m as crazy as he is because of the small work I’m doing.  Guess I’m in good company.
 
Onward with the build; the jaws will have to be made from scratch (as with the mast caps) because the originals are cut from the same Walnut as was the Fife Rail.  In fact one of the jaws has already cracked when I removed it from the sheet. 
 
I used the scrap 1mm plywood for the jaws that I used for the mast caps.  Each jaw is cut to make two identical parts that are then glued together.  I now have a much better fit around each mast and can control the width and taper of the slots to better fit the boom or gaff it will go to.
 
The other task at hand is tying all the blocks that will be secured to the Bowsprit, masts, booms, and gaffs.  This is a tedious chore.  This must be what a rat’s nest looks like.  My mother always said that’s what my room looked like.

The masts are ready to be glued into the hull.  In one photo I have of the Bluenose I found that there is a collar (Boom Jaws Rest) on each mast.  The kit includes 20 brass rings (10 for each mast) to secure the Main and Fore Sails to their respective masts.  These rings were placed on the masts then the Boom Jaws Rests glued in place.  This really helped prevent the rings from dropping all the way to the deck and in the case of the Main Mast they would have rested inside the Fife Rail.
 
With the masts in this configuration I set about epoxied them into the hull.  On this model there is no rake to the masts so they are set perpendicular to the deck.  I cut some cardboard braces to size and secured them to each mast to hold the mast at 90 degrees while the epoxy set.
 
I believe I’m ready to move on to the booms, gaffs, and jaws.

Hamilton;
 
Thank you for the insight. I believe I will secure the Main and Fore Masts and then begin rigging the Shrouds and Stays before adding the top masts.
 
The parts to form the mast heads were, as I expected, not to the task.  The grain ran lengthwise through them and the holes were so misshapen that any attempt to drill or file them out would have resulted in a total failure of the part.  I opted, again, to manufacture my own parts.  I made them out of 2.5mm plywood.
After tapering the masts I measured the diameters and selected the appropriate drill sizes for the holes.  Once I had all the holes drilled for the four pieces I cut them to size and finished them.  Each one is specific to the locations they go.
 
Next I constructed the Trestletrees and added the cheek pieces.  The plans call for holes to be drilled in the longer cross members of the Trestletrees to accept rigging.  In this case I thought that drilling would weaken the piece so I installed eyebolts in the ends instead.
 
Next step is to add the blocks to the masts.

Having previously posted a question about a mysterious object on the aft deck, next to the steering box, I decided to go back over the photos of the original ship and see if there was anything I could do to improve the overall look of the model.
 
The Admiral made a comment that the rigging line for the anchors look, “Phony,” in her opinion.  She said it would look better if there was chain instead of, “Thread.”  Since we needed to go to Michael’s for some needles, for her, I went along and took a look in the bead and jewelry making aisle.  Found some chain that looked promising.  Got the chain and a package of small Jump Rings to attach the chain to the anchors.
 
I also noted on the original photos the placement of a Chain Box on the Foredeck, next to the Winch Motor Housing.  If I was going to use chain then I would need a place to stow the extra.  The Chain Box was made from some scrap wood that had laser cut parts.
 
I think the overall affect looks pretty good considering the scale.
 
In the photos I have of the original Bluenose, there is a rack of barrels on the aft deck just ahead of the main cabin.  This kit does not supply, much less mention, any barrels on deck.  Improvising, I found some barrels of the appropriate size and fabricated a barrel rack.  Once it was completed and glued to the deck I fixed in some eye bolts and lashed the barrels down.
 
So here is a series of photos of the original ship’s deck and my completed rendition.  I hope it meets with your approval.

I managed to something done this weekend.  It’s been very humid and HOT here in the Phoenix area.  Lots of rain for the entire valley with some flooding in various areas.
 
Seems only fitting that I should be working on the Dorys for the Bluenose.  The hardest part of this bit of construction was bending the plywood parts.  The first piece I tried to soak and bend broke in the middle and I had to cut a new piece.
 
I eventually used a damp sponge to lay the pieces on then applied finger pressure to get the desired curve to the pieces.  It took a little longer than I expected, but it worked out very well overall.
 
The Dory Cradles were a bit tricky because there was very little area to glue together.  I built them over a piece of paper and allowed a small amount of epoxy to stick the parts to the paper.  After the epoxy cured I painted the cradles, drilled the eyebolt holes, epoxied the Dorys to the cradles.  Once all the epoxy was cured I cut the constructions from the paper, glued in the eyebolts, finish sanded the bottom of the cradles, and added the tie-down ropes.
 
Everything seems to fit where it should.

The scale on this model does not lend itself to much fine detail.  I wanted to add a drive chain to the winch, but was unable to find anything that small.  I opted (at the suggestion of my son) to wrap some thread around the sprockets to simulate a drive chain, or belt.  At least it fills in that space between the parts.
 
Once all the glue and paint was dry I mounted it on the Forecastle as indicated on the plans.

Allan,
 
Thank you for the correct nomenclature.  That is really appreciated.
 
PARTS FAILURE!
 
Moving along with the deck furniture, I proceeded to the Fife Rail assembly.  After freeing the part from its respective board (I believe it’s Walnut) I was sanding all the little ripples around the edge when the rail broke right across two of the belaying pin holes.
 
I could see right away this was not going to be a fix.  Because of the wood grain, brittleness, and the fact it broke across two of the weakest areas, it was going to be prone to breaking again and again.
 
I abandon the notion of fixing and took some scrap 1mm plywood to make a new Fife Rail. I glued the original back together and used it for a template to trace out the shape for the new parts.  I figured that I would make two Fife Rails and then glue them together to give me the thickness of the original part.  After shaping the outside, I drilled out the belaying pin holes and used the same drill bit to systematically drill out the center.
 
Once I had the new Fife Rail fabricated it was just a matter of constructing the assembly and painting.

Went over the plans and instructions again and began construction of the deck furniture.  Seems to be pretty straight forward and should move along at a fair pace.
 
The instructions call for construction of three hatches, but the smaller of the three has no ring bolts for lifting the hatch cover.  I’m wondering if this is a “hatch” or something else.  Its position on the deck is just aft of the Forecastle Companionway.
 
The Main and Aft Hatches were easy enough and after drilling the holes for the ring bolts they really fell together quickly.

John & Tim,
 
I can only say that the paint job is thanks to a very dear friend who is an artist.  She and I worked for the county sheriff's office and when I retired this past January she gave me a Paasche VL Airbrush as a retirement gift.  Her generous gift made the paint job a sucess.

The next step was to assemble what the instructions called a Bridge.  There are three of them, formed from brass wire and a block is lashed to them then seized.
 
Here’s where the material supplied in the kit falls far short of desirable.  The rigging line has a plastic feel to it.  When it’s unwound from the card it will not relax and you have bends, or folds, in it that won’t stretch out.  Not only that, but the glues I’m using won’t stick to it.  It’s extremely hard to work with and impossible to form around the blocks.
 
Luckily I discovered this in time to order something better from Model Expo.  The new rigging line is much more flexible, forms nicely, and absorbs the glue without becoming too stiff.  Using this new rigging line I assembled the Bridges and Blocks then drilled the deck and epoxied them in place.

I’ve been able to make a great deal of progress these past couple of days.  It seemed as though I was slowed to a snail’s pace with the hull finishing and painting.  Sanding, filling, sanding, priming, sanding, masking, painting, sanding, ect.  At least now the building has the appearance of progressing.
 
Brass wire is formed around the Deadeyes then the finished the assembly is epoxied into the Gunwale.  Please feel free to provide any corrections you may deem fit for the proper nomenclature on these parts.  The instructions are very sparse in this area.

After a bit of delay: trip to San Diego, the July 4th celebrations, and our grandson’s 2nd birthday, I am back at the workbench.
 
I’ve moved building into the house and set up a card table in the library.  At least I’m out of the 110 degree temperatures we’ve been experiencing of late.  From this point on there shouldn’t be much dust from sawing, drilling, sanding, etc.
 
Now that all the major painting is complete and I am ready to begin construction of the deck furniture.  Maybe now it will look like I’m actually making progress as the little bits and pieces go onto the deck.

Dave, glad I could help.
 
Over the past couple of days I've been able to re-mask the hull and prepare to spray the upper section black.  After I had the masking tape in place I went over the edges with a thin coat of the underlying color.  In other words, where the tape covered the red, I painted a coat of red, and where the white (for the gunwales) will be, I painted a coat of white.  This should keep the black from bleeding into the other colors.  It used to work for model airplanes...don't know why it won't work here.
 
I sprayed the first coat of black, lightly sanded, and then sprayed a second coat.  Seems to have come out pretty good.
 
I will not get a chance to complete anything further for about a week.  The Admiral just found out that our daughter has been cleared by her doctor to resume normal activity following surgery and we can get out of this heat for a while.  We're heading for San Diego on Sunday.  That should give the paint a chance to cure properly.

The hull is now ready for painting.  This is going to be a somewhat lengthy process because of the weather.  I’m not worried about the paint taking a long time to dry; I’m more concerned about the paint drying before it even hits the hull.
 
I’m using an airbrush for the first time and did some test spraying to get feel of the airbrush and adjust the spray pattern.  One of the first things I discovered was how fast the paint will dry when the temperature is above 95 degrees.  I’m forced to confine my painting to early in the morning.  Around here (Surprise, Arizona) the temperature is already at 85 degrees at 6:00 AM.  By 10:00 AM we’re already approaching 100 degrees.
 
After tracing the waterline I used 3M Automotive Masking Tape to cover the hull above the waterline.  That accomplished, I applied the first coat of red.
 
In the time it took to clean the airbrush the paint was already dry to the touch.  A light sanding and I applied the second coat of red.
 
I plan on letting this set for at least 48 hours before I pull off the masking tape and begin prepping for the black paint.  It may be next Saturday before I can get back to it.
 

Time to install the rudder.
 
The instructions called for the rudder to be butt glued to the keel then the copper strips glued to the outside of the rudder and keel to simulate the hinges.
 
This just didn’t look right to me so…I cut two pieces of 1/32nd inch piano wire, drilled the rudder, and inserted the wires into the holes.  I formed the copper strips (hinges) around the rudder and around the keel.  The hinges that would conceal the wires were notched so the wires would fit between the two hinges.
 
The rudder was lined up to the keel and holes drilled in the keel to accept the wires.
 
The hinges were glued to the keel and rudder then the rudder wires were inserted into the keel and glued with epoxy.
 
The overall affect is that the rudder is spaced from the keel by about 1mm.  This gives a more realistic look to the assembly.