rvchima

Thank you everyone for all the compliments. After looking at several of the Model Shipways builds on MSW I am realizing that Amati left off a lot of details on this model. It still looks nice, but I do wish that I had gone with the Model Shipways kit. Question I am about ready to add sails. I suspect that the gaffs and booms should all be pinned to their respective masts. Is that right, or can I actually rig them in place?

Bowsprit with Blocks Re-positioned That looks a lot better. And 348 clove hitches later, I can tell that it is going to be difficult to keep these skinny masts vertical while I attach the remaining standing rigging!

Poor Instructions and Plans I made the bowsprit with two blocks attached to the end according to the instruction manual. I attached it and then noticed two lower stays on the plans. There was barely room to tie them on. Looking at other builds on MSW it is apparent that there should be several more stays below the bowsprit, but none are shown in the plans. Bowsprit from the instruction manual. My current bowsprit with lower stays. Now I realize that two stays for the jib and flying jib have to fit in there somewhere, and I won't have room. The plans show a little space between the blocks. The photo on the box shows even more space. Bowsprit from the plans. Bowsprit from the box cover. It looks like I will have to do some deconstruction to move those blocks apart. I think I will also use some thinner line for the lower stays.

Stepping the Masts The false keel in this kit is narrow and the slots for the masts and the holes in the deck were too big, so the masts would not stand upright on their own. I came up with a complicated way to set the masts vertical and hold them in place while I glued them. I hung a line from the ceiling with a screw eye weight to set the vertical. I put a heavy level across the deck, and braced it to hold the deck level. I attached a stick to the cross tree to visually set the rotation. I attached a line side-to-side across the cross tree and practiced tying it quickly. When everything was ready I removed the mast, applied PVA glue, and put it all back together. It took a whole evening to step each mast. But they are vertical. Attaching Deadeyes and Ratlines I made a deadeye spacer from two butterfly pins and a scrap of wood as thick as the spacing between two holes on a deadeye. The photo shows how it works. The mast stays are now attached and I am done with half of the ratlines. I worked for a fireworks company all through grad school, and everything was tied together with clove hitches - shell casings, fuses, lances on ground displays, etc. So I am very good at tying clove hitches, and the ratlines are coming along quickly. The Amati kit comes with two spools of line, thick and thin, and both tan. I will use the thin for running rigging but am using other black line that I have for the standing rigging.

Viking Cruise Lines River Ship vs. Bluenose In early July my wife and I took a cruise on the Main river through Germany on Viking Cruise Lines. They have 76 longships, all 443 ft long. The Bluenose was 143 ft long. Here is what it would look like next to our ship docked in Würzburg, Germany. It would not fit under the bridges!

That's for sure! After looking at some of the 1:64 Model Shipways Bluenose builds I've realized that Amati just left off a LOT of small details on this kit. I'm kind of sorry I didn't go with the larger model.

Masts, Gaffs, and Booms I tapered the masts, etc. chucked on a lathe using sand paper. At first I struggled with how to seize a line to a block and attach it to a mast, until I remembered that I had posted a very simple way to do that under my Endeavour build. It's cheating but it looks fine, goes fast, and hardly wastes any line. All those pieces are done and ready to install.

Anchors The Amati kit came with two cast anchors but no stocks or chain. I made stocks from some scrap walnut, and I had a long piece of brass chain that I blackened. The instructions show the anchor tied to the cathead by the shank, and a rope from the ring to the hawsepipe, where it disappears. I searched several Bluenose builds on MSW and saw chains leading to the winch, around the engine box, and into a chain box (or possibly into a locker below the deck?) I made something like what GGibson shows in this post.

Dories - 13 hours over 4 days The dories are made of 4 pieces of laser cut plywood assembled over a 4-piece form. The actual construction was pretty simple but I added some details that took a lot longer. Like these oars. They're 25 mm long and the handles are 1 mm dowel. They tended to break where the handles attach to the blades. The floorboards are thin walnut strips. The spacing between the strips is exactly the size of my push pins. I attempted to paint the dories by hand to avoid setting up my airbrush. When they still looked uneven after 7 coats of Model Master insignia yellow acrylic, I got out my airbrush. In 10 minutes they looked great. The green was masked off but drawn with a permanent marker. The Bluenose often sailed with 12 dories stacked 6 high. but 2 was enough for me.

Oops, Missing Rail I've been working on hatches, cabins, etc. and realized that I had neglected to add a second layer of railing around much of the hull. It wasn't hard to add, except where it interfered with 8 deadeyes amid ship. I had to wiggle them all loose, add the railing, paint it, and replace the deadeyes. Hatches, Cabins, etc. The tiny cabin is about the size of a Monopoly house and difficult to hold while working. The rings on the hatches are actually eye bolts folded 90 degrees and glued in holes. I did find some belaying pins. They are a bit long where the railing is a bit low, so I will have to improvise when tying lines to them. Main hatch and dory racks. The dories are built and currently being painted. The winch was made from several random pieces - aluminum tube, tiny round disks, 2 cast metal pieces, 2 turned brass pieces, and a piece of photo etched brass.

Back to Work I just returned from two weeks in Europe, traveling from Prague to Paris mostly on a river cruise. After mowing the grass I got back to work on the Bluenose. The Amati kit comes with a fairly ugly stand so I spent the last couple of days making a nice one out of cherry. I shaped dowels to make the pedestals. Old stand New stand The instructions say to wrap the deadeyes with fine brass wire. That seems simple enough but it took a few tries to get the hang of it. I darkened the wire with Novocan brand patina for stained glass. The wires go through the rails and into the deck, and are attached with CA. The remaining holes are for the ropes, but there are no belaying pins with the kit! The instructions just say to run the ropes to the appropriate holes. I hope I have some belaying pins in my spares box.

Hull Painted, Railing Installed - 23 days, 55 hours The hull was painted with three coats each of Rustoleum Colonial Red, Krylon gloss white, and Krylon gloss black from rattle cans. The rails and interior were brush painted with gloss white acrylic. I am leaving for Europe in a few days and rushed to get this all done, but probably should have taken my time. I can see a few seams between boards and a few fingerprints on the black areas. Not bad but I could do better.

Second Planking Complete I started at the top rail and worked towards the keel. The thin second layer of 0.5 mm walnut planks were amazingly flexible. I just glued them directly to the first layer with CA. No tapering necessary. After lots of sanding, crack filling with Famowood, more sanding, two coats of Aqua Coat, and more sanding, I think I am ready to paint the hull. At least I'll see how it looks after a coat of primer.

First Planking Complete - 14 days, 31 hours The second layer of planking is walnut, 3mm wide x 0.55 mm thick - not much material to sand down when I screw up. And why walnut if it's going to get painted anyway?

There are so many Bluenose build logs on MSW that I debated whether to add another. I am already glad that I did, since I've learned that the Maple Leaf flags that come with the kit are incorrect. However, I looked at the web sites for all the other Bluenose kits and guess what? They all have Maple Leaf flags! What gives?