rvchima

Bluenose Finished - 121 days, 253 hours
I finished my model yesterday and have my bench cleaned off. I would especially like to thank Trevor (Kenchington), David Lester, Ggibson, and several other contributors who helped me with so many questions on this model.
 
Full disclosure
I omitted a lot of rigging on the sails. I tried to include all the hallyards and tacks, but omitted many of the clew lines and sheets. They are all omitted on Amati's plans so I don't know where they go and I don't have anything to belay them too anyway.
 
Kit Review, Amati Bluenose, 1:100 scale
Back on June 18, I posted 
"What's in the Box - Seems like not much for €106.99"
 
The kit included:
Plenty of wood planking.
Two spools of rigging, all tan, and all way too thick.
Some brass wire for rings, way too thick.
Two historically incorrect Canadian flags.
Some unusable cloth for sails.
Some wooden single blocks at about 2x scale, but not nearly enough.
 
The kit did not include:
Usable rigging line.
Double blocks.
Eye bolts.
Belaying pins.
A decent stand.
 
Plans & Instructions
The three full-sized plans are somewhat helpful, but the instructions are terrible. The last two steps basically say "Build the masts and sails," and "Attach the standing and running rigging."
 
The instructions do not show any of the upper shrouds or ratlines.
 
The plans show an image of the deck with dots where belaying pins should be. They do not correspond to anything I've seen anywhere else. The rails on the model all seemed too close to the deck. That made it very difficult to belay lines. The rails also seem to be too narrow. When I tried to drill to add my own belaying pins I often ended up drilling to the outside of the hull.
 
There are no eyebolts on the rails or deck, but Jensen's book and the MS kit has many lines tied off to such points.
 
The instructions show a drawing of each sail with a number on each corner.  The numbers correspond to a deck plan with numbers on the rails where, I guess, you're somehow supposed to tie the line from the sail. But many of the connections just don't make sense - they cross to the wrong side of the ship or go way too far aft. Many thanks to Jensen's book and to my followers for helping me get some of this right.
 
Final Comments and Photos
I chose the Amati kit because it is small, and I am running out room for model ships in my house. The model was very frustrating because of the poor parts and terrible plans. I pre-rigged all the masts, booms, and gaffs according to the plans, and ended up re-rigging almost everything, usually in place, to get the rigging somewhat correct. I still know that so much of the rigging is incorrect, but just couldn't fix any more at this point.
 
Anyway, my model looks pretty good if you don't know enough to spot the errors. Unfortunately I do, but I won't tell anyone.
 
Rod




 
 



Here's what I go through for my 7 followers. I took some early photos, and then the sun peeked out from behind the trees. I did get a nice image of the shadow.


 
 
 

First coat of white.

I decided to get the staining process going while the hull painting is going on. Figured I mine as well have these parts ready when I need them.

Hi Phil,
I just noticed that you had started your build, and I will follow along. That hull is really hard to plank, with only a few frames and one layer. It looks like you're off to a good start.
Rod

I finally finished the starboard side channels and chain plates. Well, almost.. I had to do a little trimming on the channels, which required a little touch up with stain, which in turn requires 24 hours to cure. So, putting a couple of coats of matte poly on them will have to wait a day or so.
 
While I contemplate next steps, (the remaining three items in chapter 12 of the practicum - steps, anchors and rudder), I'll update the build log with a few new photos.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
By the way, the belaying pin replacement count was an even dozen.  I repeat my earlier advice, don't glue in the belaying pins until you're ready to use them. There's almost no way to work on chain plates and channels without taking them out.
 

Okay...to follow up on yesterday's update, here are some pictures of the process.  
 
 
The final part of the "Head foundations," as Beef Wellington so nicely called it, revolves around the correct placement of the two "bow lower rails." I first sanded them to size because Chris had left them slightly longer, as every ship is slightly different. This way, without the grating assembly/gammoning knee getting in the way, I could hold the bow lower rails at the start point (inner hawse holes) and end point (tip of the gammoning knee) and cut them to the correct size. (I would recommend leaving them a millimeter longer so you have some extra meat at the last minute if it's just a tad too short.)
 
By the way... I assume there shouldn't be any sideways curves/distortions in these rails, but that's my interpretation of the plans/kit. They might have been in the original, but I think for better flow they should be straight. That's why I've sized them this way.
 

 
The next step was to file the slots in the V-brackets to size to prevent any sideways deformation of the lower bow rails, reaching the start and end points of the rails on the hull. Again...this is my interpretation; perhaps the original prototype had a slight curve in it...I have no idea
 
So, here and there I had to file the slots a little larger (especially those closest to the hull) so that the rails would actually lie on both sides at the start and end points without putting any tension on them. That's why I had laid the ship on its side here...so the rails would fit in place without any effort.
 

 
All that filing loosened the glued gratings from the V-brackets, which actually turned out to be a good thing. (I used some rubbing alcohol to loosen them completely.)
 

 
 
After everything was cut to size regarding the "lower bow rails," I could paint or varnish all the parts. I'm so glad the parts were lasered because, as you can see, I'm a pretty terrible painter, haha... I found it really difficult to paint the lasered part blue here without going all over the place. In my own defense, though... I'd had too much coffee and had been working out beforehand, haha, which always makes for a less-than-steady hand.
 
I used the same order as with the previous lasered decorations. First, I treated all the raised areas with WOP, so the blue paint wouldn't adhere as well. Then I painted the lower part (the lasered part) blue. Then I scraped everything off the raised part with a knife and gave the scraped area an extra coat of WOP. This creates beautiful, straight lines.
 


 
 
In the meantime, I also bought this beautiful dust extractor from Ikea, based on Mike Y's tip.
Very happy with it and it has a handy design  
 

 
 
After I put the gammoning knee with the V-brackets back in place, I glued the lower bow rails with CA. I found this more practical and felt stronger because the contact points were so small.
 

 
 
 
The next step was to install the V-shaped head rail patterns (how does Chris come up with all those names,😆). First, I soaked them in some warm water (about 15 minutes) and then clamped them to the extra set of V-brackets Chris had provided...a second set is very handy (thanks, Chris👍). I'm not sure if pre-soaking was really necessary, since the curve is minimal, but I thought it might help with the gluing afterward.
 


 
 
The painting method was in exactly the same order as the "lower bow rails" described earlier.
 
By the way, before painting, I tried sanding the underside of these parts so they fit seamlessly with the lower bow rails.
(Not entirely successfully 🥲) 
 

 
 
Then I glued these parts to the V-brackets. This is where it was helpful that the gratings weren't on top, as this made clamping them until the glue dried very convenient.
 
However, gluing them wasn't easy...it took me several tries to get them reasonably secure. (I think it would be difficult if they came loose later, so I wanted to make sure they were secure.)
 

 
 
Of course, lastly, the gratings were glued back in place (with the cute "seats of ease") and that's the end of this chapter...
 
By the way, I haven't sanded the head rail patterns at the top to length yet, as you can see in the photos; they still extend beyond the V-brackets. This is how it looks in the manual, and I saw that they were sanded to size later. I don't think I'll sand them to the correct length until I install the bow main rail. Perhaps that rail will still have some influence on this.
 
Here are some more photos...I'm happy with the final result! I didn't think it was the easiest part of the ship, but it all turned out well. 
 


 
 
I thought this photo was really cool!
 

 

This chapter is finally finished! Of course, not all the parts that will be added are in place yet, but the manual now continues with other sections of the ship. A more detailed update with photos will follow tomorrow.
 
 Maybe not entirely clear...below is a reel/film, you can press play  
 
 

VID_20251106_152227616~2.mp4  
 
 

Seguin - FIINISHED, 170 hours, 75 days
 
Today I finished my Bluejacket Seguin model, and I must say that it is one of the prettiest models that I have. All the stained wood, mahogany, and brass make for one beautiful model.
 
After all the research and discussion above, I decided to rig the masts without the gaffs. I simply couldn't figure out what they were supposed to do, and consequently I wasn't sure how to rig them. Instead I decided to hang three navigation lights on the fore mast and a US flag on the aft mast. When the Seguin was built in 1884 the US flag had only 38 stars for the 38 states.
 
I took a few photos of the mast construction and rigging, and then deleted them by mistake when transferring them from my phone. Here then, are photos of the finished model.

Port side. I did add a nice coil of rope on the aft grate.

Starboard side.

Cabin, wheelhouse, pilot house, and rooster. Tugs traditionally had American eagles on the pilot house, but the Seguin had a rooster. The rooster was not there at first, and I could find no photos of the Seguin with both gaffs and the rooster. So the gaffs had to go.

Companionway (stairway.) I added a brass rail all the way to the upper deck.

Fore mast with three navigation (towing) lights. Almost every photo of the Seguin shows towing lights.

Aft mast with the 38 * flag.

Stack with stays and steam whistle.

Mantua lifeboat. Easy to build and I love the way it looks. It's going to be tricky swinging the rear davit past those mast stays, but that's how they're shown on the plans. The davits were made from some thick brass rod that I flattened and drilled. The kit included some photo-etched brass cleats that I soldered to the davits. The plans and one early photo show the blocks hooked together above the boat, but I rigged them ready to lift. I was also surprised that all the mast stays impinge on the cabin roof.

Brass stanchions (railing uprights) by Krick. The Seguin was rigged with wire cable, and the kit came with a spool of very nice, 0.25 mm braided wire. I could have used that, but I had a spool of 0.38 mm plastic-coated bead-stringing wire, a package of crimp beads, and a crimping tool and I used that instead. No good reason.
Seagull's eye view.

Front view.

THE END. (Aft view with the Raeboesch prop.)
 

Hello All,
A little more progress to report -  I've finished the standing rigging! It's always a nightmare process for me as I can never seem to get the tension right among the three masts. As soon as I tension one line and it brings the mast into a more or less straight position, another line goes slack.  And, I'm always too quick to get the seizings glued and trimmed, which of course makes later adjustments all but impossible. I never seem to learn from one model to the next; it's always like I'm doing it for the first time and like deja vu all over again I went down that rabbit hole this time too!
 
But then I got control of myself and started over. I'm not sure what others like to do, but I've pretty much decided that the best way for me to do it is to get the lowest stay for each mast in place first before the lower shrouds go on, then move directly to the highest stay starting with the mizzen and moving forward. So my order was: 1. mizzen topgallant stay, then mizzen topgallant backstay, 2. main royal stay, then main royal backstay and 3. fore royal stay then fore royal backstay.  And I even left the seizings all unglued and untrimmed until all were in place so I could adjust each as needed until the masts were all reasonably straight. Then it was just a matter of filling in the others. At this point it was easy to apply just enough tension to each line without it having an adverse effect on the others.
 
Sorry if that all seems too elementary to even mention, but I'm feeling very happy about finding a system that works for me and with any luck I won't have to relearn it on my next model. I enjoyed Groundhog Day, but that doesn't mean I like living it!

 



 
 
I've also attached the fish tackle. This is a piece of rigging that I'm not familiar with. I assumed it was related to whaling, but according to the MS instructions it was used to help hoist the anchor. Is that correct? Is it a feature of ships of this era (second half of the 19th century?) All the other models I've built are of much earlier ships.

 

 
back stays secured
also added the running lights
 

 
mizzen topmast stay
 
Up next is the upper ratlines.
 
Many thanks for comments, likes etc.
 
David

Construction of the spar deck, continued
 
Installation of the remaining beams came next.  This was relatively easy.  The junction between the upper edge of the knees and the lower surface  of the beam was not always perfect, but you need a dentist's mirror to see that.  If I had it to do over, I would slant the upper edge of the knees upward more, then sand them down to an exact fit.  The stanchions were also installed at this time.  These are metal castings from the kit cut much shorter to fit the space.
 

 
This next shot shows the lodging knees installed:
 

 
Also visible here are the gun deck bulwark details: hanging, lodging, and diagonal knees, ceiling planking, spirketting, and waterway.
 
Another view of the timbers with the carlings installed:
 

 
Yet another view through one of the port gun ports:
 

 
A shot this close reveals flaws you do not see from a normal viewing distance, but it is a novel shot.
 
Coamings with their ladders.  Again, the ladders are in once piece, and are cast metal, and painted MS Hull Umber.  Just visible is one of the iron "removable"  stanchions.
 

 
 
Here is a view of the completed spar deck timbers:
 

 
This model is not without its flaws, but this is where, if I may be forgiven a moment of self congratulation, i said to myself "Not bad for a rank beginner."
 
Material for planking the spar deck is not included in the kit. I did it the same way as I did the gun deck planking - with 1/16" glued-up decking.   The advantage of this is very neat caulking detail.  The disadvantage is no butt joints, or tapering of the planks aft.  Plank joggling at the bow is covered by the waterway on the real ship, so I am not going to worry about that either.  Besides, I have neither the skill nor the tools to joggle planks which are 1/16" wide. 
 

 
The waist is left unplanked to reveal the knees. I am considering displaying the Pinnace beside the model so that the view of the detail I worked so hard to achieve will not be obstructed.  There is only just enough planking on the quarter deck to support the deck fittings and carronades.  The quarter deck knees are not completely hidden.  You just have to find the right sight line to see them.  Forward hatches and gratings installed.
 
 

Fitting out the gun deck
 
The 3/32" by .020" planking used on the exterior of the hull also worked for the ceiling planking inside.  A thicker plank represents the spirketting.
 

 
For the deck planking, BJ supplies enough scribed decking to do the gun deck.  The plans call for 1/16" deck planks (scale 6").  Actually the real ship has planks which are 9" at the bows and which taper to 6" at the taff rail.  I have seen lot of models out there which do not attempt this taper, including some museum quality ones. To see what that tapering looks like, check out photos of the real ship, or JeffT's MS Constitution build log.  His tapering is perfect, all the planks being an even width at the taffrail.  The plans call for 1/16", but the photos in the instruction book are definitely 3/32".  I did not catch that until too late to change it.  Catching things like this is where prior experience and expertise are needed.  Scribed decking is used a lot in the BJ models.  it is great if you are going to paint or stain the deck dark.  Since I wanted to leave the deck light, I used glued up decking.  It is more realistic.
 
 
 
Gratings for the hatches are photo etched brass.  They are close to scale but have round holes instead of square.  I got cut grating pieces from Model Shipways, made from walnut.

 

 
Extra cast Britannia metal ladders that lead to lower decks were ordered from BJ.  They are not visible here, but they are present.
Gun deck hatch coamings and grating installed:

 
Hatch coamings are scratch consisting of a composite of several elements glued together, then cut with a chop saw to get mitered joints
The riding bitts are scratch.  The plans show length and width on the deck plan but there are no elevation drawings.  I reconstructed them from drawings in the Marquardt.  The manger rail is visible in the background.  The camboose is an etched brass affair which folds into shape like ourigami.  It was easy do do.  The Charley Noble is cast Britannia metal.
 

 
The chain pumps are also scratch, and is based on my understanding of what they look like at the time, based on drawings in the Marquardt.  Again the plans give width and length and that is all.  They would be very different if I did them now.  Also visible are the very excellent metal castings of the lower capstan and elmtree pumps.  Also visible is the waterway which I represented with a plank with its edges beveled, turned 45 degrees, and painted gray.
 

 
The chain pump covers and the top of the capstan are painted with Liquid Leaf Brass.  I really like this product as it durable, and does not change over time.  You just have to use it in a well ventilated area.
The captain's quarters are mainly guess work based on the Revell model, and the Marquardt drawings.
This is the captain's inner cabin.  The bulkheads are of Bristol board with 67 lb cardstock with panels cut out overlaid on both sides.  The bars in the windows and doors are brass wire painted with MS Hull Umber.  The door knobs are wire with drops of CA gel on the ends and painted with Liquid Leaf Brass.
 

 
The fore and aft bulkheads are left long so that they can be cut exact size when the stern timbers are installed.  Bunk beds are barely visible, which is just as well.  The chair is not great, but I am happy with the way the desk turned out.  It is based on a photo from that book I bought at constitution museum.
Here are some photos of the outer cabin and the finished inner cabin showing the rudder box:
 

 

 
Both the guns and their carriages are Britannia metal castings.  Axles and trucks come as units which look like little barbells and are glued into notches in the bottoms of the carriages.  Holes need to be drilled to accommodate the eyebolts to which the blocks are attached.  These castings are good, but, if you want to show the openings in the muzzles, you need to drill them out.  Very hard to do with the long guns, but easy to do with the carronades, as their muzzles are concave. Another "heads up".  The guns sit differently in their carriages depending on which side is up.  In order to have them line up nicely, assemble one and put it in place to see if it centers well in the gun port, then place it and each gun in turn muzzle to muzzle flipping the gun over as needed.
Here is a photo of a couple of the guns in place and rigged.  Blocks for rigging the guns are not included in the kit. If you want to fully rig all the guns you will need 216 3/32" single blocks and an equal number of 3/32" double blocks.  Rope is MS   Manila.  I forget the sizes.  I decided to have the side tackles attach to the hanging knees as they presently are, so I had to cut out all the hanging knees from 3/32" stock with my Proxxon jig saw and install them.
 

 
Here is a view of the completed gun deck:
 

 
Here is another view of the gun deck with the caprails installed.  I recommend drilling all the holes for the hammock cranes before installing the rails like  I didn't.
 

 
 
 
 

While waiting for the split rings that I ordered from Model Expo to arrive, I finalized the bowhead.  Seats of ease  and "canvas" (card stock) covering were permanently glued in.  Fore tack boomkins were installed and rigged.
 

Once the quarter boats have been finalized, all that will remain will be the anchors, the main braces, and, if I an pull it off, a new mahogany cradle to match the base board.

I have made up and installed the afore mentioned itsy-bitsy rope coils on the bulwark pinrails.

 

All the spars installed, and lifts and halyards rigged.

 
The side view shows the halyard tackles a bit better.

Now to work on finalizing the backstays and rigging the braces (not necessarily in that order).  First, I will need to install any blocks that I have not already attached.
 

T'gallant yards crossed.  Lifts, jeers, and halyards rigged.  Coiled rope on the mizzen t'gallant yard will be braces.  Slack in the upper stays is, I hope, temporary.
 

I finished the starboard ship's boat today. I will not create the accessories until the remaining two boats are completed. Soldering the hinges was an interesting task. I did these like I had made other fittings out of brass sheet. However since these were so small when I hit it with the micro torch, the solder pulled the hinge strips all sorts of ways but not the correct way. I figured what was happening was once the torch melted the flux and the solder, the brass and the solder were attracted to each other. Since the fittings were so small their mass was much less than the small amount of solder so they came to it. What I ended up doing was cutting new strips with one long leg. I put these in the helping hands and placed the two parts in position. Then it was easy to get the solder in the correct place.
 
After trimming the legs and some sharpening with the rotary tool, I  blacken these even though I figured I would still want to paint them. I think the blackening makes the paint stick easier since it has more "tooth".  
 
I cut the rudder out with the scroll saw then shaped it and it's handle with the rotary tool. After painting and adding the hinges I mounted it to the whaleboat.
 
While the rudder paint was drying I decided to tackle the flags. I used a 50/50 PVA and water mixture to soak the flags and shaped them by laying them out on aluminum foil. This worked great for the two ensigns (??) but when I pulled the US flag off I left several of the white stripes on the foil. Obviously the fabric did not fare well over the last two decades. So I looked up Modelr12's thread on how to make flags and was off to the stores to pick up the necessary supplies. I put a detailed description of how I did it in Jay's thread here -  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/89-making-cloth-flags/. It worked like a charm. I used the opportunity to change from the 1797 flag to the 1812 flag. I used a combination of DeltaCad and Preview to create the necessary transfer.
 
By the time I got the new flag mounted on the ship, I was able to temporarily hang the starboard whaleboat. Currently the lifts are just bundled and sitting in the boat's cockpit. I will start working on the remaining boats tomorrow. I do not plan on working on the accessories until all the boats are completed since they all have many of the same ones.
 
Here are a few photos of the ship sitting in it's temporary berth. 
 
The parts have started to arrive for the case with the LED channels arriving today. Hopefully soon, the ship will be sitting safe and sound in her new home.

Finished. The ship looks better to me as time passes. I no longer see my mistakes. If I were to build it again I would have done a better job. That is not going to happen. It makes a beautiful model . I used a BlueJacket display case .I glassed it with acrylic sheets. It looks good, not intrusive and it was not that expensive.

The Transom is custom cut on my C&C machine, as the 5 window version, then painted to match the colors in the book. 
 
 

When is a model finished? I mean, I could go on and detail until I go completely insane or I can finish the running rigging and call it complete. And that's what I've done. A bit of a rest and on to the next one.  Thanks, Nic at Blue Jacket Shipcrafters, for the advice, encouragement, and support.

Sorry about that Jim, here is the latest.
jay

After finishing the inside planking, I decided to go ahead and copper the hull. Once again, I spent alot of time deciding how to make the nail impressions on the copper. I don't really like the look of the copper plates offered by BlueJacket. Too me, the holes appear too large and give the surface a bit too much texture. The sandpaper method used by @JSGerson was clever and seemed simple enough, but I wanted something with a little more pattern to it, even though again from any distance at all, it would hardly be noticeable. I tried making a stencil from the 3D decals used above to give me something to make an impression. This almost worked, but not quite. Finally, I got a friend who had a 3D printer to make some pieces for me that I could use to make a nice impression on copper foil tape. The tape that I used was 1/4", which I know is not quite to scale, but I felt it was close enough. The 3D printed stamps were 1/4" wide and 3" long with .4mm raised spots and a raised line to separate the individual plates (3/4" each). Here is the pattern used:

 
and here is the stamp

 
Under the stamp, you can see the jig I made to hold the copper tape. The stamp itself is glued to a popsicle stick. With the tape in place, the stamp could be positioned into the slot and pressed down to make an impression in the copper
 

 

 

 

Hello Everyone,
I've been feeling a bit embarrassed about my build log for some time now which I've allowed to become virtually non-existant. I became very lazy about taking photographs and making updates, and then the more time that passed the less inclined I become to update. Nevertheless, I finished my Constitution in April, so if I upload photos of it now, I hope you'll forgive me for the huge gap in the middle. I pretty much had the hull and its details finished when I last checked in, so it's primarily the masts and rigging that I haven't reported on.
The rigging end of things went quite well generally. Making the masts and yards was very enjoyable and not particularly difficult. I didn't find the rigging too difficult either, but at times the shear volume of it and its finicky nature were a bit daunting. It was very frustrating to stop for lunch (and a quick fix of CNN) only to return to my shop and discover that I had tied a whole set of lines on the wrong side of something. I'm sorry to report that this happened to me more than a few times. However, every time it did happen, I tore it out and redid it. I am certain that there are many errors in my rigging, but at least I can say that none that were apparent to me went unaddressed. 
This was my second build and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. It was the model I wanted to do from the outset, but I chose to build the AVS first as a practice piece and I'm glad I did. I didn't find the Constitution to be especially difficult (although it had plenty of challenges), it's really more a matter of the volume of the work it requires that might be overwhelming as a first kit.
I used Bob Hunt's practicums for both the AVS and the Constitution. The one for the AVS is excellent and as a complete novice, I don't believe I could have worked my way through the model without it. For the Constitution, the first half of the practicum is also excellent and I found it an invaluable resource. However, when it came to the rigging, it was quite a different matter. This part of the course is so full of errors and omissions and with a confusing approach that in many ways it hindered rather than helped. I did buy the Lennarth Petersen Rigging Period Ship Models and it was a very helpful resource.
 
I know for a fact that my family is glad this project is done. They seem to take great delight in teasing me about how much I tend to talk about it and at what great length. At Christmas, my sister-in-law innocently asked "how's the model coming along?" at which point my son jumped in with "Oh my god, whatever you do, don't ask - do not engage - do not make eye contact - do not show fear!" But their respite is to be short lived as I have now started on the Rattlesnake.
 
Here are some pictures of my completed Constitution.
 
 

Thank you to everyone for all the kind words! I hope that my posts might help someone else considering this kit.

Bluenose Finished - 121 days, 253 hours
I finished my model yesterday and have my bench cleaned off. I would especially like to thank Trevor (Kenchington), David Lester, Ggibson, and several other contributors who helped me with so many questions on this model.
 
Full disclosure
I omitted a lot of rigging on the sails. I tried to include all the hallyards and tacks, but omitted many of the clew lines and sheets. They are all omitted on Amati's plans so I don't know where they go and I don't have anything to belay them too anyway.
 
Kit Review, Amati Bluenose, 1:100 scale
Back on June 18, I posted 
"What's in the Box - Seems like not much for €106.99"
 
The kit included:
Plenty of wood planking.
Two spools of rigging, all tan, and all way too thick.
Some brass wire for rings, way too thick.
Two historically incorrect Canadian flags.
Some unusable cloth for sails.
Some wooden single blocks at about 2x scale, but not nearly enough.
 
The kit did not include:
Usable rigging line.
Double blocks.
Eye bolts.
Belaying pins.
A decent stand.
 
Plans & Instructions
The three full-sized plans are somewhat helpful, but the instructions are terrible. The last two steps basically say "Build the masts and sails," and "Attach the standing and running rigging."
 
The instructions do not show any of the upper shrouds or ratlines.
 
The plans show an image of the deck with dots where belaying pins should be. They do not correspond to anything I've seen anywhere else. The rails on the model all seemed too close to the deck. That made it very difficult to belay lines. The rails also seem to be too narrow. When I tried to drill to add my own belaying pins I often ended up drilling to the outside of the hull.
 
There are no eyebolts on the rails or deck, but Jensen's book and the MS kit has many lines tied off to such points.
 
The instructions show a drawing of each sail with a number on each corner.  The numbers correspond to a deck plan with numbers on the rails where, I guess, you're somehow supposed to tie the line from the sail. But many of the connections just don't make sense - they cross to the wrong side of the ship or go way too far aft. Many thanks to Jensen's book and to my followers for helping me get some of this right.
 
Final Comments and Photos
I chose the Amati kit because it is small, and I am running out room for model ships in my house. The model was very frustrating because of the poor parts and terrible plans. I pre-rigged all the masts, booms, and gaffs according to the plans, and ended up re-rigging almost everything, usually in place, to get the rigging somewhat correct. I still know that so much of the rigging is incorrect, but just couldn't fix any more at this point.
 
Anyway, my model looks pretty good if you don't know enough to spot the errors. Unfortunately I do, but I won't tell anyone.
 
Rod




 
 



Here's what I go through for my 7 followers. I took some early photos, and then the sun peeked out from behind the trees. I did get a nice image of the shadow.


 
 
 

Bluenose Finished - 121 days, 253 hours
I finished my model yesterday and have my bench cleaned off. I would especially like to thank Trevor (Kenchington), David Lester, Ggibson, and several other contributors who helped me with so many questions on this model.
 
Full disclosure
I omitted a lot of rigging on the sails. I tried to include all the hallyards and tacks, but omitted many of the clew lines and sheets. They are all omitted on Amati's plans so I don't know where they go and I don't have anything to belay them too anyway.
 
Kit Review, Amati Bluenose, 1:100 scale
Back on June 18, I posted 
"What's in the Box - Seems like not much for €106.99"
 
The kit included:
Plenty of wood planking.
Two spools of rigging, all tan, and all way too thick.
Some brass wire for rings, way too thick.
Two historically incorrect Canadian flags.
Some unusable cloth for sails.
Some wooden single blocks at about 2x scale, but not nearly enough.
 
The kit did not include:
Usable rigging line.
Double blocks.
Eye bolts.
Belaying pins.
A decent stand.
 
Plans & Instructions
The three full-sized plans are somewhat helpful, but the instructions are terrible. The last two steps basically say "Build the masts and sails," and "Attach the standing and running rigging."
 
The instructions do not show any of the upper shrouds or ratlines.
 
The plans show an image of the deck with dots where belaying pins should be. They do not correspond to anything I've seen anywhere else. The rails on the model all seemed too close to the deck. That made it very difficult to belay lines. The rails also seem to be too narrow. When I tried to drill to add my own belaying pins I often ended up drilling to the outside of the hull.
 
There are no eyebolts on the rails or deck, but Jensen's book and the MS kit has many lines tied off to such points.
 
The instructions show a drawing of each sail with a number on each corner.  The numbers correspond to a deck plan with numbers on the rails where, I guess, you're somehow supposed to tie the line from the sail. But many of the connections just don't make sense - they cross to the wrong side of the ship or go way too far aft. Many thanks to Jensen's book and to my followers for helping me get some of this right.
 
Final Comments and Photos
I chose the Amati kit because it is small, and I am running out room for model ships in my house. The model was very frustrating because of the poor parts and terrible plans. I pre-rigged all the masts, booms, and gaffs according to the plans, and ended up re-rigging almost everything, usually in place, to get the rigging somewhat correct. I still know that so much of the rigging is incorrect, but just couldn't fix any more at this point.
 
Anyway, my model looks pretty good if you don't know enough to spot the errors. Unfortunately I do, but I won't tell anyone.
 
Rod




 
 



Here's what I go through for my 7 followers. I took some early photos, and then the sun peeked out from behind the trees. I did get a nice image of the shadow.