Bluenose by genericDave - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64 Scale

Worldway · November 28, 2017

Wow looking good. Excellent work

genericDave · November 29, 2017

Thanks Derek! Your Bluenose is progressing nicely! (Although seeing all the work you had to do on the stanchions gave me flashbacks and nightmares )

Jond · December 1, 2017

Dave

She is really looking good. Great idea to play with sails. I am now foolishly making my second set of sails. I tried the furling and am now thinking about fully rigged, the lower ones anyway.

cheers

jon

genericDave · December 1, 2017

Thanks Jon!

I'm expecting that it will probably take me 2 or more tries to get the sails good enough that I can live with them. I've made some paper templates, and even just having those taped in place really changed the look of the ship. It certainly motivated me to try and make the sails work.

I did a trial-run last night sewing the jumbo-jib sail. Unfortunately the (very, very cheap) tiny sewing machine I got died, so I'm going to get a 'real one' this weekend and give it another try.

Right now I'm using some generic white cloth I bought for the test sails, and I've ordered a second set of sail cloth from Model Expo. Hopefully I'll have enough material to redo these a few times

jwvolz · December 2, 2017

Just enjoyed reading through your log Dave, and really enjoyed it. Great work.

You may have me inspired to build Bluenose for my next project.

genericDave · December 5, 2017

I think I've manage to make a sail.

I started with the jumbo jib sail since it was small (wastes less fabric on each attempt), it only has 3 sides, and there are no curves. I made a paper template first, then did a test run with some random thin white fabric I picked up at the craft store. Since I had to buy a sewing machine and learn how to use it, the first two attempts with the random fabric were really just to get familiar with sewing.

Once I got my confidence up, I tried making one from the actual sail cloth. It almost worked. I pulled the fabric too much while sewing, which resulted in the edges not being straight. The fourth attempt finally turned out usable. The final version fits well, and the sewing is 'good enough'.

Since I've chosen the port side as my 'display side' for the ship, I did my sewing from that side so any 'ugliness' would be on the other side. I made three small rings and sewed them into the corners for securing lines.

Hopefully the remaining sails don't take as many tries!

genericDave · December 19, 2017

Making progress...

I've made and installed the jumbo jib sail, fore sail, and main sail. Each one is getting easier. The jumbo jib sail took 4 tries, the fore sail took 3 tries, and the main sail just took one try. Getting my hands on a 'real' sewing machine really helped.

Previously I installed and rigged the booms and gaffs, but didn't use any glue when securing the rigging. This let me make paper templates based on the actual placement of the booms and gaffs on my build. Once the sails were made, I de-rigged the booms and gaffs and removed them from the ship. The sails were laced on, and everything was re-installed.

I'm actually enjoying working on the sails quite a bit. As I've been working through installing the sails, the various bits of rigging are starting to finally 'click' for me. I'm finally starting to really understand what each line does instead of just running lines according to the plans.

Three sails down, five more to go!

fnkershner · December 19, 2017

Dave what did you use for Hanks on the jibs? I can't wait to see what you do with the fisherman sail. That took me quite awhile to figure out the running rigging. A very unusual sail.

Nice work by the way! She really is a beautiful lady.

Fright · December 19, 2017

Excellent job so far! She is a real beauty. I'm looking forward to seeing her with all of her sails and glory!!! HaPpY HoLiDaYs!!!

genericDave · December 19, 2017

Thanks Fright! Things are going pretty fast now. Jib sail and main topsail are made and going on tonight (assuming my wife does actually work late )

genericDave · December 19, 2017

Fnkershner, for the hanks I just substituted rings made from brass wire. I found some at a craft store, but they were a little too big and the wrong material (I decided way back to stick with brass for all the metal fittings). I considered making some more proper hanks from the wire, but wasn’t able to make them look good at scale.

genericDave · December 23, 2017

So close...

The jib sail, main top sail, and balloon jib sail have been installed. I've got the stay sail and fore top sail made - just need to rig them and install them. I tried to convince my wife to let me skip the trip to see the family over Christmas so I could finish up, but she wasn't having it.

Assuming all goes well, I think I can have this finished in the next week. Aside from installing the sails, I've got a few misc. things to rig (flag halliards, dory tackles, etc.), and I need to go through and tighten some rigging, trim extra lines, add rope coils, etc.

I'll also need to make the display board and mount the ship. I've got some brass pedestals, and I did the holes in the keel for mounting about a year ago. In preparation for mounting, I swung by my wife's jewelry shop yesterday and we engraved the name plaques for the board. I've had a bunch of blank brass plaques for a couple years (I got them to use on my Phantom build, but never got around to engraving them). My wife has an industrial computer controlled engraver for her business, so we finally sat down and engraved the plates for both the Bluenose and my Phantom. We saved all the configs on the engraving machine so we can easily remake these in a few months if I realized something is misspelled

The end is in sight...just trying not to rush. But I do think I can realistically be done before the end of the year.

Then onto the next one (box is already open and I've already scanned in the plans and started getting organized...)

fnkershner · December 23, 2017

Where is the Fisher man Sail? this is the big sail between the topmasts. It is a unique sail that is only found on schooners. The rigging of the Halyard is very different. Also you have mast hoops on the topmasts but no sail attached?

Very nice build!

genericDave · December 23, 2017

Fnkershner, there's two sails still to be attached in that last photo - the stay sail and the fore top mast sail. I'm not seeing a fisher man sail on the plans...only those two remain. The stay sail is pretty big, and runs between the two masts...might be what you're referring to. The fore top sail also sits between the two masts, and runs from the fore gaff to the fore mast (and uses those remaining mast hoops).

Since my last post, I have rigged the stay sail. The halliard for that was just...weird. The plans offered two different versions of that halliard. One was more complex, with multiple blocks and hooks that could be switched from side-to-side. The simpler version just used a line with hooks on either end run through a block. I opted to go with the simpler version.

Here's the ship with the stay sail rigged (the only sail still missing is the fore top sail)...

Unfortunately the last sail (fore top sail) will have to wait until after Christmas. It is ready to go, but I'm about to be pulled way for family stuff so I don't want to start rigging it if I can't get it all done.

I'm sure I'm going to be thinking about finishing this build over the holiday. My wife told me that last night she woke up in the middle of the night and I was standing at the window in our bedroom holding the rod that opens/closes the blinds. She asked what I was doing, and apparently I told her I could use the rod on my ship. I have no memory of that...but it seems I'm now so focused on finishing this build that I'm sleepwalking to find parts for the boat.

fnkershner · December 24, 2017

You got it! the fisherman is also known as the Staysail you describe. and Yes the rigging is unique. I spent lots of time in other references trying to learn about the rigging for this sail. The only thing I see is that you did not rig the Topsails to the sail rings on the topmast.

I would introduce you to our own Dr. Per (elsewhere on this site) But I would suggest that you have now reached the 4th stage of MSW disease and there is no Hope for you. LOL :dancetl6:

PS it is a life long Malady and You will enjoy.

Jond · December 26, 2017

Great looking sails. These schooners remain amongst the prettiest while under sail.

Enjoy the end run

Cheers

genericDave · December 30, 2017

Thanks guys!

Attaching the sails to the mast hoops is a little tedious (not difficult, and it doesn't take long, just something I don't particularly enjoy), so I decided to wait until I get both the fore topsail and main topsail installed, then I'll attach both of their hoops in one sitting. I was all geared up to have that finished this week (only the fore topsail remains), but life has gotten in the way...maybe next week!

genericDave · January 2, 2018

Didn’t quite finish by the end of 2017, but came close. (A new puppy in the house ate up some time!) The final sail was installed and all the rigging is finished (including flag halliards and dory tackles).

Still to do:

- go over all the rigging and tighten as needed, trim excess line.

- rope coils

- flags

- final pass to fix anything I’m not happy with

- mount to display board

Edited January 2, 2018 by genericDave

fnkershner · January 2, 2018

Beautiful work! One more note for accuracy. The Canadian Maple Leaf flag is not correct. It did not exist when she sailed.

genericDave · January 2, 2018

I think I saw that mentioned somewhere...one of the reasons I didn't add the flags when I installed the flag halliards - wanted to take some time to look into the flags. I haven't decided exactly what to do with the flags yet.

fnkershner · January 2, 2018

At the time she was launched (1921) There was no standard National flag. For shipping of that time it was customary to fly either the Blue Ensign or Red Ensign. And most ships had the flag of the province. I am at work so I can't share it with you. But I had the link for a site that would create any flag for any size. I found these to be very nice flags.

Elijah · January 2, 2018

Wow! Dave, those sails really make her look great! Did you have any prior experience in sewing before making these sails? Not to rush you, but what ship is up next?

genericDave · January 3, 2018

Frnkershner - thanks for the info! That helps to point me in the right direction. I'm going to pour through some old photos and such over the next week as I'm finishing up the details and try to nail down exactly what flags I want to fly. Right now I'm planning to try using some printable transfer paper and sail cloth to make the flags (saw this method described in detail in another thread somewhere on here). We'll see how that works

Elijah - Thanks! I'm pretty happy with how the sails turned out. They're not perfect - up close you can spot all kinds of issues, but from 2-3 feet away they look fine. This was my first time sewing. I had to go buy a sewing machine and watch a bunch of videos on how use it. I also had to make several of the sails more than once, so I went through about twice as much sail cloth as the kit provided. Once I got the hang of it, making sails is actually pretty easy, and pretty enjoyable. I'd definitely recommend trying sails on any build where it would be appropriate.

Next build will be the 18th Century Longboat. Before I start another big model, I wanted to do something a little more contained. I also think the nature of that kit will help me improve my general woodworking skills (making clean cuts, sanding, etc.).

genericDave · January 6, 2018

I ended up going with the “red ensign” flag. I made it using a guide I found here on the forum. I prepped the art in Photoshop, then printed it on iron-on transfer paper. Then I applied it to some white fabric and cut it to size.

I’m about halfway done with the mounting board. Hopefully I can get the ship mounted in the next day or two, then I’m done!

fnkershner · January 7, 2018

Nice Choice. I chose that one as well. I also added the flag of Nova Scotia to the main mast.

genericDave · January 7, 2018

Finished!

After 645 days, I've got the Bluenose mounted and moved to its final home on the bookshelf. After almost two years of *always* having something that needed to be done on the ship, it is a weird feeling to be finished. Fortunately that feeling won't last as I started prepping the next build this morning.