Bluenose by Jond - 1:24 scale - RADIO - Racing Schooner

[KeithAug]

Good to see you back Jon. I look forward to more updates.

[mcpwilk]

Outstanding ATD - looks just like the real thing!

 

Mike

[Jond]

Thank You Keith and Mike

 

Today I was sewing away on the new jib bolt rope and found a tare when the bias tape was not sewn in properly .   I had to take out one inch of all thread , add in some new tape and go up to stairs to the sewing machine to mend.  A lot easier than at sea. I'll show a photo of the fix next time.

 

 

cheers 

[Jond]

Well we got more snow, so a little more work.  I wanted to start the tedious ratline knot project and get the first jib on.

• Several sessions of knots and we got to the top of the first mast one side . Per photos we took in Canada, the top three ratlines are slats.  Looking at the scale and size , I have to imaging the original was as well. there is very little movement that high in the shrouds to have snapped the slats.  
• Here we see a scale figure.  i wish there was an easy way to make figures .   Having some one up in the rigging explains so much about scale. Having one's hands in one's pocket however , is not very realistic.
• On to the bolt rope.  As we learned before, the 10lb lines works well. The newer boat and sales are Dacron, but the photos of 1940 show twisted lines darker than the sail cloth.  I love the hemp because we can see it.
• I came across a tear where the bias tape was not sewn in properly.  I later took it apart, added a new piece of bias and went to the sewing machine for a quick fix.  after adding the bolt rope, hanks and stay it won't show....I hope
• Now to make the hanks . I will show in the next posting the three different set ups for the two jibs and jumbo.    To make the hanks I tried two sizes of copper rings to back twist.

 

working on hanks next

 

cheers 

Edited March 17, 2018 by Jond
typos

[Jond]

Bluenose jib installation

 

Perhaps in honor of st Patrick, more likely as a result of three nor'-easter snow storms, I completed the jib installation and want to log it.  First let's look and see what are some of the details we learned both in Nova Scotia and from the book.

 

• Here we see the real thing.  note the following details.

1. the hanks are reverse bent rings sewn to the bolt rope
2. there are several grommets lashed together at the head of the sail. [ typical of all corners on all the sails]  The halyard block is lashed to the top grommet with two lashed eye hooks.
3. the down haul on the jib is tied to a lower grommet and the line comes to port...
4. the down haul block is shackled to a separate eye bolt coming out of the bowsprit next to the stay eye bolt, 
5. the jib  is lashed with spliced line to the becket on that block

Lets look on the other side and be sure the jib topsail is the same. just reverse down haul to starboard....yes it is

lets make those hanks.  I have too size rings that i bent.  I liked the small ones to start but after a few I changed to the larger ones.

Here were my first few attempts to sew them on.  Like all things, the first 5 are really tough.  then like magic you figure it out.  8-9  at a sitting take an hour when you can concentrate.  I had to learn the best way is to remove the stay and fit it inside each hank as you progress.

here we are at the head of the sail.  i have lashed the grommets.

Here at the head we have attached the halyard block as well ans the down haul shackled line. I am not sure why i chose the shackle.  I should remove it and tie a bowline.  

here we have the starboard sheet.  one end is spliced to two reversed eye hooks.  they go through the eye bolt from opposite sides  and then are lashed [ moused].

The sheet feeds forward and up to the block at the end of a twenty foot length of chain.  the chain goes around the stay and is shackled to  a ring on the clew of the jib[ the jib clew is currently port side.

here the tack is lashed to the down haul block.  you see the taught down haul returning to pins just inside the rail.

Here you  see a few things.  the halyard block shackeled to the sail, then the twin blocks coming off the bale.  they are supported by a forged barb in the bale.  the whip for this halyard is to port and the free line to haul the sail falls to starboard. This sail was raised by the crew when we sailed...no winch.

here we see the jib in place , the sheet chain around the fore stay and the hanks with their blackened sewn lashing.  the jib topsail is pinned in place hoping the same treatment before spring.   There is snow out the window so a chance

 

all for now cheers 

 

 

[KeithAug]

Great work Jon. The explanation is very educational.

[Jond]

completion of the jib topsail

 

I continue to slowly move along in this build as I am doing two other models and many other tasks.   The beauty I find is these logs is they seem timeless.    Well here we go. Most of the tasks on this sail are repeats of previous sails.  So here I shall point out the differences between this top sail and its respective jib.

·         Here the completed sail has the bolt rope to starboard, the head ready for the halyard, the tack ready to be lashed, and the sheets.   The sheets are different from the jib.  I am using the idea of the Bluenose ll rig that utilizes a light cable for about 30 feet, so they nicely ride around on the jib stay.  

·         Here I have mastered using an electric solder iron [ not the torch] to solder up the ring [cringle] after it being put in place. I am using a low temperature metal and flux. 

·         Here the sheet cables are attached… You see them coiled and spliced into blocks.  You also see the new fabb’d up fairleads beyond.  The 4 are made up both for these 2 sheets on the rail and the fisherman sail sheets that fly’s a bit more aft when rigged.

·         Here we are back in the metal shop bending 1/16^th brass to make the fairlead.

·         Here we have glued in the glass beads and pin.   I have a choice to either drive the pin into the stanchion or put in a small ring through the hole.  My current plan is to use the pin.

·         Here to confirm dimensions is the photo from BN II showing the pin and the fairlead 5 stanchions forward

·         Here looking aft, one sees there is another fairlead just aft of the pin. This second fairlead is for the fisherman staysail, so I shall install that now too.

·         Looking across the deck the pin is over the oil barrels with sheet made off and the fairlead is 5 stanchions forward. the sheet is the very light tan line going up and forward of the failead and outside of the main shrouds

·         One more photo form BN II shows that the lashing of the jib topsail tack is a line tied to the tack and the down haul block.  They are on the opposite side of the jib down haul rigging. The line is roughly 25 feet long.

·         Now the sail is on…..here at the clew …one sheet cable going aft and the other forward

·         A simple bowline tied to the tack that is tied again to the down haul block becket

·         The head is a simple block shackled to the sail. The down haul is on the other side and is only tied to the grommet

What does she look like

·         Ta da.  Here we are….the jumbo is loose as I am deciding as to when I shall replace the older version of the sail.  I could refurl it but that would not make much sense.

·         Around to port side looking forward. I have to reduce the photo file size so much to up load it one can’t blow it up to see the little block at the end of the cable but it is there just forward of the main shrouds

 

Ok for now.  Lots of little clean up and I just got challenged to take the boat to a talk in late July.  Much to think about for that.

 

Cheers

[Jond]

It is now July and I have to figure out how to take Bluenose to the yacht club for a talk in a week.  Today I want to update the flurry of work I have done to get ready for the first showing of this project.  The more I do, the more I want to redo so the saga continues.

 

One thing I have learned is how to do rigging close to the boat.   Obviously whenever possible I go to the table and do splicing etc., but often we have to run a line through a block and then splice it. Let’s see some of the cleanup and progress I have done.

• Here I have set up a table to allow reeving and splicing lines for the dory tackle.  One can also see ratlines are now complete on the starboard side

• I have decided to clean up the first horrible prototype dories I made and use them as place holders.  I have a new spindle sander and that is an amazing tool for shaping planks. I will need to rebuild at least 4 of them.

• Here we see the [ temporary] dories all panted out and stacked.  Amazing what paint can cover up.   Also, note the dory hooks lashed to the rail. 

• I needed more belaying pins and decided to make them.  The small drill press and a light touch with files made it quite easy.  I would say about five of eight make it through un broken.  Surely a harder dowel would be more successful.

• I also needed to make up the running lights.  I used two sized dowels, cut the top with the spindle sander, drilled through and set three disks on a pin for painting and eventual gluing. I have been reading about LED lighting so look out.  

• My son visited and showed me where to buy correct era merchant men figures in white to add to the crew.  I also redid the main anchor line.

• Here the port running light is in, the lines are on the top dory and the oars are laid in.

•  also repaired down hauls, installed missing boom lifts and completed the ratlines on the starboard side.

so clean up , preparations and the move.

 

cheers

Edited July 25, 2018 by Jond
photo ms explorer failure

[michael mott]

Catching up Yond, she is looking great. How soon do you think till she is launched?

 

Michael

[Jond]

Michael

thanks for dropping in.

my next post shows her as close the water as I fear she will get.   I have gone too far both in construction and detail to sail this one.  Moving her is also a challenge.

 

cheers

 

 

 

[Jond]

I want to update with the logistics  I encountered in trying to be able to move this big model.  I must say it was a bit of help from my skipper that solved the problem of movement.

• First up was to lay her down and add 2x2 over the sailing keel bolts.   Looking at her I felt I could not show her half dressed.   My daughter was here for a racing weekend , but we were fogged in.  We took a rain day and she helped me complete rouging out the three top sails.
• We pinned them on and said "yes"...  she goes with all sails in place even if they are pinned.
• My Skipper's son just happens to have a truck....it takes a village someone said
• With flashers going we drove one mile down to the Yacht club at 15-20 mph and made it.. The mainsail  was flapping and flapping but held up.  We got her inside where she stayed for a week.  We gave a lecture one night on the racing history and modeling of Bluenose.  lots of fun.    We got her home and only one jib topsail sheet ripped.

 

• Last week we took her 2 miles further down to a boat yard on Southport Island to be displayed as part of the summer art festival.    Again we had lots of fun.   Now as we look in these views it is easy to see the need to replace the main and jumbo.   winter is coming.
•  Just like the Ironsides in Boston, she went out for a few trips in the harbor and when returned to the dockyard is reversed.  the winter sun will shine to the starboard side this year.  More importantly the port side is now exposed and ready for its ratlines and other work.  

 

cheers

[Damian Cane]

Hi John, what fantastic work. My father and I are about to embark on building this stunning beuty, like you in 1:24scale and as a sailer too. I would love to keep in touch as we go and your log has been inspirational thank you for sharing

 

[Jond]

Damian

 

fantastic news.     

 

Later in the next winter I hope to get more work done on the Bluenose sails upgrades.  for now I am in two other projects.  I will look for your log

 

cheers 

 

 

[Peter Cane]

On 10/2/2016 at 7:02 AM, Jond said:

This new building log is meant to tell a long and broken tale of model building. The serious work began a few months ago when I decided to try to rescue this model and take it further along. Perhaps to stop it with a deck only completion since it would be so big to include rigging, or to breeze through and design removable rigging to allow sailing.  Before we get in to that dialogue I thought it best to tell the saga of the 15 years to get it here.  Fortunately that will only take a few posts. so here we go again

 

I started to learn the trade, and truly I still am really only  learning, by setting up a small shop in the early 1990's, at a former summer home here in Maine and building a wooden kit of a Dark Harbor 17 at 1:12 scale sometime in the later 90's.  Like many I was working away and had dreams to be relaxing in a shop but realty kept us away. I never worked closer than 3 hours from this summer home and usually further.   

 

During these years I thought  about wanting to build models that would sail.  I had roughly ten years to go before retirement and thought that was time to try a few things and figure it out. 

• My first venture was to buy an Antique Marblehead Pond yacht, vintage 1936.  I restored it partially and then copied it building a new replica.

 

 

In august 2001  I went to the  wooden boat school in Brooklin Maine with my son for a fun vacation and learned to build a 50 inch new Marblehead class pond yacht. They were called Naskeags.    They are pretty but built purely for the challenge of sailing. 

 

Then looking at the half built  dark harbor hull, at 17 inches, and the half built Marblehead Naskeag  at 50 inches I decided on a goal.  I would continue to build kits or scratch of classic boats to develop some skill.  I would continue to read and read some more about the maritime history as well as model building, and thirdly i would continue to build sailable pond yachts to get some to sail.  Ultimately I would learn to scratch build classic boats at a large enough scale that would respect the design but also try their luck in the sea....harbor or pond at least.  Gloucester Schooners were also first on my mind for a challenge.

 

When did we start this build???

 

Some of you have followed my earlier attempts with a four masted schooner the Charles Notman and the classic 1938 Boothbay Harbor One design racing sloops .  Well here we have a boat construction that spans the whole period of 2001 until now.

•  Here we see the 1992 to 2004 shop. I got to spend a few weeks a year there prior to 2000 and then weekends.  You can see the two Marblehead pond yachts that filled much of my time .  Hidden just out of the picture on the right is the partially built Dark harbor model. Most important on the back left is the building board and stations for a scratch build Gloucester fishing schooner that will become the basis of this build. This photo is dated 2002

At the time I built this frame, my memory tells me incorrectly as I recently figured out, that is built it up form Gertrude's lines.  With the outgrowth of windows 98 and Auto CAD lt 97 it is not surprising that I no longer have any of the cad I did for this build. 

 

Here you can see the roughness of the build. I was clearly over my head at the time and fortunately stopped. 

 

•  The keelson assembly  is  made of three laminated 1/2 sheets of plywood so it is strong and true.  [ It includes keel,  stem, keelson and made up structure up to the the transom based on pond yacht construction methods...  See my other log for detail]   This method  is Good for sailing but the forward stem  is a problem [ you will see later].

Is she Gertrude Thebaud, Columbia or Bluenose???

I could write for pages but the short version is as follows.  I read that Columbia was the same size as Bluenose and considered to be the fastest ever built. Unfortunately she died young.  Here is the text from Ship Wiki  ...remember length on deck 141 feet

• ·         Columbia is a Gloucester Fishing Schooner. It was built by Arthur Dana Story from the design of Starling Burgess, at Essex, MA, 1923. The Columbia represents the final development of the Gloucester fishing schooner, famous for speed and seaworthiness. It participated a number of international races, including the one against Bluenose in Halifax. In August 1927 when it was hit by the two Gales, the well-known "Graveyard of the Atlantic", Columbia was lost with all hands off Sable Island.

·        

For years my memory was I had decided to build Gertrude.  All my files said it etc.  anyway  part of the reason is in the following text from wikipedi....remember length on deck 135 feet

 

• ·         \Gertrude L. Thebaud was an American fishing and racing schooner built and launched in Essex, Massachusetts in 1930. A celebrated racing competitor of the Bluenose,^[1] it was designed by Frank Paine and built by Arthur D. Story for Louis A. Thebaud, and named for his wife, Gertrude Thebaud.^[2] In their first meeting at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in October 1930, the Gertrude L. Thebaud bested the Bluenose 2-0 to win the Sir Thomas Lipton International Fishing Challenge Cup.^[3] However, in 1931, two races to none, and again in 1938, three races to two, the Bluenose defeated the Gertrude L. Thebaud to remain the undefeated holder of the International Fisherman's Trophy.^[4]

I further learned that she went to the arctic in 1934 with MacMillan one year as Bowdoin stayed home.  I continued to think I was going to build her and I remembered incorrectly that I  had taken measurements from her scanned set of prints when I built the frame.......you'll see

 

Bluenose.  Here is intro from wiki pedia ....and again please remember length on deck 143 feet

 

• ·         Bluenose was designed by William Roué and built by Smith and Rhuland in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She was launched on 26 March 1921, and christened by Audrey Marie Smith.^{[citation needed]} She was built to be a racing ship and fishing vessel, in response to the defeat of the Nova Scotian fishing schooner Delawana by the Gloucester, Massachusetts fishing schooner Esperanto in 1920, in a race sponsored by the Halifax Herald newspaper.^{[citation needed]}

 

• Bluenose vs. Gertrude L. Thebaud, International Fishermen's Trophy, 1938, final race
• ·After a season fishing on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland under the command of Angus Walters, Bluenose defeated Elsie (out of Gloucester), returning the International Fishermen's Trophy to Nova Scotia. In 1930, off Gloucester, Massachusetts, she was defeated 2–0 in the inaugural Sir Thomas Lipton International Fishing Challenge Cup by perhaps her most celebrated competitor, the Gertrude L. Thebaud.^[2] However, over the next seven years of racing, no challenger, American or Canadian, could take the title from her.^[3]

 

The question again...which to build

 

There are so many Bluenose models I thought for a long time about making an American boat.  The designers Starling Burgess and Frank Paine come up again and again. The 1937 Ranger for us here in Maine is a big deal.    The fact a new replica of Columbia sails and all who see her say she is a  marvel.  [ Images of the replica is easy to find on the net].  Well to be honest there is a funny story here on me how in the end the model became Bluenose.

 

To make the original frame in 2001-2002 I obtained the 3/16 scale rough model plans  from Piel Craftman in Newburyport, MA for both models BN and GT.  While I was in his shop however I fell in love with another boat named Dancing feather.  My rear admiral feels the feather is one of prettiest schooners she has seen so guess what took priority.

 

• On again off again working on vacations and moving houses to our current home [ means rebuild a shop] only it took from 2004 to 2012 to get this one far along and it was a real rough job much of which may be redone. Here she is a year ago moving away to live in the new sail loft and thus make room for Charles Notman to hold the shop entrance way display area. I had made her 3/4 scale to size at 50 inches on deck.  I will never work in that odd scale again.

 

 

In the mean time, I was assigned to work in Canada for 3 plus years and while I was there came across a set of really nice 1/4 scale drawings of Bluenose.  These I now see are easy to get on line as are similar plans for Columbia. They are both drawing by Philip Eisnor and available though a sister site modleshipbuilder.

 

Finally...we start again

It is summer 2012. I am assigned to travel overseas but spend several weeks through the summer here in Maine.  What to do......

 

Please look at my other two builds [ Charles Notman and Boothbay Harbor one design] for detailed discussions on the sailable hull  build method.  

 

•  The plans were scanned, plumbed and inserted to CAD.  The white paper inside on aft stations was printed off and attached to luan plywood. Blue tape separated a 1/32 birch plywood strip rib.  The cedar is rough milled from 1"/6" stock to be 5/32 [ which only means 1/8 - 0 +1/16 tolerance] by 5/16 .  We want to start faring the hull with no less than 1/8th wood thickness. Planks soaked in ammonia water then wood glue and toothpick pinning to the sstations through the ribs..

 

•  Here the laminations for the Keelson assembly are clear [see Notman build] . Notice there is  no transom at this point.

 

• almost finished. See the roughness of the bow.  As I said i was way over my head when I started this hull.

 

• Here we have all planking on and sanded.

   

•  And here she goes back up to the ceiling for storage....it's 2012. and I am still thinking we are building Gertrude Thebaud.

They sent me away for work again and it was another year before I could really focus on my modeling goals.  This was the year I found forums like this one and started reading articles , sites like models of dummies, practicums and building logs.  I was getting ready

 

cheers 

 

 

 

Hello Jond.

I am going to build the same size of model as yours.

Before I make a mistake I would like to ask your advice before I start cutting my red cedar logs into strips. 

What size of strips are best for the planking?

I also note that you are using 1/32" strips for the ribs inside and this strikes me as somewhat thin.

Is there a reason why you did this please?

Like you, I do not have to go through the bother of correctly planking it as per a static model and per the book as the whole will be glassed over and then sprayed with two part car paint so the work will not even be seen.

Pete

[Jond]

great news I found your log and will follow along.

I need time to finish my sails

good luck

[Jond]

This posting is to record the progress as I pick up this build and carry it to completion.

 

When I left this work in august 2018 the model got to travel around on pillows in the back of a pickup to two showings.    We since have gained an open yard trailer that lets her lay flat and go under cover if need be.  She was moved in November 2020 to this new house and has patiently waited for her star to rise again.  My Daughter came for Christmas as Covid-19 has truly limited mobility. She was here for a work week and play week.   Can you imagine…go to the coast of Maine and work through your computer as if you are still somewhere else.

 

Anyway, the point is we decided to start the process to complete three upper sails and to replace the main sail and jumbo. Their replacement needs were well documented earlier in this build log and the question was both motive and time.   My daughter took on the job to take the old mainsail and replicate it. Then she added the in-scale bolt rope and helped in any other ways.   I started to commit a few hours a week away from my other build to plug along.

 

Today, I like many others have enjoyed getting into an exchange with other Schooner lovers about how certain lines are made off.  As this build records, I made two trips to Lunenburg and took oodles of photos in high definition, so that I can blow them up and check many things out. So, I answered the specific question but choose to document here the findings as I too want to have those lines included on Bluenose.  I recommend anyone reading this log to jump over to the build of the Effie Morrissey 1898 by Allanyed.  In doing so, you will find a beautiful schooner being rigged for fishing at the same time. She fished from 1898 to 1925 mostly out of Canada with that rig which is contemporary with Bluenose

 

Therefore, for the record, I resumed work Christmas week 2020 to complete sails and running rigging hopefully by summer.

• 1101   here she sits in her new home missing the old mainsail.  If you look closely the main top mast is off too.  While she sewed the new sail, I was in the shop making more hoops.
• 1102   here if one looks closely there are broken parts on the windless and probably missing pieces from the moves
• 1103   here we see the old jumbo. It is the only remaining sail.  As for most of us, if we make one or two of something and then compare it a to the third and forth made a few years later, there is likely a need to rework or to replace the older version.   We will see when we get to that sail. First to the others

 

I had made up the three topsails in 2017 and pinned them to the model while on display as seen in photos above

• 1104   here the main topsail is in place. The tack lines and clewline are sewn in and coiled, ready for rigging after the mainsail is set
• 1105   here the hoops are sewn to the sail.  I had to add three hoops to get the number right…a lot of extra trouble. I can’t remember how I missed that before I fixed that mast.
• 1106   yesterday I finished adding lines and hoisted the fore topsail.  Next week the hoops get sewn. 

I am working Sundays on this project so it will take some time. also there is no running rigging or sails on my other current build, so this work is refreshing. I did some research on the gaff down hauls and will post that next time. I believe the clewlines act as the down haul for these two top sails. And the jibs are all in as well.  That leaves the two gaffs to rig, so as I attach the top sail sheets, I will need to splice in the down hauls to the ends of the gaffs.

 

All for now

[KeithAug]

Nice to be able to pick up this build again Jon. I look forward to seeing how she goes.

[Jond]

thank you Keith.  it is something I needed to do.  I have a few others that i need to drop back on too. we'll see how it goes

 

cheers 

[Jond]

Feb 2021 Update on the sails

 

As I described last time I get a few hours each Sunday in between other activities that I choose to work on this project.

 

• 1107   at the beginning of January we see the replacement main sail in the sewing machine as my daughter made a great contribution needed to get me going again.

 

• 1108   here we are at the end of February with the reef points in, all the grommets in, and the head lashed to the gaff.   In March we should get lashing to the boom, sewing to the hoops and  prepping to be  ready for rerigging.

 

….As I mentioned, I will also add the detail of the down hauls to the gaffs in this update.

• 1109   here as the Bluenose II mainsail was raised, we see the main gaff down haul is on both port and starboard

 

• 1110  this detail shows a few things.  The down hauls act like quarter tackles holding the gaff steady when lowered. The lines are spliced using holes through the gaff. The other two of three holes take the lanyard/ lashing from the head of the sails securing it to the gaff. Most interesting to me was the location of the topsail sheet block. In traditional designs the block is attached to a leather holster type devise that allows it to rotate to the up-wind side while racing.  I assume for fishing it was permanently on the starboard side.

Sailing out to the banks in New England our prevailing SW winds, the sheet would have been tight headed outbound; thus, the starboard side.   Returning home would have been a reach or more downwind, so no there was no need to move the bloc around.    Too much thinking on my part but that is my previous logic for placing those blocks to starboard.

 By riding on the top of the gaff there is less issues as to the tacking.  Only the tack lines are doubled to allow pulling the tack up and over the gaff.  Again, I am sure this is a racing feature but not sure if for fishing they would have worried.   The top sails were most likely flown only on the outboard and return legs.

 

• 1111   shows the fore gaff down haul.  The photos don’t catch all, but the line was made off to the main fife rail on the starboard side

 

• 1112   this detail shows the line is also spliced to the gaff through a hole. The sail lashing was was secured by hitch and there were not three holes

 

• 1113   so back to my work.  You can see I had a traditional application for the main topsail sheet block on the starboard side using hardware.  I will be changing this to update the ringing to what I saw in Canada

 

All for now