Bluenose II by PRS - FINISHED - Artesanía Latina - 1/75th - my first ship model

[PRS]

This will be my first ship construction and decided to make a build log to show my progress and also get ideas and help along the way.

 

I picked up the Latina Bluenose II as it was local and looks like a decent kit.

First impressions:

• Kit packaged well and the fittings in plastic boxes is a nice touch.
• Wood looks good although the plywood hull has some warpage.
• No instruction book as they are on a CD. Who uses CD's these days. Had to get my old laptop out to print out the instructions.
• No scale plan that I could find so placement of parts might be a little hard to determine.
• Rigging instructions lacking but I think I can deal with it.

 

At this point I have the hull framed and the deck on and planked. 

 

I did find all the bulkheads needed some slight sanding to fit as the laser cut was too tight. Also the plywood frame was warped which plywood does. I didn't replace it but tried my best to keep it straight.

 

Here are some photos of my progress so far. Couple minor mistakes but I can live with it and you don't see that I staggered the center when it should have been the same on both sides.

[PRS]

Have the side fairings on and planked to the rear. Was not too hard to do and came out OK. 

 

You will notice I used my 3D printer to make some angle brackets. I plan to use the printer as much as I can to make jigs since I don't have a workshop full of tools.

 

 

[PRS]

Before I start to plank the hull I wanted to make sure the keel fit which it didn't. 

 

Took a bit of sanding to get a nice fit and I wanted to strengthen the joint where it will be glued on and held tight since I will use 30 minute epoxy for this.

 

Made up a drilling template to drill a 2mm center hole and it worked well.

 

[PRS]

Laid out my planking and used the fan method with strips of paper for the measurements. 

 

I glued up a little jig to hold the planks so I can bend them and also you can see my covering iron I use to bend.

I found that bending by holding on end of the wet plank and heating it I can see by eye how much it is bent and works fine for me.

 

Got my first plank run and I did print up a few clamps that work well to hold them down while the glue sets. They are friction fit.

 

One thing I am having trouble with is cutting the planks. This hardwood is murder on my #11 blades and I think I need to come up with a different solution to shape the planks either by sanding or planing. 

 

 

[JeffT]

Looks very good so far.

[PRS]

So I tried using my micro plane with a fresh blade to trim planks and here is the result.

 

Not so good...

 

 

[PRS]

Best way I found to do this is use a drum sander in the Dremel to remove larger areas and then put a sanding disk against a similar sized grinding stone and use that to get it real close.

The a few swipes with a sanding block give me perfect cuts.

 

Does make a lot of sawdust though.

[PRS]

Now that I have a systems the planking is going good and is actually fun.

 

[PRS]

Have the first plank down and sanded.  

Happy with the way it turned out and very little filler needed.

 

 

[PRS]

On to the second planks.

 

[PRS]

Here is how I am doing this and it works well.

 

Put a string of glue on the plank and put it in place. The use my covering iron to help set the glue and bend the plank in place.

This goes pretty quick.

 

[James H]

Wow, you sure this is your first ship model? 

She really is looking very nice, and I'll follow along.

I know what you mean about CD instructions. My MacBook Pro doesn't even have a CD, and if it did, I wouldn't have it lounging around in a dusty workshop.

[PRS]

Thanks for the encouragement James

[PRS]

Hull planking finished and skipped ahead and put in the propellers. Glues with 30 minute epoxy.

 

Have the scupper holes coming up and think I need to make them before painting the upper part of the hull black.

Not sure how I am going to cut them without making a mess of things. Will need to experiment.

 

[Tomasz B]

On 3/1/2021 at 9:13 PM, PRS said:

So I tried using my micro plane with a fresh blade to trim planks and here is the result.

 

Not so good...

 

 

Hi. I am not expert but your micro plane doesn't look good ,his mouth is way too wide open to do this.

Much better plane is a block plane with adjustable mouth ...

 

[PRS]

Looks like a nice plane. I will check out Micro Mark and see what they have.

 

Thanks

[PRS]

So I cut one scupper out and it went well.

I drilled a few holes with the template and a pin vise and then used the Dremel and a skinny cutting tool to join them up. Using high speed and holding steady worked well and no shredding of the wood.

I have a jeweler's file that is almost a perfect fit.

 

One down 33 to go.

 

[mtaylor]

I moved this to the kit area from the scratch area.   

[PRS]

Scuppers all cut out and have the hull painted.

I decided to leave the bottom natural and not paint it red. 

[hof00]

Nice!!

[PRS]

Have the railings done.

 

[PRS]

Here is the "glue" I used to put the PE decorations on the side. Varnish works well and any that leaks out isn't noticeable.

[PRS]

Have one of the deck cabins complete also. I was busy this weekend.

 

[PRS]

Well we hit a major snag.

The instructions state to put the eye in the loop and bend the PE tabs over the loop...

 

Well there is no way this can be done as there is no give on the loop of brass or the PE to do this. (have I mentioned the instructions are bad yet?)

 

 

[PRS]

So what I did to get around this is toss the brass loops and cut the "wings" off the PE and use some coated brass beading wire to make this all up.

 

Got them all made up and don't look too bad I guess.

[PRS]

OK so that didn't turn out too bad. I might have been better using thread and tying them but I will go with this.

 

Here is where I am at so far with things mounted on the deck.

 

 

[hof00]

Lovely build, very clean and  "Crisp!!"

Edited March 18, 2021 by hof00

[PRS]

21 hours ago, hof00 said:

Lovely build, very clean and  "Crisp!!"

Thanks

[PRS]

Going to start rigging soon and might need some help with this as the instructions are lacking.

 

Wish they would have added a rigging plan overview or a plan itself.

 

Done some searching but haven't really come up with something that guides me.

 

I understand I need to do an overview and make sure rings are on the masts before starting to build the masts. 

 

First question:

 

Start with the ratlines and go from there? (I might be naming them wrong.)

 

[PRS]

Rigging done on foremast and anchors placed.