Bluenose II by bnw - Artesania Latina - 1:75

[bnw]

I am new to building wooden ship models and keeping a build log, but after making the first steps, i discovered, it will be helpful to ask some questions now and than to people with more experience! 

And because those will be small questions sometimes and maybe not worth it to create a complete, separate topic for, I decided to start my own build log and hope some people might read it and can help me, when I am stuck or hesitate the next step!

 

Some words about me: I am living in The Netherlands, somewhere in my 50s 😋and whole my live, I liked to build and create things, do all kind of handcrafts, electronic projects, make drawings and so on.

this continued in my work as an Industrial Product Designer.

Things I did: plastic model airplane and car kits, styropor sailboats, RC airplanes and gliders, model railway, and so on.... but I have never built a wooden ship!

I think it will be quite a challenge, but on the other hand, you just have to do new things to learn them!

My goal is not to make a ship that has to be 100% accurate in detail as the original, but a model that looks nice and giv me a lot of fulfilment when building.

 

I have chosen to build the Bluenose II from Artesania Latina. I like the the slender hull and definitally wanted a model ship where I have to do and learn planking of the hull!

I have already delved a bit into the history of this ship and have watched several videos of this still sailing ship.

Reading articles on the internet gave this intro on this ship: The Bluenose II is a famous schooner and a proud symbol of Nova Scotia, Canada. She is a faithful replica of the original Bluenose, a legendary racing schooner and fishing vessel. Currently, the Bluenose II serves as a goodwill ambassador and a training vessel, maintaining the maritime heritage of the region.

 

As said, the kit is from Artesania Latina, scale 1:75

I cannot say if this is a good quality kit, but some people told me, they are okay.

 

 

I do not know how long it will take for me to complete this kit, but I do not set any deadlines. I will take the time and try as much as possible to enjoy building it!

I will also have to learn a lot of new words, because this is a completely new jargon for me!

[bnw]

Part I – keel, bulkheads and decks

 

I have already done some things, so this build log starts a few steps in the process.

I have removed the lasercutted parts from the plywood sheets and sanded away the irregular spot where the parts were attached to the sheet.

After dry fitting I glued the bulkheads to the keel. Because the laser cutting, the bulkheads were almost 90° to the keel without even using tools for it, but I decided to use the Lego brick method to ensure the right angle.

 

Next step was attaching both the decks parts. I have used glue and nails. With a drift punch I made sure the nail heads did not stick out.

 

 

 

I am actually quite happy with my first keel-bulkhead assembly!

I only noticed one inaccuracy, which I was a little bummed that I had missed, but it is solvable when sanding the edges of the bulkheads to match the planks of the hull. There is a jump halfway down the deck.

 

When you look at this point in the topview, the contour is interrupted at one side.

 

 

I also noticed that the higher deck did not have a rounded/smooth contour shape, but it has two sharp edges. This is not a “fault” from me, but it was lasercutted that way. On this edge I have to add a walnut sheet, which will follow the contour. I suppose those have to follow a smooth rounded line, not the sharp edge?

 

 

Following the instructions I have to add those walnut sheets first and sand the bulkheads later, but maybe it is wise to round the contour of the deck before adding the walnut sheet? At the same time I can also correct my small inaccuracy.

[bnw]

Part II Planking the deck.

 

Next thing is the planking of the deck. It consists of basswood and some walnut sheets.

 

I have seen several methods of planking the deck, adding the caulking seams, imitating the nails.

- I was thinking of using a pencil to add some caulking at the sides of the planks.

- I also think not using complete planks in one piece (front to end), but devide them in shorter lengths to get a better scale.

 

Do you have any tips how to get the best planked deck?

Is a pencil a good way for the caulking? Can I get problems with stains from the graphite or how to avoid that?

Do I have to use a soft pencil or a harder one?

Use the same pva glue for wood?

Other ideas and tips before I start with this step?

[Kenchington]

Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

You have said that you aim for a model that looks nice, rather than a miniature replica, but the appearance of the prototype is a good starting point for your decisions. To that end, the schooner's own website has a useful photograph taken from directly overhead, which shows her deck very clearly. I won't infringe on copyright but you can find the image at:

 

https://bluenose.novascotia.ca/node/122

 

That photo was taken during an annual fitting-out and has much of the schooner's gear (and much of her crew!) laid out on the wharf alongside, so a very useful reference as you proceed.

 

Trevor

[bnw]

3 minutes ago, Kenchington said:

Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

You have said that you aim for a model that looks nice, rather than a miniature replica, but the appearance of the prototype is a good starting point for your decisions. To that end, the schooner's own website has a useful photograph taken from directly overhead, which shows her deck very clearly. I won't infringe on copyright but you can find the image at:

 

https://bluenose.novascotia.ca/node/122

 

That photo was taken during an annual fitting-out and has much of the schooner's gear (and much of her crew!) laid out on the wharf alongside, so a very useful reference as you proceed.

 

Trevor

That's a great and useful picture, thanks!

 

And you are from Nova Scotia? 🙂

Edited Monday at 03:30 PM by bnw

[Ronald-V]

Good to see a build log from you

 

Yes a pencil will be good for caulking lines. I use the more softer ones, because that is easier in my experience (below HB)...for the Sphinx and Pickle I used a 1B.

PVA is just fine to glue the deck planks. Not sure what deck layout the Bluenose had, so you could investigate that. And yes I would round off that false deck first before placing the walnut sheets. You want them flat against the hull, so fairing the hull first  

 

 

Edited Monday at 07:02 PM by Ronald-V

[bnw]

The planking of the deck will need some bending of planks and this will be the first new thing to learn for me, so I am still looking into it first and I am investigating how to do this.

 

The most outer plank is walnut:

 

And the second row is basswood:

 

the rest will be filled with straight planks:

 

 

Is this the right way to do the bended planks:

• put the plank in (warm) water for a while. How long? A few minutes, an hour?
• Bend the plank and place it with clamps in the right position onto the deck.
• Let it dry in this bended position.
• After drying, take away the clamps, put some glue on the bended plank and position it back with clamps to let the glue dry.

 

Will this work in this way?

 

[Ronald-V]

Yes to all questions...durations of soaking is usually 15 min. or so in warm water...just experiment yourself

When you clamp the plank to the deck it's sometimes nessecary to use a little piece of scrapwood between the clamp and soaked plank.

Because of the wood is soft with all the water in it, you won't damage it with clamps. That said...walnut is pretty hard, but personally I would better be safe then sorry.

Edited Wednesday at 08:33 AM by Ronald-V

[LED]

Hey @bnw,

Good to see a real build log from you. You make me want to build this yacht.  Man, those lines are sweet.  Love it!!! 

Anyway, in one of your earlier threads I mentioned a detailed video build of the HMS Sherbourne at the ModelKitStuff YouTube site.  I can't look around in YouTube at work because it is blocked, but if you can find the ModelKitStuff site, the playlist for that build is in his Playlist page.

I don't think that chap is going to plank the deck, but his four videos on hull planking will definitely give you some pointers.  One of the best things he is doing is forcing himself into a novice build and informing you of how to fix common problems we face as novices.  Stuff that most of these members are well beyond - although I have read them offering such advice.  For example, he goes through the process of steaming and bending hull planking using multiple methods.  He also covers 1st planking and 2nd planking and how they differ.  I think that playlist is well worth the time (and, my goodness, each one of the 40 is like 20 minutes long).  He also seems to have other similar playlists available and for some reason the Bluenose is ringing a bell.

I hope to join the wooden ship fun soon.  I will be completing my plastic DKM Admiral Graf Spee soon and I have my eye on the Sherbourne.

GLHF
 

and, Happy Hunting.

[bnw]

11 hours ago, Ronald-V said:

Yes to all questions...durations of soaking is usually 15 min. or so in warm water...just experiment yourself

When you clamp the plank to the deck it's sometimes nessecary to use a little piece of scrapwood between the clamp and soaked plank.

Because of the wood is soft with all the water in it, you won't damage it with clamps. That said...walnut is pretty hard, but personally I would better be safe then sorry.

Good tip about the piece of scrapwood to protect the planks!

Tnx

[bnw]

1 hour ago, LED said:

Hey @bnw,

Good to see a real build log from you. You make me want to build this yacht.  Man, those lines are sweet.  Love it!!! 

Anyway, in one of your earlier threads I mentioned a detailed video build of the HMS Sherbourne at the ModelKitStuff YouTube site.  I can't look around in YouTube at work because it is blocked, but if you can find the ModelKitStuff site, the playlist for that build is in his Playlist page.

I don't think that chap is going to plank the deck, but his four videos on hull planking will definitely give you some pointers.  One of the best things he is doing is forcing himself into a novice build and informing you of how to fix common problems we face as novices.  Stuff that most of these members are well beyond - although I have read them offering such advice.  For example, he goes through the process of steaming and bending hull planking using multiple methods.  He also covers 1st planking and 2nd planking and how they differ.  I think that playlist is well worth the time (and, my goodness, each one of the 40 is like 20 minutes long).  He also seems to have other similar playlists available and for some reason the Bluenose is ringing a bell.

I hope to join the wooden ship fun soon.  I will be completing my plastic DKM Admiral Graf Spee soon and I have my eye on the Sherbourne.

GLHF
 

and, Happy Hunting.

Me too like the nice lines of the Bluenose! I think the shape of the hull will be nice to work on and to follow while sanding and planking.

 

I have found the videos you mentioned. I have watched the first few minutes, and it looks like clearly spoken and explaining videos, so definite worth watching! 

 

Nice, you not only can spend a lot of time on building, but also on watching videos, tutorials, reading modelshipworld.com, etc....

[bnw]

On 11/17/2025 at 4:26 PM, Kenchington said:

Looks like you are off to a great start!

 

You have said that you aim for a model that looks nice, rather than a miniature replica, but the appearance of the prototype is a good starting point for your decisions. To that end, the schooner's own website has a useful photograph taken from directly overhead, which shows her deck very clearly. I won't infringe on copyright but you can find the image at:

 

https://bluenose.novascotia.ca/node/122

 

That photo was taken during an annual fitting-out and has much of the schooner's gear (and much of her crew!) laid out on the wharf alongside, so a very useful reference as you proceed.

 

Trevor

Great link you gave me! Great picture from the Bluenose from above! 

And a great website to learn more about this nice ship!

 

As seen in your profile, you are from Nova Scotia. Did you see the Bluenose in real life? Its home harbour is not that far from where you are living!

[Kenchington]

Hi @bnw,

 

I thought that overhead photo would be useful for anyone building a model of Bluenose II. I'm glad you like it.

 

I have seen the schooner a great many times, especially back when she spent summers in Halifax and I lived in the city. I have been aboard her under sail for a couple of her tourist trips around the harbour, though not for many years now, and have been on the water near her other times. The best view I had of her, however, came during a short sail from Halifax to Lunenburg in the Rose. Our captain was a bit concerned at the weather forecast and sent us aloft to the fore topsail yard to practice reefing. While up there, a very sweet-looking, small (as I thought) schooner came sailing past, heeled far over. It was only as she passed, almost below where I stood, that I realized she was Bluenose II. A memorable moment!

 

Trevor

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  Most of the Bluenose or Bluenose II builds feature different kit suppliers in different scales, some with enhancements (minor 'busts'), but among the several of A.L.'s 1:75 Bluenose II I've perused (the kit is ion my stash) - a decent finished build to look at before proceeding is:

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22622-bluenose-ii-by-penfold-finished-artesania-latina-175-second-build-for-a-newbie-so-any-advice-welcome/#comment-671768

  Most builders of finished logs (in the minority) glue the walnut keel pieces after second planking is done (one builder in a finished log is careful with 1st planking and omits 2nd planking altogether ... once filled and painted, it looks OK but smooth).   2nd planking done over a properly adjusted/filled 1st planking should need no further filling, and some don't paint to show off the wood planking.  Painting over 2nd planking will still 'telegraph' the planks and some of the grain, and adds a lot of character to the model.

  A GREAT book to obtain (and copies are available on line - I bought through Amazon) is:  Bluenose II  Saga of the Great Fishing Schooners by L.B. Jensen.

Just about everything you might want to know about the subject ship is in there, and can aid in proper rigging with or without sails.

[Kenchington]

I fully endorse the recommendation of "Yogi" Jensen's book: An essential source for anyone trying for a realistic model of Bluenose II and very valuable to anyone aiming for the original racing fisherman.

 

Not really of any concern to model builders but the hull currently afloat might better be called Bluenose III or even Bluenose IV. The original was, of course, built in 1921 and lost in 1946. Bluenose II (a very close replica, built in the same yard and by some of the same men) was launched in 1963. Softwood fishing schooners were not built to last and, by the mid-1990s, she was in bad shape. Then the 1995 annual G7 heads-of-government meeting came to Canada and specifically to Halifax. That freed up federal money and she was given what, in earlier times, might have been called a "great repair", with much of her structure replaced -- as a backdrop for photo-ops with assorted presidents. We don't have high-quality politicians in Nova Scotia and the Minister then responsible insisted that the new wood used in the repair be the same types as the old. (Bad idea.) In those days, I had a friend who was a naval architect and marine surveyor. He was involved in the rebuild project and tried to save a treenail or two for me but the same Minister insisted that everything go through a chipper, to ensure that nobody could own a piece of the 1963 hull -- not even the Nova Scotians who supposedly collectively own the entire schooner through our government. (Another bad idea.) Whether you call what emerged in 1995 a rebuilt Bluenose II or Bluenose III is up to you. The Provincial government chose the former.

 

By 2011, she was in bad shape again and went back to Lunenburg for a complete rebuild. That time, she was given a more robust structure and more resilient types of timber -- apparently considerably changed internally with little (if any) of her original material retained, though her external appearance is unaffected. By rights, the new vessel which emerged should have been Bluenose III (if not IV) but thereby hung another tale: It turned out that the Roué family (heirs to the original designer) still held rights to the design. If certain arrogant individuals had asked nicely, I don't doubt that permission would have been granted to build from the original plans, as it had been in 1963. Maybe some nominal royalty could have been paid. But arrogance won out over common decency and, to conceal the reality that a new hull had been built to an old design, the fiction has been maintained that what emerged in 2013 was a repaired Bluenose II.

 

Trevor

 

[bnw]

Tnx guys for the interesting info!

 

@Snug Harbor JohnnyLooks like an interesting book! thank you for the tip!

 

@KenchingtonThank you so much for your story, I was really impressed by it. I have never been to Canada but hope to visit this beautiful country one day. I like that my first ship model is actually a Canadian ship. Reading a story from someone who lives there, who actually saw the Bluenose II and has been aboard her, really touched me. Especially what you told about the moment she passed by when you were aloft.

 

When I started this hobby a few months ago, I didn't realize that building the model is only a small part of it. Talking with other enthusiasts, learning the history and specifications of the real ship, and listening to stories about her and the people around her, is at least as satisfying as the building itself!

[bnw]

13 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  Most of the Bluenose or Bluenose II builds feature different kit suppliers in different scales, some with enhancements (minor 'busts'), but among the several of A.L.'s 1:75 Bluenose II I've perused (the kit is ion my stash) - a decent finished build to look at before proceeding is:

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22622-bluenose-ii-by-penfold-finished-artesania-latina-175-second-build-for-a-newbie-so-any-advice-welcome/#comment-671768

.............

I have read several build logs, but this one has really nice images wich will help me in details! Tnx!

[TerryPat]

Good luck with your build! It's a beautiful ship. Your finished model will make a fine display. I'm currently building the Bluenose kit by Model Shipways. I'm enjoying watching the beautiful lines take shape.