Bluenose by Scientific

O - U - C - H  Ditto on being extra careful. I'm 17 years with a kidney. Know what it's all about.

Jim  

Jim - good to hear you are doing well after your ordeal! Cheers bud!

Fright, that is some beautiful work you're doing.  Look forward to more.

Lewbud - thanks for taking a look at this kit For an 'old' kit and my 1st wooden kit, she's come along far better than I thought she would. I've had some very helpful tips from members in here and the use of the Bluenose Practicum for reference material to help fill in the gaps. Something about working with wood brings one closer to a sense of building a real ship. I look forward to my next wooden kit, Model Shipways Phantom NYC Pilot boat. This will give me experience in plating a hull and planking a deck.

Worked on the bow section last two days. Drilled and installed eye hooks on bowsprit - then ran support lines from bowsprit to hull. Finally added my anchor chain to windlass. Made davits from a piece of round styrene plastic by running under hot water; then placed a bend with my pliers; and pinched the ends to flatten them  - then drilled hole through the flat end. Not the most accurate but they do look like davits:)  Ran anchor chain from hawse opening to fishermans anchor and attached to side of ship. I also made chain plates from strips of brass and punched rivet holes by using a small nail and hammer. Not sure if I will paint them flat black or not?

The picture of S.F. Bridge is for my 1:350 scale Liberty ship's diorama.

Worked on bowsprit by adding lines and two thin wood strips. Re-positioned my anchor (it was going to interfere with my deadeyes) and attached it to the davit. Cut and stained my pin rails and glued them into place. It's hard to see, but I painted my chain plates flat black as someone suggested.

I like it. Very impressive. Do you plan to add sails ?   If you do add sails, I suggest using silkspan material, as it is more to scale in appearance.

Happy modeling.    Crackers

Hello Anthony - thanks for taking a look and I do hope to be adding sails. Thanks for the tip on 'silkspan' - the sheet that came with the kit has a fine linen weave to it but I think it is really textured paper. Almost what one would use to line a shelf with.

Have my lower shroud lines attached to the foremast. I tried my hand on adding the ratlines to the upper shroud lines. They are actually easier to do than I thought - just need some time on hand. A special thanks goes to David Kump's video on Youtube "How To Tie Ratlines On A Model Ship". I also added two blocks for the stays to the top of mast.

Hi,

That looks great.  Can't wait to see the finished build.

Pat

Thanks Pat - I need to tighten up my seizing but I think the more I do, the better they'll look. 1st attempt at this stuff. For an inexpensive 1st wooden kit (and inexperienced modeler), I am pretty happy with the way she has come out. She's not 100% accurate, but she still looks good. 

The Canadian schooner BLUENOSE as seen in the year 1921. Putting sails on a model is strickly a personal preference. For me, sails on a model makes the model complete. It is like a human figure dressed with clothing. Silkspan is like tissue papper, but much stronger, and looks more to scale rather then cloth.  It is used by airplane modelers to cover aircraft frames. This material can be purchased at BlueJacket Ship Crafters at Searsport, Maine.

Happy modeling      Crackers   

Crackers - thanks for this photo and for the information on Silkspan and supplier. I'm debating on whether to have full sails or partial sails on kit. Not sure if one is easier than the other as this would be my 1st attempt at rigging and sails.

Robert,

You're doing a bang up job for someone not experienced in building ship models - heck, you're doing a bang up job, period...!

Here's some old footage in which you might be interested. I was building a model of the Gertrude L. Thebaud at one time and I've shelved it temporarily. This footage is old, blurry, shakey, and the color is awful but it still inspires me. I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NblVGH1Dmzc

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Happy modeling     Crackers       

Mike - thanks for posting this vintage footage. I saved it in my Favorites on Youtube. Thanks to forums like this one and trying to research info on this schooner, I've been able to pick up some good techniques in wooden modeling so far with this kit. There are so many great variations of this boat to look at that are being built by some incredibly talented people.

I am also in the middle of working on Revell's 1:96 scale Constitution and I wish I could say that I had finished it in 9 months! I've been working on & off for a little over a year and I finally got my 1st gun deck installed. I have installed LED lights and added a 'false deck' by opening up the main hatch but I'm trying not to rush things. Working on the Bluenose should help me get a better understanding of rigging when the time comes on the Connie (I hope). 

fright

Thanks Pat - I need to tighten up my seizing but I think the more I do, the better they'll look. 1st attempt at this stuff. For an inexpensive 1st wooden kit (and inexperienced modeler), I am pretty happy with the way she has come out. She's not 100% accurate, but she still looks good. 

 

Hi,

I think your build looks great. 

I know that I may be in a minority when it comes to detailing things but I kind of lean towards "if it looks fairly resonable" that is probably as good (or in some cases maybe even better than) trying too hard to 100% replicate something.

For a lot of older stuff its probably worthwhile noting that what we believe to be the "correct" way of showing something is sometimes only based on either a) someones interpretation of what was correct, b) a photo or drawing that may only show how something looked at one given point of time, or c) how it may have looked for a few specific examples.  Specifically, in some recent posts on some airplane builds on the airplane subforum there has been some discussion on how the color of a certain part of the P-40 cockpit (behind the pilot) appears to have varied even amoung the same model number of the plane, so that just using a single photo or drawing may not give a full view of what "may" have been possible.

Additionally, as a slight aside I once had the opportunity to do some work in support of a maritime museum in California where they were intended to update a sailing ship that they had to show how she was configured at various points in her life on the opposite sides of the internal decks.  On one side it was intended to display how she looked when she was a lumber carrier while the other side would show how she looked when serving as a fishing vessel. 

I remember talking to one of the historians there who indicated that when the ship was outfitted to carry lumber they had "clips along the internal shell where the crew could fit batten (?) boards to protect the sideshell when loading/unloading cargo.  He indicated that from some photos at the time it looked as if these pieces of wood may have had some specific "edge detailing" that they wanted to make sure that they correctly replicated.  To me as an engineer I kind of just assumed that any "edge detailing" was likely either due to natural wear and or damage to the wood that you would expect from a "working" vessel, but the historian seemed to see it as "since something shows up in a photo it's probably something that needs to be researched and precisely replicated to be 100% authentic".

In the end I suspect that if they had just thrown in random pieces of banged up wood it would likely have looked reasonable and maybe even might have been potentially more correct than trying to replicate a specific photo, but maybe thats just me.

Ooops sorry for getting off track.

Keep up the great work.

Pat

Pat - thanks for the input on kit builds. I know what you mean about doing things the 'correct' way. When trying to find material on my Connie, I stumbled upon a forum post about the correct color of the gun port stripe used in 1812. Depending on which book or painting(s) one is looking at and whose interpretation on what material, I went with my own artististic discretion and went with a white strip. The article was very informative, but a few of the posts were adament on a specific color. 

I have only worked on five models, including the Bluenose and, although I'm trying to stay as close to the 'look' of the ship as I learn new skills, I also want it to be my ship. I'm a long way off from building what people call a museum quality model. This is simply a learning curve on the highway to enjoyment. 

"I aims for perfection but I'm happy's with what I get!" LOL Thanks so much for your insight and for taking a look at my post - Cheers!

I made two bilge pumps out of small strip of wood and some wire. Painted flat black and attached to deck with pin and CA glue

My rigging is starting to take shape. I still need to add the boom and gaff to foremast. Nothing on the masts, boom or gaffs are glued at present - just fitting. I worked on some block and tackle on the boom and gaff of mainmast. Need to do the upper ratlines on the mainmast. So far, I feel I'm doing a good job at keeping close to what her rigging would be, although, I do not think she is sea worthy! 

Worked on making some desperately needed oars for my dories. Made from four 1" length pieces of 1/16" thick wood. Clamped and used small file to round off the handles; then flattened the paddles. Stained handles, flat white on paddles and flat black handle tips. I found this method on someone's post and, I'm sorry to say, at the moment I cannot recall their name. I'll try to find it - it was very helpful!

Getting better with my seizing on the shroud lines. I use this little set-up for my wrappings. It also has a hole that allows me to hold my mast while working on it.

Installed my two masts. Attached my lower shroud lines to the lanyards. Next up is working on shroud ratlines. Did a fitting of booms and gaffs - nothing is glued in place. I'm still trying to decipher where lines, blocks, stays fit in place, but I feel like I'm making some headway to all of this.

I would like to display this schooner with furled sails but not sure when in this build I should attach them. Especially unsure of how the upper sails would appear. Any suggestions? 

I googled Bluenose with sails furled and found several photos that would help you, unfortunately Google won't let me download​ them and I've never been able to do a screen grab with my phone.  In looking at the pics Google found, and based on my own rudimentary knowledge of rigging, part of me says you might be too late.  The hoops on the masts were attached to the luff (leading edge) of the sail.  The foot (bottom) of the sail, was secured to the boom with rope loops.  There is a boom that attachs to the head of the sail, that is raised with a block and tackle, which raises and lowers the mainsail.  In the pics I found, that boom rests on top of the furled main.  This is why I think you may be too late.  To do it correctly, it looks to me like the sails should have been added almost before you started rigging.  In regards to the mains, definitely before you did all that work on the mast tops.  Just my opinion.  Google also found a YouTube video of Bluenose's sails being furled, so that might help you figure it out also.  Hope this helps.  If you want to have some fun, go to a ship modelling forum and read posts on whether to add sails or not.  Almost as contentious as arguments over the right color paint in our world.  Keep up the good work.

Lewbud - thanks for this information and I will look at Google pics this evening. My hoops will be the big problem now. The booms and gaffs are not fixed yet and I can still alter or work with them at this stage of the game.

I know what you mean about the debates that occur on some posts. The post I read on the 'correct' color that was used on the 1812 version of USS Constitution's gun port stripe reminded me of one's inturpretation of any given Bible printed! Very good information with a lot of speculation.  Thanks again for this info.

O.K. Here we go....again. I'm posting a quick time lapse series of photos to get to where I am at this stage in my build. I think this is the easiest way I can bring back this post on my Bluenose build after losing all of my pics from photobucket. All previous information is already listed - these are only photos to back up my posts. Where's a lawyer when you need one?  So, here I go:

The photo below is my little grandson who really was fascinated with this schooner, so I made hime 1st mate and put him too work helping me with my dories and making rope coils.

... Wallah! This is where I am now at this stage in my build. I am planning to add furled sails and finish up with my standard and running lines. Thanks again for everyone's input, feedback, likes and support in getting me this far with my build. Cheers for now!!! 

I want to give a big 'shoutout' to tempestjohnny for hooking me up with postimage website which enabled me to begin posting pics once again. Cheers mate!!![quote user="fright"]

O.K. Here we go....again. I'm posting a quick time lapse series of photos to get to where I am at this stage in my build. I think this is the easiest way I can bring back this post on my Bluenose build after losing all of my pics from photobucket. All previous information is already listed - these are only photos to back up my posts. Where's a lawyer when you need one?  So, here I go:

The photo below is my little grandson who really was fascinated with this schooner, so I made hime 1st mate and put him too work helping me with my dories and making rope coils.

... Wallah! This is where I am now at this stage in my build. I am planning to add furled sails and finish up with my standard and running lines. Thanks again for everyone's input, feedback, likes and support in getting me this far with my build. Cheers for now!!! 

 "Why walk when you can stumble, why stumble when you can crawl."

So here is my 1st attempt at trying to create a furled sail. I have started with the staysail. I'm aware I've cut some corners and probably have missed some nautical elements, but I'm hoping I can improve on the next four sails. I plan on removing a couple of my mast rings from the two masts to lower the spacing between the booms and gaffs which will reduce the bulkyness in the furled sails.

Looks great!  I am planning furled sails on a Great Lakes schooner I am working on (never done them before), so I will be following your work.

Thanks Don - here's a pretty good link that I came across on researching furled sails for model ships. My sails do not even come close but it helped me along my path. Scroll down 5 members to Twintrow's post and click the pdf file. It is by a gentleman named Landlubber Mike. Some great information! 

https://modelshipworld.com/index.php?/topic/13903-furled-sails/#comment-499878