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Bluenose made in Austria :-)

Interestingly, the nodes at the front of the Bluenose, unlike the Bluenose 2, do not converge—a situation that is statically unfavorable. This likely relates to the fact that initially only one forward stay extended downward, with the second probably being retrofitted. Since the first, forward stay was already attached at the apex of the bow curvature, only space in the inner area remained... a speculation...
 
Franz said:
Interestingly, the nodes at the front of the Bluenose, unlike the Bluenose 2, do not converge—a situation that is statically unfavorable. This likely relates to the fact that initially only one forward stay extended downward, with the second probably being retrofitted. Since the first, forward stay was already attached at the apex of the bow curvature, only space in the inner area remained... a speculation...
Click to expand...
Not only a speculation, Franz. Your assumption is confirmed by this pictures, at the launch and just after the launch:
IMG_4150.jpeg
IMG_4149.jpeg
On this later picture, both are a bit in view:
IMG_0167.jpeg
And in this a cutout of her under sail:
IMG_0168.jpeg
Regards, Peter
 
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Franz said:
For the forward attachment points on the bow sprit, I filed down the excessively large brass fittings to size and drilled new holes. The sawn-off tabs serve as individual eyes for the running rigging or the secondary rear stays leading down towards the bow.

View attachment 438132

View attachment 438133

View attachment 438134
Click to expand...
A inventive way of making the small and fragile brass parts, Franz. More solid than the ones made from small brass strips. And …… no soldering needed.
Regards, Peter
 
The rudder has kept me busy for a while now.
Initially, I wanted to make the steel brackets with narrow copper strips, but that didn't achieve the desired result, so I had to remove them and apply filler again.
Next attempt: I tried filing small notches to represent the fittings - again no success, so more filling and sanding.
Next attempt: I went with brass strips and small rivets and there you have it: that's what we'll use! You just can't give up. ;)

Ruder_0194.jpg

Ruder_0449a.jpg

Ruder_0485.jpg

Ruder_0487.jpg
 
Inserting the bowsprit:
attached to the sampson post, and on the downhaul block, the horse with the rider attached.
I crafted the rider from a brass sheet, bending it upwards with a mandrel, a reversed brass rivet. The rider has a 7-8 degree upward angle to match the jumbo beam, which I'll later attach to the reversed rivet.
When bending the bracket for the forestay, I ended up filing a brass strip instead of using wire, and it worked better. Generally, I find that thin brass strips are very easy to file, solder, and work with.

Bowsprit_0427.JPG

Bowsprit_0459.jpg

Bowsprit_0479.jpg

Bowsprit_0483.JPG

Bowsprit_0481.jpg
 
After a longer break, mainly because work kept me extremely busy, I'm finally continuing with the project.

Back in April 2024, I added a few more test strips to the sails. My goal is to depict the sails in a billowing, wind-filled shape. As shown in the picture, that's the effect I'm aiming for. We'll see whether I can pull it off and how it ultimately turns out.
 
Here, I experimented with different mixing ratios to stiffen the sails slightly, allowing them to retain their shape—more specifically, their billowing curves.
 
Of course, I also wanted to see whether the fabric would yellow or change color over time. After two years of continuous testing, I'm happy to report that neither has happened.
 
In the meantime, I turned my attention to the mast fittings. The biggest challenge at this stage was deciding which lines of the running rigging to include and which ones to leave out.
 
Hi Franz, I'm really enjoying going back and reading through your build and I'm glad you returned to it after a long pause! Although I'm building the Model Shipways Bluenose, you're providing a lot of ideas that may benefit my build. Wonderful work, thanks for sharing!
 
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