Bluenose made in Austria :-)

[Franz]

Wonderful wonderful build. If not too late I believe the eyebolts on the masts were offset or staggered a bit as show in this diagram from Peter Voogt.

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Here is a you tube video of a way to make wind filled sails.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the information!
In my opinion, the best source for understanding the construction of the Bluenose and the details of schooner building from that period is Howard Chapelle's book The American Fishing Schooners. I also found J.B. Jensen's Bluenose II drawings extremely helpful, as they include a number of details that also apply to the Bluenose. Another very informative resource is Keith McLaren's A Race for Real Sailors, which contains some excellent photographs.
The video was very interesting—thank you! I was especially intrigued by the idea of using ballast to press down on the sail and create its shape and camber. I'm going to give that a try and see if I can achieve the effect without creating any wrinkles.

Best regards,

Franz

 

[Franz]

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!

Hi Bill,
I think there's so much to learn from everyone building ships here. Every model that's posted on this forum is full of great ideas and clever solutions.
Since this is the first ship I've ever built, I would never have gotten this far without all the information, advice, and photos shared here. Quite often, it's the simplest ideas that leave you amazed.
Best regards, Franz

 

[Franz]

Nice to see you back with the build of your Bluenose, Franz. A good idea to make several samples for your sails.
Regards, Peter

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the warm welcome!
I'm curious myself to see whether the sails will turn out the way I imagine them. We'll see how it goes!
Best regards, Franz

 

[Franz]

So, on to the next topic: the crosstrees.
From the photos, I've noticed that on the foremast the shrouds only extend to the top of the lower mast, whereas on the mainmast they run all the way up to the masthead. The yellow lines indicate the mainmast, while the red lines indicate the foremast.

 

[Franz]

A test piece for the end of the long crosstree. The rivets are still too large, and the brass strap needs to be shortened.

 

[Franz]

Next came the fairleads. To simplify things, I bent a small piece of brass around a tiny nail and then filed a locating pin that can be glued into the crosstree.

 

[Franz]

Six fairleads are needed for the two crosstrees.

 

[Franz]

This is how the ends of the crosstrees look now. I used 0.6 mm rivets, which are much closer to scale.




The six fairleads and the supports for the dories still need to be added.

 

[Franz]

Alright, now it's time to finish the Crosstrees. This turned out to be quite a bit more work than I had expected.



I decided not to make the fittings for the Peak Halyards as actual eyes, but simply as bent brackets. Otherwise, I would have had to make the eyes so tiny that it would have been beyond my modelling skills. So, this is a slight deviation from the original—reduced to the essential function.

In addition to gluing them in place, I secured the bent brackets with two 0.4 mm rivets each. Drilling holes that tiny is quite funny … and on such a narrow strip of brass, rather tricky!

 

[Franz]

Finally, the Throat Halyard Crane. I decided to go with the “standard” version here—the curved type.

 

[Franz]

I “forgot” the fittings for the Forward Boom Topping Lifts. Originally, I wasn’t planning to include these lines, but while working on the crosstrees I changed my mind. I’m still not sure whether I’ll add the After Boom Topping Lift as well. I’m a little concerned that there might simply be too many blocks around the mast area … we’ll see.


In any case, I had to fit the two brackets a little differently, since I hadn’t added them before installing the crosstrees.

As for the size of the crosstree on the foremast, I judged it by eye based on the drawing, trying to get the proportions right. So at this point, its dimensions are based more on what looks right to me than on the actual measurements.

Thank you Peter for your support!

Main Mast:


Fore Mast:

 

[Peter Voogt]

Congratulations with this 2 mast tops, Franz. You made some very nicely detailed crosstrees!
About your concern about the amount of block: Anything that wasn't necessary was most certainly not installed. Only the functional ones. So just do it, but pay attention to the size of the blocks.
Regards, Peter

 

[Franz]

And now on to the upper sections of the masts. For the upper attachment points of the shrouds and stays, I needed to solder a brass ring to the copper straps. The problem was that as soon as the brass heated up, the joints I had already soldered tended to come apart again.












To solve this, I drilled a wooden block to hold everything in place: a round dowel in the center to support the brass ring, plus eight small holes for the copper wires. Then I simply inserted all the parts and soldered them together.

 

[Franz]

I also want the mastheads to have a square profile. When I originally turned the masts on the lathe, I hadn't thought of that yet. So now I'm adding the square sections separately, using glued-in pins to make sure they stay firmly attached.

 

[Franz]

For the jaws and saddles, I glued two strips of wood together and then carefully sanded them to shape.






The laser-cut part supplied with the kit was unfortunately unusable.

 

[Franz]

For the main boom, I also made the ironwork for the main halyard from brass.

 

[Franz]

In a group photo taken after a race, it was visible that the jaws of the gaff booms were curved upwards.



So I glued on an additional strip of wood and sanded it to shape.

 

[Franz]

And finally, the attachment points for the sail and the blocks.

 

[Rob444]

And finally, the attachment points for the sail and the blocks.

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Your work is amazing!
Rob

 

[GrantTyler]

Good morning Franz. Wow your detailed metal work is brilliant. Cheers Grant