Bluenose by Scientific

[Donnie]

Very, very nice BN.

OUCH ! - Yep, I have shed a drop or two of blood myself working on my stuff - no fun - . I guess while you are bleeding, you can spread some blood on the inside bulwarks.....that is if you were building a war ship. LOL. Sorry...I don't mean to make fun of the situation.

 

[Fright]

Donnie - no worries! LMAO to coin an old ad on t.v. 'a little drop will do ya'. Goes right in hand with my job with entertainment. I usually portray a 'cannibalistic hillbilly in the woods', Dracula, a 'homeless man', an Undertaker and even a see-through ghost in a Ghostbuster Web Series that was filmed in Atlanta. Hopefully, I'll keep my injuries down to a minimum.

 

[zoly99sask]

Hello,I am bringing this up ,the images got corrupted last year's forum crash.The image files name still there so you can find by those in your pc and replace the corrupted files.Thank,Zoltan.

 

[Peglegreg]

Here's what happens when one is in a hurry when drilling. I was working on main mast when SNAP - the drill bit broke and proceeded to go right though my left index finger. This is after I cleaned up the blood from the hole! I also realized that I had put the top masts on backwards! Thank goodness for Nail Polish Remover and no breakage in having to pull apart the masts. Corrected the mistakes and finished off the two masts.

G'day BN (Is that correct?)
I havta echoes Donnie remarks ouch.
A few years ago something similar happened to me.
I was working on a project, not a model, but a home job. Well I was using an angle grinder with a cutting disc, and I dropped it, while it was still going, into my thump. It went down to the bone and proceeded up to my wrist. I looked at it, and I still had every thing and they still worked, so I used sticky tape over bandaids and carried on working.

the scare that is the only evidence now
When my wife got home I told her I cut my self. That night she changed the rough bandage I've done and gasp as she saw the 60mm to the bone CUT. She wasn't happy, but I showed her that I could use every finger and hand.
She put some butterfly stiches (about 12) on my small cut and told me to be more careful in the future.
About a week latter I saw the doctor and took xrays and he told me the report said there were a 45 mm 1.5 mm groove in two bones. He told me if it was 1 or 2 mm to the left, I would have lost the use of my thumb.
Needless to say I'm now more careful.
Havagooday mate
Greg

 

[Fright]

So this is where I have left off with this build. My gaffs and booms are not permanently attached to the masts yet. I went out and purchased some material at JoAnne's for furled sheets on the rigging. This is where I'm a little shady on what lines go where. The plans that came with the kit are not the clearest so I need to find some other sites to look at.

 

[Fright]

So I finally posted pictures of my progress with my Scientific's Bluenose that photobucket cancelled on me and erased all pics. Page 1 is now up to date. It's a condensed version but shows my steps that I took.

 

[Fright]

Stained base and attached schooner to base by using two brass rods. I finished all of my standard rigging and I plan on using furled sails ( I re-positioned my gaffs which are still not glued to masts). I will try and follow a wonderful article that I found about making furled sails from a modeler named Landlubber Mike from an NRG's post.

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

I hope I am able to share this info with others, if not, please let me know and I will delete it. Thanks. So here's a pic of where I have left off.

 

[Fright]

Can anyone tell me, when the sails are folded down on the booms, do both the fore gaff and main gaff come down and lay atop the folded sails or do they remain above at an angle? Do the amount of running lines remain the same in position? From what I have seen by looking at pictures, some of the running lines, especially the ones coming off the bowsprit appear to have a relaxed curve to them going up to the masts. I've never done any rigging before and my one page plans are not the greatest (at least for this kid). I appreciate all help/advice/links that is offered!

 

[Fright]

Well, I worked on the schooner today and tried adding some more running lines with blocks for my upcoming furled sails. The material that came with this kit for sails was too heavy and stiff for use. I went to Joanne's and pick up some lightweight fabric that was of white for my sails. I used the kit fabrics for templates and cut out my sails. I will only use about 1/3 of sail to keep it from being to bulky on booms. Holding off on some of the other running lines at stern until I research more photos/links. Anyway, this is what I've come up with for my kit:

 

[Peglegreg]

G'day Fright
It's quite common for the kit's sails to be quite thick.
What I did on my AL's Endeavour when i did the sails, was to use our old 1000 lines sheets. They were a very pale sandstone colour. At 1:64 scale that 1000 line sheets was equal to about 16 lines which is very close to the canvas that was used on the original ship.
I then stained the sheets with instant coffee in a patchy way. I used CA GLUE at the edges of the sail to stop the threads running, AFTER I drawn up all the stitching lines on my computer and printed Both side of the sails on iron transfer materials making sure that they registered correctly.
The result was very good, and no one knew that they weren't sewn. Also the the lines were very thin. The coffee stains made the sails a weathered look.
Unfortunately, we moved home last year and in the process the model was damaged quite a lot, and has been packed away for repairs after I have finished my current build. It's too hard to get to it now. Another disturbing point is that all of my digital photos are somehow corrupted. I'm hoping it that I'll be able to retrieve them soon.
So I can't give you any pictorial images to show you.
Havagooday
Greg

 

[Fright]

G'day Fright
It's quite common for the kit's sails to be quite thick.
What I did on my AL's Endeavour when i did the sails, was to use our old 1000 lines sheets. They were a very pale sandstone colour. At 1:64 scale that 1000 line sheets was equal to about 16 lines which is very close to the canvas that was used on the original ship.
I then stained the sheets with instant coffee in a patchy way. I used CA GLUE at the edges of the sail to stop the threads running, AFTER I drawn up all the stitching lines on my computer and printed Both side of the sails on iron transfer materials making sure that they registered correctly.
The result was very good, and no one knew that they weren't sewn. Also the the lines were very thin. The coffee stains made the sails a weathered look.
Unfortunately, we moved home last year and in the process the model was damaged quite a lot, and has been packed away for repairs after I have finished my current build. It's too hard to get to it now. Another disturbing point is that all of my digital photos are somehow corrupted. I'm hoping it that I'll be able to retrieve them soon.
So I can't give you any pictorial images to show you.
Havagooday
Greg

Greg - I'm using a very fine muslin material that I picked up at Joannes

G'day Fright
It's quite common for the kit's sails to be quite thick.
What I did on my AL's Endeavour when i did the sails, was to use our old 1000 lines sheets. They were a very pale sandstone colour. At 1:64 scale that 1000 line sheets was equal to about 16 lines which is very close to the canvas that was used on the original ship.
I then stained the sheets with instant coffee in a patchy way. I used CA GLUE at the edges of the sail to stop the threads running, AFTER I drawn up all the stitching lines on my computer and printed Both side of the sails on iron transfer materials making sure that they registered correctly.
The result was very good, and no one knew that they weren't sewn. Also the the lines were very thin. The coffee stains made the sails a weathered look.
Unfortunately, we moved home last year and in the process the model was damaged quite a lot, and has been packed away for repairs after I have finished my current build. It's too hard to get to it now. Another disturbing point is that all of my digital photos are somehow corrupted. I'm hoping it that I'll be able to retrieve them soon.
So I can't give you any pictorial images to show you.
Havagooday
Greg

Greg - I went out and bought some natural color muslin material at Joannes Fabric store that is extremely lightweight yet not transparent. Another modeler named Landlubber Mike, who has a great article on creating furled sails, uses this stuff instead of silkspan. I like you idea of using the computer for printing your sail lines. Some good ideas in this post!

 

[WilliamMorrison]

Great job so far! I love those old Scientific ship kits. They were simple, they were fun, and they could be built into very convincing models if the builder added detail and care. Their kit of the Thermopylae was quite good and was basically accurate. The other Clippers were also generally quite good. I hope that we see more builds of these kits!

 

[Fright]

Great job so far! I love those old Scientific ship kits. They were simple, they were fun, and they could be built into very convincing models if the builder added detail and care. Their kit of the Thermopylae was quite good and was basically accurate. The other Clippers were also generally quite good. I hope that we see more builds of these kits!

William - I agree with you on your above staement. I've had a wonderful time putting this together and it was a good learning experience for myself, having never worked with a wooden kit. For me, working with a wooden kit gives me a feeling as if I'm actually building a boat for the sea. Definitely a hands on type of work. I wish they still were around! I had plans to build the Plastic America but put this aside to tackle the HMS Bounty Launch after I finish my Bluenose. Thanks again for taking a look and your response. Enjoy!

 

[WilliamMorrison]

Robert,

You can find these kits on EBay quite often. They are also very inexpensive. The only thing to be careful of is that Scientific sometimes substituted balsa wood for the pine hulls. A good seller will make that distinction.

I have all of the Clipper ships in my collection as well as the USS Kearsarge. I plan on purchasing the larger USS Constitution. My grandsons love these kits and it is my way of introducing them to history as well as modelling.

Bill

 

[Fright]

I had a day off from work so I put in a few hours working on my schooner. I dove in with my 1st attempt at trying to recreate furled sails. I started with the staysail. Rather than roll the fabric, I folded the material and used white glue to help some of the folds stay together. I used a needle to poke a hole in the top corner of sail and attached a ring through the hole and around the line. I used a drop of CA glue to keep the ring on the line elevated. I then finished up by tying lines around the sail and staysail evenly spaced. Used alligator clips on end of lines to keep taut and applied 50/50 white glue on them. When dried, I snipped of the excess lines.
This is my 1st attempt and hope to improve as I progress with the sails. I still need to finish up with the running lines.

 

[Fright]

Had some spare time to work on the schooner. I add the furled foresail to boom and gaff and installed in place. Completed most of the running lines for the sail. It may not be 100% accurate, but I am happy with the way she is coming along and feel good about the skills that I have learned so far with this little kit. I still have a ways to go but she's coming along slow and steady!

 

[Fright]

I am struggling along trying to figure out what the running lines should look like when the gaff is in a lowered position with furled sails. When looking at other builds of the Bluenose, almost all of them show full sails or no sails added but booms and gaffs in a sailing position. The one sheet of instructions that came with this Scientific kit are really vague when it comes to the running lines. The mainsail gaff has 3 blocks attached to it's end but I'm not clear as to whether the line(s) from the blocks to the mid-mast are single or double lines. Trying to figure out if and where would these lines tie down on the deck. For me, working on the rigging is truly the hardest part when it comes to model building - and this was a pretty basic starter kit for it's day. I'd like to buy a vowel to solve!!! LOL

On some models, I have noticed what looks like a standard line running from the top of the mainmast to somewhere on the stern of the deck (or boom tip). Does anyone know of a site that shows a larger image of the mainmast running lines? I've tried to copy and enlarge a few images for reference but they tend to loose clarity when blown up to a larger scale. Many thanks if anyone can offer any suggestions.

 

[Fright]

I've added the main halliard line on the main mast which will eventually be tied off to belaying pin. Worked on the main peak halliard lines that will attach to main gaff and also added the flying backstay lines that will attach to the stern deck. Completed work on the main boom and gaff. Now I need to attach the sail and finish up the lines. LOL (is that all!)

 

[DocBlake]

Robert: On a gaff rigged sail there is a line from the mast top to the end of the boom callled a “topping lift”. It’s function is to support the boom when the gaff is lowered and the sail is furled or “flaked”. Could that be what you are referring to?

 

[Fright]

DocBlake Dave - thanks for taking an interest on this and for pointing out the name for the 'topping lift' line and also it's placement. I was unsure as to where it hooked up on the main mast. I've been struggling with my rigging lines and trying to achieve some sort of realism, but the one sheet plans that came with this Scientific kit are pretty vague for a beginner. Here is a picture (by SuburbanShipModeler) that shows these 'flying backstay lines' hooked to the deck on stern that goes to top of mast as well. On another build that's on YouTube by Gary Brinker, he showed that these backstays could also be moved to just behind the main mast decking as well, depending on how the ship's sails were being used. This is what I've been using as a one of my references for this build. But like I said, this is all new to me LOL


Wow - I've really messed up this post and placement of photos!!!