Bluenose Model Shipways build log - Mallacoota

M

mallacoota

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Feb 8, 2021
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416
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Location
Victoria Australia
Decided to go for the MS-POB kit, will be a very different build to the just completed YQ-POF, I just hope it is as rewarding. Waiting for the box in the mail, it is somewhere between Miami and Melbourne. Hoping to conform to the historical colours and details as much as I am able at my skill level, although the information is full of contradictions. The original Smith and Rhuland colour scheme (below) says such things as..."bowsprit oiled like varnish", "boom and gaff jaws white", "mast heads white"... well all the old photos of Bluenose show a black bowsprit, oiled (as varnish) mastheads,(although the mast caps look white) and boom and gaff jaws the same colour as their spar...oiled. Bluenose 2 painted the last 10-12ft of the main and foremast white, so they obviously thought that was the correct interpretation of "mast heads"...and they were on the spot with access to people who knew the real boat..?? The photos just dont show that at all. So deciding to fall in with the historical boat is all very well...if you can sort out the facts. I get it that these things might have changed over time so maybe it was just a moving feast.


Screen Shot 2021-08-21 at 12.57.44 pm.png

Isnt this just a great photo

Screen Shot 2021-08-22 at 7.57.02 pm.png
.

Something else I just remembered, the conventional wisdom is that the deck planks on the quarterdeck were tapered and not nibbed. Not true..they may well have been tapered (although this photo raises some doubts IMHO) but they were nibbed..see this pic for clear nibbing aft to port.

200330715.jpg
 
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I wish you lots of success with this build!
 
Hi John,
Nice to see you you are going to build another BN! Very interesting and I will follow your build.
I will ad the informatie of your build-log on the BN-list by the other builds.
Regards, Peter
 
Take two John! Good to see you have another ship to build. The rigging plans are very detailed, as is the rest of the ship, and should keep you very busy! I will follow your journey!
 
Have unpacked it and checked contents. Measured and labelled all the wood. Pretty good. One piece missing but a larger piece included but not listed so maybe an oversize substitution, but basically the basswood looks pretty good in its usual wooly way. The plans look outstanding. No idea yet how accurate but presume so. The amount of detail is impressive. Very little pre-cut laser stuff, really only the bulkheads and keel. Everythging else you fabricate from the provided wood. My only real disappointment is the pack of cheap cast deck fittings. Terrible quality. I doubt any of it will be used. Maybe some will ,but doubtful.possiblky the anchors..? The rigging thread is polyester but looks OK... the blocks are standard squarish bulk blocks as in every kit so an order from Zoly will be necessary. But everything else looks good.

IMG_20210902_101727.jpg


IMG_20210902_102519.jpgthis is the total of the cast fittings


and these are the blocks

IMG_20210902_103111.jpg


and finally the rigging cord...high gloss polyester, looks pretty but not at all like ships rope.

IMG_20210902_104005.jpg




I think there is the basis of a really good Bluenose here but some of the peripheral supplies will need reconsidering when I come to them Not going to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar ...(always wanted an excuse to say that).
 
I have read your post and its going to be great, specially its hard to find a dog companion with covid times than make another piece.. I will be coming to see your work and say Hi,,
 
A lot of people making this Bluenose cut off the timbertops rather than reduce them from 3/16 to ⅛ and then use dummies in all other positions rather than just as intermediates. I found the tops easy to reduce so I am going with the intended plan. A small sharp saw and some ⅛ pinstripe tape to guide you and it is straightforward. You do need to add some small ledgers to hold up the end of the outboard waterway plank which would otherwise just be end glued to the face of the bulkhead. On the aft side it has the ledge created by the reduction of the top. I think this is an oversight really... there needs to be something for the waterway plank to sit on.

IMG_20210903_110439.jpgIMG_20210903_113431.jpg
 
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mallacoota said:
A lot of people making this Bluenose cut off the timbertops rather than reduce them from 3/16 to ⅛ and then use dummies in all other positions rather than just as intermediates. I found the tops easy to reduce so I am going with the intended plan. A small sharp saw and some ⅛ pinstripe tape to guide you and it is straightforward. You do need to add some small ledgers to hold up the end of the outboard waterway plank which would otherwise just be end glued to the face of the bulkhead. On the aft side it has the ledge created by the reduction of the top. I think this is an oversight really... there needs to be something for the waterway plank to sit on.

View attachment 253880View attachment 253882
Click to expand...
Hi John,
Good to see that you can find some solutions of your own. I think the construction of the YQ-BN has given you some insights that you now take with you in this construction. The rabbet look nice to.
Regards, Peter
 
Hello John,
I’d like to follow your Bluenose build too. A very special vessel in Canada but even more so on the east coast.
 
Must say I am very disappointed when I looked at the 5/16 dowels for the masts they are both twisted/bent in more than one direction and I probably can't get the two straight pieces out of them even though you get plenty of length. You wouldn't think decent dowel would be too much to ask. Can buy some locally and will do that, it will be 8 mm but that's plenty close enough. Only saw it when preparing mast steps as part of the bulkhead installation. Certainly not a costly thing to replace, just checked online at opur local DIY store and a 1.2m piece of 8.0mm Tasmanian Oak dowel is $2.50. ...so I should stop complaining...LOL.
 
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Packing out some bulkheads starting to fair them for later planking using 0.5mm x 3.0 mm strips. The ugly upright piece in the big clamp is one of two temporary legs to stand the hull upside down in my keel clamp during planking...(which is a long way away)

IMG_20210905_093750.jpg
 
mallacoota said:
Have unpacked it and checked contents. Measured and labelled all the wood. Pretty good. One piece missing but a larger piece included but not listed so maybe an oversize substitution, but basically the basswood looks pretty good in its usual wooly way. The plans look outstanding. No idea yet how accurate but presume so. The amount of detail is impressive. Very little pre-cut laser stuff, really only the bulkheads and keel. Everythging else you fabricate from the provided wood. My only real disappointment is the pack of cheap cast deck fittings. Terrible quality. I doubt any of it will be used. Maybe some will ,but doubtful.possiblky the anchors..? The rigging thread is polyester but looks OK... the blocks are standard squarish bulk blocks as in every kit so an order from Zoly will be necessary. But everything else looks good.

View attachment 253711


View attachment 253714this is the total of the cast fittings


and these are the blocks

View attachment 253717


and finally the rigging cord...high gloss polyester, looks pretty but not at all like ships rope.

View attachment 253722




I think there is the basis of a really good Bluenose here but some of the peripheral supplies will need reconsidering when I come to them Not going to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar ...(always wanted an excuse to say that).
Click to expand...
A recommendation that I may offer, being ahead of you, is to discard the kit blocks but use the bill of materials to order from Dry Dock. Far superior. The kit dead eyes are also not what you may want to use so consider others from wherever you can find them. I did not use the thread in the kit but have used Corell, just a decision but not necessarily the last. The white metal castings in some cases are pure junk and you may scratch build similar ones. The last thing which you may have seen for serious consideration is on Sheet 6, Sail Plan, there are designations for rigging associated with either racing or fishing. To that decision you may or may not want to make faux hoops of falls on the belaying pins for more "realism". The choice is yours to make but if you make your sails from the fabric which worked very well for me, the rigging decision and presentation becomes a factor in how easy or more difficult the rigging will be along with the sequence between the two for accessibility to do that, primarily with the deck fittings but also with hoops which may be bent onto the sails and then when those are placed onto the masts. Study it all out carefully so that the problems or frustrations are minimized but will still come up occasionally. . . .at least for me. Best of luck and you will see the differences between the two kits and end schooner. Rich (PT-2)
 
Howdy.. I'm back again and certainly you have made a good advance and even thinking about the twisted dowels. Good to know that your dog is behaving and readed the recomendations of the Salty Dog PT2 that conicdes with your evaluation of the kit....
Surely I will return..
Hugo
 
Have already ordered Zoly's blocks and have a supply of quality deadeyes to use. Agree the castings..cant see any I would use at this stage but will re-examine when I get to that stage. The rigging questions I will leave until I get closer and decide on how I want to display the boat, at the moment I am thinking furled sails but that could change. Plenty of challenges to uncover between now and the rigging though.
 
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