I currently am working on Revell's 1:96 USS Constitution when I stumbled upon this kit at a garage sale. Picked it up and made the mistake of opening the box - as cheap as it was, my 1st wooden kit. Whoever the previous owner was, they had already poorly added the two decks to the solid hull. I have since added the rails and stancions;added the monkey boards and rails; drilled holes to mount the metal hawse holes for anchors; Cut and shaped the rudder and added the brass pintles/gudgeons; stained the wood deck and filled, sanded, primed hull of boat. This is currently where I am at with
this.

Wow - somehow, I cannot remember how to post pictures of my work on this boat. HELP!!! lol I don't know why this site is so hard for me. I gave up trying to post my avatar.

Robert,
Here is a forum thread on adding pictures to your post.

In a nutshell, here's the process: Drop the photo in your gallery and then open it by clicking on it. Click the little icon to the right of the linked thumbnail link. Select and copy the HTML code that appears below that and then paste it into your post. Pretty simple, but perhaps not so intuitive.

Two things I'll suggest on your avatar: 1) change the file name before uploading; that long name might be messing up the html. 2) The dimension seem kind of large even though files size seems okay; try resizing it down if you can.

See if this one will work:

Good luck! Hope to see some photos soon!

Marc C - Thanks for this. What is the average size most people use in this site. I normally drop picture down to 1060 width on pixel dimensions. is that too big?

This is what I've accomplished up until now. Sanded and smoothed out the hull; stained wooden deck; cut and glued my railings; and cut out and shaped the rudder. I cut a thin brass strip to make the pintles/gudgeons for the keel/rudder hinge assembly. I also drilled and added the two hawse holes for anchors. I finished adding the monkey boards and railings - have puttied and sanded smooth. The next photo should show the dark red and black painted hull.

For an avatar I would say that's probably way too big. Most pictures I post in forum threads are somewhere around 800 x 800 pixels. If the file size is small enough to upload then there should be no problem linking it into a thread.

I really should have another go at wood ship modeling. I bit off more than I could chew when I first tried it, and that has kind of discouraged me from getting back into it.

Marc C - thanks for the size limit advice. I'll give another try, otherwise I'll live with the drawing. I know what you mean about loading up the plate - that's why I am attempting the plastic USS Constitution and this older Bluenose wood kit. I'd beat myself up if I spent a couple of hundred dollars to ruin something or just walk away. If all goes well today, I may get my 1st coat of paint on this hull. Thanks again for your help and advice.

I was told the kit had all of the parts but, after going through everything, quite a few of the wood parts were missing. The two sheets that included the rails were badly cut in half or missing. The windlass pulleys and axle were missing as well.

I went to Jo-Ann's and purchased 2 sheets of 1/16" basswood and 1 sheet 1/4" balsa wood, along with 1/8" square strip and a wood dowel. I saw someone's post about monkey boards/rails and my plans made no mention of them. So I looked at a few pictures online, and set about making them for this kit from the wood I purchased.

The plans on this kit are really basic and do not show clear pictures of deck furniture such as, main cabin and hatch, steering box, windlass, etc. so sites like these have been a big help to me in researching what they look like.

So, with all that said, I'm hoping I can improve on this kit and make her look closer to the real boat, to the best of my skills. I find this a wonderful learning experience in working with wood and scratch building some of the parts.

Hull is primed and all railings are in place. Rudder with brass pintles/gudgeons are ready to go. She's ready for her paint job.

I shaved and sanded more off the stern to give her a sleek look. I've painted two coats of Testors Gloss Dark Red on lower hull. once dried, I'll tape and spray upper hull with Testors Gloss Black, leaving a thin white line between the two colors. After all is dry, I'll buff to a nice gloss using 4000-12000 sanding pads.

Starting to look really nice, Robert. Sad to see you painted the rudder pintles, as I thought they looked kind of cool in contrast to the hull--even if your way is more accurate...

I know, I may have put them on too soon... it looks like I'll tape them and paint them brass.

Got an early start this morning and did some taping off on the hull. Painted two coats of Gloss Black on her upper hull. Early this evening, I removed the tape and the white line and black came out looking pretty clean. Once she is completely dry, I'll buff out to a nice shine. I'll then tape and paint the pintles/gudgeons on rudder Brass.

Oooh. that's looking nice....

^5 I really like the shine that I got with the paint job. I followed Gary Brinker's Youtube post on his paint job for the Bluenose. Another modeler pointed out to me that on smaller scale models, it's better to go dull or flat to give it a better scale. I'm debating whether I'll spray her with Dullcoat or leave gloss.

Main cabin about ready to be glued to deck.

Completed work on the bowsprit area which included; Samson block, platform, support and bowsprit bits. Began work on foc's'le companionway hatch as well as the two small boats. Also stained main rails and painted the tops of monkey rails flat white.

Hi Robert,
You might want to check Billing Boats page about their Bluenose:
http://billingboats-direct.com/estore/product_info.php/billing-boats-b576-bluenose-schooner-model-boat-fittings-p-576
At the bottom of the page there is a link to download a pdf-copy of their instructions. Maybe it could provide some additional information concerning the deck et.c.
/ Robin

Robin- thanks for sending me this link. I will definitely give it a look! Cheers!

Slow work on the two dories but coming along. Hull painted buff; green trim along rails; flat white interior. Cut and stained floor boards and now working on the seats.

Back in business. I took a little break while our daughter and grandson from Los Angeles visited with us. Our 3 year old 'buddy' was really interested in my model so I put him to work. He helped glue the seats into the dories and dipped the line into 50/50 mix water/white glue to make the rope coils to go inside the two dories. I promoted him to my 1st mate!

I have now completed and installed the Samson post/bowsprit bits (painted flat white); the two club traveler wires (flat black); the formast fife rail (flat white/rust); the companionway hatch (flat white/neutral grey/wood stain); galley stack (flat black); and the main cabin (flat white/neutral grey/rust).

Hi Robert,

somehow this build of yours escaped me entirely until now...but I'm in now!! Very nice and another very special build!

And it's always good to have a competent 1st mate around!!

Cheers,
Jan

Jan - thanks for taking a look. A nice easy kit for a 1st wood build. Directions are a bit 'iffy' but I refer back to a couple of builds I've seen and I use the Bluenose Practicum PDF file as a reference. I'll be glad when I finish this so I can get back to working on my Revell USS Constitution again.

As for my 1st mate, I was surprised at how fascinated he was with my models and his enthusiasm to stop playing with a toy truck to help me out. He let me know he loves Capt. Jack Sparrow and we sat together to watch two of the Pirate movies over popcorn and milk!

I got a little more work in today. I completed steering box with wheel; grating glued down; 2nd Galley stack added to top of main cabin; fife rail for main mast in place; Dories latched down in their cradles; scuttle glued in place; grating in front of companionway hatch; and windlass awaiting anchor chain and hedge anchor to be affixed to deck.