06 - Making the Rigging Blocks - Part 1

One of the first items that I undertook to try and reproduce to an appropriate scale appearance were the rigging blocks that were on the original model. In fact, to refer to them as "blocks" is an overstatement! They were merely round hardwood bobbins with a single hole and a groove around the circumference - there was no way that the rigging lines could be run through them to represent proper blocks.

Original model blocks.

(Note: the two-hole versions were used to represent 'deadeyes'.)

The first thing I did was to ascertain how many blocks were used on the full-scale ship, as well as their sizes. Fortunately, Jenson concisely summarized the utilization of blocks on the Bluenose II (and their sizes) in the extract below. Notice that the size ranges from 6 inches to 13 inches, with the majority being single sheave but there are also a few double- and triple-sheave blocks as well.

Listing of rigging blocks used on the Bluenose II.

I was a little surprised at the range of sizes (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 inches) and so the first decision was whether to try and replicate all the sizes in 1:44 scale. Didn't take me long to figure that most people would be hard pressed to distinguish between 0.136" and 0.205" (the full scale dimensions of 6" and 9" respectively) or 0.227" and 0.295 (full scale dimension of 10" and 13" respectively), particularly if the items weren't located side-by-side. So I elected to go with two sizes only, representing blocks in the 6" to 9" range with one size and blocks in the 10" to 13" range with a second size.

Next, I had to determine what to use as the source material. Seeing as the full-scale block is made of hardwood (usually oak), I initially tried to make the model blocks out of this type of wood.

Actual Bluenose II oak block.

Unfortunately, hardwood proved to be too difficult to shape, especially when dealing with something this small - and my limited skill level! Research on the internet revealed that boxwood was a good candidate material, and fortunately the craft store Michael's was a good source. I selected strips 1/4 inch wide by 1/8" thick. These dimensions would allow me to make two sizes of blocks, depending on whether the long dimension of the block was across the strip or parallel to the long dimension.

Now I had to determine the proper shape for the blocks. Having visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fma/en/home/default.aspx) several years ago, I had a photograph of one of the original Bluenose I blocks at my disposal.

Bluenose 1 block.

(Note pen for size measurement - didn't have a ruler with me on the day!)

I then inserted the picture on a page in Microsoft Word and using the drawing tools, outlined the edge of the block.

Outline shape in red using MS Word drawing tools.

Now I could scale this shape to whatever size I needed.

Block outline shape moved to the side.

Now it was a fairly simple matter to copy the shape to a blank MS Word page, draw several pairs of parallel lines a 1/4 inch apart and then size and position the block shapes accordingly.

Lines drawn 1/4"apart in MS Word.

 (Note: Page was scaled to 200% - hence the screen ruler reads 0.5 inch. versus 0.25 inch.)

Large and small block shapes added to the page.

(Some additional detail  added to make the outline more representative.)

Showing how the block shapes were inserted between the lines.

To make the production template, I merely copied and repeated each of the shapes on their own sets of parallel lines.

Production templates, ready to be cut and glued to boxwood strips.

Here is the template glued to one of the wooden strips and a stack of blocks cut from the strip and ready for shaping.

Block template applied to wood strips, with some already cut off, ready for shaping.

In Part B, I'll continue with the fabrication of the blocks.

05 - Refurbishing the deck planking.

Well, I'm finally back at it. No, I didn't spend all of the last six months down in Florida - just five weeks or so! The rest of the time, I've been enjoying our summer. But now that we're officially into fall, time to pick up where I left off. In fact, I'm going to skip a few of the items that I've already done some work on - I'll get back to them in future posts - and bring you up to speed on the deck refurbishment in the meantime.

To start with, the original decking was very poorly executed. The manufacturer used a single piece of what looked like laminated particle board. This was then grooved to simulate planking. Unfortunately, the result was imitation planking that was much wider than the scale would indicate, and the router grooves were far too wide. In addition, the planking was parallel for the total length of the deck, whereas the real planking was curved at the aft section.

Original model decking. (Marks were made during removal of deck furniture.)

As noted in a previous post, I made use of cherry wood strips sourced at Lee Valley. I initially purchased 1/8 inch strips (which would have more closely matched the full-scale width of 5-6 inches) but decided that they would look a little small. So instead, I chose to use 3/16 inch, which equates to a full-scale plank width of 8-10 inches.

Various sizes of cherry wood strips (1/8, 3/16 & 1/4 inch x 24 inch).

Having experimented a bit, I chose to stain the strips and blacken the edges to highlight the planking, once installed. The stain you use is a personal choice but I attempted to match the plank colouring of the Bluenose II. However, it is difficult to stain cherry to match oak, and in the absence of first hand observation, have no way of knowing how close I came. (And since the original decking of the Bluenose II no longer exists, it having been relegated to a wood chipper during the recent "renovation", we'll never know!)

To save time, I bundled 20-30 stained strips together and used spring clamps to hold them fast.

Cherry strips bundle and clamps.

Once clamped, I lightly sanded the bundled edges and them used a permanent marker to paint the edges black.

Using a permanent marker to blacken the edges of the strips.

Once the strips were dry, I glued a starting strip down the centreline and then worked outwards to either side of the ship. In the forward section, the planks are installed parallel to the centreline, whereas in the aft section, they are curved parallel to the sides.

Installing cherry wood strips on forward deck.

Before and after sanding of cheery strips.

Once all the strips were installed, I elected to simulate end joints and peg-ends randomly over the deck. There was no indication of full-scale plank lengths in the Jensen book. (I could have cut strips to various lengths prior to gluing them to the deck but felt that this was an unnecessary complication and could be simulated just as effectively.)  To aid in making the simulated peg ends, I fabricated a little template jig to locate the peg-end holes on either side of the simulated joint. The joint itself was made by using a metal awl to scribe a line across the strip wherever a simulated joint was to be created. The awl was then used to pierce the strip on either side of the scribe to simulate peg-ends.

Jig for locating peg-end holes on either side of the simulated plank joint.

Once the deck covering was complete, a light sanding was in order. This necessitated another coat of stain to make the surface uniform in colour. I then sealed the deck with a coat of clear polyurethane; I've used gloss to date but suspect that semi-gloss, or even matte, might be more appropriate.

Completed deck. Note the curved planking on the aft section of the deck.

Next time, I'll try and cover some of the items I've already fabricated.

04 - On Vacation

As indicated before, nothing new to report on the Bluenose II rebuild, seeing as we're enjoying non-stop sun here in SW Florida. However, thought I'd share a couple of snapshots from what the locals like to remind you each morning is "another day in paradise"!

Can quibble with definition of 'paradise" but for many people there is no argument that the sugar sand of the beaches probably beats the dirty snow of late winter any time!

Fort Myers Beach.

Fort Myers Beach pier.

Sunset, Fort Myers Beach.

Fort Myers Beach.

The end of another 'day in paradise'.

Till next time...