In keeping with the other features of this model, the original ship's wheel that came with the model was woefully undersized and resembled the full-scale version only by virtue of being circular in shape!
Original kit version of ship's wheel.
Here is a shot of the full-size wheel on Bluenose II, which I assume would be roughly the same size as that on the original Bluenose.
After determining the scale dimensions of the wheel, began construction by soldering four pieces of copper wire together to form the spokes. Then formed a circle with larger gauge wire and soldered this to the spokes. Sanding this flat achieved a reasonable representation of the rim.
All that remained was to slide eight small pieces of wood on the end of each spoke to form the handles and solder a small disk to the centre for the hub. The result is probably OK from a distance; close-up, it's not all that great - but better than the original!
Scratch-built ship's wheel vs kit original.
The wheel box was also straightforward. I used narrower deck strips to replicate the cladding.
And a side-by-side comparison:
Original versus scratch-built ship's wheel and steering box
Next time, I'll show what I've done for the shrouds.
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