I am building the Billings Bluenose II kit #600.

After planking the hull, I find that the keel measures 7mm, and the sternpost measures 5mm. And the gaps in the stand measures 5mm.... Seems kinda strange to plank the hull and then have to sand the planks off the keel ...

My question is: Should I widen the slot for the stand? and leave the sternpost just a little narrower? find a 7mm piece of wood and use that for a new sternpost? or plan on sanding most of all the planks off of the keel?

Thanks,
Dan

Hello Dan,I havent built this model,but I would say make the slots on the stands wider rather than sanding the planks off your keel.JMO,Walter

I agree, make the stand fit the model. I wonder though, not to be insulting, but did you by any chance plank over the part of the keel that is not supposed to be planked? Usually part of the keel extends below the planking. Was the keel 5 mm before planking? Just curious...

Later: I just looked at your photos and I think that is what happened to you. It appears you planked right down to the bottom edge of the keel. I think you should have planked to the line at the bottom of the bulkheads and left the rest of the keel exposed.

Good eye Tommy.

I was sitting here sizing up my build wondering what the difference is (Bluenose but not Billings) and that appears to be exactly it. The garboard plank should end in the rabbet, which in my build is at the point where the keel glues onto the bulkhead frame. Not sure what that would equate to with the Billings kit though.

I wonder how much trouble would it be to remove the last few strakes to correct it?????

Thank you all for your advice.

After your comments, I reviewed the 'wonderful instructions' that came with the Billings kit....

The large plan drawing doesn't show much, but the booklet shows the keel planked, and specifically the three pictures... there are NO good verbal instructions... shows fairing the bulkheads... the top 7 planks.... and the finished half of the hull.... and it's planked all the way to the bottom of the keel....

I guess, since I have already planked both halves and glued them together, it would be best to sand it all to shape and not worry about trying to remove the keel planks...

I never liked the lack of instructions with this Billings kit, but it was 1/2 off from a hobby shop going out of business...

Thanks again....

Dan

Hey Dan,

Well you definitely can't fault yourself for following the instructions. Guess it goes to show what you read everywhere about instructions lacking greatly. Often times I think some of the kit manufacturers worry more about the money they are going to collect from you than providing any kind of quality to justify the cost of the kit.

Yes sir,

That would be so very true... at least we can hope that there is a small percentage of people that do care about more than money...

Just out of curiosity, what kit builders are considered the best?

I had built many plastic models years ago, when I was a teenager... you know.. the good ones before these cheap snap together types with the experience ratings... lol.

My tried RC airplanes for a short time, and the first airplane I built... everyone at the airfield was surprised at the quality of my first build... decided I liked building more than the flying... so I tried the ships... LOVE IT.

As you probably have noticed from my profile, my first ship was a Lobster Smack... and am very proud of this little ship.

OK, so that's my experience.... might help with brand name or even next ship recomendations.

Thanks again to all who respond with their expertise and help.

Dan

Hi everyone, I too have the #600 Bluenose II by Billing Boats. I normally build cars, but wanted to try building a boat.
I have put alot of the smaller things(cabin and such) together while planking the hull. Then I thought I should look for pics to see what areas I could improve with details. After finding pics of the real Bluenose II, Billing Boats model is very different. And then looking at pics of some of your guys AL Bluenose II which looks closer to the real thing. This really sucks because I like to build a model to look like the real one. I really don't know if I should rebuild everything from scratch. Or just get it done, learn from my mistakes, and do a better job when I build the Billing Boat #437 Norske Love. What do you guys think?
Thanks for any input.

Habby,
I'm on my 2nd build (started with the Phantom now working on the Benjamin Latham). In the short time that I've been building, I've come to believe that this hobby is as much (if not more) about the journey than the destination. Sure, having a finished product you can be proud of is great but you know your going to just start building another one anyway! So, I suggest that you finish the one you are working on, enjoy the journey, learn/hone some skills and then build another Bluenose sometime that is closer to the historic ship. You can always give this one as a gift, most folks wouldn't know the difference in design anyway, they would just enjoy something that you made with your own hands. My 2 cents worth.
Mike

That is a most profound answer.. and thank you... I had been wondering the same about my build of the #600.... Been 'fighting' with myself over the parts... go Where?... and looking at the real ship too... so... on with the Joy of Building....

OK.... need to find my happy place..... breath in.. breath out.... count to 100....need to find a very fine pen... to re-ink a few of the deck lines...

Habby,
I'm on my 2nd build (started with the Phantom now working on the Benjamin Latham). In the short time that I've been building, I've come to believe that this hobby is as much (if not more) about the journey than the destination. Sure, having a finished product you can be proud of is great but you know your going to just start building another one anyway! So, I suggest that you finish the one you are working on, enjoy the journey, learn/hone some skills and then build another Bluenose sometime that is closer to the historic ship. You can always give this one as a gift, most folks wouldn't know the difference in design anyway, they would just enjoy something that you made with your own hands. My 2 cents worth.
Mike
Thanks for the input. But I think I will scratch build everything that is wrong, how hard could it be? I bought a bunch of files today to help me. I am going to sand off all the lines of the deck and scribe in the correct ones. May take a while because it is glued in place, plus I have the hull planked. But I am a perfectionist, so it has to be just right.
Happy building everyone.

Hello!

I'm building the same boat as you and i'm also looking for pics that closer to the real one too and was wondering if you can send me the link about this Al bluenose II so i can see his pictures cuz i want mine to be close to the real thing too!!

Thanks

Regarding the AL Bluenose II (Which I just completed) As far as accuracy to the real thing. FORGET IT. While it makes in a pleasing model its about as close to the real thing as Birch tree is to a hamburger. I saw the Bluenose II and took a few pictures of it and from what I saw compared to the kit accuracy was not of prime importance.
Fred