Jim Dabrowski

I’m in a bit of a weird state right now with the Flying Dutchman build. 

In Step G, I needed to build some grates like this: 

I’m supposed to outline each one in mahogany like the one in the bottom-right. But, the kit didn’t include enough to do that so I had to order some. Despite the company I ordered from saying they were in the US, my wood is coming from Australia. 

So I moved ahead to Step H. In that step, I needed to build a small deck housing and install the grates on the deck. Well, OK, I can build the deck house. It looks like this: 

Cute, isn’t it? 

So that was about as far as I could go on Step H, so let’s look at Step I. In that one, I have to build some doors! 

Here they are in progress. And then I glued them all on. 

Here they are in the fore of the ship. 

And a couple in the aft. And you can see I installed the deck house as well. Those big holes in the deck are where the grates will go. 

Now it’s pretty much down to sanding and shaping the hull in preparation for planking. That’ll be Steps J, K, L, and M. So I’m stalled a bit right now. Once my mahogany arrives I can finish the grates, install them and that’ll pretty much complete Steps G, H, and I. The good news is, the wood arrived in the country and is just awaiting clearance through customs. Hopefully I’ll have them by the end of the week and can continue forward. 

Until then, take care, 

JIm

I made these five grates for step G. Now I’m supposed to frame each one in mahogany like that one there but I didn’t get enough in the kit to do that. 🫤 So I ordered some more. I’ll probably move on to Step H in the meanwhile.

Step F is complete! 

Wow, some of these steps go by quickly. 

Next up, in Step G, I get to build lots and lots of grates. Should be interesting. 

Here is a sneak preview of all the little bits I get to put on this model. This is fun. 

Those barrels will go in the bottom of the ship. That big old Flying Dutchman figurehead on the front and lots of bones that go on all over the place. 

JIm

A preview of things to come. Many, many months down the road.

Step D is complete! 

I added several upper-deck-like things and a few walls. 

Not entirely sure what’s up with the staining of the decks. I’m using the same stain and the same wood planking as the other decks but these turned out significantly lighter than the others. I’m OK with this since this is supposed to be a ghost ship so overall it’s supposed to look worn out, beat up and spooky. Hopefully the mis-matched deck staining will just add to the charm. 

Next up, Step F where I start to put on some walls! 

Stay tuned. 

JIm

All trimmed and sanded and dots poked in them. Now to varnish and stain and put them on the boat.

Even the desert can be full of foliage.

Planked up several sections of deck. Here is what they look like front and back. Next step, clean and shape them up.

Putting my copy of LOTR to good use weighing down some planking while the glue dries.

Step D is complete. 

For this step I had to attach cross-pieces to the bulkheads (you can see them through that big rectangle hole in the deck), then cut out and install the upper deck. Before doing that, the center portion had to be planked just like I planked the lower deck. Lots of 65mm long pieces of wood all glued down. The portions in the front and back of the ship aren’t planked because those will be rooms and you won’t see inside them when it’s all finished. Finally, I stained the deck with Judea Bitumen just like the lower deck. Actually, staining the deck is part of Step F, but I learned from doing the lower deck that it’s better to do that while it’s not attached to the boat. I think this staining job went much better than the lower deck. 

Here’s another view, more from the side. 

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for Step E where I attach some of the upper-upper-decks and even some walls! 

JIm

Wow, step C completed. I’m moving along quickly here. 

Got the entire lower deck glued in place and added a few small details. A couple of stairs/ladders, and a capstan. 

This is a bit better view of the details (forgive the crappy lighting, you’d think I’d have better lighting here where I work on building this). 

Next up, a little bit more work on the lower deck and then the upper deck. 

Stay tuned! 

Jim

Step B is complete. 

This is going to be the lower deck of the ship. Those five pieces are of plywood and I had to cut each one out, then cut a whole bunch of 65mm long strips of wood and glue them on. The lines between the planks and the dots are all made from pencil drawing along the sides or poking holes in the corners after they’ve been glued on. Then some sanding and finally a coat of clear, satin varnish. 

The next step, step C, I get to put those on the bulkheads and add some details. Stay tuned! 

JIm

From Terri Kanefield’s blog:

Here’s the thing to remember about democracy in America: We’ve never had a truly representational multicultural and multi-racial democracy.

During the past few decades, we have been moving toward one and this has triggered a powerful backlash. What we are seeing in the Republican Party is the backlash.

I think this is true. I hope we get to one.

The instruction book for the Flying Dutchman model has steps labeled A through X. Here is a picture of my completed Step A. 

I had to cut out and stain the keel and all 15 bulkheads, then glue them in place making sure they’re square to the keel. (They mostly are.) 

So that’s it. My plan is to keep posing pictures of each step as it’s completed so stay tuned! Currently working on step B, planking the lower deck. 

Take care, 

JIm

And so it begins...

Toward the end of my Bluenose build, I was swearing I was done building model ships. Then my wife saw this and convinced me to buy it. So now I’ve started another…The Flying Dutchman! 

JIm

As a bit of a retrospective, here are a variety of picture of my Bluenose model over time. 

This is the hull as I was finishing up planking it. This picture is from 2012. 

This is the deck before it was planked. The hull is finished, now it was time to do the deck. 

This is how the deck was planked. Unlike the hull where it was a bunch of shorter pieces, the deck planking I did in long strips about half the length of the boat. 

All the decking is finished and stained. 

Here is the hull in the process of being painted. As you’ve seen elsewhere, it was black on the bottom, red on top, with a yellow stripe between the two, topped by white rails. 

Making more progress. This is from 2020 - 8 years after I finished the deck After the deck was done, I had to do all the stanchions (the little bits of wood sticking up from the deck holding up the rails) and then reshape and install the rails along the top. Was quite tedious. Then I finally got started on building all the deck housing stuff. Each of those things, hatches, entry ways, etc. are all fashioned from scratch. 

A couple of close ups of some of the stuff I had to build on the deck. Up top is the winch for hoisting the anchors and the gaffs. Below are the four Dorys I had to make from scratch. Yep, each one is individually crafted with ribs and planked. I made those little tiny oars myself too. Each one is about 1.5” long. 

After all the deck stuff was done it was time to get started on the masts. This is the bowsprit. 

And here we see both the fore mast and main mast with their mast hoops in place. 

After the masts were completed and installed, it was time to start rigging. 

And here I’m working on the ratlines that both help to stabilize the masts and allow a way for the sailors to climb up them to get to the sails on the top. This here is from 2023. 

Finally getting to the sails. 

And finally it is finished. 

That’s a brief summary. If you go to my archive page, you should be able to  see all my boat-related posts from over the years. I haven’t been very consistent about documenting my progress and there are lots of gaps. But you can see a lot more of my early work on the ship. I hope you enjoy looking at all this. 

Take care, 

JIm

It’s finally finished.

It’s actually been done for a while. I finished it up just before Christmas and never posted about it. I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s been a long, long time in the making. Actually a bit proud of myself that I stuck with it and completed it. Feels good.

It’s proudly on display in our hallway beneath a picture of the current Bluenose II that resides in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. My wife got me that picture for Christmas of 2022 for exactly this purpose. I enjoy walking down the hallway and saying, “Hi boat!” on a fairly regular basis. 

We went up to see the Bluenose II in September. Looks like I never posted about that. It’s a fairly close replica of the original that is still functioning. We got to sail on it on a harbor cruise. It was pretty darn amazing to see in real life things I’ve been working on for years in miniature. 

That’s all for now. 

JIm

Been a bit. Finished up the topping lift and topping lift tackle several days ago. 

Today I just finished up the mast mast hoops on the main sail. 

All that’s left are the quarter lifts and the flag halyards and then the ship is finished!

JIm

I’ll start by saying I don’t think Justin Fields will ever be a top-tier quarterback. I think he lacks the anticipation and instincts necessary to be in that top tier. He’ll forever be in Sando’s second-tier of quarterbacks—someone you can win “with", but not very often win "because of”. 

That said, I find myself wondering, what some other coaches could do if they had Fields on their team? What would he look like with McVay in LA, Shanahan in SF, Sirianni in Philly or even with LaFleur in Green Bay? Those coaches have shown they can get the most out of whoever they have quarterbacking for them. I know the conventional wisdom is Fields should or will go to Atlanta, but I still wonder just how great he’d be if he was on any of those other teams? If, like me, you think that would be pretty amazing to see, you really have to wonder about the coaching staff currently employed by the Chicago Bears. 

JIm

Main throat halyard and main peak halyard rigged. 

Also rigged up the main boom sheet (the triple block in the middle), and boom crutch tackle (the two on the sides). 

Just need the boom lift, and the quarter lifts and the rigging is complete. Getting closer. 

Hoisting the main sail in progress.

Reef bands and points completed on the main sail and sail attached to the main boom. getting closer!

Fore sail is finally finished!

Three down, one to go. 

Mast Hoops!

Got all the mast hoops on the fore mast tied to the fore sail.