VIKING SHIP DRAKKAR By Jerry - FINISHED - Amati Scale 1:50

[Jerry]

Hello Everyone,

 

My name is Jerry and I have decided to try and build the Amati kit of The Viking Ship Drakkar.  I chose this model because of it's appeal as a different way to go from the usual tall ship models I have recently constructed. (See below)   I sincerely like the idea of an open, long boat type which I hope will enhance our growing fleet of ship models. Besides the Victory and Half Moon I have previously constructed the Cutty Sark about 16 years ago.  I said OUR growing fleet because my Admiral caught the building bug, so simultaneously I am coaching her as she endeavors to build Amati's HMS Bounty.   I felt my work on the Drakkar would allow me some time to instruct her whereas another complicated build,  such as the HMS Victory, would occupy all my time.  Of course, I may be wrong and find the Viking Ship complicated enough to load my mind and give me little time to assist the Admiral.  I hope not or I'll probably never hear the end of it.

 

I also wish to thank KeithW for having posted his build of the same boat as I'm sure I'll find it very useful during my period of construction.

 

At this time all I have done is to remove the keel and frames from their laser cut sheets and as soon as there is something, hopefully useful, I will be happy to provide photos.  It is my intention to photograph every stage of the buils which I hope will be useful to others and will also provide material for anyone who I hope will use it to offer any criticsm, positive or negative,

 

Realizing it's customary to provide pictures of the kit box, the parts and plans, I have decided to forgo this with th eknowledge that the kit arrived complete and in fine shape.  

 

I wish everyone a great day and hope to post my initial progress soon.

 

Best,

 

Jerry

Edited April 30, 2015 by Jerry

[Keith_W]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Jerry and I hav

 

... and you have clicked "submit" before you finished writing your post   

 

Looking forward to following your build. 

[Dimitris71]

Ok man, you're fast!!! :) Hello phile, nice to see you again with a new build. I wish you good luck with your new ship. I find it very ineresting.So.. I'm pulling up a chair if you don't mind and looking forward to see your progress. :)

 

All the best

Dimitris

[Canute]

The recent TV series has me thinking "longboat". I'd like to follow along, also.

[Jerry]

Hello Keith...

Please look again and you'll see that I have posted the complete information which is just introductory.  I'm sorry if I  caused you any problem and again many thanks for your previous log.

Best,

Jerry

[Jerry]

Dimitrius...Hello phile....real nice to hear from you again.  It seems that there's never a dull moment.  I hope I haven't decided to go from the frying pan into the fire.  Keep in touch.

Best,
jerry

[Jerry]

Good morning, Ken...

Thanks for the visit.  I'm not sure if the Drakkar can be considered a long boat but I called it that just because of its shape.  In any event please keep your visits coming and offer any help you can.  Best,

Jerry

[Glenn-UK]

Look forward to watching your progress

[Jerry]

Hello Glenn.  I see you found me.  LOL....Thanks for your continued interest my friend.  I'll be posting the very beginning of this build a little later from now. Have a great evening..

Best,

Jerry

Edited April 30, 2015 by Jerry

[Jerry]

Hello again everyone...

The very first step in this build called for by the instructions is to sketch a guide line at the bow and stern on both sides of the keel.  This line will be used later in the construction for the correct positioning of the planking. Here are some initial pictures of the process I used to accomplish this.  The first thing I did was to use some tissue paper (because of its transparency) to trace the guide line from the large plan sheet.

 

 I then transferred this line from the tissue paper to both sides of the keel. here are the pics of that process.

 

 One can read the caption of each picture by placing the computer's mouse over the photo.

Hope everyone has a great evening.

Best,

Jerry

Edited April 30, 2015 by Jerry

[gjdale]

Looks like this will be an interesting build Jerry, and as you say, something a little different from the usual. I'll pull up chair and follow along too.

[Jerry]

Nice to hear from you, Grant...Please do follow the build; I need all the help I can get.

Best,

Jerry

[Jerry]

Good morning everyone...

Here are three more pictures which show progress to date.  There was no problem in gluing the frames to the keel but I would like to offer one word of caution.  With all my other builds I found the slots in the frames and keel to be tight enough so that it required a little filing to get the frames to fit easily.  With this build the frames were actually loose for the most part anf therefore necessary to support the frames in their correct position for a few minutes until the glue began to set.

Here are some pictures of the keel with all the frames in proper posiiton waiting to be sanded for proper fit of the the strakes.  Incidentally,  I finally, after more than 60 years of boating,  now know why certain hulls were called lapstraked.  This model will have a lapstrake hull.  There will be no strip planking but there will be strake planking, each strake lapped over the proceeding one. 

Please feel free to offer your comments; I learn much from fellow modellers.

Best,

Jerry

Edited May 1, 2015 by Jerry

[CaptainSteve]

Hey Jerry ..

Hope you don't mind if I follow along.

 

Mostly, I just sit up the back and snack on the free popcorn ...

But, I was wondering if lap-straking is the same as (or similar to), clinker planking ??

 

Also, would there be any merit in grooving out your bow and stern guide lines, to create a rabbet ?? 

Edited May 1, 2015 by CaptainSteve

[Jerry]

Hello Captain Steve and welcome to my log.  I appreciate your visit and hope you'll drop by from time to time and offer comments and help when you wish.  Yes, a clinker boat is really referring to a lapstraked hull and to prove it I checked with Wikipedia and learned that even Viking Ships were sometimes referred to as "clinkers." 

I agree that it's usually helpful to create a rabbet but in this case i found it unneccessary since the strakes are only 1/32" thick.  Can you believe that they are 3 ply laminates and only 1/32" thick?  They will be easy to feather in at the keel because they are so thin.

Thanks again for the look see and stick around..

Best,

Jerry

[Jparsley]

Looking good and straight Can't wait for her to get skin

[Jerry]

Thank you Jparsley  (don't know your name) for your visit to my log.  I appreciate your interest and like you to know that you are welcome at any time.  I look for comments (criticisms) as they are usually very helpful.  My next step is to apply the strakes (skin) and I will post pictures of the process.  Again. many thanks for stopping by.

Best,

Jerry

[Jparsley]

Thank you jerry for letting me sit in and drool over a fascinating ship

[Jerry]

Hello Everybody...

I am getting ready to lapstrake the frame but have decided to first add a 1.5x1.5 mm strip between the frames.  The kit manufacturer would have one apply the bottom strake directly to the surface of the keel thereby ending up with a 1/32" edge glued to the keel.  I decided to insert the 1.5 mm square strips to give the strake a larger gluing surface which I believe will make the shell stronger.  I am providing a couple of pictures to help explain my idea.  The actual lap straking will follow..

Best,

Jerry

 

 

Edited May 4, 2015 by Jerry

[Jerry]

Good evening everyone...

As mentioned above here are some pictures of the lapstraking process and the first 5 courses of lapstrakes.  Fopr some reason I believe some of my log disappeared and I don't know why.  I could swear there was a page 2 yesterday.  Strange??????

Edited May 4, 2015 by Jerry

[gjdale]

Nice progress so far Jerry.

[Jerry]

Hello Grant..

I appreciate your comment.  Hope you'll come by again as I move forward.

Jerry

[Glenn-UK]

An interesting looking build, you seem to have it all under control.

[Jparsley]

Looking nice glad to see some skin on her

[Jerry]

Hello Glenn..Thanks for saying hello.  I see all is well in Scarborough.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hi Jparsley.  I don't like skeletons... More "skin" to come.  Thanks for the visit.

Jerry

[Jerry]

Hello Everybody...

I finished the planking of the hull but I still have a bit of a mess on my hands.  There is much to clean up as I didn't do a very good job on the wood filling but thank goodness for a painted hull.  The lapstraking went well and as Keith had said before me, if one pays attention to the plans (hopefully you'll have an English copy) the planking should go okay.  I used white glue and as you could see above, plenty of spring clamps.  I was careful to make sure that every pair of planks started and finished at the same place on each side of the hull.  It's easy to place a strake too high or too low and that's the one thing one needs to watch for.  I glued both sides and waited about an hour and then began the process again.  Here are some pictures of the results.  The dark colors are due to the middle laminate which appears to be black and its color will come out with very little sanding due to the thinness of the plywood.  I hope I have been helpful.

Best,

Jerry

Edited May 5, 2015 by Jerry

[gjdale]

Looking good Jerry - well done.

[Jerry]

Many thanks, Grant.  It's a fun build.

Best,

Jerry

[Glenn-UK]

Amazing progress once again