Mike Dowling
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Everything posted by Mike Dowling
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Does anybody know how the oars were attached for rowing and what did the rowers sit on in a Viking ship ?
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I used good old Ronseal (does exactly what it says on the tin) satin dark oak varnish. I stained the inside because a bit of it will show and the varnish will also add more strength to the hull as if I didn't use enough glue - haha. Not sure about laminating the bulkheads etc yet, I will see how it looks with the planked deck on. Sorry you are confused Carl, the prow is the very curly bit and the stern less so - as if you care! Question, should I leave the rest of the woodwork really pale ie. just varnish it or, should I do it light oak?
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If I had put lights in mine I would have opted for fibre optics. Less light sources and easier to hide. Just a thought!
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That's exactly what I thought my friend!! Anyway, thought you all might like to see a picture or two of the first staining. I'm quite pleased with it. I have also drilled the oar holes and decided not to put the rather cheap looking dragon head on the prow and opted for a scroll instead.
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Thanks JL for your comments. I don't need holes in the keel for the stand but thank you for the suggestion. I am considering the lamination. I have stained the hull now and it took the colour much better than I expected, I will post some pictures later and I want to see how the ply stains first. Brian, I just love the expression - not heard that one before but definitely right!! It was easy to get the strakes right in the middle. The destructions suggest scribing the strakes along the middle to aid the bending. I tried it on one and split the strake. The longitudinal bending was easy because the strakes are so thin but from edge to edge not so. This for me made getting the strakes to sit right prow and stern very difficult and as JL said earlier the guides on the end bulkheads are useless. The overlap was different for each strake. It's funny really, we all spend ages trying very hard not to get a clinker effect on our boats and then when you are supposed to have one it's nearly impossible to get right !!
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Great looking walls Len, really bad and grotty ! I thought long and hard about lighting mine but I think it was Kurt that pointed out that even with subdued lighting it would show up every crack and crevice even those you can't see. Maybe you still have the chance to seal everything but I left it too late.
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OK, progress!!! I am not sure how but somehow I seem to have achieved something like a hull ! I am not at all surprised if I confused folk with my top strake problem. I confused myself and tried three different approaches. To save boring everyone my last attempt involved re-soaking the upper strakes on the hull, using a lot of glue and more clamps than I thought I had and finally I got the top strake on top of the rest. A huge cheer has gone up in my workroom and I even made the effort to clean it up a bit so others could see. I think the next thing I will try is staining it. There may simply be too much dried glue still lying around and if so I will paint it black as previously suggested. One question, according to the destructions there are six different lengths of oars to do. Why? and does it matter if I make them all the same length ? Anyway, some photos for you.
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Thank you very much. I can't agree with you more. To be perfectly honest I think this particular kit is rubbish. I don't think all my problems have been my fault. I know some have been but it all started with a warped keel and has gone from bad to worse. Never have I been so close to calling it a day and binning the boat!! However my intention now is just to build something that looks vaguely like a Viking boat partly because I have already made a stand for the thing!!. That is the best I can manage.
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J.L I hadn't noticed your missing out holes, oars etc. Very crafty. If ever I get that far I may well do the same. Even so please could you be a real pal and measure the gap between your holes and the distance from the front of the top strake to your first hole. Carl and Chuck you only wish you had thought of reducing the numbers !! Let's face it neither J.L's not my boat are ever going to look much like the Oseberg but what the heck - it's a boat vaguely like a Viking one.
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Oh no, certainly not perfect but thank you anyway. Could you do me yet another favour and measure the gaps you have between the oar holes and the distance between the first hole and the prow end of that strake. I am doing really badly with this top strake as well. I don't know if I can explain this but I am having to fit an 'interior' strake and then put the top strake on top. The reason really is that my strakes don't sit tight on the bulkheads at the top so I can fill it with an extra strake on the inside. If I try to put the top strake on without something on the inside ( I have tired this with a dry fit) there will be a huge step outwards on the hull. I will take some photos when done because I don't think it will matter from the inside of the boat. This certainly is going to be a modified kit !!
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Thanks so much JL, I get it ! My fingers are really sore after a LOT of filing !! I really hope you guys think it makes a difference. Now for those two strakes !!!
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OK I am being dense yet again !! I think I see what you mean but a few more photos would be really helpful.
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JL, which was the extra strake you added ? Because I can't see how I can fix what should be the top strake to the rest without either gaps at the bottom or the strake being short of the tops of the bulkheads.
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Thanks JL, very tempting - the black idea and I will give it serious thought as I was wondering how stain would cover up the visible ply after fairing. You are very welcome Brian especially as I have been watching the quality of your work. The warp also crept back despite my bracing. I don't understand but this build is just not being nice to me. However I am going to finish it one way or another!!!!
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Looking at my model and your photo I would suggest that the radii doors are the entrance to the parlour. I don't mind keeping up with the good comments if you don't. I think it is magnificent for a first build.
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I wish I was building another Chaperon !! I enjoyed that. My next build potentially is a Chinese Junk. I think that is going to be much more fun !!!
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You are most welcome, This can't be your first build and I can't quite remember what you said at the beginning as to what else you have done. You don't seem to have any other build logs on here so refresh my senile memory!
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Now that is what I call compassion, what a really nice, kind person you are. I had the same idea with the needle file and reckon I can improve the situation. I think you are right though that the hull and all its mistakes are not going to show too much in the end. As the boat has one sort of good side I will make sure that that is the one that shows!
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I am so glad I put 'modified' in my title. Apart from not being symmetrical, I also discovered far to late and just about when I had finished that all the strakes are a tiny fraction too long which meant that the lovely line I marked before starting to put them on as a guide line was a complete waste of time. I have been scratching my head and trying to figure out a way of getting over this problem and I think the only solution is to reshape the edges of the strakes fore and aft. I may also take a wee bit off the prow of the keel which I don't think will be noticeable in the end. I was trying so hard to get the strakes symmetrical on both sides of the hull I didn't really notice the mess I was making front and back. I also miraculously managed to do one side quite well and the other is horrific. This is not going to be my finest hour nor my best model so my only redemption will be trying to make the best of a bad build. Maybe I should stick to making coaches!! Whilst drying I thought you might like to see just how many clamps it is possible to use at any one time and also my rather awful front, back and bottom!! Anyway fellow modellers, don't be too hard on me, believe me I have given myself quite enough of a hard time over this already.
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I found the 'A' problem but missed the P and the R completely. I don't think I could correct it at this stage as it is too difficult to get to, never mind. Your wheel looks really good and just as scruffy as the rest of the boat. I don't know about anyone else but I think your aging is really clever.
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If I remember rightly the destructions indicate the bent wire idea. That was too fiddly for me which is why I opted for what I did. As for the bolts I agree with Cathead.
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A bit difficult to describe really. The paddles sit on the end of the spokes of the wheel as it were. I just put a piece on top of the paddle were the paddle sits on the wheel. If I had been really keen I should have put fake bolts through them. Let's see if this picture will help.
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I found those 56a rings quite fiddly but you seem to have done fine. I did modify my wheel slightly to give the paddles clamps. Don't know if that is useful to you. Your wheels look really mancky!!! Almost as if they had been used !! Tee hee.
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Call me a plank by all means !! (A good seafaring term methinks) These here strakes are not symmetrical ! So, guess who put two on back to front. Oh yes, so isn't it a good thing that I use white glue for putting planks on. A lot of water later , some gentle removal and they are now on the right way round I hope!! I will post some more pictures after I have recovered from my shame.
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