Mike Dowling

Ahoy shipmates (and all that blarney!) I am back!!!
 
After a pause and change of model I have returned to the watery kind.
 
I got the Amati Oseberg on ebay at a reasonable price most of which was probably accounted for by the pretty box! The Viking boats required surprisingly little wood which is exactly what Amati provide. There are instructions dubiously translated into English, a good sheet of 1/1 plans, a little box of bits and pieces. Lots of small dowel to make oars with, a wee bit of deck planking veneer and some well cut laser pieces including the pre-shaped strakes, the false keel and bulkheads and that is about it. Would you believe you even have to add your own glue!!!
 
Anyway, I appreciate this is not an accurate representation of the real Oseberg and it is interesting to note that Amati now seem to sell exactly the same kit named the 'Drakkar'.
 
I don't intent to modify it very much but I can see that the plywood edges will need to be covered and the deck planking done completely differently from the destructions. I have looked up a couple of other builds to get me up to speed.
 
So here goes, a couple of pictures of the box and contents to start with and I just couldn't resist posting a couple of pictures of my interim model (with apologies to MSW).
 
 

I have to say that this is not an easy piece to fit at all but, when I did mine I didn't plank it inside or out until fitted because as you rightly say it makes the piece even thicker.  I think I broke one side trying a dry fit so didn't even try on the other side. I soaked the pieces for as long as I dared so that they didn't de-laminate and bent them bow and stern before gluing and fitting with loads of clamps. It all worked out in the end.

I know this was a beast to fit but I am not quite sure what your problem is. I have just had a look at mine and I don't think there are any frames as such to fix it to at that stage. The whole thing slopes out to the sides and it is only the bottom edge that you need to glue at this stage. As long as you can glue the strip to the hull which it sounds as though you are ok with you should be alright. I will have a look later in case I took any pictures while I was building mine. Don't give up, it makes a nice model when finished.
 
 

Oh I am sure it can. But knowing my luck/life/experience I would just destroy it trying.

First deck on and gluing. I am not impressed with the poor quality of my planking but the supplied wood in this instance supposedly is sycamore which I don't think I have used before. The planks unfortunately were of a variety of widths and thicknesses and this along with that deck being in three pieces was not the easiest I have done. Because of the different thickness I just couldn't get a really smooth finish. For the rear and front decks I had some spare wood of a very similar colour and, as you will see has resulted in a much better finish. It is very unusual in my experience for Occre to provide such poor quality wood, they are usually so good. Never mind I will plod on!
 

All the bulkheads fixed on, they are not wonky at the back I promise, it's just the camera angle!! I have shelved the lighting plan for this one. With the construction and the sort of false deck in the middle it makes it very difficult at this stage to know where the lights will go in the right place for the portholes so rather than give myself a headache she can stay unlit.
 

Thanks Mike - my first inclination was to glue the bulwark with no planking - should have listened to my gut. I can still do that on the starboard side, but I think I have gone too far on port to try and remove the planking that I have done. And trying to soak the strip half planked seems like a recipe for disaster.
 
One thing I noticed, while repairing the broken strip, I used a couple of bulldog clips to clamp down the broken area. I did a partial dry fit during that time (I never learn) and nothing else broke. The break always seems to happen in the same general area, so maybe that is a weak point. With the clamps in place, and no further planking I think I'll try gluing the bulwark as is with the clips around the weak spot.
 
I appreciate your feedback!

I have to say that this is not an easy piece to fit at all but, when I did mine I didn't plank it inside or out until fitted because as you rightly say it makes the piece even thicker.  I think I broke one side trying a dry fit so didn't even try on the other side. I soaked the pieces for as long as I dared so that they didn't de-laminate and bent them bow and stern before gluing and fitting with loads of clamps. It all worked out in the end.

Video #6 Complete

Video 6 is done, which was adding support pillars and various cargo.

For the pillars, I found it easier to source the cross beams and use those for reference to get the correct height, and made some further adjustments to the compartment walls.

Thanks







 

Hey Mike - no I did not soak first as this was just a dry (no pun intended) run. I was just going frame by frame, holding the bulwark on one frame and curving it up to the next frame. Shouldn't have been much stress. To make things worse, I am supposed to plank the inside of the bulwark before installing. This has got to make the bulwark even less flexible.
 
I may look into seeing if I can mount the bulwark first, then plank.

Indeed, it's been a while.

Cost of the kit, well a company was stupid enough to give me a credit card with a £2k limit right about when this was released so, be rude to refuse an opportunity like that haha.

As for the copper lined compartment...I have no clue. You are the historical naval expert, you tell me lol. I would guess it was for storing perishables or some such like?

Just a little bit of an update. Continue the planking of the deck sections. Finished the main deck. Also assembled and put primer on the white structures that will later will be put in place on the main deck. The back panel wall I divided it to produce the inset where the doors will be installed as it is on the actual AV. Following Daniel’s lead and the online virtual tour I filed grooves on top of the structures where LED lights will hang from the top of the walls. Also started soldering resistors to some of the LED lights I will use in this build. 

I can see how that would be a pain to work with, especially the cutaway side, but your end result looks very nice. 

Hello all.

Making some progress on planking the hold.

Started off one the cutaway side, planking just over the edge then trimming and sanding back.


Then repeated the same basic process on the other side up to the bottom edge of the slots for the first set of deck beams. Also used the various templates to mark out the position of the inner ribs as well as the base for the main mast.



And finally made a start on fitting the inner ribs.




Thanks

Video #1 Complete

The first stage is complete. I just need to over again the rib joints with filler and smooth them out a bit more.



Thanks

Looks pretty good to me.

Looks pretty good to me.

Congratulations on your fine model. You did a masterful job and she looks terrific! You are a brave builder to put a full suit of sails on. It doubles the amount of rigging and at this scale it is not the easiest to reach all the areas as you point out. But the results look amazing. Well done!
Peter

So,here she is in all her glory!! I am glad that I altered the bow to be sharp like the real vessel, for some reason Occre had it quite blunt. In the end my version of the ship is a mixture of her various incarnations over the years like various colours of the masts, placement of portholes, different pinstriping etc. I am quite  pleased with the end result.
For future builders the rear handrail on top of the stanchions is a real beast to put on. I love the beauty of tall ships and how elegant they are but the rigging is a nightmare, so many ropes and so little room but the perseverance is worth it.
 
 

The rest of the sails on now and most of the rigging. Some long bilateral ropes to go on to the yards and down to deck level through strange extensions on the sides of the hull. Lifeboats to go on and the rear railings which I deliberately left until near the end to avoid trashing them with all the rigging. Then tidying up all the ropes and adding a flag of course!!
 
 

Foremast and front sails (I don't know the correct term for them) are on and rigged. I am very glad I put on the extra blocks to allow for one bunt line on each side of each sail as it has allowed for a much better 'shape'. The last 'flying blocks' on the end of each yard won't get rigged until all the others are on. Now for the main mast.
 
 

Oh how I just love doing ratlines!! It's like toothache - wonderful when it stops.
 
Sails and yards next.
 
 

So,here she is in all her glory!! I am glad that I altered the bow to be sharp like the real vessel, for some reason Occre had it quite blunt. In the end my version of the ship is a mixture of her various incarnations over the years like various colours of the masts, placement of portholes, different pinstriping etc. I am quite  pleased with the end result.
For future builders the rear handrail on top of the stanchions is a real beast to put on. I love the beauty of tall ships and how elegant they are but the rigging is a nightmare, so many ropes and so little room but the perseverance is worth it.
 
 

So,here she is in all her glory!! I am glad that I altered the bow to be sharp like the real vessel, for some reason Occre had it quite blunt. In the end my version of the ship is a mixture of her various incarnations over the years like various colours of the masts, placement of portholes, different pinstriping etc. I am quite  pleased with the end result.
For future builders the rear handrail on top of the stanchions is a real beast to put on. I love the beauty of tall ships and how elegant they are but the rigging is a nightmare, so many ropes and so little room but the perseverance is worth it.
 
 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have started on the brass fittings and so far things are going quite well. As usual, the directions provided by the instruction manual are not correct, and many of the fittings do not fit in the space provided, but a little grinding takes care of that problem.
 
I came across a portion of an article in Ships in Scale Magazine written by William Mowll that so precisely echoes my thoughts about model ship building that I thought I would share it here:
 
"To my mind, models are like three dimensional pictures, and all artists strive above all else, to make their pictures or portraits tell a single story. There has to be a binding factor if the all important message of the picture is not to be lost in a confusion of detail. We have all seen models which have often been professionally made and are more or less perfect in their presentation, but have no soul or bite to them. So what is it that gives a model that precious gem-like quality which manages somehow to take one's breath away?
 
I think it has to do with unity; The scene which the model creates must, in spite of all its detail, send a single clear message to the viewer. This means finding a medium which will encompass all the single parts which go to make up the whole model. If there is a detail which stands out from all the others - however beautiful or however long it took you to make - don't allow it to confuse the over arching message."