Louie da fly

Agreed. But back to models, I tried to find model skiffs - no kits, but I came up with this - http://www.ahssa.org.au/model-skiff-resurgance/ Unfortunately the most recent mention is 2013, so it looks like they might be languishing again. But there are some other good links on this site giving some history of the "two-footers". Perhaps you could get in touch with them - they might have plans etc (if you're prepared to undertake a scratch rather than kit-build). And just like the full-sized boats, sometimes it apparently got a bit over-exciting - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_foot_skiff

Yep - the link worked for me! Looking forward to seeing the next instalment!

Four more oarsmen finished and four more started: Getting very close to the end. A note regarding the clothing colours. Dyes at the time were (of course) all natural. I haven't done any natural dyeing myself, but from what I've seen the colours are much richer and more beautiful than those produced by modern dyes - an example: The madder plant (rubia tinctorum) has roots that are quite dramatically red, and can be made into a dye which (depending on the treatment) can be anything from orange to maroon. The most common is a "brick" red - it's not capable of providing a "fire-engine" red. A much brighter red was available from a small beetle, which was found on the kermes oak, native to the Eastern Mediterranean. It was difficult to make in great quantity (lots of beetles!) so was reserved for the rich. It's also known as Cardinal Red, for obvious reasons. Much too expensive for an oarsman to wear. Blue is from woad (like braveheart). It contains indigotin, the same chemical as the indigo plant, but not in the same concentrations. A very beautiful blue. Repeated dyeing would produce deeper and deeper shades of blue (the same applies to the other colours). The extraction process produced a truly disgusting smell, (a combination of bad cabbage and raw sewage) making woad dyeing a "noxious trade". About half the easily available plants in nature produce a yellow dye. The most commonly used (at least in western Europe) was dyer's greenweed. Dyeing alternately blue and yellow produced green. Browns could be produced with walnut shells, and tannin from oak galls and iron (which was used to make black ink) could produce a good approximation of black though I don't know if that was used as a fabric dye. As far as I'm aware there's no mention of naturally "black" wool from black sheep being used, but that doesn't mean it wasn't. Shoes in contemporary illustrations are almost always black, and a friend of mine once sent me a sample of leather that had been tanned in an iron pot -combination of iron and tannin producing a very dark brown - almost black. I left it outf or over a year in the tropical sun at Port Hedland where I lived at the time and it didn't fade at all. Whether this is how they produced those black shoes I have no idea, but it certainly did produce the result this time. Naturally enough, undyed fabric could also be used, but I have no idea whether this was actually done at the time or if fabric was always dyed. Presumably your wealth and status would have had something to do with that. "Pure" white was apparently a prestige colour, probably because it was so hard to keep clean. Purple came from the shellfish murex, but was reserved to the Imperial family - "Imperial Purple". Another dye which produced a disgustingly foul smell. Purple could also be produced (and was) by dyeing with woad and madder - but the colour was still restricted to Imperial use. So I've given my oarsmen clothing in colours that could be produced with the dyes of the time and within their budgets.

Hi Andrew. You've done a good job handling the "Friday Kit" issue - yes perhaps you could have done it more easily with a saw, but at the very least it'll be a lesson learned and another thing to know if it ever happens again (fingers crossed it won't!). Regarding the stempost/prow, sometimes no matter what you do, the wood will always return to the shape it wants to be in. In which case the only sensible and realistic thing to do is make a new one out of a piece that isn't bent. Obviously, it would be preferable if you can get the existing one straight, but just be aware that making a new one might be better in the long run. Unfortunately this would also involve making new doubling pieces for the prow - I doubt you could re-use existing ones, unless you can dissolve your glue - rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol will dissolve PVA (white) glue and I'm told nail polish remover dissolves super (CA) glue, but I haven't personal experience of the second one. You can get isopropyl alcohol (brand name Isocol - in a 75ml dark green plastic spray container with a white label with a crocodile on it) from Coles or Woolies in the personal grooming aisle (so you can get it while doing your necessary food shopping). What you should do about the different thicknesses of the stem and stern posts vs the keel is a bit hard to know without looking at it, but your assessment is probably right. I'm not sure what you mean about the possibility of damaging the carving strips, but I'm really not familiar with how it all fits together, so it's a bit hard to visualise. Perhaps those who have made the same kit will be able to help on this one. Good luck with it. You're doing a good job and your persistence and attention to detail will pay off in the long run.

I haven't checked this build for a while.You've made tremendous progress in the meantime. I particularly love the paintwork on the figurehead!

Yes, but once upon a time it used to be even more extreme . . .

Yep, we need photos. Even just so we can see your Mighty Mo !

Making good progress, Charlie. And a lot of thought going into the configuration of the model. But I hadn't realised the cutter's masts had been made of Q-tips! Admit it, though - you just wanted a Byrnes table saw, whether the build required one or not . . .

Beautiful clean, crisp work, Glenn!

Very good work, Rodolfo. It's good to see that you're not just accepting what the kit manufacturer tells you, but changing the model where it doesn't agree with historical evidence. It's looking very good. Nice crisp work.

Of course there are girl dragons! Otherwise we'd never have the pitter-patter of little dragon wings! BTW if you want to reduce a photo size once it's inserted in your log, double click on it and a menu will come up allowing you to reduce the size - you can't increase it but that's not usually what's wanted anyway. To keep the ratio of vertical to horizontal sizes the same, click the appropriate box in the menu. And if you don't like it you can cancel -or else hit the undo symbol in the task bar at the top of your post.

Nice work, Balclutha!

Me too. My wife saw the footage and immediately said TOO exciting!

I really don't know if there are models available, but your question prompted me to look here - What a ride!

Pulling up a chair to watch! If you have any questions, as a Viking period re-enactor in a previous life I may be able to help with detail questions (like - no horned helmets, please!) The Oseberg ship is apparently the funeral ship of Queen Asa (Oseberg is named after her), and archaeologists found two women's bodies on board - one presumably the Queen and the other probably a servant woman, probably killed as a sacrifice to accompany her mistress to the other world. I haven't revisited the information recently, but last time I looked they didn't know which woman was which, but one was quite old and had mis-shapen feet, and wore custom-made shoes to compensate. Not sure if you already knew but when the Sutton Hoo ship was unearthed nothing remained of her timbers and they had to very carefully dig out her shape by the stains in the sand caused by the (vanished) iron nails. I've been twice to see the Sutton Hoo treasure in the British Museum - amazing stuff - the gold and garnet work looks like it was made yesterday! By the way there is now a group in the UK building a full-sized replica of the Sutton Hoo ship - see https://saxonship.org/ Though the kit has inscribed decorative carving you might like to look at photos of the original, which is even more complex and amazing (via a google image search) - though I don't know how possible something that intricate would be to duplicate at 1:25! Oh, and when you get to the decorations on the shields, you might like to look at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html - Christobel and Peter are friends of mine from way back. Their home page is worth a visit, too. They're very hot on historical accuracy. Have fun with it. BTW, where in Melbourne are you? (Not that I can visit at the moment anyway, you understand . . .).

Thanks, Andrew. I've set myself up to follow your build for the Oseberg ship. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Welcome to MSW, John. I second JJT's advice to start a build log for your model. A great way to get help, advice and encouragement.

Hi Swallowtail and welcome to MSW. Packing out a bulkhead is something that often becomes necessary in a build. Much as we would like to believe kits came from the manufacturer completely without faults, unfortunately this is not so, and corrections "on the run" are sometimes needed. What you're doing looks very good. I would strongly suggest you start a build log - it's a great way to get feedback from other modellers, plus encouragement, help and advice, often from those who've already encountered and solved the problems you may face. Instructions on starting a build log are at Looking forward to seeing your further progress. Best wishes,

Oh, that makes sense. I thought you were planning to do a bit of your own extra decorative work. Regarding figureheads, it was apparently a very bad thing to have dragon heads attached to the ship in your own home waters - it angered the local spirits/trolls. OK when you were attacking someone else - who cares what their trolls think?

Looking good so far. I'll leave it to others more experienced to give advice on the twisted deadeyes, but I'm sure there's a known solution to the problem.

A very nice job of restoration that keeps the spirit of the original. Looking forward to the rigging.

By the way, there's some really good stuff in the Maritime Museum in Malta (in Birgu, facing Senglea) - https://www.modelships.de/Museums_and_replicas/Malta_Maritime_Museum/Malta_Maritime_Museum_eng.htm

(Blush) You say the nicest things . . . It's more like pain-killers to my left hand (which holds the fiddly bits while I carve with the right). Only 9 more oarsmen to carve arms for. I hope I haven't done myself irreversible damage . . .

Very nice work, Glenn. It looks very good.

I'd say yes - have a frame. The stabler the shape as you plank, the better off you're likely to be. And better to be safe than sorry - it'd be terrible down the track to regret not having a frame.