Louie da fly

And now it can be told. I was planning to change the final configuration of the ship - rather than have her under full sail I decided that it would look really cool to do a bit of "living history" - to leave maybe four pairs of oarbenches empty and carve new figures to take the place of those oarsmen I'd already done, but assign them to "other duties". I'd have the foresail hoisted but still furled, with two or three guys up on the yard unfurling it: and a bunch of others in the process of hoisting the after sail like this: or perhaps this: I even carved four guys based on the picture above: Then I changed my mind. Good though this might be, I really think it wouldn't look as good as an overall display as my original idea, to have both sails fully set and drawing (the wind directly aft - the only circumstancs the sails would be set in a dromon because of its low freeboard) and "goosewinged" as in the pictures below. So there you go. I'm happier with this idea - I think it will look a lot better. Perhaps I could feel that my making these new guys had gone to waste, but in fact it was fun - a welcome relief from doing so many figures all the same. I don't really care if they never get used. If I'm not stuck on a "sausage machine" production line, I really do enjoy carving.

Working on the very final pair of oarsmen. Arms carved and glued on, and holes drilled at the shoulders for bamboo pivots, to fix the arms firmly to the body and allow me to swivel the arms for best fit to the oarhandle without them breaking off: Filler added - rather than try to get each pair of arms exactly right (an almost possible task fitting and re-fitting to both rower and angled oar-handle) I carved them so the hands fitted on the handle as close as I could make it, and allowed a bit of extra at the shoulder, and added filler to close up any discrepancies. And trimmed to shape and sanded smooth And finally, painted. And, at last, all the oarsmen in place! (breathes great sigh of relief). If I never carve any oarsmen again, it will be too soon! Another thing. I discovered the halyard knights were really too small - they were only about half a metre (18 inches) tall at 1:50 scale - this is the knight for the after mast, but the foremast one is pretty much identical. so I made new ones about waist height. Then I thought about it some more and decided they might be tall enough now, but probably a bit flimsy to take the forces imposed on them by the halyards. So I made heftier ones. Pretty happy with these now. A real milestone achieved.

That is a windlass just under the break of the sterncastle, isn't it?

Nice work on the painting. Pretty difficult at that scale. However,may I suggest you replace the purple with another colour? In the Middle Ages there were sumptuary laws which laid down who could wear what clothes, so the best stuff was reserved to the upper classes, and jumped-up merchants couldn't swan around in the clothing of their "betters". And though these laws had to keep on being re-issued because they were so sadly neglected and often ignored (like Finland), the one thing that was totally forbidden was purple - it was reserved for royalty and only royalty. Anyone wearing that would have been in very deep trouble.

That's all a bit wierd, Cathead. You'd think the manufacturers hadn't tried out making the kit themselves to see if it all worked, before they put it on the market. I have no answers to the length of the planks or to the width of the deck insert. But I think what you're doing is the right answer. In the long run you have to deal with what's in front of you rather than what is theoretically the right thing to do (when it doesn't work!). The problem with the deck interfering with clamping the planks was always to be expected. To be honest, based on your previous record, I'm looking forward to seeing what ingenious solution you come up with to solve it! And I do like what you've done with the transition from clinker to carvel at the ends. Simple and elegant.

Thanks everybody for the likes and the comments. And Cathead and Jamie, that made my day! I love the parrot sketch. "The only reason he's on his perch is that he's nailed there!" "WAKE UP POLLY!" Chuck, apparently the main difference between oars and sweeps (I had to look it up) is that a sweep is single, held with both hands (so you need your rowers to be in pairs, one for each side of the vessel) whereas an "oar" is used in pairs by the one oarsman. So yes, technically these should probably be referred to as sweeps. And you're right, the size of the oarblades determines the width of the holes, not the other way around. But with this model there are no surviving oars, and contemporary illustrations aren't reliable, so I'm reverse engineering - the dromon's oarports are copied from a surviving oarport in a strake from one of the Yenikapi galleys, and I've based the width of the oar blades on that.

Very nice, Paul. Very crisp, clean work. She's looking really good.

That's very good, Silverman. What timber are you using for the planking? It seems to have a very visible grain.

That's very nice work, Chris. At 1:600 they must be tiny, but they really make the model.

Beautiful work (as usual) Patrick.

Beautiful work.

Nice work. Those masts are really looking good.

And yet it became the dominant vessel type for at least a century, and was copied in the Mediterranean. So it must have had a lot going for it. Probably cargo capacity had a lot to do with it, and though the square rig had been common in the Mediterranean in Roman times, it had been largely replaced by the lateen. Was there something about square rig that gave it an "edge" over the lateen? You're doing great things - correcting such things as the frame that was too small will help you avoid problems later on. Keep up the good work.

Aaaaargh!

OC, I'm gobsmacked by the quality of the paintwork on your figures. My dromon oarsmen are pretty much the same scale as yours, but the paintwork on mine is much more basic and plain - I haven't the skill to do the kind of shading you've done. (OTOH you didn't have to carve all yours! ) BTW, I don't know if anybody's mentioned it before, and at the risk of sending you off on another tangent, have you read "Death to the French" by C. S. Forester? It's a novel about a rifleman who gets separated from his unit during the British withdrawal to the Torres Vedras in the Spanish campaign, and lives off the land fighting the French until their retreat as the British advance, and he is able to rejoin his unit. Fictional (apparently) but with fascinating period detail of what it must have been like to serve as a rifleman at the time.

Woo hoo! I'm on MSW's facebook page! Apparently because I've been silly enough to carve all those oarsmen. But it's a real privelege to be up there with all those amazing examples of the shipmodeller's art. Speaking of oarsmen, I've completed another two and put them in place, and got a further two under way (the ones nearest the camera). Which means that once those are complete there'll only be one pair of oarsmen left to do! I won't know what to do with myself . . .

Yes, each step completed is not only a step towards the completed model, but it's also an achievement in itself. You're doing well and one day you'll be able to look back on this and say "It was really worth putting in that effort." And you'll have a model to be proud of.

Even if she is really a Man. Oh, no - that was Elizabeth I. But - depending on which body found on the ship was the Queen's - she either did or didn't have quite deformed feet, and bespoke shoes especially made to fit them. Well, that's convinced me - I won't be buying that stuff. Nope - it's quite visible, though probably not noticeable unless the attention is drawn to it. Oops. Sorry! Probably right, and you're completely right that now is the time to fix it, rather than come back later when it's much harder. Or worse, leave it and have it sneer at you every time you look at the completed model. It's all looking very good, Andrew. And I do like the way you are being so methodical and thoughtful about the whole process. Keep up the good work!

Getting better and better all the time. So you have a carpet monster, too? Mine is very voracious, but it's not always the thing at fault. I dropped a piece off the workbench, looked and looked for it for a long time with no success. Swept the carpet and sorted through what I'd swept up. Looked under all the furniture - nothing. Went off and did something else to get my mind off it, hoping the aliens who'd pinched it would have returned it when I came back. Nope. Then it occurred to me - it's cold where I live and I usually wear ugg boots when I'm modelling. Yep - the piece had fallen down my boot. Fortunately it wasn't anything fragile, so it hadn't broken.

Beautiful work, Mike.

Hi James, and welcome to MSW! The Red Baron looks like a good kit to start off with. not too difficult, but with a few challenges to keep youfrom getting bored. Exactly. I know (to my cost - see my latest post on my own build log) what comes of hurrying too much. I'm afraid I share your problem with rushing into things- but not as bad as it was. I do find ship modelling develops forces you into being more patient. Follow your own advice, take it at your own pace, and enjoy the ride. After (not too long) a while you'll find yourself with a beautiful model that you can be proud of. Make sure you start a build log - it's the best way to get encouragement, help and advice. You'll find the people here are very friendly and helpful. And don't be afraid to ask questions - there's no such thing as a stupid one. A very good strategy. It'll pay off in the long run. And have fun with it! That's what it's all about.

OOOPS! I got a little impatient. I was trying to remove this oarsman from his (supposedly temporarily glued) position on his bench so I could do the final carving, smoothing and painting. I'd gooped isopropanol onto the bench about three times - surely enough to weaken the bond so I could gently lever it off. Not so - I must have put too much glue on his seat, and not put enough isopropanol on to dissolve it, and not waited long enough. And the operative word above is "gently". Yes, I levered too hard, too soon. And crack - the bench broke away from its supports and in fact the wood of the bench broke as well. You can see a bit of it still stuck to the oarsman's seat . . . Not to worry. When I first made the benches I made a few too many. So it was the work of a few minutes to replace the bench with a new one, and all's well again. I still feel like a twit, though . . .

Hi Doug, and welcome to MSW! To be honest, I've found that model-building is like riding a bicycle - you might get a little rusty, but you never lose the ability even after many years away from it. And many of the skills you've developed from your earlier modelling are transferable to ships. I'm not familiar with any of these kits - they're all very attractive - but on googling them the Lady Nelson and Polaris both have step-by-step video instructions available on-line, and apparently the Smuggler has a 96 page instruction book. I see that the revenue cutter is a solid hull (and there's at least one buildlog on MSW for it) - I couldn't figure out whether the Smuggler is as well - it says "Laminated basswod hull" - does that mean it's solid? I think that any of these kits would be a worthwhile project. And while planking can be a pretty steep learning curve, that shouldn't be a reason not to go that route. There are plenty of examples and tutorials available, as well as lots of advice from people who've been there before. A methodical approach without rushing is probably your most valuable tool. And asking questions if you feel stumped. The membership here is very helpful and willing to give advice - often the problem you're up against has been encountered (and solved) before. And yes, it can feel intimidating seeing the excellent work the best of us produces. I'm still awestruck by the stuff other people produce - things I feel "I'll never be that good". But MSW has every level of skill and ability among its members, and every member started somewhere. You will make mistakes, you can be sure of that. But not mistakes all of us haven't made at some time or another. And most of them can be remedied. Down the track you'll probably look at your first build and think aargh - I got that wrong and that wrong, and I was too careless with the other thing. As we all do. It's a learning process, and as with anything else your skills (and your models) improve with each project you do. Each mistake gives valuable lessons for next time - if your second build isn't better than your first, there's something wrong. So don't get too intimidated, and don't let that be a reason not to start. When you've decided on the model you want to build and received your kit, make sure you start a build log. There are instructions here on how to go about it. Best wishes, and I look forward to seeing your ship taking form.

It's good that you've caught that problem with the decks at this stage, rather than having to fix it down the track which would involve a lot more work (and authentic Viking cursing!) The planking looks very good. Those are beautiful curves. Tell Floki to take a back seat.

This is a very interesting build. I am impressed by the way you've re-purposed everyday items to build the model instead of paying huge amounts for specialised materials (that may not produce a better result anyway).