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Louie da fly

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  1. Louie da fly
    You might find that wool is too coarse for a sail at this scale, but it'll be interesting to see the results of your experiment. Steven
  2. Louie da fly
    Nice. The Oseberg is still the most beautiful of all the Viking ships discovered. Those carvings are amazing. At this scale they are basically impossible to duplicate perfectly, but (depending on your carving skills) the outlines provided on the kit can be improved upon quite a lot (it's called kit-bashing). Nice to have you aboard. I was an early mediaeval re-enactor for many years (11th century Anglo-Saxon, took part in the Hastings re-enactments of 2000 AD and 2006). And I visited Bristol in 2009 and saw Brunel's beautiful Great Britain and the reconstruction of Cabot's Matthew. Fond memories. BTW, I've put quite a bit of study into Viking ships, so if you have any questions, I may be able to help. Steven
  3. Louie da fly
    That's a beautiful model. Something to be proud of. Steven
  4. Louie da fly
    You're doing beautiful work, mate. Steven
  5. Louie da fly
    That's a lot of progress in a very short time. Careful - carving is addictive! Steven
  6. Louie da fly
    Thanks, people. Glad you didn't see it close up. Too many dodgy details from being in a hurry. Yes, couta oats are very beautiful. There are quite a few down at Geelong, where we sometimes go for a drive from Ballarat (nearest bit of coast). They really stand out from the run-of-the-mill boats in the marina. Steven
  7. Louie da fly
    That could do it. But at least you don't have to allow for a bunch of tiny rowers getting exhausted . . . Steven
  8. Louie da fly
    Well, only Buono so far. But thanks, people. I'm still thinking about my options for the framing at bow and stern . I might just pinch Woodrat's idea of using a temporary batten at gunwale level. Though his bow and stern are a lot blunter than mine so maybe I won't need to. Still thinking about it. Steven
  9. Louie da fly
    Not only models. A galley caught in rough weather was in real trouble - if they heeled over more than 10 degrees water would come in through the oarports, and the vessels were inherently very unstable (as discovered by the people on board the Olympias replica - people walking around on the top deck made it heel over dramatically), and any sort of rough sea meant the oars wouldn't bite. Regarding the available power, these things were incredibly lightly built, as they had to be moved by human muscle - 30 metre (90 foot) galleys uncovered in the silted-up harbour of Thedosius in Istanbul (Constantinople) had frames about 2 inches square and planks about an inch thick - more appropriate to a small rowing boat than a full-sized ship. Whether yours is underpowered is another question. I can't answer that one. But Olympias managed to get up to 9 knots at top speed. Steven
  10. Louie da fly
    Very nice! I used to do Viking period re-enactment, and those artefacts are pretty amazing. I know what all of them are for except the little cylindrical thing in your hand(though I suppose I could make a guess - for spices, salt, something like that). Steven
  11. Louie da fly
    While I was waiting for the rain to go away so I could get power to the shed to drill holes for pins to join the frames to the keel, I thought "Can't sit around forever, waitin - I'll carve one of the merchants who pinched St Mark's body and brought it to Venice, as shown in the mosaic." Here he is (the one on the left) his name is Buono. The other one is called Rustico. Perhaps those names are made up - "Good" and "Farmer" - it is, after all, an apocryphal legend. I'm very happy with the shading of the face. It looks more natural than any I've previously done. Frames dry fitted, to check that they go into the slots in the jig (quite a few of them didn't, so I had to widen the slots). And in the process of gluing them in place And all glued in. The pins are temporary - much too long - the keelson has to go directly over them. I intend to replace them with slivers of bamboo (I have a LOT of bamboo!) cut to length. I may have to drill the holes a bit deeper to make sure of the joint. I'm still working on getting the shape of the end frames correct. I don't want to make a bunch of them and then find I've wasted my time and effort. So the plan is to make a 3D "filler" of bits of plywood (the same thickness as the distance between the frames) laminated together, with paper between layers so I can pull it apart when I've got the shape right and use them as templates. Fortunately the bow and stern frames will be identical. Steven
  12. Louie da fly
    Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I come into the Men's Shed this morning and one of the guys says "Oh we sold your model of the Cerberus". It'd only been up for sale for about 3 days (in with the wooden cutting boards and bird houses etc), in the room where everybody's projects are up for sale. It's in a community building which used to be a high school and we work in the wood workshop with all those wonderful tools available to us. A guy came in with a bunch of schoolkids, saw the Cerberus up for $100 and bought it! Amazed. I'm still not going to make another of the Cerberus - too fiddly for the amount of effort I want to put in, and I'm really not proud of the quality of the model, but it shows there is a market out there for such things. But there are other projects that I am interested in, simpler to do, but just as likely to produce a sale. I'm not in it for the money, but it's nice to be able to get something back for the group, and in return for the effort. Maybe there's a new career out there for me (I'm on the pension, so the money really isn't important, but I'm allowed to make a fair bit from hobbies before it affects the pension, and a bit of pin-money would be nice). Steven
  13. Louie da fly
    As I mentioned before, you're doing very good work. Keep it up! Steven
  14. Louie da fly
    Bienvenu, Alain. Welcome to Model Ship World! Steven
  15. Louie da fly
    You might like to check out previous builds of this wonderful boat - see https://modelshipworld.com/search/?q=african queen&quick=1 Steven
  16. Louie da fly
    Beautiful work, Glen. You're doing a wonderful job, particularly at such a small scale. And I thought 1:200 was difficult! Steven
  17. Louie da fly
    Very nice work, Bob. Those ships were so beautiful. I like the planking, and the clever addition of fake "framing". Nice precise detail work. Keep up the good work, but be kind to yourself and give yourself a chance to recover properly. Steven
  18. Louie da fly
    I've only just come across this build. You've done a very nice job. It's hard to believe this is your first ship model. A couple of tips for next time. Planking; you've done a nice job, but in the real world planking is done differently, to avoid sharp corners at the ends (which don't hold nails or treenails). There are some very good planking tutorials which explain exactly how to do it for next time. This one is particularly good. The only other point I feel could be made is regarding the rigging. The ropes running through the blocks, and the ones holding the sail battens to the masts, look rather too thick for the size of vessel. There was a gradation of rope thicknesses depending on the forces they were to be subjected to. So halyards (the ropes that haul up the sails - they haul the yards) are pretty thick because they have to take a lot of weight, but where you have light loads, or several ropes sharing a load, the ropes can be thinner. Also, though the ropes that hold up the masts (known as standing rigging) are usually tarred to preserve them, so they are dark brown or almost black, any rope used to control the sails (i.e. they usually run through blocks) would not be, as the tar would clog up the blocks. So they'd be a natural light colour - pale brown or even white. Having said that, these comments are intended as a heads-up for your next model, so you're forewarned and can incorporate that information into your next build. It's all part of the learning experience. Don't even think of changing the current one. You've done a very good job, particularly for someone new to the field. Looking forward to your next build. Steven
  19. Louie da fly
    Making good progress, mate.
  20. Louie da fly
    Similar solutions to similar problems. Steven
  21. Louie da fly
    Looking good, Patrick! Steven
  22. Louie da fly
    My post was written with my tongue very much in my cheek. The fact that Edward III had already previously paid homage to the "usurping" French king rather tends to invalidate his - and every other English monarch's - later claim to the throne of France, doesn't it? Well, you know what happened to THEM, don't you? Death of Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants' Revolt during a "negotiation" with King Richard II. https://www.wattylercountrypark.org.uk/peasants#:~:text=Kent rebels led by Wat,He died an agonising death. Steven
  23. Louie da fly
    I finally got around to doing a video of the Dromon. Strangely it turned out to be better filming it in artificial light (just the normal overhead fluoros in the room) than using natural light. Clearer, better colour and far fewer reflections fom the transparent surface of the case. Steven 20230703_194350.mp4
  24. Louie da fly
    Amazing. Odysseus would have felt at home on board this vessel.
  25. Louie da fly
    TENUOUS???? Zounds, sirrah, them's fighting words! (Check the first scene of Shakespeare's Henry V to find the basis of the claim. Complex but fascinating - the French dismissed the claim of the king's daughter on the basis that she was a woman and "No woman shall succeed in Salic Land" - see https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/04/happy-birthday-william-shakespeare-henry-v-and-salic-law/ ) Steven

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