Louie da fly

There's a real sense of achievement in finishing the planking - particularly when it's this difficult. Well done, sir! I look forward to seeing it when the sanding is done. It can make a huge difference to the look of the model. Steven

That's pretty darned good, Patrick. I can use AutoCad and Revit and Sketchup, but none of them seem to be terribly good for 3D modelling of ships. I've never tried Fusion, but it looks very good. Do you find it easy to learn/use? Steven

Struth! That's certainly changed since I was there! Steven

Another step in the progress of the build. Following with interest. Steven

Latest activity; I realised I was getting a bit ahead of myself - I should be dealing with the standing rigging before I put the spars, sails and running rigging on. So, first things first - add ratlines to the fore-shrouds on the port side of the model. Used the technique I learned on MSW for spacing the ratlines, though I'm gluing the ratlines on instead of using clove hitches (2 reasons - this is the way I did it back in the day, and the difficulties of tying clove hitches at 1:200 scale). More to come, and I'll tidy it all up when all the ratlines are in place. In the meantime I'm also getting on with fixing up the old yards. Here are the new blocks to be added to the fore-yard for the lifts. About to remove the old main topsail from its yard, with the new one ready to be added. The yard with the sail removed. Unfortunately the yard-arm broke off and had to be re-glued on. Seems to happen every time I remove a sail from a yard. And the fore-yard with the new blocks added. Note the loose ends from the strops. Unfortunately, when I trimmed these off, I also trimmed off one of the blocks and had to do it again. Fore-yard and main topsail yard all cleaned up and ready to go. I've also removed the "parrel truck" from the main topsail yard for future re-use. (When I first built the ship I had no idea how a parrel truck worked, so I made something out of sewing cotton that resembled the one in the picture I was working from.) Steven

Yep. This is Perth seen from Kings Park, a native bushland park of over 4 square kilometres (about 1.7 square miles) set aside over a century ago on Mount Eliza, overlooking the city and the Swan River. Steven

Or vice versa - and Perth has really great beaches (and weather - it only rains in winter) Steven

Actually, I was being ironic. Just had several days of miserable weather, heavy wind and rain. It appears there's a permanent raincloud over Ballarat (you can see it as you approach) as over Duckula's castle. Steven

Welcome from sunny Ballarat! I like your avatar - Father Jack, unless I much mistake. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend you start with something relatively simple so you can develop your skills and make something to be proud of without biting off far more than you can chew - such as HMS Victory or the Vasa. Yes, some people have managed it as a first build, but too many find it heart-breaking and fall by the wayside. See and I grew up in Perth (south of the river - Attadale - wouldn't be able to afford to live there now). Say hullo to the river for me, will you? Good to have you aboard! Steven

David, I think everybody hits the doldrums at some point or another. The solution depends very much on what caused the doldrums. In my case I get easily bored with repetitive activities - making the same thing over and over again, all identical. Sometimes it's my own fault - did I really have to carve 48 wooden oarsmen for my dromon? Could I have just built the ship without a crew? Other times there's no escaping it - a ship has a lot of blocks, deadeyes etc etc and you have no option but to make lots of things all alike. But yes, it's easy to get stale, too. I once read that the way to avoid getting Alzheimer's is to continually develop new neural pathways, by doing new and different things. If you find yourself getting stale, it might be worth trying a scratch build. It's certainly a lot more challenging than doing a kit. And you could try moving from POB to POF - that will give you a whole lot of new problems to solve! But it sounds to me that you've found your own solution to the doldrums, which should keep you going for a long time into the future. Good luck with it. I wish you every success. Steven

Welcome to MSW! I'd agree with mtaylor in recommending you start a build log for your Polaris. It's a great way to get help and advice from other members, and maybe avoid problems or mistakes that others can alert you to. And a good way to make friends in the forum. And we get to see your build under way! The instructions are here: If you have some photos of your model in its earlier stages, include them and give us a short intro. Best wishes, good to have you aboard! Steven

Hi and welcome to MSW! The scale for 4.5 feet would be 1:28. You might like to play with that a bit - perhaps 1:30 (which is 2'6" to the inch) and would be a bit over 4'2". But I would agree with allanyed that it would be a lot easier to get this all to work if you built a simpler ship - perhaps a naval cutter like the Cheerful? Good to have you aboard Steven

Here's the rest of how I make my wooden blocks. Adding the strop. Wrapping the strop around the block - I tried two ways of doing it - one with the block still attached to the main bit of wood; the other with it already separated. It turned out to be harder to carve the block with the strop attached than to do it the other way around. Then a thumb knot in the strop at the bottom of the block. And complete: Steven

Well, that's given me a lesson in German - I'd been thinking gestalt meant "the whole" of something (like holistic). But of course, "whole" is ganze, isn't it? (as in the famous Richard Tauber song "Dein ist mein ganzen Herz" (Yours is my whole heart) or the even more famous "Diesem Kuss der ganzen Welt" (This kiss to the whole world) from Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Druxey, this way of doing the robands is much easier and quicker than doing it properly, and I have the excuse that I did it that way before. Here you can see it from the back. The "joining thread isn't really all that obvious unless you look at it close up. Steven

The course and the bonnet in the original were made from a single piece of fabric. The transition between them was done by pulling a number of threads out at the join. It did seem to work, but this time I've made them separately and laced them together. The "robands" were done the same way both times. The thread joining them is at the back of the yard. Steven

Ok, I've fixed up the mainyard. I was just pushing a needle through one of the blocks to make sure the mainsheet would pass through, and the thread that held it to the yard broke. Though most of the existing blocks are made of wood, this block is one of the few I made by wadding up cotton thread with glue to make a sort of ball, and pushing a needle through to make a hole in the centre. I had the choice of making a new one - either of wood or more balled up cotton (which I'd rather not do, as I'd like to keep as much of the original build as possible) or somehow replace the supporting thread. After a bit of thought inspiration struck. Thread through the body of the block (it's just cotton after all) and sew it on, through the thread that's already wound round the yard. Note also I've added the blocks for the topsail sheets and the mainyard lifts. The picture below gives you some idea of how I've been making my wooden blocks - drill a hole in a bit of wood the right thickness, then carve around the hole and sand smooth, finally cutting the block off the end of the bit of wood. And here is the main course being sewn onto the yard. As I mentioned earlier, I'm following my original procedure of using a continuous thread, rather than separate robands (just too difficult at this scale). And complete - very long and laborious - I had to undo my stitches time after time, and the loop in the thread kept catching on things over and over again . Now the old, brown, moth-eaten forecourse being separated from its yard. I had to remove quite a bit of fabric and thread that had inadvertently been glued to the yard. Once I'd done that I discovered a break in the yard, so I had to repair it - just a matter of gluing up the break and holding it still until the glue dried. And now, ready to begin sewing the sail to the yard. Note, the blocks for the topsail sheet are already there, but I do still need to add the blocks for the foreyard lifts. This rigging stuff hurts my brain. I'm really not very good with getting a gestalt view of how it all works and inter-relates, and I have to plod through the procedure little bit by little bit - often going over and over the text to make sure I'd really got it. Slow, small steps. Steven

Very nice work, Tim. I'm very impressed, and tempted to try this method. But as I've already started in wood (see below) I guess I'd better continue that way. Steven

Coming together nicely, Kyle. Steven

My model's at 1:200 scale and I'm in the same boat as you (oops! Sorry!). I've given up on making blocks this size with sheaves or even a pair of holes to make a fake "sheave". Just too difficult, and considerable danger of splitting. I've compromised with accuracy and used hearts instead of blocks. I make them individually. I drill a hole in a piece of wood the correct thickness, then carve around it to make the block. I don't know if there are ready-made blocks out there for sale that are small enough for you. I'd be very interested in seeing what other people have to say. Steven

That's very interesting indeed, Dick. Apart from knowing in a general sense that the Gokstad ship used a withy for the rudder, I hadn't really thought about the mechanics of the apparatus in detail. What you've done certainly looks workable. The withy would probably season in place, but retain a reasonable amount of flexibility (I think the reason willow is used for wattling is the fact that it does retain a fair bit of flexibility - IIRC in wattling it's usually allowed to season, then soaked before being used). [Edit - correction - I'm pretty sure wattling uses green willow - it's basket weaving, that uses soaked seasoned willow] Steven

Hi Dick, I've done a bit of wattling, though not with willow. I know green timber is far more flexible than seasoned, and splitting a withy down the centre makes it easier to bend. However, I wouldn't recommend that for the job you have in mind. IIRC the Gokstad rudder was held in place by a fairly hefty withy (just a single piece) passing through both the rudder and the ship's side and right angles, and its flexibility (even though seasoned after all that time in use) allowed quite a bit of vertical pivot in the rudder, though looking at pictures of it I do wonder if my memory is correct. The sectional diagrams seem to show a rope Do you have some kind of idea of how you plan to construct your rudder-fixing? A diagram of what you have in mind would be very helpful. Steven

Smile-n-Nod, thanks very much for this. I've downloaded it and now I'll have to spend time going through it with a fine-tooth comb. Wonderful stuff. Steven

I seem to recall the Gokstad ship's side rudder was attached by a withy (I was going to write "with a withy", but that just sounded silly . . .) Beautiful work as usual, Dick. I love the way you've solved the problems that go with such an adventurous speculative design. If the hulc was really built with reverse clinker as theorised, I imagine it would be very like this model ( but bigger, of course ) Steven

Thanks for all the likes. Druxey, currently the main problem is getting my head around how everything fits together, and that's just for the courses. SO many lines and blocks, and I'm just hoping I don't paint myself into a corner, forgetting to put something in at the right time and having to somehow squeeze it on later. Oh, well, back to Anderson again. I think the lifts are the next thing to look at. Pretty sure I've worked the halyards/tyes out. Steven

Cathead, I think what you've worked out is perhaps the very best possible arrangement, given the constraints you're working with. The stacking of the shields and the idea of "roping them in place" works very well. You can see the shields (otherwise all that work painting them would have gone to waste) but they get in the way as little as possible; it's definitely a practical way of arranging them without obstructing the working of the ship. I think you've got it! The bundles of spears look quite a bit better, as well. What particularly impresses me about this build is the added details - chests, barrels, shields, spears etc - that add so much realism to the look of the thing. One feels one could step on board and sail off across the Atlantic. I agree about "Vikings". I watched the first episode and was so disgusted by it that I never looked at it again. Haven't seen the other show so I can't comment on it. Ian, yes we do know that Viking shields had bosses. Just about every Viking shield find (and the Gokstad ship had shields all along both sides) has a boss - the only ones I know of that don't have a hole where the boss should be. And there have been many bosses found without the shield board, which has presumably rotted away. Also contemporary art shows round shields with bosses, both in a Viking context (rare), but also their contemporaries, the Franks and English had very similar shields - always with bosses. The boss was a hollow iron bowl, nailed or rivetted to the shield board over a hole on the centre into which the hand fitted. There was a handle across the hole for the hand to grip. Contemporary art shows the shields being held this way, not with arm straps. You can see diagrams of the way this worked at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html This is probably the best exposition for the layman of the state of knowledge regarding Viking shields. Peter and Christobel are friends of mine and have been re-enactors since about 1986. They are very hot on authenticity and they have put a tremendous amount of research into all kinds of aspects of Viking life - their re-enactment gear is amazing. Steven