Louie da fly

I was working on the Great Harry when I was about 17. I'd just changed the scalpel blade so it was nice and sharp. I knocked something off the table (I'm still just as clumsy today) and it bumped on my foot.
 
I looked down on the floor, thinking 'I don't remember having a bottle of dark purple ink on the table".
 
Oh.
 
The blade had landed point first on the big vein that feeds blood to the toes. So sharp I didn't feel any pain. A very nice clean cut. Just needed a band-aid.
 
Steven

I have my Dad's old bench vise and his "rivet snap" (https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=119369) which I used to get a lot of use from when I was into re-enactment and made mediaeval helmets, but is really no use for ship modelling.
 
Steven

I don't have much to add to Cathead's excellent set of links, except to refer you to representations of Viking sails on contemporary runestones at https://modelshipworld.com/topic/24335-gokstad-viking-ship-by-bigpetr-148-card-cca-900-ad/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-776214
 
 
Your pavesades (shield rails) and oarports look very good.
 
Steven 
 

What kind of wood is that? It looks like it might be off a fruit tree.
 
Steven

I have my Dad's old bench vise and his "rivet snap" (https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=119369) which I used to get a lot of use from when I was into re-enactment and made mediaeval helmets, but is really no use for ship modelling.
 
Steven

That's looking very good, EOL. The fake ribs work well. I hope you still have some skin on the end of your fingertips after that sanding.
 
The extra image is at the end because you didn't allocate it a place in the text, and you have to delete the original picture from the group of uploads at the bottom and the one at the end of the text before it will go away. Don't ask me how I know . . . 
 
Steven

I have my Dad's old bench vise and his "rivet snap" (https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=119369) which I used to get a lot of use from when I was into re-enactment and made mediaeval helmets, but is really no use for ship modelling.
 
Steven

Like the water cooler in a modern office. Or in the Australian army in WWI they had water wagons made by J. Furphy and Sons. Though it's now dying out, the Australian word "furphy" is even today used for an unfounded rumour.
 
Steven

And now, after 5 years and seven months to the day since I first began planning the model . . . the final steps.
 
I've assembled the case with a background of the Harbour of Theodosios in Constantinople, where the Byzantine galleys were found from which I got so much information in building the model. The buildings in the background are part of the Boukoleon Palace complex, the Emperor's main residence.
 

 

 
 
 

 
And here are the remains of the very same buildings, in today's Istanbul.
 

 
I had a bit of trouble getting the frame to fit tightly and square - one of the screw-holes had to be re-drilled. And while I had the ship on the stand and inside the case, and everything glued in place, just about to screw everything together, a fly got inside! Had to pull the perspex off and get rid of the fly. Grrr! All ready to go, just getting things adjusted so I could start screwing together, and the fly got back inside!
 
Fortunately sanity prevailed, in the form of my lovely wife who said "You hold the case, I'll get rid of the fly." Just as well - I had visions of disaster at the last moment with me throwing the whole kit and kaboodle across the room.
 
But now, here it is in all its glory.
 

I have my Dad's old bench vise and his "rivet snap" (https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=119369) which I used to get a lot of use from when I was into re-enactment and made mediaeval helmets, but is really no use for ship modelling.
 
Steven

That's looking very good, EOL. The fake ribs work well. I hope you still have some skin on the end of your fingertips after that sanding.
 
The extra image is at the end because you didn't allocate it a place in the text, and you have to delete the original picture from the group of uploads at the bottom and the one at the end of the text before it will go away. Don't ask me how I know . . . 
 
Steven

Precisely.
 
One of the ropes on the vessel below is a halyard. But are the others shrouds or backstays? Or what? (rhetorical question - no answer needed).
 

 
I must say, Wefalck's contributions have got me thinking about issues relating to lateens that I hadn't considered before.
 
Steven
 
 

Here goes with another update.  The Oseberg and Gokstad Ships both have closer spacing for ribs than this kit, so I decided to add more ribs to make the model appear closer to the historic ships. The existing ribs were a good starting place, so I printed the plans, and glued them to scrap plywood from the Keel and ribs.  Working my way from amidship toward the bow, I used forms 6, 7, 8, & 9, and 6, 5, 4, 3 toward the stern.
 

 
I used a bandsaw to rough cut each rib. 

 
Then I used a disk sander and spindle sander to bring the parts to profile.  Power sanding such small parts is not for the faint of heart.  I clamped an MDF surface to the sander table, so the small part wouldn't be thrown down into the gap between disk and table.

 
Each part was hand sanded to fit it closely into its location. These have been drilled for shroud rigging.

 
And here is the finished deck with all ribs and crossbars.  The mast fish is dry fit only. It will be painted to simulate wood.

 
 
Not sure why this image is here.  I keep editing it out, and it keeps reappearing.  Thanks, Steven
 

I'm at a good stopping point in my "real" work today, so am taking an early lunch in order to post a few updates.   Below is the start of my new deck planking.  The deck of the kit had zero camber, and was a straight line fore/aft.  I've remedied both items with a lot of sanding.  Then graph paper was glued to the deck to ensure the planking was installed evenly, and planking commenced below.  It really was satisfying to plank the entire deck from front to back.  I'm glad I made the decision to take the plunge in cutting off the quarterdeck.  
 
 

 
 
 
Below is the finished main deck planking, with sawdust included.  Sorry for such stark lighting in the photo.  The lighting in my den was too dark, so I thought I'd head to the kitchen for brighter, natural light.  You can tell that I'm not a very competent photographer. Anyway, now I just need to plank the very front piece in the bow, and of course re-make the quarterdeck.
 
 

 
 
But not so fast!  So here's my dilemma.   As I was cleaning up the deck and getting ready to shape the waterways, I was viewing my stock of photos of the replica of the Nina..  To my consternation (extreme consternation), I realized that the replica has scuppers (below) all the way down the hull, and not only did my version NOT have scuppers since I re-shaped the deck, if I cut scuppers out at the new deck level, they'd no longer match the wales of the ship on the outside; they'd go right through them.  So guess who made the insane decision to remove the wales and all associated "bumpers" in preparation for scupper installation?  Yea, I know.. But it's yet another thing which would have really bugged me now that I knew about it.  For giggles, since the exterior hull is now "clean", I'm also going to very carefully scribe down the middle of each plank as well, as the initial planks were far too wide to be in scale.   I might also take the opportunity to add more "meat" to the bow section, as it has quite a sharp rise at the bow, which my version does not.  Might as well add that to the list; we'll see on that point. 
 
I think I might need to re-name this model "Pandora's Box", because I've certainly opened said box a long time ago when I thought "wouldn't it be cool if I did X to the model before I apply the finishing touches".   It pains me to know how much I could have gotten done on my Syren/Triton by now if I'd just finished the model a long time ago, but I'm in it, so am moving forward.  I have to admit it is fun to be putting this much detail into such a tiny model, but fully acknowledge the insanity of "upgrading" a model which was never meant to be very accurate.  It would have been FAR better to have built from plans, or to have started with a more accurate kit.
 
 

 

Wefalck, merci beaucoup pour la référence.  
 
Though I'll accept that a lateen on a small vessel can be used without shrouds, larger ships seem to need them. I don't know that there's really a difference between a lateen with or without shrouds.
 
Steven

Like the water cooler in a modern office. Or in the Australian army in WWI they had water wagons made by J. Furphy and Sons. Though it's now dying out, the Australian word "furphy" is even today used for an unfounded rumour.
 
Steven

That's beautiful work, Derek.

Wefalck, merci beaucoup pour la référence.  
 
Though I'll accept that a lateen on a small vessel can be used without shrouds, larger ships seem to need them. I don't know that there's really a difference between a lateen with or without shrouds.
 
Steven

Wefalck, merci beaucoup pour la référence.  
 
Though I'll accept that a lateen on a small vessel can be used without shrouds, larger ships seem to need them. I don't know that there's really a difference between a lateen with or without shrouds.
 
Steven

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/03/2700-year-old-phoenician-shipwreck-to.html?fbclid=IwAR0pj1HhLWQTGfJ3X8QnFmbG0teMmdZzVmnyt1p7wdUJChEW3ti7yIka9_8

Unfortunately, nothing in the Vikings TV show bears any relationship to what Vikings ate/wore/did/carried/used. And most of the "Viking Shield Designs" that can be found on-line use a fair bit of imagination (i.e. they're made up) or extrapolate from Viking decorations in other contexts (i.e. they're made up).
 
What is known about patterns on Viking shields appears here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html
 
The ones you're making look good, but as there seems to be no evidence of standardization in shield decoration, you could mix and match patterns and colour combinations as much as you like within the colours available at the time - https://sciencenordic.com/denmark-history-society--culture/how-to-decorate-like-a-viking/1455997 .
 
Steven

Exquisite!

That's beautiful work, Derek.

Thank you, Steven, and everyone else for the kind welcome!  No, I’ve nothing on the go at present although I’m contemplating the newly introduced Occre “Endurance “.
 
I have, however, recently completed the Mantua sectional model of a between decks gun station.  I’m afraid my modest skills have deteriorated with age (arthritis and a tremor doesn’t help with modelling) but it at least keeps the old brain active!

He may well do - that is his right and privilege. But in common with many movies and TV series based on history, there are glaring inaccuracies in relation to such things as armour, equipment and costume, (though the swords look ok). Justin Pollard, the historical adviser on the series is a "popular historian, historical consultant and screenwriter" according to Wikipedia. But if he gave advice on such things I doubt it was followed. Unfortunately movies very rarely worry about such things - the director and costume department get a bigger say than the historical consultant. 
 
I've also spent years researching Viking history and artefacts, and though I may not be an academic, I do know when something is as wrong as this. Strangely enough, the shields are among the "least worst" of the gear on the show.
 
Steven