Louie da fly

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Nice to see another bireme under way. Congratulations!
 
 And welcome to the special kind of insanity that goes with building a model of a galley - an extra level above the normal insanity of ship modelling (I should know!).
 
Steven

Thanks, Tony. Much appreciated. It was very much a labour of love, and much of the pleasure came from the research itself.
 
There are things I would change if I were to do it again - make it 2 metres longer, raise the "tail", the poop deck and the forecastle, and have the wales at the "tail" a different shape (they should have converged to a point - the way they are affected the planking layout adversely). 
 
There are still plenty of "educated guesses" in my version of the vessel, and many details could be interpreted differently. But generally very happy with it. 
 
I'm now working on restoring the model I made of Henry VIII's Henry Grace a Dieu (Great Harry) which I built when I was 17. Making good progress and pretty happy with it. Learning a lot as I go.
 
Steven

Kris, the presence of shields on the Oseberg ship i news to me. I'd never heard of that before.
 
A rail for shields is called a pavesade. And yes, the gunwale got that name in the 15th century when the only guns in use were relatively light and were placed on the top wale. As they got heavier, to keep the ship stable they had to be placed lower down but the name continued to be used. Of course I found the same applied to my dromon, from well before the invention of guns - if you don't call it a gunwale, what do you call it?
 
Steven

The best and most informative site I know of for Viking shields is http://members.ozemail.com.au/~chrisandpeter/shield/shield.html - Chris and Peter are friends of mine from way back when I was a re-enactor. On the other hand, there were no shields found on the Oseberg ship, so if you don't want to add them . . .
 
Kriswood, interesting about the treenails. I didn't know about that.
 
Steven

Not sarcasm, surely - that would be unworthy of you. I think irony "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect" is a more accurate description.
 
Regarding the planking - Yes I think steaming would be wrong - that way madness lies.
 
On first inspection, perhaps you could loosely clamp the planking to each frame and gradually move the planking inward bit by bit. Starting with the planks nearest the keel - add a dab of slow-drying glue (white glue - PVA - for preference) between those planks and the frames. Clamp them loosely to the frames, not too tight when you first put them on, then as you would with the wheel nuts when you're putting a wheel back on the car - go round them again tightening each one a little until they're all a bit tighter, then do it again till they're all a little tighter - until the planks are all fully in contact with the frames (or as close as you can manage).
 
Once the glue is fully dry, move the clamps outward - loosely clamp to the frames all the planks that are a bit further from the keel (adding a dab of glue first), going round and round the same way, tightening them all a little bit each time. And then move outward from the keel again, until all your planks are nice and tight to the frames. This would need adjustable clamps, of course - G-clamps or something similar.
 
I can't guarantee this would work, but the planks look thin and flexible enough that you might have a good chance of success if you take it gradually and spread the load evenly by clamping to all the frames.
 
The only alternative I can think of is to follow your skipper's advice -  chucking it away and starting again. (I note that James H's last post is from 2018!) But it would be a shame to do so after all your work  if there's any chance this model can be fixed.
 
Worth a try? Have a think about it and see what you want to do. It's your build and your decision. And the very best of success with it!
 
[Edit - As I'm sure you're aware, Matt H has successfully completed an Amati Drakkar just recently - 
but he didn't seem to have any issues of this sort. However, you might be able to get some help from him to see if he encountered the ame problem [/Edit]
 
 

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Looking good, Steven!

Beautiful result, Steven.  The King should be very happy with her.

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

She's looking really good, Marcus. Having followed your build, I've decided that no matter how beautiful a fluit may be, I really don't think I want to take one on. Just TOO difficult getting the shape right. I take my hat off to you for your persistence - and your courage in ripping stuff off and starting again till you get it right.
 
Steven

That's amazing work, Kris. I've never tried Rhino - just AutoCad, Sketchup and Revit. None of them are capable of this kind of thing.
 
Steven

Interesting. The frames in mediaeval (and earlier) Mediterranean ships in general followed a
 
 . . pattern of alternating floor timbers and paired half-frames . . . Floor timbers span the bottom of the ship, with their extremities extending just to the turn of the bilge [on each side of the ship]; in contrast, half-frames span the width of the keel and extend up one side of the ship, through the turn of the bilge to, or just beyond, the first wale . . . At each frame station, floor timbers and half-frames are paired with futtocks placed adjacent to, but not fastened to, the floor timber or half-frame, with ends overlapping by the width of one or more planks.
 

 
This combined ease of manufacture and construction with the requisite strength.
 
Steven
 
  

Thanks, Tony. Much appreciated. It was very much a labour of love, and much of the pleasure came from the research itself.
 
There are things I would change if I were to do it again - make it 2 metres longer, raise the "tail", the poop deck and the forecastle, and have the wales at the "tail" a different shape (they should have converged to a point - the way they are affected the planking layout adversely). 
 
There are still plenty of "educated guesses" in my version of the vessel, and many details could be interpreted differently. But generally very happy with it. 
 
I'm now working on restoring the model I made of Henry VIII's Henry Grace a Dieu (Great Harry) which I built when I was 17. Making good progress and pretty happy with it. Learning a lot as I go.
 
Steven

Thanks, Mark.

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Thank you, Roger. When I first built her I had the lines at the stern completely wrong - the bilge was almost down to keel level. in fact it wasn't until I was making the new frames for the rebuild that I realised that with a flat stern the bottom of the hull shouldn't go all the way down - it should end near the waterline so the water could flow past it and reach the rudder. And that was one of the main things I had to change with the rebuild. One of the big advantages (apart from increased accuracy)  is the much more beautiful underwater lines at the stern.
 
    
 
Looking back on it I myself am amazed at what I was able to achieve at that age. I'd previously done two pretty basic solid hull waterline models (a brig and a frigate), I'd made two fair-sized plastic models of the Victory (Revell and Airfix) and I'd built a (probably very inaccurate) balsa model of an excursion ferry called the Zephyr that plied across to Rottnest Island from Perth in Western Australia where I lived. (I think it must have been POB - I don't remember).
 

 
Some of the things on the Great Harry model - to be honest I have no idea how I did them back then. But I agree - despite having to replace/rebuild much more than I'd expected, I believe she was definitely worth restoring. Because of the difference in wood colours, it's pretty obvious which bits are original and which are new - but though I didn't like it to start with I now think that's a good thing. 
 
Steven

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

- Actually, from the archaeology I've seen, planking usually was a case of "what can we get hold of ?"

Is that a challenge? (Note the extra gigantic match stick . . . 9 metres long )
 
 
 
   
 

 

 

 

 
He's 9.4mm (just under 0.4 inches) tall. That's 188 cm (6'2") in real life - Henry was very tall for the time. Looks better to the naked eye than he does in the photo (possibly because with the naked eye it's all blurry to me).
 
And I've done some sanding of the planks:
 
  
 
  
 
  
 

 
Starting to look much nicer, and most of those ugly inequalities in the planking that were preying on my mind are vanishing.
 
I do love that beautiful curve at the stern.
 
Steven
 

Beautiful work on the painting, Ondras. I want to be you when I grow up . . .

Nice to see another bireme under way. Congratulations!
 
 And welcome to the special kind of insanity that goes with building a model of a galley - an extra level above the normal insanity of ship modelling (I should know!).
 
Steven

Thanks, Tony. Much appreciated. It was very much a labour of love, and much of the pleasure came from the research itself.
 
There are things I would change if I were to do it again - make it 2 metres longer, raise the "tail", the poop deck and the forecastle, and have the wales at the "tail" a different shape (they should have converged to a point - the way they are affected the planking layout adversely). 
 
There are still plenty of "educated guesses" in my version of the vessel, and many details could be interpreted differently. But generally very happy with it. 
 
I'm now working on restoring the model I made of Henry VIII's Henry Grace a Dieu (Great Harry) which I built when I was 17. Making good progress and pretty happy with it. Learning a lot as I go.
 
Steven