Keith_W

She is looking magnificent! Please keep us updated. 

The easiest way to make these nails would be to draw them in with a mechanical pencil. 

Impressive work and surely one of the more beautiful Vasa's I have seen. Keep it up. 

Your fine work really blurs the line between "model" and "the real thing". Please keep up the updates. I read each one and dream that one day I might be as fine a craftsman as you.

Valkommen var MSW, Matti! (I hope I said it right). Great photography - black background, well lit, no visible support for your ship. Do you have a studio at home? Also, what company is BB? The only company I am aware of that makes the Vasa is the Corel one. This ship is on my to-do list as well. 

I know how big an Australian 5C piece is! Wow, your work is a whole magnitude more fine than I thought. This is real precision small scale work. Amazing, well done. 

Thank you for posting Lin Feng. It looks great so far ... will watch with interest  

The details on your build are eye-poppingly good! I might have missed it, but how did you do that cross-hatch pattern thing on those seats with the two contrasting woods? 

 

Also, what are you using to achieve that gloss finish?

Truly museum quality. I really enjoyed this build log ... thank you!

Is that fluorescent green an artefact of photography, or is that the real colour?

Very nice! I can see from your Chinese characters that your surname Wang is the "Emperor" Wang, and not the "Yellow" Wang?

Looks great, Peter. Can't wait to see it painted!

Great build. Can we see more pics of the motor and the RC electronics?

Everything about this build is simply incredible. I don't know how you made those stairs - I suspect I am younger than you but even my eyes and hands are not that keen.

I guess a table saw is one of those things that you don't think about if you don't have it, but once you do you see millions of uses for it.

Thanks for the reply HSM. I had a good look at your post. It looks to me that everything the table saw can do would be of most benefit to the scratch builder? I build from kits - I have no need to cut planks from a block of wood, or make grill grates because these are usually already supplied in the kit.

 

From my last few builds, the tools I need most are something to sand the hull after planking, because doing it with a sanding block is a massive pain. I also need something to help shape the planks precisely before they are installed. I am getting better at planking, but I still use too much wood filler for my liking.

Those carvings are simply superb, Bill. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Put a tiny amount of white glue in the mix (I used 1:10), then hang your sails off the spars. Turn the spars with a little jig so that the sail sags. When the glue dries, the sails will stiffen and look as if they are billowing in the wind.

 

This was the first method I tried - using a fan to make the sails billow:

 

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It wasn't as effective as using gravity. Here is my HMS Bounty with the rigging partially completed. Note the sails look as if they are billowing:

 

#2 = Preac modeler's table saw

What do you use a table saw for?

 

Like the OP the only power tool I own is my Dremel. My next purchase is probably going to be a sander.

Not offended at all, most people here try to improve on the kit in some way. Enjoying your build so far, please keep posting! 

Gil, I have a completed model of the HMS Bounty by AL which I am too ashamed to post. My other models were a San Francisco and a steam powered boat which I gave away. I am waiting for my next model to arrive, which will be the Viking Oseberg ship by Amati. After that, I am thinking of attempting the Wasa. The Caldercraft Victory is on my bucket list, but I don't think I will live that long! 

 

By the way I just looked up where you live on the map. I have been to Seattle! I think I may have driven past Kirkland on my way to Vancouver, but I am not sure if that was the route my friends took (they were doing the driving). If I head over to Seattle again I would love to drop in and take a look at your beautiful ship! We tend to go somewhere for a ski holiday every year, but for the past couple of years all of us have felt rather poor so we've been skiing in Australia  

Hi Gil, I think I read somewhere that you are a retired surgeon. Well, i'm a physician! I wish I was a surgeon, it would help with all those fine cuts and knots. I suppose that's why my model looks like a complete shambles compared to yours! 

Thanks for posting your build. I am starting to think that my next ship will be the Wasa, so I will follow your log closely Good work so far, and good luck! 

I have only ever built four models, and three of them have been from Artesania - the San Francisco, the Viking longboat, and the HMS Bounty cut-away. The San Francisco was of OK quality, but the instructions were very difficult to follow. The Viking longboat was an OK kit, but it was single planked and not really suitable for beginners. The Bounty was actually a very nice kit. 

 

I have looked at other AL builds, e.g. the San Juan Nepumoceno. The fittings for that kit (blocks, etc) seem to be comically out of scale. To be honest I wasn't entirely thrilled with the fittings that came with my kit either, but I managed to make do. 

 

I do not know if this is the norm among kit manufacturers or not, since I have not built very many boats from other mfr's. My next kit (from Amati) is in the mail. We will see. 

I am following your build with interest, because I am thinking of attempting this ship. One question though - are you going to paint the stern blue or red? Or leave it unpainted? 

Those guns of yours are simply unbelievable! My eyes hurt looking at the detail. Well done, sir.