Cathead

Any progress? This is a tricky but rewarding build and I hope you're sticking with it.

How are you coming on this? It's been a while since you posted. Did the planking strip help you with the sanding?

It's been a while, how are you coming on this?

Long gap in posting but I've been rather busy with other things, including developing a talk on steamboat design along the Missouri River, which you can watch online Tuesday March 9 (see link for details). This was supposed to be in April but the March speaker for this series canceled and I agreed to move it up a month. I also realized that I needed to make a final decision on how to handle the display stand, as I'm about to place the mast in the vessel and after that won't be able to turn it over nearly as easily. The kit-supplied stand doesn't fit the hull perfectly, as my version ended up somewhat deformed from the theoretical version the kit expects, but it's good enough and I don't feel like trying to make a new version that fits the clinker planking perfectly. However, it's too simplistic and has very few contact points. So after some thought, I came up with the idea of adding a few extra pieces of wood to better clamp and stabilize the keel, and to do this in an artistic way. I cut some thin pieces of cherry off a larger block (harvested here on-farm) and cut them into half-pieces representing a Thor's hammer design. I then clamped these on either side of the kit stand such that they'd grab the keel. Here's a test-fit: I then painted the stand black so it'd fade into shadow, and oiled the cherry to bring out its color. I think it looks cool: I might also hang some shields along the stand between the two hammers, for more visual interest. And here's another view of the current hull:

Looks so, so good. Thanks for sharing the detailed steps.

Paul, I studied both German and Russian, but did not have the opportunity to add Polish to the mix. клар doesn't mean anything in Russian as far as I know, but its German meaning definitely fits what you're describing in the sense of precision, accuracy, preparedness. Looking in Google Translate, the same word has the same meaning in Danish (closely related to German), so I'd guess it's a long-standing Germanic root word that got transferred to Polish a long time ago (like French words in English after 1066, another otherwise Germanic language). Here it sounds like you're describing the English word "shipshape", usually used as in "everything made shipshape" to imply that all ropes are coiled, all loose items put in their proper place, tidy and organized. Forgive my being a language nerd, I love questions like this.

Good luck with your health, hope to see you back at this soon!

I forget what your native language is? Klar means "clear" in German but I'm not sure what you're describing here. Your work looks nice.

The deck has a nice complex weathered texture. You're doing a great job overcoming challenges so far!

Welcome from a regional neighbor and great job on your Syren!

Yeah, I'm being dumb, they have a bunch of past talks archived on their YouTube channel. I always watch them live so had never investigated that before.

I should have noted, I also posted this in a different thread under Nautical History for broader exposure, just mentioned it here as well to capture those who followed this log. The same question was asked over there, and the answer is "As far as I know, but if not, I'll make it available". Sorry for not clarifying that point up front.

Chuck, great question, as far as I know the talk will be placed online afterward. If for some reason that's not the case, I'll make sure you can see it somehow (for example, I have a draft recording I made for a couple of NRG/MSW experts who were gracious enough to review it ahead of time).

Anyone who followed this log might be interested in an upcoming talk I'll be giving: Steamboats symbolize a historic era in Missouri River exploration, commerce and transportation. Missouri River steamboats evolved over time, becoming ever more adapted to the basin’s unique environment while simultaneously altering it, much like an invasive species introduced into a new ecosystem. In this presentation, Eric Reuter will use hand-made scale models of Missouri River steamboats and other vessels to discuss the linked history of steamboat development and environmental changes in the Missouri basin, drawing on his professional and personal interests in the links between geology, ecology, history, and land management. Specific information, including how to watch, is available here. The time is 7 pm American Central time.

For anyone who might be interested, I'll be giving the following talk in a few weeks: Steamboats symbolize a historic era in Missouri River exploration, commerce and transportation. Missouri River steamboats evolved over time, becoming ever more adapted to the basin’s unique environment while simultaneously altering it, much like an invasive species introduced into a new ecosystem. In this presentation, Eric Reuter will use hand-made scale models of Missouri River steamboats and other vessels to discuss the linked history of steamboat development and environmental changes in the Missouri basin, drawing on his professional and personal interests in the links between geology, ecology, history, and land management. Specific information, including how to watch, is available here. The time is 7 pm American Central time.

Sounds good. When you start a build log for the launch, let us know here so we can be sure to follow you over.

Nope, only built the MS version. Looking briefly online, I think the MS kit is likely more beginner friendly, but you could certainly make an argument for the OcCre version to help you learn how their kits and instructions work.

I've never built this, but there are a number of logs for it on MSW (including several active ones I'm following right now), so you could read through those to get a sense of the kit's overall quality and ease of construction. You could also send their builders a private message to ask about their specific opinions of the kit. I definitely agree, as someone with professional and personal interests in geology and ecology, that this ship is high on my "want" list. If this is your first wooden build, you might consider starting with a small, simple model that won't take you long and will help familiarize you with some of the basics of the craft. For example, Model Shipway's Bounty Launch was an early kit for me that taught me a lot while not being too challenging, and fits well in your era of interest.

As with many (most?) consumer products, expensive does not guarantee proportional quality, but cheapness likely guarantees low quality. The middle ground is often where you want to be. Do not underestimate the frustrations that a low-quality kit can produce in terms of poor or insufficient materials, bad kit design, and/or incomprehensible instructions. A well-done kit will have well-presented instructions, proper materials, and a sensible kit design. Providing you are not insisting on building only the most massive ships of the line or modern battleships, you can get such kits direct from retailers for sensible prices (Bluejacket, Model Shipways, Syren, and Caldercraft come immediately to mind). Getting addicted to bargain-hunting has a higher chance of wasting your time and money than saving it. There are threads elsewhere on MSW that discuss kit and manufacturer reviews. As for stashing, I too cannot understand this practice. If nothing else, consider that kit design and manufacturing has (and presumably will) continue to improve over time. So if you bought a kit 15 years ago and stashed it in the closet (or bought a 15-year-old kit online in an attempt to save money), you'll end up with a lower-quality kit than if you bought the modern, upgraded version. For example, the newer kit might have better laser-cut parts, higher quality metal castings, and improved instructions. As a personal opinion, I'd recommend in the strongest terms buying only what you can build in a reasonable time. In the unlikely chance that you miss out on a dream kit because the company failed, chances are kits will still be circulating online for a long time (due to all the other hoarders). Also, your skill sets, interests, and life circumstances can change, which is more likely than that you'll actually build a whole hoard of kits. You might choose to develop your skills toward scratch-building, a transition many of us make as it lets us make a unique model free from the design constraints of manufacturers. Or you might learn a new skill or hobby that leaves old ones behind. For example, I still have a few plastic ship kits sitting around that I never built because I discovered wooden modeling; I bought them with full intention of building them, but life changed and now they represent a waste of money that I have no interest in building because I've moved on.

So fun to see a second attempt. That's so rarely done in model building, but such an interesting way to test ones' improved skills and knowledge. It reminds me of the need, in science, for more researchers who focus on retesting/checking others' results. In theory I'd love to take another crack at my longship with all the insights I've gained, but I also really don't need two gigantic longships hanging around the house! I like your shield rail, I'm debating whether to add one to mine or not.

Residents of British prison hulks during the American Revolution would beg to disagree, though I defer to your superior knowledge in this case. Why were the French treated so much better than the Americans?

Does anyone have a good suggestion for understanding the rigging layout of a Viking ship? Unsurprisingly, the kit instructions are not only rather simplistic, but also don't seem to match the practices used on the Skuldelev reproduction. For example, on the standing rigging for the mast, the kit tells you to tie loops through the side of the hull (see photo below and image from the Dusek website below), while the reproduction seems to loop these around the rowing benches (see image linked here ). One resource I've found shows a different way to connect standard rigging to the hull (see image here) by running a short loop through a single hole and using a short rod to hold it in place. I like the look of this but am open to other suggestions. I also cannot figure out the rope pattern used on the L-shaped pieces (no idea what they're called in this context) that replace the deadeyes used in more modern sailing vessels (see image linked here). The instructions are also vague as to how this actually works, either in the model context or in real life. Any suggestions? I really want to understand how this is supposed to work and what a reasonably accurate practice would be. I'm pretty annoyed at myself that I followed the instructions and drilled holes in the hull already before doing research to realize (of course) that there might be other, more accurate practices. I don't know why I even look at the instructions at this point. Also, here's a better lengthwise view of the model that really shows how much visual interest is created by adding the bench supports and two layers of triangular braces along the hull (one along the deck and one atop the benches).

Gorgeous, thanks for sharing.

You could certainly start tapering the bow planks right away to absorb some of the curves that will keep getting worse as you go down, rather than doing some full-width and others entirely cut off once it gets to extreme. Best way to learn is by doing, though, so keep it up!

Started working on the mast foot, which is interesting in that it isn't attached to the deck, but rather runs atop the rowing benches for much of the hull's length. You can see a hint of this in the following Wikipedia image and a better view is in this link to a copyrighted photo: The kit's version is pretty simplistic, just two pieces of laminated plywood glued together with little shaping or detail. I decided to follow the reconstruction in making this more visually interesting. I also happened to lose the top piece, so made my own from scrap wood. I didn't try to match the prototype exactly, just went for a style I liked. For example, I shaped it to shed water on all sides rather than being planar on top. In addition, I liked the way the reproduction was arched along the bottom (between benches), so sanded in similar curves, which add nice visual interest: Here's the mast foot resting on the benches for testing purposes: And here it is painted a first shade of red: I'm going to weather this down from pure red, but you get the idea. I like the way it ties in with the cap rails, and the arching on the underside adds a subtle but attractive pattern between the benches. If you look closely at the last two photos, you can also see that I started adding braces connecting the top of the rowing benches with the hull. These are rough and simplistic compared to the real thing (see image linked here as well as the one linked above). I could have spent a lot of time trying to put in flowing curves and ensuring a perfect fit against the hull, but didn't. Part of this is that the hull, and thus the benches it supports, are somewhat irregular, so the end of each bench interacts with the shape of the clinkered planks differently, meaning that each brace would have to be independently carved to match its exact location at a rather small scale. Instead, I mass-manufactured simple triangle shapes and glued them in with some generic backing. They look great with a bit of distance, matching the rest of the model. I'm honestly a bit burned out on this project and ready to move on. So my standard is to improve on the kit but not go crazy for perfection or full accuracy. There are so many things I'd do differently if I were to do this kit again, but at this point am constrained by previous choices and errors so am just going for "looks cool to laypeople while not being totally offensive to experts". When I started this in July I did NOT expect it to be anywhere near as long or involved a project as it's turned out to be. I've done one side of these braces, so now need to do the 30 on the other side. Then I'll glue in the mast foot and decide what's next. Probably shaping the mast. Almost forgot, I've decided not to rivet the hull. Just don't have the interest or patience and am not convinced I can do it well enough to justify adding ~4000 more pieces to this kit. Most people won't know the difference and I'm putting some of that time into details that I think are more visually important (like all these braces along the interior hull, the improved mast foot, and so on). Sorry to the folks who were hoping I'd take the plunge. I'm open to it in a future project that's of higher overall quality. Thanks for sticking with me, and for all the encouragement.