amateur

Schooner

Work on modifying the main top continues to somewhat resemble the original as much as possible. I had already opened up the space between the ribs, next I removed half of the top rail and filed down the ribs and reattached it then I used thread to simulate an additional rail on the aft end of the top.
The dead eyes measure out to around 2mm and are stropped with 28g brass wire that is hooked to flattened 24g copper wire to create the chain for the futtock shrouds to hook to and will be fun when the time comes to rig.
 
Michael D.
 

 
 

You can also find a lot of info here:
https://warshipvasa.freeforums.net/
 
It used to be a rather small, active group of vasa-researchers and builders (including Fred Hocker of the vasa-museum). Over the last two years activity died down vompletely, and the last post dates 6 months back.
Still: lots of detailed info hidden over there.
 
Jan

The Big Reveal!
 
Yes, three weeks to the day and she's finished - another fantastic model from Kartonowa Kolekcja. I can't say enough good things about Pawel's designs -- they very nearly fall together by themselves. Anyways, on to the pictures!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I noticed as I was posting this next shot that the entry step got knocked askew -- gonna have to fix that.
 

 

 

 

 
Thanks to everyone who has followed along, liked, and commented. I hope you have enjoyed this quick build, and we'll see you on whatever is next!

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

although some planes had it all over.
http://www.landships.info/landships/models.html#
 
Jan

Wing. I opted for separate control surfaces (still in progress).
 

A quick mock up of the spritsail backstay looks promising, the key here in my opinion is the 100wt silk thread, this stuff is so light and hangs naturally  and is barely pulling on the fore stay.
 
Michael D.

Hello everyone, thanks for all the likes! A small-ish update for today, first paint has been applied. Always a bit nerve wracking (Have I forgotten anything? Is this masking enough? Hopefully this works🤞). Anyway, worries aside, it was time:
 

 

 
This feels like a mail order modeller's worst nightmare... "What can Brown do for you?" 
 
A little bit more curing, and it will be time to mask up for the green camo pattern, and bring to an end this horrible UPS ad...
 
Andy

yea,  some of the parts led to be desired,  but other model companies did {and do} the same thing....even more so now in today's kits.  some of the metal stuff kind bit the big one too........the metal ornament for the Sergal Thermopylae is so thick,  that it is near impossible to bend.  I haven't done it yet.....nor have I binned the model.....it sits on my table still {one day I'll get back to it}.  I've gone to far to trash it    back it the early day of my being a member here,  I use to hear of so many who didn't like the plastic stuff..........now,  not so much.  when I was helping Tom,  in the days of the 'real' Billing USA,  I would field some of the customer service complaints,  and actually I heard more about the printed wood,  than anything else.  Tom passed along my name to a gent who was having issues with the masting of the Cux 87 {mainly the aft mast,  because there wasn't a hole provided for it}.  as I did,  I connected it to the back of the pilot house with a bracket and made a pot for it in the back of the pilot house base.  I hear from him from time to time..........   the plastic blocks aren't that bad actually.  on a sailing vessel,  they would look ugly,  but on fishing vessels,  they seem to fit better.   that is what I use the for.  the 'power' reel blocks used to be metal.....a good look for them.......but in today's kits {and in the fitting kits},  they are the metal pulley spool with wood sides.......you assemble them..........YECH!  the wood used is also a good barometer as to the age of the kit.  the first Nordkap I built had basswood parts panel billets that the parts were printed on.  the second Nordkap that I'm building the Progress from,  had mahogany billets.  the Cutty Sark that Peter is building was produced around the same time frame as the second kit.  the parts that I'm not using,  I'm saving for when and if,  I ever purchase the the recent production of the Nordkap.........curious to see how much of treat it is,  to build it with laser cut parts    the other reason,  is that I will be able to trace out the hull parts and build a ship that looks almost identical....the Nordepic

she's a bit longer than the Nordkap,  and making doubles of the mid ship bulkheads should do the job.  the parts I saved are for the aft cabin structure.

I also have the wrap around parts in the hard plywood,  that is seen in these kits.  I also have some of the helm parts that I recut using basswood.

you can see the deck pulley parts on one of the thin plywood pieces.......I didn't do well with the other pulley parts,  so I sourced out some of those 'power' pulleys....I think from Cornwall Model Boats.  they still need to be assembled,  but they are made of metal    for the Zwarte Zee,  the parts are printed on plywood,  instead of regular basswood....I believe them to be pine.

the crane parts are here....there are other parts elsewhere on the billets.

on this particular model,  the dotted lines are a reference to where structures go...........some dotted lines are done due to any sign of shrinkage.  I don't see nay here.....as mentioned,  the wood is in pristine shape  


for the wood sections of the deck,  I will have to measure how wide the planking is and go from there.

note that there isn't that much cast off wood in these billets.........utilized quite well!

and there is one small sheet of thinner plywood........this stuff is hard to cut.  this is a smaller scale than the Nordkap,  being 1:50 scale.  one observation I've made,  is that I will need to bevel the cabin parts,  since the billets are plywood in nature.....the outer corners will look terrible if I don't    looking forward in starting this one!
 

I checked: You are right: the bollards and winches were metal, as well as masts and details.
It was the ship boats (wrong size and model), the screws (even worse, as they provided the 3-bladed, large pitched ones for the RC), the nozzles, the bulls eyes and the lifebuoys that were plastic. Evidently, the frustration on the boats is what influenced my memory
(and in their kits of sailing ships, they added ugly plastic blocks and deadeyes)
 
Jan
 

I checked: You are right: the bollards and winches were metal, as well as masts and details.
It was the ship boats (wrong size and model), the screws (even worse, as they provided the 3-bladed, large pitched ones for the RC), the nozzles, the bulls eyes and the lifebuoys that were plastic. Evidently, the frustration on the boats is what influenced my memory
(and in their kits of sailing ships, they added ugly plastic blocks and deadeyes)
 
Jan
 

Ps: billings shows the ship (dating from 1963) in her post 1971-livery. For the older ships I do like the original style better:
 

Although pre-internet, there are quite a lot of pics (mostly general overview) available, as this one was once the pride of the Dutch tugs: largest and strongest on the seven seas  . On every model-exhibition in the Netherlands there was a separate section ‘zwarte zee’, next to the sections: ‘smit Rotterdam’, Furie and ‘Happy Hunter’
 
Jan

I guess it is a late seventies/early eighties version. Have been looking at it quite often, but slightly out of my budget (in those days). And once budget was abvailable the shop had the other Smit-tug on offer
I only had (long ago) a paper 1:300 version.
 
the wood in my kit was not basseood, it was all obechi, a bit dry, a bit brittle (fun to cut the windows  )
 
With respect to fittings: Billings in those days had almost no ‘specific’ fittings. It was standard railing, standard anchors, standard bollards, standard everything. (And a lot of cheap plastic). Checking on the drawings what you need and just buy/make it is easier than scouting an old box of fittings. 
 
Jan

Hi Philemon,
 
Interesting news indeed. Has that research on these drawings been published somewhere, or is it really very new research?
 
 
Jan

Hi Philemon,
 
Interesting news indeed. Has that research on these drawings been published somewhere, or is it really very new research?
 
 
Jan

Side view and waterlines of a small frigate
 Section drawn by Sturckenburg (I could only find the redrawn version of Otte Blom)

 
Could only find a book-copy of the third drawing
 

 
I never heard of any other drawings at the Maritime miseum, nor did I see any pictures of such drawings. Would be very interesting to know whether there exist any other drawings.
 
Jan

Hi Philemon,
 
what surprises me is that in all the builders-contracts there seems to be no reference to any drawings, nor to the approval of such drawings before the work commences. One of the members here (Werner) has spent literaly weeks in the Dutch archives and nowhere seems to be anything that points at such drawings or the use of them. Only from almost a century later (Pieter Zwijdrecht), there seems to be a number of linedrawings that were used in shipdesign (and I assume, also the building of those ships).
Any thoughts on that?
 
The drawings in the scheepvaartmuseum are three drawings that are available in the web: a longitudinal section of a threedecked ship, attributed to Sturckenburg, and two technical looking drawings of a smallfrigate (most Berlin-reconsteuctions are based on those drawings).
A coupke of years ago Ab Hoving published a review of these drawings, suggesting a more in depth research of these drawings: He notices some problems with the drawings. They are made on paper that has a watermark that is (or seems) newer than the date on the drawing, there are technical terms in the drawings that do not match the terminology in the builders contracts, the construction/frames do not match what we know of building practice in that period, They have no provenance and they came in possession of the museum in a period that there was a huge demand for 'stuff from the golden age'.
 
I will look for a web-link.
 
Jan