HOJOFAN

Hi Christine, to bend your planks, use a steam iron after soaking them. Turn your iron on to maximum, then place your soaked planks under the iron for a few seconds. Then, move you iron away whilst using the edge of the iron to bend the planks. 

 

Most people would recommend that you NOT nail the planks to the frame. Rather, you should glue the planks using PVA (white) glue and clamp it until the glue is cured. You can make a simple clamp out of paper clips, like this: 

 

post-1526-0-40955300-1395293749.jpg

This is awesome!  And THANK YOU for the pic!  That helped immensely!!  I have lots of clips and clamps to work with but couldn't figure out how to place them to hold!

Fantastic!!

My little longboat is coming along - the deck is in and the supports are on too!  Soaking was easy and seemed to do a great job with putting the pieces where they needed to be!! 

I am STUCK!  I read through some of the documents and guides - but no closer to getting further.  I'm trying to get the hull together.  I have my pieces soaking in water to bend them - but after reading and re-reading I'm not sure where to go.  I am supposed to nail these strake plates to the frames.  Is there a trick?  AND - I'm trying to figure out a way to support the frame during the hammering process.  Ideas?

Cheers!

Do you plan on keeping your model or do you sell them? This is fabulous and I'm sure someone would want it! :-)

This is possibly the next kit I am considering - it looks fabulous!!  Thanks for sharing your build!

Welcome aboard, Christine.  You've picked a fine project for your maiden voyage into wooden ship building.

 

You will come across many instances where you will need to bend wood in order to get it to sit properly and take a new shape...particularly during planking.  The most common solution is to soak the wood until it is pliable and then clamp or weight it down until it dries.  Once it has set it is easy to glue it into place.  Most of us simply use water and have a pan handy.  If you search the forum you'll find many suggestions on bending planks (including heat and the use of the microwave).  A lot depends on the particular piece and it's dimensions.  Sometimes just spraying it will be sufficient, at other times a good soaking is required.

THANK YOU!  I was reading on the soaking and planking - but was leery of soaking the deck.  (not sure why -  )

I'll try soaking it and weighing it down.  The deck is only 1.5mm thin and 26.7cm long.

You're awesome ~ thanks for the quick response!  

I ran into a bit of a snag today - I got the outer keel and frames in place for step 1.     Was really happy about how well it went together and easy to follow and all glued in place.

I went to attach the deck to fit the frame but as you can imagine - it's not a flat ship and of course a slight pressure and it doesn't stay in place.  So I've managed to get a small crack at one of the spots where it fits with the frame.  What is the best way to get this to bend and stay while I try to glue it??  Without breaking it??  

Cheers!!

Thank you Fam - will do!  I managed to get the keel and frames cut out yesterday and in place together but haven't glued anything as of yet.  I have some wood glue and tacky white glue to do the job. Therefore I will experiment with some scraps first then decide which I like best.  I'll save the staining for later.

Thanks a bunch!

WOW - I'm honoured to have such great encouragement and appreciate all the kind words.  Please trust me when I say - I'm soaking it all in and ready willing and able to jump in.  Thank you to Marty, John, Brian, Buck, Fam, Steven and Don!

I'm getting ready to cut my first piece and looking at some of the building logs some builders wax or stain before they assemble it?  Or for my first attempt - jump in and just do it - stain it later?

Cheers!

Wise words Marty - Thanks a bunch!!

HELLO!  I am an extreme newbie...meaning I have NO woodworking, modeling, or knowledge of ships.  I just LOVE them so here I am - learning about them and starting something new.

After doing some research I decided on this little gem as it seemed a good way to start.  The kit came pretty quickly after I ordered it and looking at the parts and instructions and all the tiny little pieces of this great piece lets just say this.  It's going to be FUN!!

When I searched the Build logs - there isn't one of these Vikings by AL anywhere....but lots of other AL ships.  Me first?  Gulp...

So what's a girl to do?  Open the box - take a few pics - and start here.  I purchased a few basic things like clamps and glue and other bits and pieces - didn't go crazy.  And collected some things from around the house. Started reviewing the beginners pages - but didn't want to overload myself with info - seems to be a bit hairy.

I am hoping that I will get some great tips along the way - learn a lot - and have a fantastic piece to start a collection.

What is your FAVOURITE beginners tip?  Please share it with me - would love to hear what your suggestions are.

THANK YOU!!