liteflight

Thank you very much Eric, Nelson and EricWilliamMarshall for your kind and thoughtful messages, and to all the “likes”
I hesitated before posting as I feared that I would be over-communicating.  But it seemed right to let you all know what I am wrestling with at the moment.
 
This corner of Australia is gradually opening up again after COVID ( still possible that more waves are on the way) and the indoor model flying organised by our Mens Shed is beginning to happen again.  My wife strongly encouraged me to go whenever it did not interfere with owt medical.

So I feel encouraged to build and fly again!  Photo attached of Connie, my pelican whose beak is Velcro-attached for evident reasons and she flies sedately round a basketball court.
This will not slow the progress of the ship; quite the contrary.
Wanting to do any activity is good, and leads to more doing in other fields

Verry good planking Steven.
 
If anyone comments on this.
Just say.  This way of planking is historically much more correct and it was very difficult to do  

Hi, Eric and other shipbuilders
The ship has progressed quite a lot, but the build log not at all
My lovely Admiral, who bought me the ship as a Christmas present, died in my arms in November.
 
i have not felt able to post since then, indeed my brain has turned to mush.
 Recall has become elusive, concentration brief and typing has become difficult as I am dyslexic and rely on a photographic memory for the images of words.  
To me all words are images and I just type letters till it looks like the image.
 
Added to this is a huge workload of paperwork as Executor and the obvious loneliness without Bette
 
I WILL return to the blog and bring it up to date with the build.
just not now

Hi, Eric and other shipbuilders
The ship has progressed quite a lot, but the build log not at all
My lovely Admiral, who bought me the ship as a Christmas present, died in my arms in November.
 
i have not felt able to post since then, indeed my brain has turned to mush.
 Recall has become elusive, concentration brief and typing has become difficult as I am dyslexic and rely on a photographic memory for the images of words.  
To me all words are images and I just type letters till it looks like the image.
 
Added to this is a huge workload of paperwork as Executor and the obvious loneliness without Bette
 
I WILL return to the blog and bring it up to date with the build.
just not now

Thanks for the rove-making tutorial, Schrader 
noted and stored away for the riveting stage of my Oseberg ship
 
i like the rove-punching handle-  saves getting flat fingers!  It looks as it it was repurposed from something, perhaps a lace-making bobbin?
 
i will try making my own rivets from copper or brass  wire parted by rolling under a knife with a 90 degree edge.

Nice planking job.  You will repeat till it’s right.
Your postings give the rest of us reassurance that perseverance wins out in the end
 
I vote that the completed ship will need some figures.  Perhaps just ‘Enery on the poop deck and a nimble matelot in the fore top. I’m not cruel, heh heh. 

Welcome to the ranks of Viking shipbuilders
Clinker rules OK!
 

Welcome to the ranks of Viking shipbuilders
Clinker rules OK!
 

I am embarking on a build of this kit.  I found a log for the 1:72nd scale version, but seemingly none exist for this scale.  
 
Here are the kit parts
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 




 

 

 

 

 

Nice planking job.  You will repeat till it’s right.
Your postings give the rest of us reassurance that perseverance wins out in the end
 
I vote that the completed ship will need some figures.  Perhaps just ‘Enery on the poop deck and a nimble matelot in the fore top. I’m not cruel, heh heh. 

Nice planking job.  You will repeat till it’s right.
Your postings give the rest of us reassurance that perseverance wins out in the end
 
I vote that the completed ship will need some figures.  Perhaps just ‘Enery on the poop deck and a nimble matelot in the fore top. I’m not cruel, heh heh. 

It means something like “again” or “another”
happens in Russian, too.  There was (actually is) a development of the Polikarpov I-15 Chaika as the I-15 bis which has retractable u/c and many more developments ( I seem to remember it lost the extravagant gull- wing, too)
Ironic, I always thought as Chaika means “gull” 
 
 

Wonderful with the backdrop - sets it off beautifully.
 
Did you ever consider carving the fly?

Wonderful with the backdrop - sets it off beautifully.
 
Did you ever consider carving the fly?

My favourite for (largely) round holes in thin, delicate material is a needle file, preferably of the diamond-embedded type twiddled in the fingers sensitively.  
The choice of shape depends on the job but most have needle points.  I might make the first hole with a round file then change to triangular or square to enlarge the hole slowly.  Yes, they will make odd polygonal holes but these can be circularised (is this a word?) with the round or half round file either twiddled or used as a file (!) 
 
there should be no splitting tendency so long as the file is just rotated without the taper being pushed in.

Good revision, Steven
Thanks very much for posting your thinking, preparation and the dead end you went down before revising the idea.
Very instructive to the rest of us non-expert planners.

Good revision, Steven
Thanks very much for posting your thinking, preparation and the dead end you went down before revising the idea.
Very instructive to the rest of us non-expert planners.

Good revision, Steven
Thanks very much for posting your thinking, preparation and the dead end you went down before revising the idea.
Very instructive to the rest of us non-expert planners.

Well, I've fixed the wrong track I'd got onto. I removed the outer plank on the port side (because it couldn't be fixed) and cut back the next one to the shape I'd pencilled in.
 
  
 

 
Then made the replacement for the plank I'd removed and put it in place: 
 
   
 
 
 
Then repeated the process on the starboard side:
 
 
 

 
And now that's sorted,  I can get on with adding extra planks.
 
   

Well, after a glitch that resulted in my removing and replacing two planks that I'd already glued down, I seem to have picked up momentum . . .
 
  
 

 
It looks worse in the photos than on the model, but I'll need to compensate for a width problem with the foremost plank on the starboard side - it's got a wave in it between frames 3 and 4 caused by the previous plank, that I hadn't noticed till it was too late. Still, my attitude with all this is that the Great Harry is where I'm learning my trade with planking. Mistakes just get put down to experience, with a resolve to avoid that particular mistake in future builds.
 

 

 

 

 
There are inequalities in the surface of adjacent planks, due to unequal thickness planks and other issues. This should all be resolved when it comes to sanding.
 
 

I've added the other plank for the garboard strake on the port side. I've been using the "Half Hull Planking Project" as a guide, working very slowly and fumblingly. I've planked before but I still don't think I really know what I'm doing.
 
I'd shaved the deadwood down to allow me to add the plank but I couldn't take too much off in case it weakened the structure. I used a very thin plank so it didn't stick out too much, and I'll sand it down flush later. Here's the after end of the plank already glued down and the forward end clamped in place, where it twists to be in line with the forward plank. The join is just to the left of the left-hand peg.
  
 
And here is the forward garboard plank for the starboard side. I cut the forward end of each garboard strake off at right angles (instead of it coming to a sharp point) to allow for "nailing".
 

 
And the after plank. The join is at frame 7.
 

 
On checking the two sides against each other, and the forward and after planks, I discovered I needed to trim the starboard planks to make a smoother run and mirror the starboard and port sides more exactly.
 

 
Then time to make the forward plank for the starboard side. I followed the "Half Planking" tutorial, made a cardboard template which followed the outer line of the garboard pretty closely, but I had to make a notch near the end to slip it up to the cut-off end of the garboard.
 

 
All looking good till I put it in place. Something definitely wrong here. You can see the notch in the red circle, but the plank seems to be curving away from the garboard instead of toward it.
 

 
After a bit of thought I realised I'd made a real duffer's mistake. I put the notch on the wrong side - I must have had the strake turned upside down when I cut it. As you can see - here is the plank right side up.
 

 
It needs to be adjusted a bit at the forward end but otherwise fits quite well. But now the notch is on the wrong side . . .  As Effie from the TV series Acropolis Now would say "How embarrassment!"
 
Ah, well - I'll just have to make another one . . .  
 

That’s a wonderful model.  You can be very round of it, as clearly it’s very much a work of craftsmanship.  And how wonderful that Paul Koo has shared the wisdom he has learned.
 
I know what you mean about the rain.  If this pitiless “drought” Continues I will have to seek bulk supplies of gopher wood and break out my cubit-stick.  (NOT taking two wasps though)
 
on second thoughts I may not need the cubit stick as I have two forearms anyway.  I know it’s confusing numerically, but I know how many arms I have.

Thanks for the rove-making tutorial, Schrader 
noted and stored away for the riveting stage of my Oseberg ship
 
i like the rove-punching handle-  saves getting flat fingers!  It looks as it it was repurposed from something, perhaps a lace-making bobbin?
 
i will try making my own rivets from copper or brass  wire parted by rolling under a knife with a 90 degree edge.

My favourite for (largely) round holes in thin, delicate material is a needle file, preferably of the diamond-embedded type twiddled in the fingers sensitively.  
The choice of shape depends on the job but most have needle points.  I might make the first hole with a round file then change to triangular or square to enlarge the hole slowly.  Yes, they will make odd polygonal holes but these can be circularised (is this a word?) with the round or half round file either twiddled or used as a file (!) 
 
there should be no splitting tendency so long as the file is just rotated without the taper being pushed in.

Well built, Sir!
At the moment I am reminded more of a pleated wooden loincloth than a banana, but I keep an open mind😁
Very true, Dick.
hold that thought!