liteflight

The road to Hell (should probably be calling it Hel in posts about a Viking ship) is indeed paved with good intentions.
 
This post, much delayed by family business, is about more preparation to plank.
 
I got to thinking about joining the two halves of each strake, and a method of making repeatable scarf joints - ideally I will have a couple of "rivets" through each joint, but that will emphasise that there are very few strake joints in a large and long ship.  To be considered.
 
I have a Microlux palm belt sander, and its "dock" so I proposed to make up a jig for the correct angle of scarf, and thus produce repeatable, neat joints.
 
The little belt sander, with the jigsaw and drill in the same series were wonderful presents from my Admiral, who positively encourages me to build boats, planes, anything.  They are useful little tools, running on 12 to 18VDC. 
The variable speed drive (VSD) for the whole range of Microlux tools naturally runs only on 110VAC as it is sold by MicroMark in the US.  The VSD, is in fact German made , so the original was probably 240V, or more likely dual voltage.  It always seems sad and a little ironic that a lot of natural flexibility is lost when US companies sell them as 110V only.
I'm an engineer - I have a large 240/110 transformer to power the Micromark gadgets (I have their Table Saw as well,  Japanese manufacture and 110V only).
 
So with a little fitting and fettling, I have a scarfing jig which sands a 23 degree angle on the ends of strakes
 

This is the Microlux belt sander in its dock

 
Wooden part slides towards belt, guided by three bamboo pegs in the slots in the baseplate
Well, I tried the contraption with 1.5mm obechi, and found that the belt was nothing like vertical, so a little packing of the recess that the sander fits into took care of that.
It was noticeable that the belt was not running smoothly, so I took it off to investigate
2 evident problems:
Nylon idler wheels each had a large "pip" standing up on the surface - looked like the injection gate, but who in their right mind would put an injection gate on the running surface of a wheel?  Cut off and dressed down. The abrasive of the belt is joined by a long scarf and held together by thick, strong adhesive tape.  This thumps each time it crosses the pressure plate whether you are sanding or not - I'm still thinking about that and a solution for it So with the belt running as smoothly as possible, the jig produces a square and reliable 23 degree scarf.
 
Why 23 degrees?  I hear you ask.  Well I am aiming at a similar scarf length that I have seen in many builds of replica Viking boats, and they seem to vary between 1:1 (length of scarf to thickness of strake) to 2:1.  I choose 2:1 and for that the angle is arctan 0.5 which is 23.5 degrees, give or take a milliwig.
 
It is also very close to the earth's inclination from the normal to the ecliptic plane.  Hence the Tropics are at Lat +/- 23Degrees 16'. 
Must be some cosmic significance there, but it escapes me for the moment.
 
Each of the stakes is supplied as two halves, hence the entire Garboard Strake is 4 pieces of preshaped ply in total.
And
For reasons of economy, they are cut as part of 4 identical ply sheets
So
Two parts will be this way up, and two will be t'other way up
Logical
But the T'other side carries considerable laser splash from the honeycomb that the sheet is supported on
 
 

So a little sanding is called for before being in all respects ready for action.
 
So:  I'm ready to strake
"Let the wild rumpus commence"  

The road to Hell (should probably be calling it Hel in posts about a Viking ship) is indeed paved with good intentions.
 
This post, much delayed by family business, is about more preparation to plank.
 
I got to thinking about joining the two halves of each strake, and a method of making repeatable scarf joints - ideally I will have a couple of "rivets" through each joint, but that will emphasise that there are very few strake joints in a large and long ship.  To be considered.
 
I have a Microlux palm belt sander, and its "dock" so I proposed to make up a jig for the correct angle of scarf, and thus produce repeatable, neat joints.
 
The little belt sander, with the jigsaw and drill in the same series were wonderful presents from my Admiral, who positively encourages me to build boats, planes, anything.  They are useful little tools, running on 12 to 18VDC. 
The variable speed drive (VSD) for the whole range of Microlux tools naturally runs only on 110VAC as it is sold by MicroMark in the US.  The VSD, is in fact German made , so the original was probably 240V, or more likely dual voltage.  It always seems sad and a little ironic that a lot of natural flexibility is lost when US companies sell them as 110V only.
I'm an engineer - I have a large 240/110 transformer to power the Micromark gadgets (I have their Table Saw as well,  Japanese manufacture and 110V only).
 
So with a little fitting and fettling, I have a scarfing jig which sands a 23 degree angle on the ends of strakes
 

This is the Microlux belt sander in its dock

 
Wooden part slides towards belt, guided by three bamboo pegs in the slots in the baseplate
Well, I tried the contraption with 1.5mm obechi, and found that the belt was nothing like vertical, so a little packing of the recess that the sander fits into took care of that.
It was noticeable that the belt was not running smoothly, so I took it off to investigate
2 evident problems:
Nylon idler wheels each had a large "pip" standing up on the surface - looked like the injection gate, but who in their right mind would put an injection gate on the running surface of a wheel?  Cut off and dressed down. The abrasive of the belt is joined by a long scarf and held together by thick, strong adhesive tape.  This thumps each time it crosses the pressure plate whether you are sanding or not - I'm still thinking about that and a solution for it So with the belt running as smoothly as possible, the jig produces a square and reliable 23 degree scarf.
 
Why 23 degrees?  I hear you ask.  Well I am aiming at a similar scarf length that I have seen in many builds of replica Viking boats, and they seem to vary between 1:1 (length of scarf to thickness of strake) to 2:1.  I choose 2:1 and for that the angle is arctan 0.5 which is 23.5 degrees, give or take a milliwig.
 
It is also very close to the earth's inclination from the normal to the ecliptic plane.  Hence the Tropics are at Lat +/- 23Degrees 16'. 
Must be some cosmic significance there, but it escapes me for the moment.
 
Each of the stakes is supplied as two halves, hence the entire Garboard Strake is 4 pieces of preshaped ply in total.
And
For reasons of economy, they are cut as part of 4 identical ply sheets
So
Two parts will be this way up, and two will be t'other way up
Logical
But the T'other side carries considerable laser splash from the honeycomb that the sheet is supported on
 
 

So a little sanding is called for before being in all respects ready for action.
 
So:  I'm ready to strake
"Let the wild rumpus commence"  

I live, I learn.
I was aware of the Viking love of making a good impression; my observations were mainly that Sihtric had just leaped out of Eric the Masterbuilder's Drakkar after a sea journey of several days and could be expected to be a little on the grey side of skin colour,
I suspect, too that working and rowing on a ship made for inherent grubbiness, as tar, fish oil, lanolin and other pungent substances were everywhere.
 
Like his helmet and bootees!
 
As an aside, I have sailed a Thames Barge (Ironsides) in the week after the sails had been "dressed" with the red substance which characterises the "red fleet".  Mentionable constituents of the dressing are Red Ochre, fish oil, urine (traditionally horse). 
You might be amazed to hear that the dressing transfers itself to halliards, sheets, stays, crew, crew's vehicles, crew's families, etc.  

Looks good to me, Eric
All natural colours, well shaded.  The shield face is particularly good and wooden.

so, yes Sihtric does not have the glowing skin he might hope to have but he has just rowed across the North Sea and leaped out on an unfamiliar beach.  He has probably never seen soap in his young life and will not wash on fresh water till the settlement is subdued.

Looks good to me, Eric
All natural colours, well shaded.  The shield face is particularly good and wooden.

so, yes Sihtric does not have the glowing skin he might hope to have but he has just rowed across the North Sea and leaped out on an unfamiliar beach.  He has probably never seen soap in his young life and will not wash on fresh water till the settlement is subdued.

Not many people can say truthfully that they knitted a sea-going ship.
Fascinating research and a very inventive way of presenting the sewing "through" the planks
I have been interested in sewn ships since reading a National Geographic magazine where Tim Severin reproduced Sinbad's dhow and sailed it to replicate the wanderings (I was disappointed they didn't see or bring back a roc, though)
 
I have just found while researching Viking ships that the Sami use sewn boats, then and now, as they had little access to metal

Me, I would be using, of choice, an adze and keeping my feet out of the glancing blow area.
But studying learned articles about Nordic shipbuilding has revealed the side-axe! A sort of kinetic plane. And claims that Viking shipwrights did not use the adze! Surprise.

Richard,
The clamps appear the be tipped with a highly plasticised PVC, and the staining is likely to be the plasticiser, which is/are oily substances.  Perhaps leaving them clamped onto some scrap wood/paper/ old towel would encourage the plasticiser to leave quickly.  It’s not a surface thing, it’s right through the material, but it should cease to be a problem after a time.

I misthought about the Ionian!  I meant the Aegean of course.
Good work with the wedges. 
Pity about the halyard knights, but on a ship nearly everything impacts on every other thing. 
I'm sure you have wished sometimes that the rowers could be interlocking, tesselated and probably methane-breathing.

I am prepared to bet that you are relieved not to have chosen the figure of 150!
 
Academics don't agree, but the best part of that is that they often lay out their arguments in detail, and leave that reader free to be a little more informed and make up their own mind on the balance of the arguments presented (or just because they prefer one viewpoint)

Not many people can say truthfully that they knitted a sea-going ship.
Fascinating research and a very inventive way of presenting the sewing "through" the planks
I have been interested in sewn ships since reading a National Geographic magazine where Tim Severin reproduced Sinbad's dhow and sailed it to replicate the wanderings (I was disappointed they didn't see or bring back a roc, though)
 
I have just found while researching Viking ships that the Sami use sewn boats, then and now, as they had little access to metal

I misthought about the Ionian!  I meant the Aegean of course.
Good work with the wedges. 
Pity about the halyard knights, but on a ship nearly everything impacts on every other thing. 
I'm sure you have wished sometimes that the rowers could be interlocking, tesselated and probably methane-breathing.

I MAY have given a slight impression that the Big Oseberg kit from Billings is imperfect, but like all kits it has pros and cons.
 
Before embarking on the planking I re-read several build logs for this kit - they all seemed successful and fairly straightforward. 
One thing I remembered was that the plan includes an explicit view of the termination of each strake at the bow and stern.
 

 
The full-size plan is, in my view, one of the strong points of the kit
With that and a tracing of the frames I would be happy to try and make a model of the Oseberg Ship 
 
So I have made some copies of this section of the plan and will mark the end position of the first 3 or 4 strakes. 
I'm not sure about the strakes from 18 upward - they have shaped ends and I'm sure that by diligent study I will understand what the arrows are pointing to
I don't want to make too many marks on the landing area, because I could be easily confused (I am a bear of very little brain)
 
Next post will be some planking with its inevitable lessons!
Next build log will be several Gokstad Faeringen
 

 
I like a challenge

PhilB
The Giant step is wanting to!
Until that is taken there is not the desire to get new things done
And yes, approach new things step by step, and each thing you do will be a little better (sometimes a lot)
Fascinating seal!  I could believe that both castles were rectangular in plan view.  The supports holding up the inboard of both castles I have not noticed before.  The ship is flying the three lions - not sure of the significance of that (? King on board?) .  And the sterncastle has a couple of jolly trumpeters.  I have not made much sense of the inscription - "Seal of Commuiic ------- ouvo RiH" 
Louie will know what it portends - probably wants to carve the shroud-shinner to go with the halliardeers.

I MAY have given a slight impression that the Big Oseberg kit from Billings is imperfect, but like all kits it has pros and cons.
 
Before embarking on the planking I re-read several build logs for this kit - they all seemed successful and fairly straightforward. 
One thing I remembered was that the plan includes an explicit view of the termination of each strake at the bow and stern.
 

 
The full-size plan is, in my view, one of the strong points of the kit
With that and a tracing of the frames I would be happy to try and make a model of the Oseberg Ship 
 
So I have made some copies of this section of the plan and will mark the end position of the first 3 or 4 strakes. 
I'm not sure about the strakes from 18 upward - they have shaped ends and I'm sure that by diligent study I will understand what the arrows are pointing to
I don't want to make too many marks on the landing area, because I could be easily confused (I am a bear of very little brain)
 
Next post will be some planking with its inevitable lessons!
Next build log will be several Gokstad Faeringen
 

 
I like a challenge

I MAY have given a slight impression that the Big Oseberg kit from Billings is imperfect, but like all kits it has pros and cons.
 
Before embarking on the planking I re-read several build logs for this kit - they all seemed successful and fairly straightforward. 
One thing I remembered was that the plan includes an explicit view of the termination of each strake at the bow and stern.
 

 
The full-size plan is, in my view, one of the strong points of the kit
With that and a tracing of the frames I would be happy to try and make a model of the Oseberg Ship 
 
So I have made some copies of this section of the plan and will mark the end position of the first 3 or 4 strakes. 
I'm not sure about the strakes from 18 upward - they have shaped ends and I'm sure that by diligent study I will understand what the arrows are pointing to
I don't want to make too many marks on the landing area, because I could be easily confused (I am a bear of very little brain)
 
Next post will be some planking with its inevitable lessons!
Next build log will be several Gokstad Faeringen
 

 
I like a challenge

Today works :
 

 

I misthought about the Ionian!  I meant the Aegean of course.
Good work with the wedges. 
Pity about the halyard knights, but on a ship nearly everything impacts on every other thing. 
I'm sure you have wished sometimes that the rowers could be interlocking, tesselated and probably methane-breathing.

I am prepared to bet that you are relieved not to have chosen the figure of 150!
 
Academics don't agree, but the best part of that is that they often lay out their arguments in detail, and leave that reader free to be a little more informed and make up their own mind on the balance of the arguments presented (or just because they prefer one viewpoint)

Hey!
No need to write a history of this model. This is my first wooden ship build ever. I bought this kit from a local shop in my city. I had no idea where I was getting into!
 

 
First look inside:

 
Work of first evening:

 

 
It was a really tedious process to sand all the edges:

 
I had to get some power tools in order to sand trickier parts:

 

 
I have made clamps from document clams (similar to Amatis https://store.amatimodel.com/en/tools-and-equipment-parts-per-model/product-clamp-set-b7377.html)

 
Getting first planks in place was difficult since I was doing that first time. I had to read and watch lots of videos to understand all the techniques. Props for this forum and written guides! I was really surprised that I my planking speed was 2 planks / hour. I was using hot water and soldering iron to get planks into the shape.

 

 

 



 


 


 
Dremel tool was a huge help shaping this line:

 
Starting to look like a ship:

 

 
I saw no point covering back of the ship with these planks, but instructions showed that I have to do it:

 

 
It took a while until I have prepared hull for second planking, but it is smooth as butter now:

 

 

 

 

 

 
Started second planking:

 
 
 

I deeply regret any minor digression- all quite inadvertent, I can assure you.
 
Ok, so the dromon has just debouching into the Ionian Sea and there is a kind wind to rest the weary rowers.  The sail hoisting gang/mob detail are doing their thing with the lateen.
(When I learned to sail gaff-rigged schooners I was taught that “Any port wine left goes down your throat” to remember that the throat halliard is on the port side.  Always my station as an ex rugby player)
 
I had not realised the sheer size of the wedges- they evidently made impressions on several artists.  It would make sense to Extend them and make a joint to the mast with some flex at least ( the woolding).  I have only come across them in the clipper context where the master of a  tea clipper, faintly pursuing one of the crack ships opined that “she has knocked out the wedges and we won’t see her again this voyage”
 
so are you going to increase the prominence of the wedges?

I should have said - the Matt black basecoat is a spraycan called Chaos Black, and gives a perfectly even basis for painting- all t’other paints are little pots, and they all have fairly silly names!
I love the crouched posture of the basic warrior. Very dynamic.  
You could coordinate the shield colours with the ship?

Happy Birthday, Eric, and many more of them!
 
I take your point about the accuracy of the strakes as laser-cut.  But as you say it could be a gradual accumulation of tolerances till it makes itself known loudly
 
 Great birthday presents- the wee warriors will be a fun paint job.  My son used to paint Warhammer figures, and I learned a couple of things:
 spray everything Matt black to begin (after, of course, washing them down to remove release agent) 
and
The paints sold by Games Workshop are excellent quality acrylics, but not cheap

I feel that the book should include Oak in the title!

I deeply regret any minor digression- all quite inadvertent, I can assure you.
 
Ok, so the dromon has just debouching into the Ionian Sea and there is a kind wind to rest the weary rowers.  The sail hoisting gang/mob detail are doing their thing with the lateen.
(When I learned to sail gaff-rigged schooners I was taught that “Any port wine left goes down your throat” to remember that the throat halliard is on the port side.  Always my station as an ex rugby player)
 
I had not realised the sheer size of the wedges- they evidently made impressions on several artists.  It would make sense to Extend them and make a joint to the mast with some flex at least ( the woolding).  I have only come across them in the clipper context where the master of a  tea clipper, faintly pursuing one of the crack ships opined that “she has knocked out the wedges and we won’t see her again this voyage”
 
so are you going to increase the prominence of the wedges?

I should have said - the Matt black basecoat is a spraycan called Chaos Black, and gives a perfectly even basis for painting- all t’other paints are little pots, and they all have fairly silly names!
I love the crouched posture of the basic warrior. Very dynamic.  
You could coordinate the shield colours with the ship?