grsjax

You might want to back track a bit and get the Model shipways Lowell Dory Kit as a place to start.  It is the first model in their Ship Wright series and guides you step by step thorough the process.  The Norwegian Pram is the next in the series.  It will take you further along the path to mastering wooden model building. 

You might want to back track a bit and get the Model shipways Lowell Dory Kit as a place to start.  It is the first model in their Ship Wright series and guides you step by step thorough the process.  The Norwegian Pram is the next in the series.  It will take you further along the path to mastering wooden model building. 

The boat
This is one of 5 boats deliberately sunk in the mid 11th Century in the Roskilde channel in Denmark to serve as a defensive barrier protecting the upper reaches of the fjord near Skuldelev.  The wrecks were numbered by the archaeologists excavating the find and this model is of Skuldelev wreck 3, which is one of the best preserved.  The recovered boats are now housed in the Viking Ship Museum at Roskilde.
https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/
 
The kit
This the same kit I completed some 50 years ago.  The story behind its subsequent demise is briefly told in my introductory post (Hello from Mid-Wales, 24th August 2021).  The kit has been discontinued but I picked this one up on eBay.
As bought, all timber to build from the kit instructions is present, including sail material, rigging thread, wood stain in granule form, two sets of plans and a bag of small steel nails.  I presume the latter are meant to be used to represent rivets although their use is not detailed anywhere and in my original build of this kit I used drawn bamboo pegs; the kit instructions says that treenails were used (up to date literature shows this is actually not the case for most strake to strake fixing) and they could be simulated by ‘marking this with a ball-pen’.  I will have to return to the issue of rivets and roves later in the build.  Having decided that I wanted to do it better this time round I turned to the available literature for information and advice.
 

 


Research
My original source in 1969 was an academic publication from 1967 describing the initial findings from the Roskilde wrecks and on which the Billing kit was obviously based.  The more recent Billing kit ‘Roar Ege’ is based on the Roskilde Museum’s replica of Wreck 3.
In the past 50 years the literature on both the Roskilde find and research into Viking boat building methods has expanded phenomenally.  The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde is an amazing resource, not least their experience in building replicas and thereby researching construction methods and rigging.  In 2002 much of this was consolidated into The Skuldelev Ships I, edited by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen;  the Billing kit is 1/20th scale and many of the illustrations of the original find material in this book are at the same scale.  Also of value has been McCarthy - Ships’ Fastenings, 2005, and, of course, the internet which abounds with illustrations of boats or replicas of such from the same era as the Roskilde find which are useful for deciding on how to build the stern section of the boat which was missing from the archeological find.  Sailing into the Past, edited by Jenny Bennet, 2009, gave useful insights into construction but the stricture made by Toni Levine in her recent workshop, that replica construction has to meet current safety standards certainly appears to apply to the question of the frequency of rivet fixing in a clinker built hull of this period (mid-11th Century).  It goes without saying that MSW is an invaluable source of information both regarding historical accuracy and building techniques.
 
First steps (in no particular order)
Build keel, construct planking jig, decide how to transfer strake outlines from printed 0.8-1 mm mahogany to 1.5 mm mahogany sheet.
I shall report back with the results.

"The uses and conveniences of different kinds of Water Craft"
Continental Army Vessels on Inland Waterways, 1775-1782
by John U. Rees, 2001
 
The_uses_and_conveniences_of_different.pdf
 
 
EDIT: so there is no confusion, the status of this document is Open Access although it is not plainly stated in the text. The source is acemia.edu and this statement is on their home page:
"Open Access
Academia’s goal is to ensure that every paper, ever written, is on the internet, available for free. 22 million papers have been uploaded to Academia.edu. We think there are ~100 million papers ever written, so we are ~22% of the way there."   Thanks go to Kurt for highlighting the lack of this information in the post. Wouldn't want it any other way.

Having built a total 14 ship models, I thought it was time to give modelling a rest.  However, I saw the kit for the Mary Byrne Admiralty Model by Modellers Shipyard.  I have always admired the admiralty models on display in nautical museums for their detail and the quality of workmanship by craftsmen who did not have the sophisticated equipment that we enjoy today. Plus an advantage of the admiralty model is that there is no detailed rigging and the emphasis is on the timber work.  If I had looked more closely at the picture of the finished model I might have had second thoughts about buying it (more about that later) but I didn’t and bought it on impulse.  Having bought it I had to make it!
 

 
First impression on opening the box is positive.  Good quality looking materials and a comprehensive building manual in A3 size with photos of each stage, but no drawings (not that that should be a problem).  The majority of components are in 5mm plywood.  The deck planking is laser etched that is normally a negative but in this kit it is done very well with etched nailing and joint details etc.
The model is very small that should not have been a surprise as the dimensions were known when I bought it but being small it means lots of small fiddly components.  Another challenge.
 

 

 

 
Having made a start assembling the very simple base, making the first frames and placing in position, a few issues have become evident at this early stage.  
The plywood is 5 ply 5mm thick and it is a challenge to release and press out the laser cut components, especially when small.  The components, especially the small ones, have to chiselled out carefully with an appropriate exacto blade.
Secondly the part numbers have been laser etched onto each piece.  Although small the numbers are going to be unsightly in the finished model so would like to disguise them somehow, or maybe they will be lost in the background.  Will wait and see.
The major issue however is the cleaning of the laser cut burn from each piece, as many of the edges will be exposed in the finished product.  I am cleaning as much as I can each piece as I go (the Dremel is proving very useful) and plan a final clean at later stage.  Even when you remove all the burn the plywood veneers are clearly visible – not a good look for an admiralty model.  This is a blemish clearly evident in the finished model photo provided with the kit.
Will have to think about how to disguise the look of the plywood in the finished model.
 

 

 

 
The first stage is to build the frames forward of the central frame towards the bow.  For the information of anybody who might use this log for their project I have come across the first problem with the instructions.  Frame  A is incorrectly illustrated (being a repeat of frame oXo) that had me bamboozled for a while.  
A good feature of the kit is that fairing of the frames towards the bow is simplified with the fairing lines etched on to the frames.  Easier than fairing the frames after installing them.

For what its worth I have done a quick chemical analysis of Super Phatic.  For those in the know I used Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy (like most exclusive clubs, we scientists invent this special language to keep out the rifraf!). This technique is quick (ten minutes). It cannot usually unequivocally identify a substance but can eliminate some possibilities.
 
So, It is not CA and it is not PVA.  It looks like an acrylic modified with polystyrene.  There are other techniques which could confirm this but not really worth spending my time on really.
 
John

Lovely blocks.  The char doesn't seem to be that bad and as you say a dip in stain or ink takes care of the problem.

Lovely blocks.  The char doesn't seem to be that bad and as you say a dip in stain or ink takes care of the problem.

The issue with this technique  for making blocks is all the char.   You cant throw them in a block tumbler to clean it all off.  That would destroy the shape of them.  This is quicker than how I make my regular blocks and the shape is more consistent.   But once you over tumble them to remove the char they look awful.  Even  if made from boxwood.   So this is a great technique however for those who want to stain their blocks and even ebonize them.   Then you dont have to tumble them at all.   Those fancy Ebony blocks you see for sale are so expensive.  But you can have some just as nice if you dip these sticks in Ebony stain or black ink and let them dry.   They polish up beautifully.
 
 

Yes CNC and 3d printing has its advantages.  But laser cutting at an advanced level can produce some excellent results with some creativity.  
 
Below is an experiment of mine I would like to eventually translate to cnc.  But as you can see you can achieve shapes and details with a laser cutter that most wouldnt have guessed.  The double blocks below were entirely laser cut. 
 

In fact these are laser cut using just Yellow Cedar.  The color is all the laser char.  A quick dip in Ebony stain and you have some really nice blocks.  The laser cutting was done all four sides.  Pushing the limits of the machine.  Four of these little sticks took about 7 minutes or less of actual laser cutting.  Thats not bad for 24 pretty acceptable double
blocks.
 
i would like to apply this same technique to the Hobby CNC machines out there and see if they cross over.
 

Many years ago I built the Revell ships Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria, they had small plastic rigging Blocks, it was the first time I had rigged a plastic ship with Blocks and it led me onto building wooden ship kits. I have always liked the shape of the Pinta, a Caravel with a Square Main Sail, and this Amati version arrived here a few weeks ago. I will be building this following the Amati instructions but I do have access to the AOTS Ships of Columbus which I will use to help with the rigging. Whenever I read someone else's build I like to see what's in the box rather than having to look through other builds so here's what you get for your ....... (insert here your currency of choice, in my case £'s)








Cheers Andy

I haven’t used enamel oil based paint in over a decade. Water based acrylics are far far easier to work with in multiple ways. I’d dump the old paint and get acrylics. I doubt you’d find few on MSW that would disagree.  

OR…you could toss the likely very old paint that came with the kit and replace it with water based acrylic available from any number of places and choose your own color combinations. 

Welcome to MSW as a sponsor.
Thanks for your support.
 

Please welcome Joe as our newest sponsor.  He sells precision milled wood sheets and strips.  Please visit his website and have a look.
 
Modeler's Sawmill
 
Boxwood...Swiss Pear....Walnut....Cherry...Alaskan Yellow Cedar etc.
 

 
Welcome Joe!!!

I have been working with brown Canson-paper, which highly calandered, but only lightly bonded paper of 0.13 mm (=0.01") thickness. I cannot adjust the speed, only pulse length and energy, and there is no vector-cutting option. There is some charring, but it comes off quite well. Here is an example of what I am getting:
 

 
The anchors are 11 mm (= 7/16") long. I manage to cut down to about 2/100" widths, sometimes less, depends on the orientation of the part with respect to the axes of the machine.
 
Assembled anchors:
 

 
I have been looking for some material that is bonded, but still can be easily laser-cut, hence my interest in the PolyBak. I normally soak the Canson-paper in shellac after cutting.

Buildweek 1 - entry 1
 
Hi there, 
 
I just received the kit Havmågen by Billing. Since this I really the Norden, with some colours and additional decals, I chose to place it under Norden. 
 
As I am from the Norwegian west coast, these boats are a common sight for me and I look forward to getting to know the hull shape better. In the kit a colour for painting the hull above the waterline is included, however this is not common here. So I'm wondering if I'll be able to plank it so well as not to paint it on my first build, or if I should just focus on gaining experience with this build. Any thoughts on this? 
 
I will try to follow the building instructions closely an not make any changes other than absolutely required ones. Possibly with the exception of the painting scheme.
 
Next post will be unboxing and checking that all the parts are there and in good condition.
 
Best regards,
Halvor

I thought this was an interesting build
 
Michael

I'm going to be selling rope very soon. I'm hoping to open by the end of the month, Possibly early July. I'll be on the sponsors list.
 
Synthetics tend to do this unless you bake it afterward. My rope does not unravel like this. When you cut it with a sharp blade it will go through a rigging block without unraveling.  Ease of use was one of my main concerns along with color and texture. 


 
 

I don't like any blades right out of the package. I use a sharpening stone to get the angle I want and then use a stropping block. When the edge is mirror shiny it's good to go for quite a while. I don't remember the last time I threw a blade out. I use the same treatment with chisels. 
 
A good piece of stropping leather is only $10-12 on Amazon. Most come with the stropping compound.

New way:
 
Attach the sheet of slats. Much easier, all slats are evenly spaced.
 
Once bent around the hoops and glued in place, it is a simple matter to trim off the edges.

The new kits have laser cut hoops, base and the slats are pre-done out of laserboard so they will be nice and even. As I build this prototype, I will post updates.
 

Download PDF
 
14frolich_style_ropewalk.pdf

Thank you all for the good wishes.  The surgery went well and I am almost pain free now.
 
Got the first panel on the underside of the boat in place.  The instructions say to very carefully line everything up to avoid twisting the frame.  I was very careful but when I finished gluing the veneer to the frame sure enough the frame was slightly twisted.  Looking at that very thin veneer and the very delicate frame stringers I was thinking that it was going to be impossible to get that panel unglued.  I came up with a solution that actually worked and didn't destroy the boat.  Lucky I used PVA glue to attach the veneer.  Instead of trying to remove it I ran isopropyl alcohol along the glue line, let it sit for a few minutes and then put the boat upright on a flat surface and weighted it down all around and crossed my fingers.  I seems the alcohol softened the glue enough that the parts could shift a little bit under pressure.  After a full day I removed the weights and checked the alinement and everything was good. 

Thank you all for the good wishes.  The surgery went well and I am almost pain free now.
 
Got the first panel on the underside of the boat in place.  The instructions say to very carefully line everything up to avoid twisting the frame.  I was very careful but when I finished gluing the veneer to the frame sure enough the frame was slightly twisted.  Looking at that very thin veneer and the very delicate frame stringers I was thinking that it was going to be impossible to get that panel unglued.  I came up with a solution that actually worked and didn't destroy the boat.  Lucky I used PVA glue to attach the veneer.  Instead of trying to remove it I ran isopropyl alcohol along the glue line, let it sit for a few minutes and then put the boat upright on a flat surface and weighted it down all around and crossed my fingers.  I seems the alcohol softened the glue enough that the parts could shift a little bit under pressure.  After a full day I removed the weights and checked the alinement and everything was good.