bolin

The deck has been stained to give it a worn and aged look. I have also planked the insides of the bulwarks in the bow, and have painted it green. The green color is supposed to be traditional. The small hold in the bow has been given a coming and a hatch. The ring is 0.3 mm copper wire which has been painted. A loop of sewing thread through a hole in the hatch holds the ring in place. The forward bulkhead of the cabin has been installed and painted.

I used acrylic glass (plexiglass) 3mm thick. I used ordinary hand tools to cut it: a Japanese type saw and a plane to smooth the edges afterwards. The frame was made from 10 by 10 mm ribs, and the slots for the panes where cut using a hand held router.

With the cross beams as support I have continued with the deck. Most of the hold is open with only narrow planks along the sides for walking on. These planks where edge bent using a jig and a small traveling iron. It took several steps until the strips could fit the full length of the sides. The rest of the deck consists of many small pieces that where individually fitted.

I return to this model now that my Medieval long ship is finished. The cross beams and supporting knees has been installed, and a bit more of the cabin structure has been added.

Thank you all for the kind words. I think that what I mostly feel now is satisfaction. Satisfaction that the model turned out the way it did and that I was able to complete it. I will now finish my Sloop from Roslagen. That one I started before this, with the more or less explicit intent to use it as practice for clinker hull and scratch building. I think it was a necessary step in practicing my skills to be able to complete this, which was the one I wanted to build.

I would suggest not to stack anything in the middle on top of the thwarts. The area around the mast needs to be free when handling the sail, and its quite dangerous to have something that you could stumble on when doing so. If you are not readying for a immediate fight, the shields could probably be stored below the deck. Food and other necessities stored in water tight barrels under the deck would be likely, as would having the midships area under the thwarts filled with packets in oil cloth as you have proposed.

By this post I declare the model of the reconstruction Helga Holm of the ship 5 in the archeological excavations at the Helgeands islet finished. It has been a very enjoyable, albeit at time tedious, journey. And I'm quite happy with the result. Thank you everyone who has followed, commented and supported with advice and encouragement. You have been a great help.

All the lines and reef points has been added to the sail. To shape the sail I have rigged it up and painted diluted PVA glue that hopefully will dry to a ok shape. The wrinkles should also smooth out as the sail dries.

Roger, thanks for sharing your tips regarding paper sails. If my current sail doesn’t turn out satisfactory I will use your tips for the next try.

I'm working on the sail. I have decided to try making it of thin paper that is painted with acrylic for a strength and color. I have tried several different papers, with different results. From left to right in the picture below: Pattern making paper for sewing (I have a life time supply), silk span, rice paper. Of these the pattern making paper looked best. The silk span wrinkled to easily, and the rice paper was to easy to damage. I'm looking for a worn look on the sail, similar to this. And this is so far as I have come.

Thanks for your kind words. And I’m glad that my work can inspire you @Schrader

... and with the case I can mount the model on its final stand and start rigging it. Most of the details for the rigging was already ready, so it was not so many hours work. (This rig is not very complicated 😀) Some of the lines need to be tightened a bit, but otherwise I'm happy with the result. In the end I decided to do the shrouds in the same way as on the reconstruction. It uses a combination of "shroud needles" and blocks for adjusting the tension. The anchor is made from wood and paper and is placed in the aft. This is from the practice that we follow on the reconstruction. Anchoring is always done with the stem towards a steep cliff with the anchor some boat lengths straight out. So the anchor is handled from the aft deck. The next step will be sail and the running rigging. Cheers

Thanks @vaddoc! My best guess as to why the sides are so low is that it gives the rowers better angle towards the water for the oars. I don't think that cargo handling was a major concern. The hull shape is so narrow that cargo transport was probably not the reason for building the original. It is more likely that it had some patrol or defense role. The building has been paused while I have built a case. Finally it is ready! My first idea was to stain the wood to give it a aged look. But then I thought that the model, with its dark brown color, would stand out more against a slightly off-white backdrop. Cheers

The skipper is inspecting the cabin in his new ship.

Today I have installed a floor below the hatch in the fore deck, and have installed the support beams for the hatch. The ceiling planks have been treated with a mix of vinegar and steel wool, which gives it a silver grey/brown tone. It is still not as dark as I would like. Maybe I will darken it further with stain. The effect I'm seeking is a worn and weathered look. At least one of my sources say that the holds where not treated with tar, but instead oiled. I have also installed floor board in the cabin area, and will continue with ceiling planks.

I put a drop of water using my finger on the wood before ironing. No water in the iron. I have a D5000. Nothing fancy and some years old, but I have far from mastered its capabilities, so have no ambition to upgrade. The tripod is from Sirui. I was looking for cheaper options, but found it discounted by 40%. It seemed to be a good deal, even if it was above my initial budget. I’m really happy with it.

I have now built the fore and aft bulkheads in the hold, and have added ceiling planks to the starboard side. The port side I will leave unplanked to make the frames visible. For these shots I have used my new tripod. I bought it partly in a hope to improve my model photos. I still have a lot to learn, about lighting, depth of focus etc etc. For the ceiling planks I tried edge bending using a traveling iron for the first time. It worked really well and improved both the speed and result of the planking.

Before I continue with the rigging I need to mount the model on its final base. After considering different options I have bought material for a case with wooden frame and acrylic glass panes. As a bit of practice I made a drawing in a free CAD program (QCAD). I have limited experience with similar programs, but felt that this one was easy to use. At least on the basic level of drawing a box. I could of course have used pen and paper for this, but I have some future projects planned where I think that a CAD program will be useful. So I took the opportunity to practice.

I like what you have done with the hatches. I remember not using the thread from the kit, very loosely spun and bad looking. I had some black linen thread which I used instead.

Very nice. Your build log will be of great value and inspiration when I get to building my DoK kit.

😁 it sure does. You need to lean as far out as you can. Mostly, sharp turns are needed in calm seas and when rowing, so risks are low.

Nice, your persistence pays off. I really like the look of this method of making the sail panels.

Today a call was made from the boat club where we have the reconstruction. "Your boat is sitting on the bottom!" 😟 I went out after lunch, and there she was: This is not the first time this happened. In the spring, before the wood has swollen the cracks shut, there is always leakage. Today the pumps had both stopped; one was clogged with sawdust from the ship builders, and one had fallen so that the switch deactivated it. A quick fix and when the pumps stared she started to rise from the bottom. In the smaller shipyard I have continued with preparing the rigging. In the find there are four pairs of holes below the stringer on the upmost plank. These has been interpreted as fastening for the shrouds, and is the basis on which the rig has been reconstructed. The rig reconstruction was made by experts from the viking ship museum in Roskilde Denmark, and the reconstruction report does not have so much details about sources etc. for it. Through each pair of holes there is a loop of rope. From this loop the shrouds are attached either using an L-shaped "shroud needle" (direct translation of the Swedish word) or a pin, see below. The foremost and aft shroud line goes through blocks so that it is easier to adjust the tension. This is the aspect of the rig reconstruction that I would like to have had the sources and motivations for. In practice, when the tension needs to be adjusted, you will change all four lines, not just the fore and aft one. I have started with the "shroud needles" and some blocks.

Yesterday we went out to the reconstruction to put her into the water after the winter storage on land. This is what we where met by: Last year we discovered some rotten planks in such a bad shape that we could not dare to sail at all. We had contracted these ship builders to make the basic renovation needed to keep her afloat. Unfortunately they had been delayed at another job, and where not finished at the scheduled day. A few rushed hours later we managed to get her into water: 20210501_124826.mp4

I must have been lucky. I happened to find this copy just a few weeks after it became available. So, sorry not available anymore. But I promise to make use of it in future models 🙂