marktiedens

Thanks for your observation on the galleries. I am aware of the issue with the turret top on the lower gallery & am going to try and fix it  .  I was thinking about building the upper galleries first & try to make some adjustments on the lowers. The biggest problem I see is if the lower turret is moved out too far there will be too large of a gap between the turret & the side of the ship . I will have to think about that one for a while. Pictures are always welcome to illustrate an issue. By the way Sergal`s fix for this was to actually mold a notch in the casting where it comes up against the upper gallery .
 
regards,Mark

With the quarter gallery supports in, it was time to go back to the hull and sand and fill it.  This was a tedious, long process of using gradually finer grades of sandpaper until everything was flush and smooth.  It generated epic amounts of wood dust, and since my "workshop" is the guest bedroom, I needed to vacuum a lot so that the guests in question could sleep without coughing all night.  I tried to be careful during planking not to have any depressions - gaps are easy to fill with small amounts of color-coordinated filler, but depressions need more filler and are more visible.  Luckily I didn't need much filler at all, except with the spiled planks at the front.  Those were all hand curved and didn't match each other perfectly.
 

 
Here you can see the area where the spiled planks begin.  
 

 
Here you can see filler that's been applied but not yet sanded down.  It's a nice water-based filler whose color matched the wood fairly closely.
 
 

 

 
Next up was staining the hull and scribing plank butts...
 

Mark,
 
I was thinking about your Corel resurrection, along with all of the errors that are built into this otherwise nice kit.
 
And then I thought of this big error. The lower galleries are not properly scaled so that the lower, most rearward, bobbinet turret tops slightly overlap the lower portion of the upper galleries. See my pic as well as the 1/10th for comparisons.
 
Based on the size of the stern soldiers as well as the stern windows it would, it seems to me, impossible to scale this area correctly.
 
I have not seen a Corel Vasa build that has gotten it “figured out”, food for thought on your current build J
 
PS: I did not mean to add one of my pics on your build log, but only using this single pic as an example of this issue J
 
Your work is so excellent; it will be fun to follow along…
 
PS: as has been posted your first planking is - well so perfect..
 
Cheers,
 
Michael

Hello Karl
 
Yes I do like this ship but the the main reason I`m continuing on with it is seeing the poor thing sitting there half started as I walk by it every day . I can tell you the differences between the Corel & Sergal kits are quite large. The biggest differences are the figures - Sergal`s are pretty good & Corel`s are somewhat poorer. Sergal`s are brass or bronze so you can tweak them a little if needed.Corel`s are plated pot metal I think - they can`t be bent or they will just snap in two. Some of them are already broken in the package just from shipping .
 
/Mark

Hey friends:
 
I had several days without showing progress in my Vasa, which does not mean I was not very busy working on the rigging.  
 
So, at last I finished the more than 1,000 knots that were needed to fixed the ratlines to the shrouds !!
 
Probably this ratlines could be a little thinner and darker but I used the material that came with the kit.
 

 
Now I will begin with another challenge: doing and sewing the sails in order to fix them to the corresponding yards.
 
Saludos, Karl
 
 
 

The upper false quarterdeck is secured in place. Before planking it, the bulwarks that run partially on this deck need to be cut back substantially because the forward end actually falls slightly below the deck surface itself.
This is where you really have to pay attention to the plan drawings. Sheet #17 shows the run of the decks and the hull detail in scale. Making careful measurements off the drawing is needed to mark the bulwarks for cutting.
The first photo shows the bulwark before and the second after cutting back.
 
Vince P.

With the hull finally planked, I wanted to do something different, so I started the quarter gallery supports.  They were fairly straightforward except for the double curves at the rear.  To get those to look right I needed to break the pieces and reassemble them with the right curve, cleaning up the joints with filler.
 

 
Each gallery has an upper and a lower part, separated by a spacer.  Eventually the gap gets filled with small balusters - the kit provides 2x2mm wood for them, but I think I'm going to do something slightly more ornate.
 

 

 
And finally the view from the stern, showing the reverse curves.
 

 
 

Hi Mates,
 
Thanks for the comments and the likes very kind of you.
 
Started working on the ropes for the anchor catheads. I wasn’t sure about how to detail the blocks. On the 1/10th the blocks were capsuled with metal bracings, not rope. This created a bit of a scratch of the head.
 
So I chose this solution;
 
1) re-drilled the block holes increasing their size.
2) drilled two more holes in each block, one for the hook and the other two for the pulley rods.
 
Looking through my boxes of “stuff” I found a copper tape strip that had adhesive backing. Hmmmm, that might work?
 
Cut the tape into a narrow strip and wrapped it around the block.
 
Glued the hook with CA, and pulled a drill bit through making sure that the hook was not blocking a rope hole.
 
Cut some flat head nails and glued them to the sides of the block.
 
 
Painted the added bits with flat black paint.
 
Lastly added the ropes attaching the blocks. Next up will be the single side anchor cathead and its block.
 
In the last two pics; I removed the knightheads that had been built such a long time ago, as well as removing the railing leading out of the upper gun deck, both of which are incorrect for Vasa. I will rebuild the knightheads to correctly reflect the Vasa’s. Tossed the railing (it was so nice (L)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

Thanks Nigel - although I may look like this permanently before I`m done.
 
Michael - I must admit I will be borrowing ideas from other builds.
 
/Mark

FINISHED! I decided to add a stern lantern to finish it off. There are still a number of errors but I am fairly satisfied how it came out. I want to thank everyone for all the loos & likes during the build.The problem now is where to put it - it`s almost 4 ft long. An even bigger problem is deciding what to build next I will try to put a few more pics in the gallery.
 

 

 

 
 

 
/Mark

A little more progress - all yards mounted. just a few more lines left like braces,anchors,flags,& a few misc.items.note the hooks & rings on the lower end of the mizzen lateen yard - I think this is correct.That light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter...........
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

Hello all. another little update - fore & main yards mounted & rigged except for the braces - they will be last. Tried to get pictures with a dark background so the light rigging shows up better.The running rigging is a little too light colored but I am not going to re-do it.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark
 
 

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

Hello all. another little update - fore & main yards mounted & rigged except for the braces - they will be last. Tried to get pictures with a dark background so the light rigging shows up better.The running rigging is a little too light colored but I am not going to re-do it.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark
 
 

A little more progress - all yards mounted. just a few more lines left like braces,anchors,flags,& a few misc.items.note the hooks & rings on the lower end of the mizzen lateen yard - I think this is correct.That light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter...........
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

FINISHED! I decided to add a stern lantern to finish it off. There are still a number of errors but I am fairly satisfied how it came out. I want to thank everyone for all the loos & likes during the build.The problem now is where to put it - it`s almost 4 ft long. An even bigger problem is deciding what to build next I will try to put a few more pics in the gallery.
 

 

 

 
 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

I have decided to continue on with the Corel version of the Vasa which I started about a year and a half ago.I got as far as the first planking done & set it aside while I continued working on the Sergal kit. I have fixed a couple of things so far. I re-sized the upper row of gunports as I cut them too big to start with . Also I the slant to the companionway roofs - the kit had them flat. I also re-did the lower stern to be more square.One more thing I noticed after glueing on the false deck was there were no openings for the knighthead behind the main mast or the ladder behind the fore mast so I had to make them.
 

 

 

 

 
/Mark

Here's a photo of a finished gun port, lined with thin veneer.  Fred Hocker kindly gave me average dimensions for the upper and lower ports so I was able to get them more or less the correct size.  
 
The gun port lids will be an interesting exercise too.  The kit provides plastic lids.  Each lid has a raised square center section with its lion head in the center.  The lion head detail looks pretty good, and because the whole center section is painted, you won't know it's plastic.  You get the benefits of nice detail and workability without it looking ugly.  The outer edges are supposed to be wood though, and it's hard to paint plastic to look like wood.
 
I think I will cut the edges off the lids, leaving only the raised square center section.  Then I can grind down the back until it's fairly thin, and simply mount each section on a wooden lid.  Seems like it'll work, but I'm going to do the lids very near the end of the project since they will be fragile.
 

 
Once I had decided to fix the kit's gun port design, I needed a solution for mounting the cannon.  I decided to make a set of false gun carriages, very low on detail since only the front will be seen.  Those would then be mounted on strips of false decking attached at the ends to the bulkheads.  Here are pictures of the pieces of false decking and the assembly of the false carriages:
 

 
 
And the carriages mounted to the decking...
 

 
And the decking mounted at the ends to the bulkheads. 
 

 
And finally a couple of pictures test-fitting cannon on the carriages.  The cannon supplied with the kit are not very detailed and seem out of scale to me, so I bought some Amati cannon that I thought looked better.  I'll paint them black and then add bronze highlights.