Jerry

Good afternoon (or eveing) everyone...
Well here I am again hoping I'm not boring anyone.  I have a few more pictures which hopefully will show what I've been up to.  In my collection of model paints  (Admiraly, to be specific) I found what I thought was an excellent choice for coloring the bulwarks and hull.  It's a walnut brown and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  I have also fabricated, painted and glued in place the the "shields rack' whic clings to the upper hull at the gunwales.  It looks like the next steps involve the deck fixtures so I believe the masting and rigging is not too far off.
Best to everyone,
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Popeye...
Nice to see you again.. Well, I wouldn't call it like lightning but what else do I have to do.  Building these boats has been a wonderful tonic for me; It won't be long and i'll be planning my next one.  Please come visit again and of course....regards from the Admiral..
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody...
I finished the planking of the hull but I still have a bit of a mess on my hands.  There is much to clean up as I didn't do a very good job on the wood filling but thank goodness for a painted hull.  The lapstraking went well and as Keith had said before me, if one pays attention to the plans (hopefully you'll have an English copy) the planking should go okay.  I used white glue and as you could see above, plenty of spring clamps.  I was careful to make sure that every pair of planks started and finished at the same place on each side of the hull.  It's easy to place a strake too high or too low and that's the one thing one needs to watch for.  I glued both sides and waited about an hour and then began the process again.  Here are some pictures of the results.  The dark colors are due to the middle laminate which appears to be black and its color will come out with very little sanding due to the thinness of the plywood.  I hope I have been helpful.
Best,
Jerry

Good evening everyone...
As mentioned above here are some pictures of the lapstraking process and the first 5 courses of lapstrakes.  Fopr some reason I believe some of my log disappeared and I don't know why.  I could swear there was a page 2 yesterday.  Strange??????

Hello Everyone,
 
My name is Jerry and I have decided to try and build the Amati kit of The Viking Ship Drakkar.  I chose this model because of it's appeal as a different way to go from the usual tall ship models I have recently constructed. (See below)   I sincerely like the idea of an open, long boat type which I hope will enhance our growing fleet of ship models. Besides the Victory and Half Moon I have previously constructed the Cutty Sark about 16 years ago.  I said OUR growing fleet because my Admiral caught the building bug, so simultaneously I am coaching her as she endeavors to build Amati's HMS Bounty.   I felt my work on the Drakkar would allow me some time to instruct her whereas another complicated build,  such as the HMS Victory, would occupy all my time.  Of course, I may be wrong and find the Viking Ship complicated enough to load my mind and give me little time to assist the Admiral.  I hope not or I'll probably never hear the end of it.
 
I also wish to thank KeithW for having posted his build of the same boat as I'm sure I'll find it very useful during my period of construction.
 
At this time all I have done is to remove the keel and frames from their laser cut sheets and as soon as there is something, hopefully useful, I will be happy to provide photos.  It is my intention to photograph every stage of the buils which I hope will be useful to others and will also provide material for anyone who I hope will use it to offer any criticsm, positive or negative,
 
Realizing it's customary to provide pictures of the kit box, the parts and plans, I have decided to forgo this with th eknowledge that the kit arrived complete and in fine shape.  
 
I wish everyone a great day and hope to post my initial progress soon.
 
Best,
 
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody...
I finished the planking of the hull but I still have a bit of a mess on my hands.  There is much to clean up as I didn't do a very good job on the wood filling but thank goodness for a painted hull.  The lapstraking went well and as Keith had said before me, if one pays attention to the plans (hopefully you'll have an English copy) the planking should go okay.  I used white glue and as you could see above, plenty of spring clamps.  I was careful to make sure that every pair of planks started and finished at the same place on each side of the hull.  It's easy to place a strake too high or too low and that's the one thing one needs to watch for.  I glued both sides and waited about an hour and then began the process again.  Here are some pictures of the results.  The dark colors are due to the middle laminate which appears to be black and its color will come out with very little sanding due to the thinness of the plywood.  I hope I have been helpful.
Best,
Jerry

Good evening everyone...
As mentioned above here are some pictures of the lapstraking process and the first 5 courses of lapstrakes.  Fopr some reason I believe some of my log disappeared and I don't know why.  I could swear there was a page 2 yesterday.  Strange??????

Hello again everyone...
The very first step in this build called for by the instructions is to sketch a guide line at the bow and stern on both sides of the keel.  This line will be used later in the construction for the correct positioning of the planking. Here are some initial pictures of the process I used to accomplish this.  The first thing I did was to use some tissue paper (because of its transparency) to trace the guide line from the large plan sheet.

 
 I then transferred this line from the tissue paper to both sides of the keel. here are the pics of that process.

 
 One can read the caption of each picture by placing the computer's mouse over the photo.
Hope everyone has a great evening.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everyone,
 
My name is Jerry and I have decided to try and build the Amati kit of The Viking Ship Drakkar.  I chose this model because of it's appeal as a different way to go from the usual tall ship models I have recently constructed. (See below)   I sincerely like the idea of an open, long boat type which I hope will enhance our growing fleet of ship models. Besides the Victory and Half Moon I have previously constructed the Cutty Sark about 16 years ago.  I said OUR growing fleet because my Admiral caught the building bug, so simultaneously I am coaching her as she endeavors to build Amati's HMS Bounty.   I felt my work on the Drakkar would allow me some time to instruct her whereas another complicated build,  such as the HMS Victory, would occupy all my time.  Of course, I may be wrong and find the Viking Ship complicated enough to load my mind and give me little time to assist the Admiral.  I hope not or I'll probably never hear the end of it.
 
I also wish to thank KeithW for having posted his build of the same boat as I'm sure I'll find it very useful during my period of construction.
 
At this time all I have done is to remove the keel and frames from their laser cut sheets and as soon as there is something, hopefully useful, I will be happy to provide photos.  It is my intention to photograph every stage of the buils which I hope will be useful to others and will also provide material for anyone who I hope will use it to offer any criticsm, positive or negative,
 
Realizing it's customary to provide pictures of the kit box, the parts and plans, I have decided to forgo this with th eknowledge that the kit arrived complete and in fine shape.  
 
I wish everyone a great day and hope to post my initial progress soon.
 
Best,
 
Jerry

Hello Rich..
Sory not to have checked in with you sooner.  I don't have any excuses except pure neglect.  I do see, however, that you are well on your way to build a beautiful Victory and I'm very happy for you.  I'm also glad to see that David (Shipyard Sid) has been working with you and he's the best.  He helped me enormously and pulled me through several tight spots when i was building my victory.  So the best to you  in your endeavor.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Grant..Believe me, I'm grateful but the beautiful admiral has pitty on me because of my very bad back.  I appreciate everything she does, especially supporting me in the custom I'm used to.  Now if she'd only go back and work on her model....
 
By the way, what ever happened to your Chris Craft Model?  I enjoyed your build log but it went quiet.
 
Good night,
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello Everybody..
Well, the admiral decided to clean the house today (when is she going to go back and work on her Bounty???) so I was able to sneak into my office and work on Lief's ship.  He calls it a ship, a Viking Ship no less, but frankly, I think it's more like a boat...a long one maybe.  Anyway I was able to get the cross bars installed and another coat of varnish and then I drilled the holes for the oar locks and the shroud lines.  Finally today I added the spacers for the outboard railing that will hold the shields to protect Lief and his men.  The spacers are timy so I followed the directions by gluing longer stubs in place and when dry, i cut them off with an exact razor saw.  The next step, I think will be to attach the railings.  Good evening to everyone.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

What a surprise!!  As I was closing shop yesterday I heard an unusual sound.  I looked everywhere but didn't see a thing so I went ahead and continued my every day cleanup.  This time i heard a few loud grunts and when I looked on my bench, lo and behold, there he was.  Leif Eriksson was standing in his Viking Ship yelling my name and giving me a warning,  "Jerry," he said, "Don't be messing around with the Drakkar unless you do it right."  I couldn't believe my eyes.  "Keep the Viking tradion alive and don't stray off the correct path."  I managed to snap a picture of him before he faded back into history.  "I'll do my best," I managed to utter.  So now I have to shape up or ship out...

 
Man, Leif's a funny looking guy.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

Hello again..
This time I have a little progress to report.  The deck has been planked and a coat of matte varnish has been applied.  The cross bars will be next and they will happily cover the seams between planks.  I wish everyone a very happy weekend.
Best,
Jerry

What a surprise!!  As I was closing shop yesterday I heard an unusual sound.  I looked everywhere but didn't see a thing so I went ahead and continued my every day cleanup.  This time i heard a few loud grunts and when I looked on my bench, lo and behold, there he was.  Leif Eriksson was standing in his Viking Ship yelling my name and giving me a warning,  "Jerry," he said, "Don't be messing around with the Drakkar unless you do it right."  I couldn't believe my eyes.  "Keep the Viking tradion alive and don't stray off the correct path."  I managed to snap a picture of him before he faded back into history.  "I'll do my best," I managed to utter.  So now I have to shape up or ship out...

 
Man, Leif's a funny looking guy.
Best,
Jerry