BLACK VIKING

Hi if you search Model Space forum it's the Deag forum site and all the information is there. Hope this helps 
Martyn
 

Bonjour, quelques photos de la sculpture du Séraphin et du Chérubin.
 
Isalbert

Very nice work indeed. Not many modelers make their own netting, Isalbert: écrivez en Anglais, s'il vous plait! Merci. Thank you!

Come on, the suite with the wooden structures! 😁
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the engines consisted of four parts....later the two cowls and props will be added.  I did goof by cementing the wrong narcele on the wrong wing...noticed by the notch for the main landing gear strut.  I got out of it by cutting the same notch in the proper place on the inside facing the wing root.   the notch on the outside was filled in with cement to make it less noticeable.  the interior of the fuselage was painted gray........the port side fuselage half was then added,  later to be painted as well.

the wing root tabs were added after that.   then the seats........two for the cockpit,  three for other places in the fuselage.   the fuselage top at the nose was added.    
 
the top aft section of the fuselage was added....

every step involved fitting parts....the windows at the nose had to be 'tooled' as well.   this was also the case for the stabilizers.........the butt end of the fuselage,  and drilling out the hole for the pin on the vertical stabilizer {rudder}.

there was a little stabilizer root protrusion that needed to be trimmed flush for the proper placement of the rudder.  two struts brace the rudder.

the wings were dry fitted in place.   the mating surfaces need to be sanded flat for a better fit
 
more as I go.........

No secret really...and no problem sharing.  I did describe this method in my Great Republic Build log...but for expeditious purposes, I'll describe the process here.
 
First, you'll need to know the scale of your sails.....this means you'll need to know the size of the panels...generally they are 12~24" in width.  Then take your plain white copy paper...8"X11" general thickness.
Next you draw all your panel lines in scale on the paper...to include both sides.  Making sure your lines are as close to being over the top of each other as possible.  Once you have the *Master*
Go to your copier and make loads of double sided copies.
Now you have the foundation of your sail material.
Then all you have to do is cut out your desired sail from each of the copies.  This may mean you have to align the panel lines correctly for stay sails and jibs.  Main course and topsails will require the panel lines to run vertical.
 
Once the sail is cleanly cut...I use a sharp scalpel and metal rule...you need to then cut strips for all the banding and edging you will need from a plain sheet of paper.  Keep these also to scale...12~24".
Now you break out the white glue and glue on your top band....belly and reef bands.  I just spread the glue so lightly on the band..turn it over and hold it where it needs to be and press it against the sail.
You'll Leave enough on both edges outside the sail, hanging off....you'll cut these extra pieces off later.  Next you take some bands and glue and press them along the side edges. Again leaving some material over the edges.
 
One thing I failed to mention..prior to adding the banding you will have cut the bottom of the sail in its *curved* fashion....from sheet point to sheet point.  I have a good eye...so I simply draw the curve from middle to edge(sheet point* on both sides.
 
You will NOT be adding a foot band.
Remember at the scales we are talking about, 1/96~1/128, we don't need these details.  The main sail anatomy of panel lines and banding will suffice.  Once you add the bunt lines and any other sail control lines your period requires...your sails will look amazing.
 
Now, back to the sails....once the glue is dried, and it doesn't take long.  Take a sharp scissor and precisely cut off the extra banding along the sail edges.   Now you have the clean basic sail to begin working.
Sails need control points or clue and cringle points.  What I did was make extremely small wire eye bolts(Electric motor winding wire) and glued them on these places...and then cut patchwork points that I glued over the top of the shanks of the eyebolts....making sure to press then down snugly against the sail..pressing out any excess glue.  The patchwork is simply cut from the strips, previously used for the banding and cut to fit the angles of the clue corner of the sail .
 
 
I make clipper sails.....so I don't use rope along the edge of the sail.  At my scales it would be an unnecessary detail.
 
Next, I first use a dowel to begin the sail curving..by rolling the dowel along the sail in your hand....like rolling a cigarette.  Now this may take some practice...rolling the sail against the dowel between your fingertips.  Once a curve has been created, you want to *billow* the sail.  All I can say is go get a fondant/gumpaste metal ball rolling tool.  They are used to roll the edges of fondant flower pedals.  When this tool is used with its thin foam pad....you can roll along the bottom edge of the sail and literally create a *billow* effect in the paper.  So your sail doesn't simply have the curve to it, but an actual exaggerated billowed edge.  this technique can be somewhat technique sensitive..so don't overdue it and ruin your sail.  I practiced a bit on a plain piece of paper first.
 
Once you have the general curves and billows in your sail...you'll want to paint the sail...in what ever color you think best suits the era of sail you are creating.  A nice muslin tan works.  Now, apply the paint in even thin coats.  You want the panel lines to be muted and opaque...covered, but not so, much that they are completely painted over.  Paint both sides and let dry.  I place them under a hot lightbulb and they dry in no time.
 
Once dry, you can add your buntlines.  Mark out the distance and location lightly with a pencil and run your line through a pool of white glue,,,removing excess and then stretch the line across the sail from top to bottom in the desired location..press it against the sail.  when dry, you cut off the excess at the lower edge of the sail.  You can if desired bring the buntline all the way around the bottom of the sail and up the inside if that amount of detail is desired.
 
Now attaching the sail to the yard may cause some purists to try another method, but for me(And I'm a simple man), I lay a bead of glue(this time I use good wood glue) on the inner edge of the sail....the point of contact to the yard and I glue the sail to the yard.  I use alligator clips to aid me in this.  You want the sail to be on the top/front of the yard...facing out almost...because you want the sail to appear to be pulling away from the yard NOT just hanging down from the yard.  This technique works best (from my experience) when you are working off the model...
 
When dry....finish laying your buntlines and rig the sail...…..
 
In a nutshell...this is my technique.  Does it take some work, and finesse......YEP...but what doesn't?
 
Good luck
 
Rob
 
 

Of the remaining elements to carve, the wings are set the furthest back.  I decided that now was the best time to create a clean separation between the head and wings.

Certainly, drilling into these areas with the smallest bits I have makes it easier to clear the waste. Initially, I use the heal of my EXACTO blade to drag backwards and connect the drill holes.
 
There are no substitutes, here, for care and patience.  Eventually, you will dig a channel deep and wide enough to come in with the tip of your hooked knife to make forward-pushing, shaving cuts until you get to the lines.

From there, it’s a process of reducing the wing thickness to slightly less than half the blank thickness, closest to the body.  Doing so, enabled me to model a rising, folding shape to the wing surface.
 
From there, I used my veiner to cut two small coves, and I finished by cutting-in a line that demarcates the leading edge of the wing.  This last is achieved, first with scoring cuts of the EXACTO, and then finished with dragging scrapes of the EXACTO heal.

It should be noted that in a few places, my drill bits wandered a little into the design.  At this stage where all the other waste Is removed, and the element is modeled, one can then pare away any remaining traces of the wasting process, so long as doing so doesn’t result in jagged lines or unbalanced looking elements.
 
Finally, it was a simple matter of repeating the process on the other side of the head.  As most of the wing is hidden by the arm, the process was greatly simplified.

Next up - the garland.  Thank you for the likes and for looking in!

Having done some planks and trying to understand how the counters fit (still not sure if they should be tapered down and in to the ship) I did some checking on the position of the planks on both sides of the ship.  I found that they were not the same.  I probably could have worked around it but I decided to just fix the starboard side to match the port side. I also have begun to do measurements of the distances to - call it the rabbet line- along the entire hull.  I should have done that sooner as that is how I discovered the discrepancy between port and starboard planks.


 
 

I had the same issue on my Billings Victory but mine was due to running 8 on one side and pulling it to that side. I pulled 6 and would only do 2 on a side then do 2 on the other and so forth.

Hi Matt,
Sometimes you just say "the hell with it" and start.  It is rather silly because I had gone to the trouble of plumbing the ship and making sure the deck beams were done properly and did not bother to make sure the distance to the first plank from the lower deck was the same.  There is a price you pay for not thinking enough.
Yes I do go from one side to the other. I install a wet plank on one side and dry it with the plank bender. Then I go to the other side, remove the plank and dry it more. I am then ready to glue it. 
As I say sometimes you just feel like you must move ahead. It is a learning thing.  People who do not make mistakes are not doing anything.

the update has grown,  so I better post it before it gets too large    
 
now that the fuselage is assembled,  I can start to add what has already been done.  the tail glass has been fixed,  but needed to be fitted still.  it is now in place.  it still rises up into the rudder area.......I'm hoping that it isn't going to hinder the addition of it.

the navigator glass was added next,  along with the gun that sticks out.  
  
the pivot that the gun sits on can be seen.   the glass had to be painted by hand....surprised with how well it came out.  the nose is going to need some work.........I found that these two openings are not seen on the Memphis Belle.......baffled to see that there are four silver rectangles there instead.  the cockpit glass has been cemented in place.

here a shot of the waist gun I promised you.

It will be easier to decal her while at this stage.....and so I started........
  
bad thing here........the port side is backwards.   personally,  I think that the starboard side is too,  but this is how the instructions show it.  I've checked pictures and seen that the starboard side is correct.  I will change the port side.......not a big deal,  because if they get damaged,  I have that sheet of letters.   Egilman pointed out that blotched out field on the horizontal stabilizer { rudder fin}........that was an 'A'.......not in the traditional triangular field shown on other squadron planes.  I haven't been able to find out why it was removed.......I'll keep looking because it's an interesting feature that could be added,  as I did on the Wulfe Hound.  later it was found to be a useless attempt,  since the swastika appears out of scale and covers it.......oh well.    the stabilizers and rudder were added next.

oops!  **spoiler alert**
 
ahhh-hmmmmmmmm.....moving on...... as you saw,  the starboard waist was called Virginia.........the port side was named Sally  

I'll have the port decals fixed by the next update.

Dardanus in the Mersey , motor barge Loach going about her business . Watercolour 11” X9”

Thanks for the suggestion Keith but I have found a brass gear in my spares box that I am going to use.
 
The holes for the hand spikes were marked onto the flats and drilled with a 1.5mm drill.
      
      
      
I then gently tapped in the point of a square needle file to square the holes.
      
The pawl gear was the next part that needed to be fitted. 
      
This brass gear was from a kit I started back in the '90s and never finished, the hull was damaged in a move and binned but I kept the fittings and all of the strip wood and dowel that was not used which has come in very handy over the years. The gear has an I.D. of 6mm and the centre part or the windlass has a diameter of 9mm so it will need to be turned down. I cut the windlass in half at one edge of the centre spindle and turned it down in my lathe to fit the gear.
       
A 1.1mm hole was drilled into the centre of each half so that a 1mm brass dowel could be used to join them back together.
       
        
         
The next step will be to modify the supports to stand upright along with continuing to fair the hull.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
All commments welcome.
 

The mast supports for the fore and main mast were made from the parts of the ply sheet that was in the slots of the bulkheads.
    
They were shaped with a round file and glued about halfway down the slot for each mast as the deck will support them at deck level.
    
     
I decided to make a 'step' for each mast by leaving the lower support square forming a 4mm wide slot at the base of the mast.
     
      
A step was cut into the base of the dowels.
       
 And they were test fitted into the slots.
        
Thanks for looking and the likes.
All comments welcome.
 

thanks for the views likes and comments everyone- the deck planking is now in and shaped and filed a filler piece for the bulwark at the bows using a piece of scrap ply from another build, and glued the stem piece in place.



take care all
 
Keith

Well, in a castle it was normally known as a garde-robe and it opened directly above the moat.
 

 
Yes, that's the same word as wardrobe - they apparently kept their clothes in it because the smell kept the moths away . . .
 
And Richard the Lionheart's favourite castle in France, Chateaux Gaillard, was captured after some guys climbed up the wall into the overhanging garde-robe. I wonder if the general asked for volunteers!
 
Steven

Hi all,  a bit more work  on the Seafire  -  like I said above the front under cowl  needed some shaping as it was a bad fit,  I attacked the area with a sanding stick then a bit of wet and dry followed up by a bit of putty, I also test fitted the spinner plate  - I drew a line around the outside edge then after removing it I sanded the nose back to the pencil line.
 
OC.

Just a couple of pics to show the  fuselage/wing  joining, as I said  needs a bit of  filling.
 
OC.

Good day all,  more work  fiddling around in the machine gun  box  - I fiited a couple of runs of  fine fuse wire to represent wiring, also  I fitted a larger piece of tubing and a bracing strip.
 
OC.

thanks Robert......I didn't do anything to her yesterday.......I was playing with something else   { damn my MDD........Model Distraction Disorder}.   the wing surfaces were all done with airbrush........I got impatient waiting to get thinner,  so I painted the fuselage {upper and lower surfaces} with a brush.  at one point in time,  I had given up the airbrush,  thinking that they were too much of a bother for the tasks that were small.  but,  since I got into building wooden boats,  I have great need for it.  large surfaces are a killer with a brush.  now a days,  I juggle both.
 
I'm getting there........I've already seen her with the wings {dry fit}..........I'm happy.

just a short update at the moment......done during the work week.  these are the parts I will add to the plane:
I had glued that small part on the other navigator's window....I had to remove it to put it on this one.
the guns were added to the nose of the fuselage,  the last bits to be added before closing it up.  the deed is done  

I should have done a close up of the waist guns.......they show quite well with the belt additions.  the tail is on as well.  it can't be seen here,  but the belly turret sticks out quite a bit...... must be in the lowered position.  I had painted the tail gunner's glass with the masking,  but it came out foggy.   I lightly scraped off most of it and painted it freehand.....I also did the navigator's window too.   it came out reasonably well......I used a very fine tipped brush.

the cockpit glass looked kinda light too,  but I chose not to touch it up since it came out better than the rest.  I trimmed it to fit and am impressed with how good it looks.   I'm gonna start adding to the fuselage.......

mom was the gun at the navigator's window as well as at the top turret....they do love their moms     I need a magnifying glass to read all the decals

Ok, Time to finish this up....
 
This is where I last left it... Basic assembly complete.....

And, After adding the necessary mundane equipment that a howitzer needs to operate on the battle field and giving it something to shoot when it get where it going, I wind up with this........
 










Well the closeups didn't quite come out as sharp as I would have liked, I still need to get a better camera. (or learn how to actually use it)
 
Anyway she is off to her next firing position, as soon as the crew shows up.....
 
I call it finished...
 
Howzitzer #4, Battery "B" 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. The evening of June 6th 1944....... two miles northeast of St Mere Eglise, France..... 76 years ago, two days from now....
 
I hope you all enjoyed the journey.....
 
EG
 
Thank you for the discussion, comments and likes....  They are always appreciated.....
 
Next up, resuming Blue Jay 4..... (assuming the parts arrive in the next day or two)
 
 

I did find pictures of the museum and the models that inspired me to build the Idaho and Boise, they are both 1/700, but I will be building in 1/350 scale.  Also, I my fleet has grown to include the Trumpeter USS The Sullivan's, which I will build as the USS Laffey and the Trumpeter USS England built as the USS Ruben James.

Hi everybody,
This is the first time I build a wooden ship from kit. I did choose Virginia 1918 because of its appearance and its affordable price for a new builder without any experience.
I read a lot of build logs from others excellent builders on this forum to know where to start and what to do.
Here are some photos of my built step by step, please give me advice if you notice something wrong. Thank you.